Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics
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Subject: Language And Linguistics
Edited by: Geoffrey Khan
Associate editors: Shmuel Bolozky, Steven Fassberg, Gary A. Rendsburg, Aaron D. Rubin, Ora R. Schwarzwald, Tamar Zewi
The Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online offers a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the history and study of the Hebrew language from its earliest attested form to the present day.
The Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online features advanced search options, as well as extensive cross-references and full-text search functionality using the Hebrew character set. With over 850 entries and approximately 400 contributing scholars, the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online is the authoritative reference work for students and researchers in the fields of Hebrew linguistics, general linguistics, Biblical studies, Hebrew and Jewish literature, and related fields.
Subscriptions: Brill.com
Associate editors: Shmuel Bolozky, Steven Fassberg, Gary A. Rendsburg, Aaron D. Rubin, Ora R. Schwarzwald, Tamar Zewi
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The Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online offers a systematic and comprehensive treatment of all aspects of the history and study of the Hebrew language from its earliest attested form to the present day.
The Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online features advanced search options, as well as extensive cross-references and full-text search functionality using the Hebrew character set. With over 850 entries and approximately 400 contributing scholars, the Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics Online is the authoritative reference work for students and researchers in the fields of Hebrew linguistics, general linguistics, Biblical studies, Hebrew and Jewish literature, and related fields.
Subscriptions: Brill.com
Iraq, Hebrew Component of Judeo-Arabic
(6,105 words)
1. Foreign Languages in the Substrate of Iraqi Judeo-Arabic In the course of its history many different languages have been used in the territory of Mesopotamia, called Babylonia and Assyria in antiquity and, later, Iraq. Some of these languages were spoken by the local populace and others by the conquerors and rulers. In earliest times the language of the region was Sumerian, which was followed by Babylonian and Assyrian, then Aramaic and Persian, followed by Arabic and Turkish, and finally English. Ves…
Isaiah Scroll (iQIsaa)
(3,171 words)
Although iQIsaa is a copy of a biblical book and not an original composition, its length and generally excellent state of preservation mean that the Hebrew language of this manuscript contributes considerably to our knowledge of the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Dead Sea Scrolls: Linguistic Features), and this not only when it departs from the version of the book as transmitted by the Tiberian Masoretes, but also when it agrees with the latter. This remains true even if hardly any of the traits of the Hebrew of iQIsaa make it unique in comparison with the language reflected in oth…
Israeli Immigrants in the United States
(2,845 words)
A highly animated and engaging conversation takes place in New York between an Israeli mother and her two pre-adolescent children. There is nothing unusual about this scene, except that the mother is speaking in fluent Hebrew and both children respond spontaneously in fluent English and then proceed to speak to each other in English. This unidirectional linguistic communication pattern, known as ‘unreciprocal communication’ (Gal 1979) is highly prevalent among immigrant families around the globe…
Italian, Hebrew Loanwords in
(2,051 words)
Though not very numerous, words of Hebrew origin in Italian—often not recorded as such in the dictionaries—show remarkable variety in terms of chronology, cultural context of intermediation, kind of Hebrew/Aramaic lexical source, and semantic typology. All this reflects the variegated history of the direct and indirect interference between the two languages over time, both within the Jewish communities in Italy and in their relations to the Christian majority. Upon closer examination of this het…
Italian Influence on Hebrew
(2,131 words)
This entry is concerned primarily with the influence of Italian on the written Hebrew of Italy. We have no evidence regarding the Hebrew spoken by the first Jewish settlers in Italy, in spite of the fact that their presence there is documented from at least the Hasmonean period. A ‘revival’ in the use of Hebrew began in Italy in the 9th–10th centuries. It finds its first documented expression in the change of the language of tomb inscriptions from Latin and Greek, which were employed in the firs…
Italian Loanwords
(2,552 words)
This entry deals with Italian influence on the Hebrew lexicon, with special reference to the modern stage of the Hebrew language. Research concerning the interference between Rabbinic Hebrew and Italian varieties during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when Jewish culture was strikingly influential in Italian courts (Mancini 1992), are quite few in number. Nonetheless, it is well known that in the poems of Ahimaʾaz b. Paltiʾel (ca. 1017–1060 C.E.), Immanuel of Rome (ca. 1260–1330 C.E.), and …
Italy: Middle Ages
(3,634 words)
This entry will summarize the historical development and use of the Hebrew language in Italy from the 9th to the 14th centuries. Distribution and distinctive features of the Hebrew language will be discussed with regard to different literary genres, geographical areas, and time periods. 1. The Language of the
Payṭanim of the 9th–10th Centuries While for the first centuries of the Common Era Hebrew literacy in Italy apparently remained circumscribed to exclusively epigraphic testimonies, documentary evidence proves that already in 9th-century Apulia…
Italy: Modern Period
(2,724 words)
The 19th century marked the beginning of a sharp decline in the use of the Hebrew language in Italy. The study and practice of Hebrew were cultivated mostly within restricted circles of scholars, rabbis, and learned people, who contributed in different ways to the shaping of the Hebrew language in modern times. In the 20th century, the Italian language replaced Hebrew in nearly all the areas in which it had traditionally been used. Today, Hebrew is mainly used as a liturgical language. 1. Hebrew Learning Within the Italian Jewish tradition, the study of the Hebrew language was u…
Italy: Pre-Modern Period (1500–1700)
(2,568 words)
Hebrew remained a written and a spoken language among Italian Jews during the Renaissance, following a tradition already established in previous centuries. The geographical distribution of Hebrew-speaking communities in Italy varied according to major political and social changes, which affected local Jews. As time went on, Hebrew became more and more confined to erudition and traditional genres, whereas for daily communication Jews resorted to vernacular languages. In addition to Italian dialec…
Italy, Pronunciation Traditions
(3,386 words)
This article is concerned with the pronunciation of Hebrew by Italian Jews as it is documented in written texts, in direct and indirect references by grammarians and other authors, and in the modern oral traditions. Principally, we can distinguish between two main stages in the development of Hebrew pronunciation traditions in Italy. These stages are distinguished not only in time, but also in geographical space, as they are connected to the dispersal of the Jewish population along the Italian p…
Italy: Roman Period to Late Antiquity
(2,281 words)
There are to date no comprehensive studies on the question of how widespread and deep knowledge of Hebrew was among Jews in Italy of the Roman Period and Late Antiquity. So far this question has only been addressed on specific points (see esp. Rosén 1995; de Lange 1996; Noy 1999). Our main sources, beginning around the 1st century C.E., are funerary inscriptions (epitaphs) which, although abundant, provide only a very partial picture of the broader context in which they were produced. Moreover, …