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  • From: Uri Hurwitz <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Daniel 12:13
  • Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 14:51:21 -0700 (PDT)


Hello Will,

You're right about the original meaning of the English terms "nunation"
and "mimation", but Yigal used the first in a broader, different sense.

Let's see what he will say.

Uri Hurwitz




Hello Yigal,

On Sat, 29 Jun 2013 22:02:40 +0300, Yigal Levin <Yigal.Levin at biu.ac.il>
wrote:
> "Nunation", using a nun for the plural instead of mem, is a well-know
> phenomenon of Mishnaic Hebrew, apparently due to Aramaic influence. As Ken
> mentioned below, it is also well-known in the DSS. It was fairly standard in
> the Hebrew of the Second Temple period and later. Even in the Iron Age, it
> appeared in Moabite and Ammonite. Not surprising to find it in Daniel,
> considering the fairly late date of its composition, and the fact that the
> writer was obviously bi-lingual.

I would agree that the phenomenon is due to Aramaic influence, but I
hesitate at your usage of the term "nunation" to describe it. As I
understand it, "nunation" and "mimation" refer to the use of /n/ or
/m/ in inflexional singular case endings (already dropped in Biblical
Hebrew). If my understanding is incorrect, feel free to correct me!

--
Will Parsons





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