Are understandings clearer in Israel and in Hebrew and Yerushalmi (which has so fewer words than Bavli), because Bavel means “confusion”, and it is the location that HaShem confused people’s languages?
That's not how I would understand it. I think that are some gemaras that might invoke the idea of confusion / Bavel / Bilel, but I would ascribe that to partisanship. So the Amoraim from the Land of Israel will promote Israel and its way of study, and the Amoraim from Bavel might do the opposite. Or Pumpedita vs. Sura academies. rah rah my team!
Yerushalmi is shorter in part because it has fewer scholastic generations of Amoraim weighing in. With a few exceptions, it was essentially redacted by Rabbi Yochanan and his students, in the third generation. Meanwhile, Bavli goes down to a sixth or seventh generation. Bavli was also worked over more, with a lot more activity by the Stammaim, who could be late Amoraim, Savoraim, or in some cases Geonim.
So, for instance, they more readily either drop gutturals (aleph heh chet ayin) or replace one for the other, something that does not happen in the more precise Babylonian Aramaic.
Are understandings clearer in Israel and in Hebrew and Yerushalmi (which has so fewer words than Bavli), because Bavel means “confusion”, and it is the location that HaShem confused people’s languages?
That's not how I would understand it. I think that are some gemaras that might invoke the idea of confusion / Bavel / Bilel, but I would ascribe that to partisanship. So the Amoraim from the Land of Israel will promote Israel and its way of study, and the Amoraim from Bavel might do the opposite. Or Pumpedita vs. Sura academies. rah rah my team!
Yerushalmi is shorter in part because it has fewer scholastic generations of Amoraim weighing in. With a few exceptions, it was essentially redacted by Rabbi Yochanan and his students, in the third generation. Meanwhile, Bavli goes down to a sixth or seventh generation. Bavli was also worked over more, with a lot more activity by the Stammaim, who could be late Amoraim, Savoraim, or in some cases Geonim.
Galilean Aramaic, as found in Yerushalmi / Bereishit Rabba, is also not so perfect, and could be described as corrupted. Kutcher wrote about Galilean Aramaic at length. https://www.amazon.com/Studies-Galilean-Aramaic-Bar-Ilan-languages/dp/B0006CWTGK
So, for instance, they more readily either drop gutturals (aleph heh chet ayin) or replace one for the other, something that does not happen in the more precise Babylonian Aramaic.
Amazing. Thank you very much for your encompassing knowledgeable answer to my presumption based on my limited knowledge.