Phonetic Variance of /d/ and /r/ in Hebrew in Late Antiquity

A common type of textual variant in Hebrew is the alternation of and. Such variance has traditionally been attributed to scribes and confined to the written layer of transmission. However, given the articulatory proximity of /d/ and /r/, orally-induced variance should also be considered. I present several instances in Hebrew and Aramaic, where the context suggests that the two letters were confused in speech. This in turn sheds light on two other matters: first, it offers a new point of view for examining the question of the two allophones of /r/ reported in the Tiberian Masoretic tradition, seemingly in support of Aron Dotan's view on the matter; second, it removes one of the difficulties raised against Yaacov Sussman's theory about the orality of the Mishna in the Amoraic period, by reducing a scribal variant (y/y) to a phonetic one.