[Avodah] Changing Havarah

[David Cohen]

The Yemenite kamatz sounds much like the Ashkenazi kamatz with which
we are familiar.  Given the assertion that the current Ashkenazi
kamatz is a recent development (in relative terms), is this just a
coincidence, rather than a reflection of a common origin?

Also, I don't recall hearing this before from other Yemenites, but
there is one person whom I hear lain frequently according to his
Yemenite tradition, and he pronounces the cholam in a way that
strongly resembles the Polish "oy."  Could there be anything to this?

--D.C.