Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

I think the answer has to start with the way the question was phrased
-- what was the motivation for vocalizing the consonantal text.  Inherent
in this question is the assumption that the consonantal text existed
independently of the vocalization.  However, every scribe writing a text
has some intended vocalization in mind.  When the book of the Law
was found by the builders of Josiah, it was read by Shaphan and acquired
an official status.  From then on, there was only one official way to read
and understand the book.  This was taught by Shaphan to his successor,
and so started a tradition of reading the text.  Any text, from the time
that it is canonized as Holy Writ, has an intended reading associated with
it.  This reading is just as part of the Holy Writ as the text itself.  This 
has
nothing to do with how well people knew the language.  The Quran has
a vocalization associated with it, even though Arabic did not die out.

Ishinan suggested here that the vocalization developed under Arabic
influence.  Shlomo Morag's article on Niqqud in the Encyclopedia Miqrait
has a long discussion of the development of the Niqqud system.  While
he dates the development of the separate systems to after the 7th
century CE he notes that there is no clear sign of Arabic influence.  In
contrast, he states that the Niqqud system has a clear relationship
to the Syriac vocalization system.

Randall suggested that Punic disappeared.  Languages tend to
disappear sometime when the peoples who speak them are not
seen by others.  Regarding the survival of Punic, there is an interesting
blog post here -
http://lughat.blogspot.com/2007/07/chenanith-blibya-in-11th-century-ad.html

The standard accepted date in scholarship for the survival of Mishnaic
Hebrew is the 2nd century CE.  This stands in contrast to clear statements
in the Talmud regarding the survival of Hebrew in the 4th century CE.
There is even one statement dating to the 10th century regarding the
survival of Hebrew in the markets of Tiberias.  I think there is a tendency
to see a single line of development whereby Aramaic replaced Hebrew,
without trying to see a more complex model whereby some classes
and towns began speaking Aramaic while others continued speaking
Hebrew.  While it is true that the Talmud was composed in Aramaic,
the Piyyut which began in the 5th century CE was composed in Hebrew.
Some forms of Piyyut were intended to be interleaved into the prayers.
These augmentations to the prayer suggest to me that the public
in Israel understood Hebrew.  The Paytanic language has elements
that include Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew, but also developments --
for example, verbs I-y, I-n, and III-h are conjugated as II-w verbs:
y(cw -> (cw.  In my opinion, such linguistic developments suggest
that a spoken language containing these developments existed in
the background, because this is essentially a linguistic analogy and
the process by which these morphological analogies develop requires
that the language be a living spoken language.

Since the Seder is tonight, I think it might be fitting to mention in
context that at the end of the Seder, we find Az Rov Nisim by Yanai
and Omets Gavurotekha by R' Eleazar Kalir, two of the earliest
Paytanim from the land of Israel.

>From Yanai's poem for the Passover day:
וכאשר פסח, כן עלינו יפסח // וכאשר שוררנו שיר, עוד כן נשיר
גאולה ראשונה היתה בחיפזון // גאולה אחרונה לא בחיפזון
כי אם בנחת ובהשקט ובבטח תושיענו

אום שלישיה / בן אבות שלשה // על שלוש מצוות / ניפדו בזה חג המצות
ביאור שמם לא שינו / ולשונם לא שינו / וסודם לא גילו / עבור כן נגאלו

"... The first redemption (from Egypt) was in hurry, the last
redemption not in hurry, but in comfort and quiet and safety
you will save us ... The nation of three (castes), of three
forefathers, were redeemed for three commandments:
they didn't change their name, and they didn't change
their tongue ... hence they were redeemed."

Yitzhak Sapir