Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

Dear Wondell,

I think that Gaon's contribution has been misunderstood. In the 
passage quoted he clearly distinguishes Hebrew and Arabic as different 
languages - though he and many Jews spoke Arabic as well as Hebrew at 
that time. To summarise what he wrote: "Someone has written a useful 
Arabic grammar. I have decided to write a similar grammar of Hebrew." 
He was copying the concept, and because the languages are quite 
similar he could also have copied some of the structure of the work, 
but the details would be different for Hebrew and Arabic.

Hebrew cannot possibly be derived from classical Arabic, as the Dead 
Sea Scrolls prove that it is much older than the classical Arabic of 
the Qur'an and early Muslim works. Hebrew and Arabic have a common 
ancestor, but that must have been well before any surviving 
literature.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Saadia Gaon: Where did Hebrew Come From?
Author:  <gs02wmr AT panther.Gsu.EDU> at Internet
Date:    18/02/2000 09:34


Shalum,

What follows this introduction seems to almost entirely exclude 
Hieroglyphic, ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and/or 
Persian writings, languages, and etymologies -  but I found this 
discussion on a newsgroup and would like to hear some of your opinions on 
it.

An individual on a newsgroup made the claim that the Hebrew language is 
directly derived from Arabic, or classical Arabic. To support this, he 
quotes the Hebrew linguist Saadia Gaon:

"Saadia expresses himself unreservedly about his indebtness to Arabic 
authors, who served him as models in the composition of his work. "It is 
reported," he says, "that one of the worthies among the Ishmaelites, 
realizing to his sorrow that the people do not use the Arabic language 
correctly, wrote a short treatise for them. From which they might learn 
proper usages. Similarly, I have noticed that many of the Israelites even 
the common rules for the correct usage of our (Hebrew) language, much less 
the more difficult rules, so that when they speak in prose most of it is 
faulty, and when they write poetry only a few of the ancient rules are 
observed, and majority of them are neglected. This has induced me to 
compose a work in two parts containing most of the (Hebrew) words." "

"The rules of the Hebrew grammer adverted to in the fragments of this work 
possessed by us - only a little more than the introduction has been 
preserved - like wise reveal the influence of the school of Arabic 
grammarians."

"In all probability the language of the Koran had become the vernacular of 
most of the Jews and the Samaritans soon after the Hegrah. This being the 
case, it is obvious that Saadia could make use of the literature of the 
Arabs as well as the works of Judeo-Arabic authors." [pp. 37]

Henry Malter, "Saadia Gaon: His Life And Works", 1921, The Jewish 
Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, pp. 39-40.


Your Thoughts????

Shalum Achshaav,

Wondell M. Rachman





---
You are currently subscribed to b-hebrew as: Peter_Kirk AT sil.org
To unsubscribe, forward this message to 
leave-b-hebrew-14207U AT franklin.oit.unc.e
du
To subscribe, send an email to join-b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu.