Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryan Rocine" <brocine AT earthlink.net>]

Dear Wondell,

It seems to me that the individual in the newsgroup has
misunderstood the quoted material.  The assertion in the
quoted material is not that the Hebrew language comes from
Arabic; rather, the first studies of Hebrew *grammar* are
modelled on the work of Arabic grammarians, and in fact,
were written by Jewish grammarians in Arabic, Saadia, being
the father of them all.

Shalom,
Bryan

> 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
>