Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Sure. I get the logic. You could also make an argument based on Adam's  
name. But these arguments are by no means conclusive. Although, these  
concepts do not translate well into all languages that is not to say  
that there could not have been an prior language where this play on  
words also worked. It works in English (man and woman) and all we have  
to do is translate Adam's name into English and we could make an  
argument for English being the 'mother' of all languages and the  
language that was spoken in Eden.

Also, even if we were to actually know what language Adam and Eve were  
speaking in the garden of Eden that would in no way make it the  
'mother' of all languages as if other languages descended from it. The  
account of Babel does not describe a gradual process of linguistic  
evolution. It describes the very sudden and instantaneous confusion of  
everybody's language so that each were using a completely different  
set of words. There is not even an undertone that these languages are  
all etymologically related in some way.

James Christian


Quoting Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>:

> On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 10:21 AM, James Read wrote:
>
> > I did once hear a theory that Hebrew must be the mother of all
> > languages and that there was some biblical support for this. However,
> > try as I might, I haven't been able to find any biblical support for
> > this. We are merely told that everybody's language gets confused at
> > Babel but no mention is given as to what language they spoke before
> > that.
>
> Traditionally, Hebrew has been viewed as the source of all languages.
> Genesis Rabbah says, commenting on Gen 2:23:
> רבי פנחס ורבי חלקיה בשם רבי סימון אמרי: כשם שניתנה
>  תורה בלשון הקודש, כך נברא העולם בלשון הקודש,
>  שמעת מימיך אומר גיני גיניא?! אנתרופי אנתרופא?!
> גברא גברתא?! אלא, איש ואשה.
> למה? שהלשון הזה נופל על הלשון הזה
>
> Rabbi Pinhas and Rabbi Hilqiyah said in the name of Rabbi Simon:
> Just as the Torah is written in the Holy Tongue so was the world
> created in the Holy Tongue.  Have you ever heard someone say
> gune gunaya? (Greek woman) anthropos - anthropa? (Greek man)
> gavra - gavrata (Aramaic man)?  Rather, i$ and i$$a (Hebrew man-
> woman).  Why? Because this word is derived from that word.
>
> In other words, because in the main languages in use at the
> time, Aramaic and Greek, the word 'woman' did not derive from
> the word 'man', Hebrew was the only one for which the quote
> to Adam was applicable.
>
> Yitzhak Sapir
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