Reply To: Are you makpid on ע ?

Besalel, it is most likely that every tribe had its own pronunciation as with other languages (e.g. Boston and NY accents). We know for a fact that Ephraimites pronounced the shin like a samech. It seems that during the time of the Tannaim there was a difference between Judea and the Galil as Beruria knew immediately that Rabbi Yossi haGlili was from there (Eruvin 53b). In later periods there were places where people did not differentiate between ח and ה or א and ע (Megilla 24b).