Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Matanya Ophee <m.ophee AT orphee.com>]

At 08:09 AM 9/15/2005, Vadim Cherny <VadimCherny AT mail.ru> wrote:


> > >That does not makes sense in English. In other languages, Russian and
> Modern
> > >Hebrew in particular, it is idiomatic refusal. And this meaning is
> supported
> > >by similar constructs in Ex33:19.
> >
> > For a very good reason: modern Hebrew colloquialisms are based
> > directly on Russian, the language used by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and
> > others of my father's generation. One example:
> >
> > Russian: duraka pol rabota nye pokazivaiut
> > Hebrew: letipesh lo mar-im khatzi avoda.
> >
> > There are hundreds of similar constructions, directly borrowed from
> > Russian which you will never find in the Bible.
> >
>
> Then, again, there are many Russian - including Old Russian - words and
> idioms subtly based on Hebrew. Much of Russian prisoners' slang is
> straightforward Hebrew.

Yes, of course. But I think that in the present context, it is 
important to distinguish these borrowings by the time element. For example:

can you find anywhere in Tolstoy or Dostoevsky a typical (modern) 
Russian expression such as xoxme (hohma, or khokhma)? There is no 
need to argue that Russian contains a huge amount of English, French, 
German, Persian words. The fact that modern Hebrew is based on 
Russian colloquialisms of the late 19th century, was never mentioned 
to us in school in old Palestine Erets-Israel, and it was not until I 
married a Russian woman that I began to understand how much of what I 
say in Hebrew, in the right situation, is perfectly understandable to 
her, without even knowing the language.

With one qualification: the Modern Hebrew I am referring to is the 
one I learned from my mother and father, and spoke almost exclusively 
for the first 28 years of my life. Today, the language has turned 
into something else. Reading Israeli newspapers or listening to my 
grand children talk, I often ask for a translation...:-)



Matanya Ophee
Editions Orphe'e, Inc.,
1240 Clubview Blvd. N.
Columbus, OH 43235-1226
Phone: 614-846-9517
Fax:     614-846-9794
mailto:m.ophee AT orphee.com
http://www.orphee.com
http://www.livejournal.com/users/matanya/