Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello Yigal:

You make some good points.

1. I stand corrected about מלל .

2. But let's move to the next relevant word in numbers 36:1:

a. hebrew: הנשאים ; and

b. aramaic: רברביא .

I can anticipate your response that hebrew enjoys a similar root word to the
above aramaic word. I would observe however, that we are not describing a
person reading and examining the written text, slowly at 0.5 miles per hour.
Rather we are talking about a person on the street or in synagogue hearing
the words stream together at 35 miles per hour. That difference presents a
distinction in my humble opinion, especially when all the nuanced
differences in words and verb conjugation (however, similar they may appear
in print or on reflection) become considered. I just don't see a person
fluent in hebrew capturing spoken (versus written) aramaic.

3. I can understand how continuing research may invalidate older texts of
history. But has time and research invalidated this author's monumental
work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Empire

I don't think so. And likewise, the writings of Moses Segal and Meyer Waxman
enjoy a lot of continuing vitality today, despite the passage of time and
the discovery of new facts, such as dead sea scrolls.

regards,

fred burlingame

On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 11:02 AM, Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>wrote:

> Fred, you're doing what Jack did earlier. In this case, quoting a history
> written in the 1940's as if it is the last word on the history of the Hebrew
> language. As far as your example below, the root MLL meaning "to speak" is
> not uncommon in Hebrew. For example, Gen. 21:7, Ps. 106:2. It is actually
> the source of the very common noun Millah, meaning "word". So that anyone
> fluent in Hebrew would have no problem with that particular Aramaic word.
>
> Yigal Levin
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:
> b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of fred burlingame
> Sent: Wednesday, December 29, 2010 6:05 PM
> To: Paul Zellmer
> Cc: Hebrew
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] FYI: Aramaic study
>
> Hello Paul:
>
> I call your attention, by way of example, and not limitation, ... to two
> corresponding words; one in hebrew and one in aramaic in the verse in
> question, numbers 36:1.
>
> a. the hebrew: וידברו ; and
>
> b. the aramaic: ומלילו
>
> The pronunciation of these two words resemble one another, not. The fluent
> hebrew speaker, who cannot speak aramaic, will experience zero
> comprehension
> of the aramaic vocalized here.
>
> And I also observe that some people aside from fred, do disagree with Jack
> as to the usage of aramaic in judah in 10 a.d. This author of
> jewish history contends hebrew, not aramaic, represented lingua franca on
> the streets of judah at that time. see page 681 of the link.
>
>
> http://books.google.com/books?id=JlqjTTlHMjoC&pg=PA680&lpg=PA680&dq=moses+segal+language+of+ordinary+life&source=bl&ots=sAkoz7n9-6&sig=3kIAl5ynFWiduR0FVIsZfDuwjjk&hl=en&ei=40IbTa2HIIL_8Abjn7CzDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=moses%20segal%20language%20of%20ordinary%20life&f=false
>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
>
>
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