Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] When did Hebrew cease to be a commonly spoken language?

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>
  • To: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] When did Hebrew cease to be a commonly spoken language?
  • Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 01:13:34 -0700

Karl Randolph wrote:

Thanks for the many responses. It has been a learning experience for me.

In general, the picture I get is that Aramaic was the main language spoken in
the market, on the street, in the homes. Because it uses the same alphabet as
does Hebrew, those who knew the phonetic value of Hebrew writing could also
write in Aramaic. However, because Aramaic was considered a lowly language
not fit for official documents (which included religious documents) people
would try to use Hebrew whenever possible for these uses and when trying to
show how erudite they were.

<snip>

This is interesting, Karl, because my conclusions are almost precisely the opposite. In the above paragraph, swap Hebrew and Aramaic. With one exception; Hebrew was almost always used for religious documents, but Aramaic for anything else official. And perhaps Aramaic was spoken in the markets because these would have been for all nations, not just for Jews. Of course the details depend a lot on where we are talking about: Judea or Galilee - or Aswan!

--
Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/







Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page