Jewish-Languages Mailing List: September 2002

September 2002

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Institute of Asian and African Studies
The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation

is pleased to announce the publication of

"A Handbook of Early Middle Arabic" (260 pp.)

by Joshua Blau

In the present "Handbook of Early Middle Arabic", Professor Joshua Blau
of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the undisputed dean of the study
of Middle Arabic, presents a reliable and up-to-date survey,
comprehensive yet concise, of the whole field.

The Handbook contains a grammatical outline of Middle Arabic structure,
annotated examples of the main Middle Arabic varieties and a glossary
of all words occurring in the book.

An important feature of the book is the variety of texts presented.
These cover (a) Muslim, (b) Christian and (c) Jewish Middle Arabic,
each represented by typical or noteworthy examples, some of them
published here for the first time. Particularly significant are the
Jewish texts, Rabbanite and Karaite, which have been transmitted in
different orthographical modes. Standard Judaeo-Arabic orthography is
represented by samples from Saadia Gaon, Qirqisani and David b. Abraham
al-Fasi. Linguistically more revealing are Judaeo-Arabic writings in
the earlier phonetic orthography; these are exemplified in the Handbook
by selected texts on papyrus, by specimens of a translation of Halakhot
Pesuqot and a translation of the Biblical book of Proverbs.

In the Appendix, two examples of vocalized Middle Arabic are given: one
written in Coptic characters, the other a Judaeo-Arabic letter from the
Cairo Geniza.

Professor Blau's "Handbook" will enable all Arabists to gain immediate
access to the world of Middle Arabic, guided in their journey by the
leading authority in the field. On the one hand, scholars familiar only
with the classical, literary tongue will be able to see in what
directions the language subsequently developed; on the other hand,
Arabic dialectologists will be afforded a valuable glimpse into the
history of modern colloquial forms. The "Handbook..." will thus be a
valuable tool for all who are concerned with the history of the Arabic
tongue.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

ORDER FORM

The price of the volume is $47.00. Postage and handling: $2.00 for the
first volume; $1.00 for each additional volume. Individual members of
the association "From Jahiliyya to Islam" pay $33 + $2.00 (members'
price is valid for direct sales only, not through booksellers). Cheques
payable to the Schloessinger Memorial Foundation should be sent to the
Director of Publications, The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation,
Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Hebrew University,
Jerusalem 91905, Israel. Please note that we cannot accept Eurocheques
or credit cards, but personal and institutional cheques in your
currency are acceptable. Inquiries: E-mail: msjsai @ pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il
/ Fax: +972-2-588-3658

Please send ______ copies of A Handbook of Early Middle Arabic
Name: ____________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jerusalem 91905, Israel

Fax: +972-2-588-3658

Dear people,

I have had some wonderful responses to my earlier inquiry about the Odes of
Solomon. My thanks to you all! :)

In my further investigation, I found that in Hebrew "ehad" denotes a
compound of unity (Eg.: Deuteronomy 6:4, "Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu,
Adonai ehad" = Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.) and that a
different word, yahid, is used to denote a uniqueness, a single-oneness.

My question is, does a similar distinction exist in Syric? And if so, what
is the Syriac equavalent of yahid?

Much obliged,

Rev. Mark Kramer

A query to the members:

For a paper on the process by which neologisms are accepted into a language,
I would like some advice on bibliography related to the coining of new words
in modern Hebrew in pre-state Palestine.

Thank you! / A dank! / Todah!

A ksive vekhsime toyve,

P.(H.)G.

Dr. Paul (Hershl) Glasser
Associate Dean, Max Weinreich Center
Senior Research Associate, Yiddish Language
212-246-6080 X6139 (ph)
212-292-1892 (fax)
mailto:pglasser @ yivo.cjh.org

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
15 West 16 Street
New York, New York 10011
http://www.yivo.org

Dear colleagues - I forward this message to the list, since I know many
of you out there can answer this question more easily and accurately
than I can. Please respond directly to Jeff Malka (his address is at
the bottom).

Many thanks.
Elaine Miller
Georgia State University

Forwarded message:

I have just finished a 400 page comprehensive book on Sephardic genealogy
(http://www.avotaynu.com/books/sephardic.htm ) due to be published in 3
weeks by Avotaynu, a publishing house that specializes in books about the
methodology of Jewish genealogy.

Although the book already contains examples of text written in Sephardic
script I would very much like to include a table showing the Hebrew
alphabet in block letters along with the corresponding cursive Sephardic
script letters as an aid for those who might wish to decipher it. Would
you be in a position to provide such a table or point me in the direction
of someone who might?

Thank you.

Jeff Malka <malkajef @ orthohelp.com>

As others might potentially be interested in this, I am posting to the
whole list.

The best table I know of is in a book called:

A Guide to Reading and Writing Judezmo by David M. Bunis. It was
published in 1975 in Brooklyn by Adelantre!, The Judezmo Society.

It includes a table with Meruba (square Hebrew characters), Rashi
script, and "Solitreo" or Sephardic cursive script. Unfortunately, not
all Sephardic cursive script is uniform, but this is definitely a good
place to start.

David Hirsch
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies Bibligrapher
UCLA

There's a website that has a survey about shm- reduplication in American
English:

http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/dm/shm/

They say that this process is influenced by Yiddish but does not exist in
Yiddish. I seem to remember hearing expressions like "Gelt, shmelt! Abi
gezint" in Yiddish. Can anyone come up with actual examples from Yiddish
literature, song, or film, preferably from Europe (in an early period)? If
you do, I'll e-mail it to the creators of the website and they'll change
their point about the development.

Thanks,
Sarah Bunin Benor
Stanford University

Shana Tova,
There is a lot of material on the coining of new words efore 1948, in the
publications of Vaad haLashon, later the Hebrew Language Academy.
Jacob Fellman in his book on Eliezer Ben-Yehuda refer to it. Also, in
Reuven Sivan's book on the Revival of Hebrew there is some reference to
it. Most of the material is published in Hebrew except for the last two
items that I mentioned.
Gmar Hatima Tova,
Ora

===============================================
Prof. Ora R. Schwarzwald
Hebrew and Semitic Languages
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, ISRAEL 52900
Tel. 972-3-5325021 (home), 5318667 (office)
FAX: 972-3-5324855 (home), 5351233 (faculty)
E-mail: oschwarz @ mail.biu.ac.il
http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~oschwarz
http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/hb/oraheb.htm

Bunis's book JUDEZMO is much more updated (Magnes 1989).
Ora

===============================================
Prof. Ora R. Schwarzwald
Hebrew and Semitic Languages
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, ISRAEL 52900
Tel. 972-3-5325021 (home), 5318667 (office)
FAX: 972-3-5324855 (home), 5351233 (faculty)
E-mail: oschwarz @ mail.biu.ac.il
http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~oschwarz
http://www.biu.ac.il/JS/hb/oraheb.htm

Sarah:

I heard also such expressions from Yiddish speaking people in Russia and
Ukraine. I remember that they had a derogatory or diminishing, pejorative
and deprecatory overtone, especially having in mind to reduce the importance
of the person or concept. It is difficult to remember many exact words but
they sound as komadir (commander) - shmomandir, brigadir (leader of
brigade) - shmigadir, ministr (minister [member of cabinet]) - shminister,
lerer (teacher) - shmerer, kantor (cantor, hazan) - shmantor, militsioner
(policeman) - shmilitsioner, filosofiya (philosophy) - shmilosofiya, but
also leder (lather) - shleder, fabrika (plant, factory) shmabrika, balaguleh
(etym. Heb. Ba`al `agalah) - shmalagule.

It was used also with private names Mara - (deminutive) Marka - Shmarka,
Mira (from Miriam) - (diminutive) Mirka - Shmirka.

Many of the Yiddish derogatory forms were formed in association with
local Slavic nouns (like Mark-Shmark), in Russian smorkat' - blow one's
nose [it means the person is snotty, i.e. not adult, childish or not
important], the Jews frequently pronounced shmorkat' instead smorkat'.

In addition I can note, that in the language of Odessa Jews there were many
regular words starting from shm- (like shmary - hookers), and it is very
difficult to go back to their original form <maybe *khmary>

It is interesting that some languages (particularly Turkic family) use
similar [but not identic] pattern for formation of Plural. For example in
Kazakh language: kulak (rich nomadic Kazakh) - mulak (many rich nomadic
Kazakhs).

It is impossible to mention all the aspects and connection of the
reduplication shm-, but it was very productive pattern.

Hayim.

========

Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature
Head of Reference Services
Tuttleman Library of Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027

tel. 215 635-7300, ext. 161 fax: 215 635-7320
e-mail: hsheynin @ gratz.edu

Dear Sarah and All, shana Tova

The most famous use was by David Ben-Gurion who wanted to belittle
the importance of the UN (=um - acronym in Hebrew) by saying: um,
shmum (I couldn't care less about UN).

Similar phenomenon found in Turkish, Persian, Judeo-Spanish, Kurdish
and Jewish Neo-Aramaic. Theoretically, any noun can be used with its
m-'doublet' (=the real noun but with its first consonant replaced
with m-) to indicate 'all kinds of, and the like', with some
belittling, e.g., julle-mulle 'clothes, rags'; p?lda-m?lda 'hair
residue, and the like'; p¥rakat-m¥rakat 'old ladies, and the like';
n?åqa uman?øqe 'kissing and the like".

kol Tuv

Yona Sabar

Dear Reduplicationists,

repetition and reduplication is very productive in Balkan Spanish (Judezmo),
Turkish and all Balkan languages. Some examples for partial reduplication in
Balkan Spanish:

kitab (book), kitab-mitab (books and such)
çocuk (child), çocul-mocuk (children and the like)
fystik (pistachio), fystik-mystik (pistachio and the like)

For more examples see my (forthcoming) study Repetition and Reduplication in
Balkan Spanish

For further information:

Thorsten Mau: Form und Funktion sprachlicher Wiederholungen (Form and
Function of linguistic repetition), PhD, Hamburg 2000, University of Hamburg

Best and shana tova alegre i dulse,

Michael Halévy

Dear Michael:

The sample you give from Balkan Judesmo is clearly influenced by Turkish.
The sample I gave from Kazakh should be also formulated kulak-mulak (kulaks
[and such]). I can add also kary-mary (the readers of Qoran [and such]),
wazir-mazir (ministers [and such]), khardj-mardj (expences and such).

Hayim

=======

Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature
Head of Reference Services
Tuttleman Library of Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027

tel. 215 635-7300, ext. 161 fax: 215 635-7320
e-mail: hsheynin @ gratz.edu

from Norman Stillman:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 14:07:23 -0500
From: Norman A. Stillman <nstillman@ou.edu>
To: Sarah Bunin Benor <sbenor @ stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: shm- reduplication in Yiddish

Dear Colleagues,

Reduplication and rhyming are fairly common in Moroccan Judeo-Arabic
as well. See the examples in my paper "La rime dans le langage arabe
des Juifs de Sefrou," in Relations judéo-musulmanes au Maroc:
perceptions et réalités, dirigé par Michel Abitbol (Editions Stavit:
Paris, 1997), 97-104.

Sincerely,

Noam Stillman

This is a forward from H-Judaic.
-Sarah

From: Yona Sabar <sabar @ humnet.ucla.edu>
Subject: NEW BOOK: Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dictionary

The study of Jewish languages is relatively young, and some Jewish
languages, such as Jewish Neo-Aramaic, have hardly been studied.
Therefore, I would like to inform interested scholars in Jewish
studies of the publication of the following book:

A Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dictionary, Based on old and new manuscripts,
oral and written bible translations, folkloric texts, and diverse
spoken registers, with an introduction to grammar and semantics,
and an index of Talmudic words which have reflexes in Jewish
Neo-Aramaic, by Yona Sabar, Wiesbaden (Harrassowitz , Semitica
Viva #28), 8/2002. $33.

--
Yona Sabar, Professor of Hebrew and Aramaic
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1511

Dear Colleagues,

I have a few questions and would like to start a discussion about some
problems of the Hebrew component. But first let me introduce myself in
one paragraph, as I didn't do it when I joined the list:

I am a research student in the Linguistics dept. in the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem. My main interest is dead Iranian languages.
I'm writing my dissertation about the language of the Early
Judaeo-Persian Tafsir of Ezekiel (11th century), with Prof. Shaul
Shaked as my supervisor. The MA portion of my direct doctoral program
dealt with a dialect spoken by the Jews of the northern neighborhood of
Yazd, Iran.

Now to the Hebrew component

Can you recommend any literature about the Hebrew component in general?
(while we're at it, Is there any literature about the language of Bible
translations in general?)

The text I am currently working on is an exegetical text in Early
Judaeo-Persian (EJP). Theis genre naturally has lots and lots and lots
of Hebrew words and expressions, but I feel that not everything
qualifies as a Hebrew _component_. Some of it is just Hebrew. For
example, before translating each verse, the first few words of the
Hebrew verse are quoted. I feel this is Hebrew, not EJP.

When the author wants to comment on part of the verse, he says: "and
saying XX", or "by X he means" and then his commentary. That's also
pure Hebrew in my opinion. And so are single words that are quoted as
examples of a certain structure in grammatical discussions.

But how about quotes that the commentator brings to make a point? These
quotes begin with "as he said" and then a Hebrew verse. Is that pure
Hebrew or a Hebrew component of EJP? I tend to take it as part of the
Hebrew component, because it's the meaning that counts, while in "pure
Hebrew" it's the Hebrew that counts.

But then how would you classify the following: "this which he said here,
SIM PANEIXA DEREX TEIMANA (Ez. 21:2), its interpretation is SIM PANEIXA
EL YERUSHALAYIM (Ez.21:7)"?

And single words that are taken directly from the text in expressions
like "he likens them to GEFEN" (I take this as a part of the Hebrew
component, but it can be argued that this is a quote like any other)?

Is there any standard for classification of a word or expression as
"Hebrew component"?

Waiting to read your opinions,

Thamar.

Dear Friends,
The Judeo-Spanish Anthology "En Tierras Ajenas Yo Me vo Murir"
by Gad Nassi has been published in Istanbul by ISIS.
Pleas visit the web site:
========================================
http://www.missouri.edu/~rd4b9/livro.htm
========================================
The web site includes content and order information and other related
valuable links. There will be a book presentation on Nov. 13th at the
Cervantes Institute in Istanbul.
Thank you for your interest.
========================================
Roz Kohen Drohobyczer
Reference Library Assistant 314.935.8179 (voice)
Washington University Libraries 314.935.4919 (fax)
Campus Box 1061 roz @ library.wustl.edu
1 Brookings Drive
St. Louis, MO 63130
========================================

Thamar- this is an important issue for the study of Jewish languages.
There has already been some work on it, but we could use an even more
nuanced understanding of the relation between Hebrew and Jewish languages.

It might be useful to look at Max Weinreich's distinction between the
Whole Hebrew Element and the Merged Hebrew Element in:

Weinreich, M. 1980. History of the Yiddish Language. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.

Also, a few conference proceedings might be helpful: Misgav Yerushalayim's
conference that focused on bible translation one year (I can get the exact
reference if you want), and this one:

Morag, S. et al. (eds.). 1999. Vena Hebraica in Judaeorum Linguis:
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on the Hebrew and Aramaic
Elements in Jewish Languages. Milan: Centro Studi Camito-Semitici di
Milano.

See also Joshua Fishman's article in:

Fishman, J. A. (ed.). 1985. Readings in the Sociology of Jewish Languages.
Leiden: Brill.

where he discusses the sociological situation of diglossia between Hebrew
and Jewish languages.

I look forward to hearing other people's responses to this issue.

-Sarah Bunin Benor

Haverim,

Judeo-Romance languages, and perhaps Jewish languages in general, exist
in two different shapes. There are translation-liturgical languages with
almost no Hebrew component. In Alan Freedman's book _Italian Texts in
Hebrew Characters_, his title doesn't even recognize the language as Jewish
(see my review in _Romance Philology_ November 1974). Similarly, Susan
Milner Silberstein's 1973 dissertation is entitled _The Provencal Esther
Poem Written in Hebrew Characters ..._. Luisa Cuomo's study of different
texts of the book of Jonah, _Una traduzione giudeo-romansca del libro di
Giona_, points out that a language used only for translation can
nevertheless develop and grow (see my review in _Romance Philology_ February
1995).

Modern spoken Judeo-Italian is filled with words of Hebrew origin, often
used to discuss emotionally charged or taboo subjects. See my
"Judeo-Italian Lexical Items Collected by Zalman Yovely." _Bono Homini
Donum: Essays in Historical Linguistics in Memory of J. Alexander Kerns_.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1981, pp. 143-57; and also "Religion and Taboo
in Lason Akodesh (Judeo-Piedmontese)." _International Journal of the
Sociology of Language_, 30 (1981), 106-17.

It would be interesting to see whether this difference between older
translation languages and more recent spoken languages is found in all
Jewish languages.

George

Dear George:

You most probably know that distinction between
older translation languages and more recent
spoken languages is found in Ladino up to
such degree that some scholars even recognize
them as different languages, thus "calque
language" for older Ladino and "judeo-espagnol"
for modern Ladino in Haim Vidal Sephiha's and
"Ladino" and "Judezmo" correspondingly in David
M. Bunis's terms. Sephiha even goes further
separating the language of judeo-spanish press
of the second part of the 19th century as
"judeo-fragnol."

Another subject.
Despite all the efforts of the Western scholars
to attach to Ladino names of self-appellations
like Judezmo the mass of Jewish people still calls
it Ladino whichever period of the language meant.

From my point I do not see any necessity to go to
self-appellations, compare: German name for German
language Deutsch. Other nations call it German,
Aleman, Tedesco, Nemetskii, etc.
Finnish name for their language is Suomi. All the
nations are comfortable with "Finnish."
The examples are too numerous to list.

Hayim

=======

Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature
Head of Reference Services
Tuttleman Library of Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027

tel. 215 635-7300, ext. 161 fax: 215 635-7320
e-mail: hsheynin @ gratz.edu

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: pek <pek @ indiana.edu>

The Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University is searching to
fill a tenure-track position at the Assistant or Associate Professor level
in modern Hebrew language. Listed below is the vacancy notice that gives
a detailed description of the position. Would it be possible to have this
notice circulated to the Jewish-Language mailing list? If so, please
let me know if there is any cost involved for this service? We are trying
to circulate the vacancy notice as widely as possible and would appreciate
your help in this regard.

With my thanks and best wishes.

Sincerely yours,

Patricia Ek
Assistant Director
Borns Jewish Studies Program
Indiana University
Goodbody Hall 308
1011 East Third Street
Bloomington, IN 47405-7005
(812)855-8358

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Assistant or Associate Professor of Hebrew Language

The Robert A. and Sandra S. Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana
University invites applications for a tenure-track appointment, to begin
fall 2003, as Assistant or Associate Professor in modern Hebrew language.

We seek a scholar, in any area of Hebrew studies, whose primary
responsibilities will be the supervision and enhancement of our modern
Hebrew program. Proficiency in modern Hebrew is required, as is a
doctoral degree. A commitment to excellence in Hebrew language pedagogy
is essential.

Salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Applications
received before November 1, 2002 will be assured of consideration.

Submit a letter spelling out your teaching philosophy and goals, a C.V.,
and three letters of recommendation to: Professor Steven Weitzman, Borns
Jewish Studies Program, Indiana University, Goodbody Hall 308, 1011 E.
Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-7005.

IU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Just to play devil's advocate, and stoke the flames of glottohades, I've
been doing a considerable amount of research, and it seems that the
terminology "Judaeo-Italian" (sic), as language name (noun or adj), may
very well have been of German and English coinage:

1901 - G. Luzzatto, "Jüdisch-Italienisches I. Ein Frauendialog. Mantua. II.
Sprichwörter un Redensarten." Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Jüdische
Volkskunde 8 (1901), 156-157.

1904 - Jewish Encyclopedia (now online at http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com)
in Richard Gottheil's translation of Lazzaro Belleli's article "Judaeo-Greek
and Judaeo Italian",
in referring to the the languages used by Jews of Corfu:

"Although the Greek which is spoken and written by Jews in various parts of
the Balkan Peninsula differs scarcely at all from that employed by the
non-Jewish inhabitants, the term "Judæo-Greek" is convenient as
distinguishing this dialect from that spoken by Jews elsewhere. The same is
true of the term "Judæo-Italian," which refers hereonly to the Venetian and
Apulian dialects."

The only other place it is used is in Gottheil's own article under the
heading "Dialects":

"Strange to say, there are no traces of a Judæo-Italian dialect, even though
some macaronic poems, as mentioned above, may be read as either Hebrew or
Italian. The Jews in Italy very seldom wrote Italian in Hebrew characters;
the "Tefillot Latine," Mordecai Dato's sermons, and Moses Catalano's poem
being among the few cases in which they did (comp. "Rev. Et. Juives," x.
137). Italian literature began with Dante in the thirteenth century; and as
it grew up under their very eyes, the Jews soon took part in its
development, and did not mix the language with Hebrew (see Steinschneider,
in "Monatsschrift," xlii. 116, 420; Güdemann, "Geschichte des
Erziehungswesens . . . der Juden in Italien," p. 207)."

Elsewhere in the same work, only "Italian" is used, even in reference to
works in Hebrew characters (such as under "Haggadah" and "Bible
Translations").

Steinschneider, throughout his ample literature on the "Letteratura italiana
dei Giudei" only calls the languages of the texts either "Italian" or
"Vulgar"; Zunz does as well in his earlier pieces.

For most of the 19th century (I've been combing through "L'educatore
isaelita" and "Vessillo Israelitico"), self-consciousness of an
Italo-Romance varieties specific to the Jews is either, at best, limited,
self-censured, or perhaps not even an issue.

"Lingua italiana presso i giudei" (1884). Steinschneider 1884 p. 47, and "la
conoscenza e l'uso dell'italiano presso i Giudei". (and cit. in
Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden. Bibliotheek. Catalogus codicum Hebraeorum
Bibliothecae Academiae Lugduno-Batavae, auctore M. Steinschneider.
Lugduni-Batavorum, E.J. Brill, 1858. Appendix XVIII (Cod. Sc. 10 f.1),
404-405 (incipit by Moses of Rieti, to description pp. 350-355, with incipit
[correct reading to "laudanno", p. 351; transcription pp. 351-353]).

1893: Vessillo Israelitico 41 (1893), 14: "voci dialettali e corrotte, in
uso presso gli israeliti del Piemonte" (Sacerdote); p. 60, 61 "Libro di
preghiere in vernacolo emiliano e caratteri ebraici", "libri stampati in
lingua volgare e tipi ebraici"; p. 61 "gergo dei ghetti", p. 62 "del gergo
parlato nei varii ghetti o giudecche d'Italia . come quelli d'Italia ne
dettero la traduzione in vernacolo [????] e come oggi pure gli scrittori
ebrei tedeschi si valgono allo stesso scopo del Jüden Deutsch" (Modona).

It is not until 1909 that anything in Italian appears:

Gergo giudaico-italiano (1909): p. 169 of Giuseppe Cammeo, "Studj
dialettali." Vessillo Israelitico 57 (1909), 169-170 (et seg.)

and finally, in the same year, it is noneother than Umberto Cassuto to use
the term "giudeo-italiano" proper
("Parlata ebraica." Vessillo Israelitico 57 (1909): 254-260. p. 255):

"Infatti, mentre è universalmente nota l'esistenza di un dialetto
giudeo-tedesco, quasi nessuno sospetta oltr'alpe che gli ebrei italiani
abbiano pure, o almeno abbiano avuto, non dirò un loro dialetto, ma almeno
una loro parlata con peculiarie caratteri. Certo, praticamente l'importanza
di essa, limitata all'uso quotidiano di poche migliaia di persone, è
pressochè nulla di fronte a quella del giudeo-tedesco, il quale è parlato da
milioni di individui che bene spesso non conoscono altra lingua, ed ha una
propria letteratura, un proprio giornalismo. un proprio teatro, sì da
assumere quasi l'importanza di una vera e propria lingua a sè . è pressochè
nulla, se si vuole, anche a paragone di altri dialetti giudaici, del
giudeo-spagnuolo ad esempio, che sono più o meno usati letterariamente; è
vero tutto questo, ma dal punto di vista linguistico tanto vale il
giudeo-tedesco, q u a n t o i l g i u d e o - i t a l i a n o , s e
c o s ì v o g l i a m o c h i a m a r l o, giacchè di fronte alla scienza
glottologica le varie forme del parlare umano hanno importanza di per sè e
non per il numero di persone che le usano o per le forme d'arte in cui
vengono adoperate. Piuttosto, una notevole differenza fra il giudeo-tedesco
e il g i u d e o - i t a l i a n o, che ha valore anche per il riguardo
scientifico, è che,
mentre quello è tanto diverso dalla lingua tedesca da costituire un dialetto
a sè stante, questo invece non è essenzialmente una cosa diversa dalla
lingua d'Italia, o dai singoli dialetti delle varie provincie d'Italia . " ;
p. 256: ". e r a n a t u r a l e c h e i l g e r g o
g i u d e o - i t a l i a n o in breve volger di tempo sparisse."

Regarding Hebrew in Jewish languages, it is also important to note WHICH
Hebrew words amplify the lexicon of Lx with respect to Ly (derogatory
Yiddish for male gentile "shegits", female "shiksa" < seqe.s, *siq.sah
(please correct if the asterisk is unwarrented); in various JI varieties
"/arel'/, /Nare'l/, /Nyare'l/, /Ngarel'le/" < 'arel, also translated as
"chiuso / cluso" (one uncircumcised, therefore, "unopened", i.e. closed);
however, the female is "goyà). Regional pronunciations and specific
circulations aside, is the additional lexicon equivalent enough that one can
assume a common substratus, or were specific items added sponaneously?
Going back to circulations, what are the routes, and what are the vehicles
(a common didactic vehicle, such as "Dabber Tov", Venice 1578, later
reprinted as Or Lustro, and also the basis for a descendence of "Teitsch"
glossaries; Elia Levita's works would also have found a similar
circulation)? Venetian Jews did celebrate the "iorzai" for a deceased
family member; Florentine Jews celebrated "hamisciòsceri" (t"u be-Shevat),
presumedly, from an Ashkenazic "xa'mes Os'ri"; yet, evenings the "jodii no
negri" would go to "l'aschivenu", and not moriv ("negro", as a derogatory,
is another example: it is commonly assumed to be an Judeo-Iberian import;
yet, in voting in the 16th century Roman Jewish community, a good lot was
"bianco", a bad one "negro", based on the color of the stones cast; for the
color alone, forms from "necro" are distributed perhaps more commonly than
from "nero"; indeed, Petrarch uses "nero" for physical color, "nigro" for
allegorical and moral color; I suspect that the implication of racial
submeanings may be an anachronistic over-reading to a fair extent,
especially in light of the system and lexicon of voting among Roman Jews -
see: "Testimonianze dal vivo; la lingua degli ebrei romani negli atti dei
notai ebrei, fra Cinque e Seicento." Rassegna Mensile di Israel 67.1-2
(2001): 373-410).

Between the 13th and 17th centuries in particular, demographic, and
therefore linguistic movements of European and Mediterranean Jews would
render a high degree of "contaminatio" (excuse the philologic term). So the
question stands: is there a common Hebrew lexical matrix?

Mo'adim le-simha,
Seth

> ----- Original Message -----
> Sent: Friday, August 09, 2002 7:51 AM
> Subject: Odes of Solomon (fwd)
>
> Dear Mark;
>
> In the Syriac text of the 'Odes Solomon' (41, 15) is written: had 'one',
> number one. I check Syriac dictionaries and you can only translate as
> 'one' (number 1). For 'oneness of essence' you would need in Syriac the
> expression 'hadanya' (unicus, singularis).

Dear Shifra,

Thank you very much for your reply. It is highly appreciated.

Please, do not regard my additional question as being argumentative; I am
really speaking from an ignorance on the matter. :) The passage in question
was;

"The Messiah in truth is one" (Ode 41:15).

meshicha ba-shrarara chad hu
The anointed in truth one he

And I tried to determine whether it can be correlated to:

"My Father and I are one" (John 10:30).

Where the Greek neuter "hen" is used to denote a oneness of essence. So, am
I reading you correctly, that if the Odist meant to express the same
Johannine thought, he would have written:

"meshicha ba-shrarara chadanya hu"?

The reason I ask, is that I have received several responses on this list
which told me that in all the languages of Aramaic branch "had" /het-dalet/
or "hada" means one (Hebrew ehad, Arabic wahid/had) in all possible
meanings. My own investigation has pretty much revealed the same; that
(e)chad can be used to express a numeral as well as a 'compound unity'. For
instance, echad is what Moses uses when he says, "And they will become one
[echad] flesh" (Genesis 2:24). And echad is the same word God uses when he
tells Ezekiel: "Join them together into one stick so that they will become
one [echad] in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17). But also a numeral: "Take one
[echad] young bullock, and two rams without blemish ... And thou shalt put
them into one [echad] basket" (Exodus 29:1,3); "And one [echad] loaf of
bread, and one [echad] cake of oiled bread, and one [echad] wafer out of the
basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD" (Exodus 29.23), etc.

Hence, I am a little puzzled now. :) Surely, when Ezekiel is to put both
sticks together (of the house of Israel of the house of Judah), a unity of
essence is meant (or, better put: NOT a unity of person, at least.)

So, am I reading you correctly when you say the Syriac chad can ONLY be used
as a numeral? It is not what I heard, nor what I found myself. But clearly
being the newbie here, I am at the mercy of the experts here. :)

Much obliged,

- Mark

Dear Mark:

Whoever answered your question (Shifra) is right and her opinion is not
diametrically opposed to what I (and others) wrote to you. It really means
'one.' To translate it 'unique' means to stretch the regular meaning. This
is a typical notion of the theologians to read whatever they like to read
instead what is coming from the literal translation. You propose to have
unexisting "hadanya hu". Theoretically it is possible, but it is not sounds
well and should be eliminated on stylistic reasons.
I recommend you to read Lohfink/Bergman article "Ehad 'echadh" in the
Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and
Helmer Ringgren. Tr. John T. Willis, vol. 1. Gran Rapids, Mich.: William B.
Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1974, pp.193-201. It seems that only once in the Hebrew
Bible the world ehad was interpreted as if is expressing "uniqueness through
election" (1Chron. 17:21). However even this occurance is not completely
clear (See ibid., p. 198). Thus you cannot build a theory on basis of the
word 'had'.

Hayim

=======

Dr. Hayim Y. Sheynin
Adjunct Professor of Jewish Literature
Head of Reference Services
Tuttleman Library of Gratz College
7605 Old York Rd.
Melrose Park, PA 19027

tel. 215 635-7300, ext. 161 fax: 215 635-7320
e-mail: hsheynin @ gratz.edu

Dear Dr. Sheynin,

Thank you for your reply (more within).

> Dear Mark:
>
> Whoever answered your question (Shifra) is right and her opinion is not
> diametrically opposed to what I (and others) wrote to you. It really means
> 'one.' To translate it 'unique' means to stretch the regular meaning.

Then we are in agreement. :) Because nowhere did I suggest, ever, that chad
should mean 'unique'. I only asked whether the sense of "one" could also
mean unity, as in: "Join them together into one stick so that they will
become one [echad] in your hand" (Ezekiel 37:17).

> This is a typical notion of the theologians to read whatever they
> like to read instead what is coming from the literal translation.
> You propose to have unexisting "hadanya hu". Theoretically it is
> possible, but it is not sounds well and should be eliminated on
> stylistic reasons.

I asked, that if the Odist had meant a unity of essence, would he then have
used: "hadanya hu"? I did not suggest/propose it as an emendation. I just
asked it for clarification.

> I recommend you to read Lohfink/Bergman article "Ehad 'echadh" in the
> Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck
> and Helmer Ringgren. Tr. John T. Willis, vol. 1. Gran Rapids,
> Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publ. Co., 1974, pp.193-201. It
> seems that only once in the Hebrew Bible the world ehad was interpreted
> as if is expressing "uniqueness through election" (1Chron. 17:21).
> however even this occurance is not completely clear (See ibid., p. 198).
> Thus you cannot build a theory on basis of the word 'had'.

Uniqueness was never the issue. I never brought up 'uniqueness' in any of my
posts, nor would I even, so no argument there. :) I really only wanted to
know where (e)chad can express unity too.

Kind regards,

- Mark

This discussion seems to be going around in circles because it's
disregarding some basic concepts of semantics. Words and their
meanings exist in relationship to other words and meanings. Sometimes
it's hierarchical: "oak" is a kind of "tree", "tree" and "bush" are
kinds of "plants" -- "oak" is a hyponym of "tree", "tree" and "bush"
are hyponyms of "plant". Sometimes a word has both a more general,
vague, or ambiguous meaning and also a more specific one: think about
"tie" (any sort of link or knot), but also "jacket and tie", "tie
score". Sometimes this has a particular pattern, for which the
technical term is "markedness": "waiter" can be male or female,
"waitress" must be female, and if you say "It was a waiter, not a
waitress", "waiter!" is definitely male. "Waiter" is unmarked for
gender, "waitress" is marked female, but nevertheless "waiter" can,
in a given context, mean unequivocally male.

Is there a language anywhere in which the ordinary everyday word for
"one" can mean ONLY 'unique' and not 'undivided',or ONLY 'undivided'
and not 'unique'? I bet not. A language might well have words for
'unique' or 'undivided', but the existence of one of these is surely
not going to make the basic 'one' word very specific in either
direction. Theologians or specialists in any other field define their
technical terms as they wish, but that doesn't affect the ordinary
meanings of the words. (The restaurant workers' union may define
"waiter" as being male only, if they like, or may define it as
including both male and female, but that doesn't mean I'm confused if
I say "The waiter said she'd be right back".) If you're interpreting a
theologian's writing, by all means go by the technical definitions s/he
would have had in mind, but if you're interpreting a poem or a story
only the context can tell you! what the word means, and certainly not
definitions established hundreds of years later.

Bob Hoberman

Please respond directly to "Michelle @ Darren" <bettabooks @ catchnet.com.au>
-Sarah

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 11:11:48 +1000
From: "Michelle @ Darren" <bettabooks @ catchnet.com.au>
To: editor @ jewish-languages.org
Subject: machzor yom kippur

I am a bookbinder in wollongong Australia I am currently repairing a Jewish
book Machzor Yom Kippur (translates) The book is written in German Jewish.
The last page has been ruined and I am trying to get a copy of this page.
If you or you know someone who can help me I would be very greatful.

Thank You. Michelle

Michelle & Darren Morrisey
Betta Book Binding
26 Field Street
Kanahooka
NSW 2530
Australia
Phone/Fax
612 4261 2998
Mobile
0414 612 990

Message From: Natalie Kehr <natalie.kehr @ dsl.pipex.com>
Please respond directly to her.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I am a middle aged lady who learned a little Hebrew when I was a child and
is now trying to re-learn with the help of the Web and some ordinary
dictionaries. I wish to create my own personal dictionary. Each entry
will have (a) Hebrew without N'kuddot, (b) an English translation and (c)
the pronunciation written in IPA. I am looking for a chart of
correspondences between the IPA symbols and the sounds, particularly the
vowels, used by modern educated Israelis.

If I have to type any IPA I do it in a Microsoft Word document using
Lucida Sans Autocode and so could easily read anything supplied in that
form. (I am also not an expert in IPA - I only know enough to help me
teach English as a second language.)

My dictionary will eventually highlight the ambiguities in modern written
Hebrew. Its progress might also interest someone researching different
ways of learning. If anyone should be interested in it, then I would be
pleased to forward them regular copies of how it is progressing.

Many thanks

(Mrs.) Natalie Kehr
10 Maybush Road
Hornchurch
Essex
RM11 3LB
England

01708 442161