Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Pere Casanellas <pere.casanellas AT retemail.es>]

Dear list members,

According to the literature I have at hand, accent was usually on the last
syllable in ancient, official and middle Aramaic (including Palestinian and
Galilean Aramaic), but it was usually on the penultimate syllable in late
Aramaic (Samaritan, Syriac, Babylonian Aramaic) as it is in modern Aramaic
(at least in the dialect of Ma'lula).

So I suppose that the following Aramaic words which appear in the New
Testament should be pronounced with the accent on the last syllable: abba
(Mar 14:36; Gal 4:6; in spite of the pronounciation in modern Hebrew),
raqa/reqa (Mat 5:22), talitha (Mar 5:40), effatha (Mar 7:34), rabbi (Joh
1:38), rabbuni (Joh 20:16)... But that the following words should be
pronounced with the accent on the penultimate syllable: sabakhtani (Mar
15:34), Marana (1Cor 16:22).

I would appreciate any comment on this. This point is specially important
when transcribing the above words in languages such as Catalan or Spanish
because in these languages the orthography of a word, by means of the
presence or absence of the graphic accent, always indicates the accented
syllabe (for example, in Catalan the word "fàbrica" has the accent on the
first syllable; "fabrica" has the accent on the penultimate syllable; and
"fabricà" has the accent on the last syllable).

When pronouncing the names of the tractates of the Talmud or of Babylonian
rabbis, I suppose it should be better to follow the pronounciation not of
classic Aramaic but of babylonian Aramaic, which, at least according to
Kutscher (EncJud, vol. 3, col. 276 and 280), had the accent usually on the
penultimate syllable. Does anybody know which were the rules of the
position of the accent in this dialect?

Should we pronounce, for example, with the accent on the penultimate
syllable: Yoma, Bava Qama, Bava Metsi'a, Bava Batra, Rabbi, Abba bar Abba,
Abba Arika, Johanan bar Nappaha, Rab Kahana, Jose ben Hanina, Rab Huna...
And with the accent on the last syllable: Evel Rabbati (second word),
'Eruvin, Gittin...?

Thank you in adavence for your help.
_______________________________________

Pere Casanellas
E-mail: pere.casanellas AT retemail.es
         pcasanel AT pie.xtec.es
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