“an ear of corn,” was a word which the Gileadites used as
the test of an Ephraimite. For the Ephraimites could not, from disuse,
pronounce the Hebrew letter _shin_; therefore, they said Sibboleth
instead of Shibboleth, Judges xii, 6. The Greeks, says Hartley, have not
the sound _sh_ in their language: hence they are liable to be detected,
like the Ephraimites. I was struck with this circumstance, in learning
Turkish from a Greek tutor; _pasha_, he pronounced _pasa_; _shimdi_, he
called _simdi_; _Dervish_, _Dervis_, &c. _Shibboleth_ he would, of
course, pronounce _Sibboleth_.
the test of an Ephraimite. For the Ephraimites could not, from disuse,
pronounce the Hebrew letter _shin_; therefore, they said Sibboleth
instead of Shibboleth, Judges xii, 6. The Greeks, says Hartley, have not
the sound _sh_ in their language: hence they are liable to be detected,
like the Ephraimites. I was struck with this circumstance, in learning
Turkish from a Greek tutor; _pasha_, he pronounced _pasa_; _shimdi_, he
called _simdi_; _Dervish_, _Dervis_, &c. _Shibboleth_ he would, of
course, pronounce _Sibboleth_.