Biblical Hebrew Forum

[fred burlingame <tensorpath AT gmail.com>]

Hello Yigal:

Thanks for your informative comments.

I selected 882 b.c., as a random number in the middle of the first temple
period.

Your interesting remarks seem to confirm that the Israel region in 882 b.c.,
enjoyed a continuum of dialects, just like the egyptian region of 1982 a.d.
In the former case, it appears that biblical hebrew language eased into
moabite language in the east; and eased into aramaic language in the north.
What about gaza or canaan language in the west?

I would also contrast (for clarification) the situation in israel 882 b.c.,
with arizona in 1982 a.d. In arizona, the navajo language does not ease into
any of the surrounding european languages. A chasm wide and broad separates
the two sets of languages. An english or spanish speaker encountering navajo
language falls off a figurative cliff of comprehension.That the hebrew
language of 882 b.c., was not unique to the israel region (unlike navajo
language in arizona 1982 a.d,) seems very significant.

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

regards,

fred burlingame




On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 10:01 PM, Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il> wrote:

>  Fred,
>
> We have enough inscriptions to show that the written language of an area
> stretching from the Galilee to the Sinai in the Iron Age was close enough
> to
> the language of the Bible to be considered "Hebrew". There are enough
> differences between that language and Aramaic or Phoenician to show that
> those were separate languages. Many of the said inscriptions are of types
> (graffiti, non-royal tombs) that would indicate that this was also the
> language spoken by the common people, although as in all languages, there
> were probably differences between the spoken and written languages. However
> the same inscriptions also show that: a: there were dialectical differences
> between regions (Samaria vs. Judah vs. Moab etc.); b: the language also
> developed over time.
> So yes, various dialects of "Hebrew" were commonly spoken throughout Israel
> and Judah around 882 BCE (why that year?), but the specific dialect that
> the
> pre-exilic books of the Bible were written in is most similar to what was
> spoken in Judah towards the end of that period.
>
> Yigal Levin
>
> Ps. As you know, the line between "dialect" and "separate language" is
> often
> hard to define, and often depends not on any objective linguistic criteria
> but on how the users of the language see themselves. So while I might
> include Moabite as a dialect of Hebrew, I would not be surprised if neither
> the Moabites or the Israelites saw it that way.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:b-hebrew-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of fred burlingame
> Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 4:51 AM
> To: Uzi Silber
> Cc: B-Hebrew
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] continuum of dialects
>
> Hello Uzi;
>
> the entire question is not whether hebrew was spoken, but what was the
> prevalence of the language in the region in 882 b.c., ... approximately ...
>
> a. 1 percent of the population;
>
> b. 10 percent of the population;
>
> c. 100 percent of the population?
>
> or to put it another way; what was the language of the gov't; of the
> priests; of the aristocracy; of the peasants on the street; of the middle
> class; .... of lord & master to the servant in the home?
>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
>
>
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