Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Kevin Riley <klriley AT alphalink.com.au>]

While undoubtedly a little out of date now, you may find a persual of 
"Dialect Geography of Syria Palestine 1000-586 BCE" by W Randall Garr 
would answer some of your questions.  While it may not be available in 
your local library, it should be available through inter-library loan.  
Or, if you're really interested in the subject, Amazon has one copy 
available for $47.50.

Kevin Riley

On 4/01/2011 3:45 PM, fred burlingame wrote:
> 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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> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
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