- Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies
53 Washington Square South, Room 101
New York University
New York, NY 10012
NYU Tel Aviv
36 Bnei Dan
Tel Aviv IL-6226016
Israel
USA - +1 (212) 998-8980
- Interactive Multimedia Software for Foreign Language Education, Proficiency-based Teaching of Hebrew and Arabic, Jewish Religion, History, Society and Culture in the Middle East, Sociolinguistics, Dialectology and Language Variation; Language and Religion, History of Jewish Languages, Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew, and 3 moreArabic Language Use in Israel, Judeo-Arabic Language and Linguistics, and Arabic Linguistics and Dialectologyedit
- Benjamin Hary received his B.A. in Arabic and Hebrew from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1976), and M.A. (1979) ... moreBenjamin Hary received his B.A. in Arabic and Hebrew from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (1976), and M.A. (1979) and Ph.D. (1987) in Near Eastern Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught at Emory from 1987 to 2014. Since 2014 he has been a professor at New York University and the Director of NYU Tel Aviv. Professor Hary’s teaching and research interests include Judeo-Arabic language and linguistics, the Jewish linguistic spectrum, Arabic linguistics and dialectology, corpus linguistics, sociolinguistics, language and religion, practice and ideology in the teaching of Arabic in Israel, and Hebrew and Arabic second language acquisition. He has received a number of teaching awards, including the Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award in 1998 and Emory Institute of International and Comparative Studies International Teaching Award in 2004. In 2010 Hary was appointed the Winship Distinguished Research Professor in the Humanities at Emory University. In 2014 Hary was appointed as a Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at NYU and the Director of NYU Tel Aviv.
His major publications include Multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic (Brill, 1992) and Translating Religion: Linguistic Analysis of Judeo-Arabic Sacred Texts from Egypt (Brill, 2009). His Sacred Texts in Judeo-Arabic: The Tradition of Šarḥ in Egyptian Judeo-Arabic will appear in 2015. He also co-edited with J. Hayes and F. Astren Judaism and Islam—Boundaries, Communication, and Interaction (Brill, 2000), Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew (Tel Aviv, 2003) and (with H. Ben-Shammai) Esoteric and Exoteric Aspects in Judeo- Arabic Culture (Brill, 2006). In addition, he published over thirty articles on Judeo-Arabic, Arabic linguistics, corpus linguistics, and more. Furthermore, his Daily Life in Israel: Listening and Viewing Comprehension (with R. Adler Ben-Yehuda) was published in 2011. Current projects include a wide-ranging examination of Jewish languages as well as the connections between language, nationalism and religion.edit
The Purim Scroll of the Cairene Jewish Community (megillat pūrīm il-miṣriyyīn) was probably composed by the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Cairo, Rabbi Samuel (or Solomon) Sidilio. The Scroll records events following the... more
The Purim Scroll of the Cairene Jewish Community (megillat
pūrīm il-miṣriyyīn) was probably composed by the spiritual leader
of the Jewish community in Cairo, Rabbi Samuel (or Solomon)
Sidilio. The Scroll records events following the deliverance of the
Jews from the tyrannical rule of Ahmad Pasha, self-appointed
governor in Ottoman Egypt in 1524. The community established
the 27th of Adar as a day of fasting and the 28th of Adar as a
festive holiday to be celebrated after the manner of Purim. On
that day the Scroll was read in the local synagogues. There are
two versions of the Scroll among the Cairene Jewish community.
One is more detailed, mentions names of people and places, and
exists in both Hebrew and Egyptian Judaeo-Arabic. The other is
shorter, more general, and has survived only in Hebrew. Both
versions are critically edited using several manuscripts, translated,
and linguistically analyzed in Hary (1992). This chapter exhibits a small paragraph from the scroll in Judeo-Arabic; Arabic transcription; translation into English and a short linguistic analysis.
pūrīm il-miṣriyyīn) was probably composed by the spiritual leader
of the Jewish community in Cairo, Rabbi Samuel (or Solomon)
Sidilio. The Scroll records events following the deliverance of the
Jews from the tyrannical rule of Ahmad Pasha, self-appointed
governor in Ottoman Egypt in 1524. The community established
the 27th of Adar as a day of fasting and the 28th of Adar as a
festive holiday to be celebrated after the manner of Purim. On
that day the Scroll was read in the local synagogues. There are
two versions of the Scroll among the Cairene Jewish community.
One is more detailed, mentions names of people and places, and
exists in both Hebrew and Egyptian Judaeo-Arabic. The other is
shorter, more general, and has survived only in Hebrew. Both
versions are critically edited using several manuscripts, translated,
and linguistically analyzed in Hary (1992). This chapter exhibits a small paragraph from the scroll in Judeo-Arabic; Arabic transcription; translation into English and a short linguistic analysis.
Research Interests:
This chapter discusses the use of language varieties in the Jewish diaspora experience in the framework of sociolinguistic studies. Wherever Jews have lived and either wished to distinguish themselves from their neighbors or were... more
This chapter discusses the use of language varieties in the Jewish diaspora experience in the framework of sociolinguistic studies. Wherever Jews have lived and either wished to distinguish themselves from their neighbors or were encouraged or forced to distinguish themselves, they did so through clothing, food, ritual, and also through language: they have spoken and written somewhat differently from their neighbors around them. Exam ining the Jewish linguistic spectrum through theories of language continuum, distinctive ness, and repertoire allows us to recognize patterns and commonalities across time and a space. Sociocultural and sociolinguistic analysis of Jewish religiolects demonstrates a tight connection between language and religion, while also helping elucidate the ways in which Jews-as well as non-Jews-have crossed religious boundaries.
Research Interests:
Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present Editors: Benjamin Hary and Sarah Bunin Benor In the series: Contributions to the Sociology of Language, De Gruyter Mouton (Berlin), November 2018 Since Joshua Fishman’s seminal work in... more
Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present
Editors: Benjamin Hary and Sarah Bunin Benor
In the series: Contributions to the Sociology of Language, De Gruyter Mouton (Berlin), November 2018
Since Joshua Fishman’s seminal work in the 1980s (e.g., Fishman, Joshua A., ed. 1985. Readings in the Sociology of Jewish Languages. Leiden: Brill), there has been a good deal of research on languages in Jewish communities. This research has mostly been either structural or sociological but not both. Our volume brings together these two research traditions, offering sociological and structural descriptions of languages used in about 20 Diaspora Jewish communities, along with synthesizing descriptive and theoretical articles about the structure and sociology of languages in these and other communities. Using the construct of the continuum of Jewish linguistic distinctiveness, we posit “Jewish languages” as a historical and contemporary phenomenon. With a few exceptions, including Yiddish in Slavic lands and Ladino/Judeo-Spanish/Judezmo in Ottoman lands, Jews have tended to speak variants of the local non-Jewish languages. The distinctiveness of these variants has ranged from minor to major, depending on the degree of Jews’ integration into the surrounding populations, their orientation toward rabbinic texts, and other factors. While much previous research on Jewish languages assumes that the phenomenon essentially ended with modernity, this volume highlights its 21st-century manifestation.
Editors: Benjamin Hary and Sarah Bunin Benor
In the series: Contributions to the Sociology of Language, De Gruyter Mouton (Berlin), November 2018
Since Joshua Fishman’s seminal work in the 1980s (e.g., Fishman, Joshua A., ed. 1985. Readings in the Sociology of Jewish Languages. Leiden: Brill), there has been a good deal of research on languages in Jewish communities. This research has mostly been either structural or sociological but not both. Our volume brings together these two research traditions, offering sociological and structural descriptions of languages used in about 20 Diaspora Jewish communities, along with synthesizing descriptive and theoretical articles about the structure and sociology of languages in these and other communities. Using the construct of the continuum of Jewish linguistic distinctiveness, we posit “Jewish languages” as a historical and contemporary phenomenon. With a few exceptions, including Yiddish in Slavic lands and Ladino/Judeo-Spanish/Judezmo in Ottoman lands, Jews have tended to speak variants of the local non-Jewish languages. The distinctiveness of these variants has ranged from minor to major, depending on the degree of Jews’ integration into the surrounding populations, their orientation toward rabbinic texts, and other factors. While much previous research on Jewish languages assumes that the phenomenon essentially ended with modernity, this volume highlights its 21st-century manifestation.
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The idea for Daily Life in Israel: Listening and Viewing Comprehension came from the authors’ extensive experience as Hebrew educators, teaching all levels of proficiency and realizing the need for authentic materials for use at novice... more
The idea for Daily Life in Israel: Listening and Viewing Comprehension came from the authors’ extensive experience as Hebrew educators, teaching all levels of proficiency and realizing the need for authentic materials for use at novice and intermediate levels. The project is intended for use mostly by novice and intermediate level students; however, advanced level students will benefit from it as well. Daily Life in Israel was created in order to help the student achieve two goals: (1) listening and viewing comprehension and (2) cultural comprehension.
The Teacher Guide and DVD offer activities to help the student develop the skill of listening and viewing comprehension. The varied activities include all the language skills and can be a model for teaching reading comprehension as well.
The authors understand the lack of time teachers have in their (heterogeneous) classes and therefore they include the DVD in the Student Workbook to allow the student to work independently outside of the class. The way activities were designed also helps the student to work independently. Students will use this book for at least 2 semesters.
The authors, Ruth Ben-Yehuda Adler (Brown University) and Benjamin Hary (Emory University) are long time Hebrew teachers and experts of the Hebrew language and language acquisition.
The project is sponsored by the National Middle East Language Resource Center.
To purchase in Israel, contact Hebrew University Magnes Press 052-2679623 (שלומי) or 02-6586659 (אפרת); to purchase abroad, contact Israel Connection at www.myhebrewbooks.com, 310-274-6657 (Steve Berger) or 201-906-8016 (Tamar Black).
The Teacher Guide and DVD offer activities to help the student develop the skill of listening and viewing comprehension. The varied activities include all the language skills and can be a model for teaching reading comprehension as well.
The authors understand the lack of time teachers have in their (heterogeneous) classes and therefore they include the DVD in the Student Workbook to allow the student to work independently outside of the class. The way activities were designed also helps the student to work independently. Students will use this book for at least 2 semesters.
The authors, Ruth Ben-Yehuda Adler (Brown University) and Benjamin Hary (Emory University) are long time Hebrew teachers and experts of the Hebrew language and language acquisition.
The project is sponsored by the National Middle East Language Resource Center.
To purchase in Israel, contact Hebrew University Magnes Press 052-2679623 (שלומי) or 02-6586659 (אפרת); to purchase abroad, contact Israel Connection at www.myhebrewbooks.com, 310-274-6657 (Steve Berger) or 201-906-8016 (Tamar Black).
This volume contains selected, refereed papers from the ninth conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies held at Emory University, Atlanta, in 1999. The title of this volume, Esoteric and Exoteric Aspects in Judeo-Arabic Culture... more
This volume contains selected, refereed papers from the ninth conference of the Society for Judaeo-Arabic Studies held at Emory University, Atlanta, in 1999. The title of this volume, Esoteric and Exoteric Aspects in Judeo-Arabic Culture highlights the theme running through many of the conference papers: the diversity and vitality of Judeo-Arabic culture. The volume represents the interdisciplinary nature of the field. There are articles on Jewish thought, philosophy and mysticism, language and linguistics, religious studies, intellectual and social history, law, biblical exegesis, and more. The book is an important contribution to our understanding of Judeo-Arabic society in the Middle Ages.
This volume is a collection of articles that treat issues in Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew. During the last three decades, much attention has been given to the methodology of Corpus Linguistics. Using this methodology, linguistic... more
This volume is a collection of articles that treat issues in Corpus Linguistics and Modern Hebrew. During the last three decades, much attention has been given to the methodology of Corpus Linguistics. Using this methodology, linguistic description and theorizing is based upon statistical performance measures and the observation of language use in real life. The book contains four parts: linguistics and the corpus, language and society in Israel, the study of spoken Hebrew and toward the compilation of CoSIH, The Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew.
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Several years ago an international conference was held at the University of California to honor Professor William Brinner, whose personal scholarship throughout the years has focused on both the Jewish and Muslim historical, cultural, and... more
Several years ago an international conference was held at the University of California to honor Professor William Brinner, whose personal scholarship throughout the years has focused on both the Jewish and Muslim historical, cultural, and intellectual experiences. This volume, which consists of the works of many of the conference participants, is a collection of essays that deal with the interaction of Judaism and Islam over history from different perspectives.
The book is divided into nine parts: introduction, overview, Jewish-Muslim interaction in medieval times, Jewish-Muslim interaction in modern times, Bible and Qur'ān, law, philosophy and ethics, sectarian communities, and language, linguistics and literature.
As a resolution the Arab-Israeli conflict slowly edges forward, we believe that this publication will serve the purposes of both serious scholarship and better cultural understanding.
The book is divided into nine parts: introduction, overview, Jewish-Muslim interaction in medieval times, Jewish-Muslim interaction in modern times, Bible and Qur'ān, law, philosophy and ethics, sectarian communities, and language, linguistics and literature.
As a resolution the Arab-Israeli conflict slowly edges forward, we believe that this publication will serve the purposes of both serious scholarship and better cultural understanding.
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Translations of Hebrew and Aramaic sacred texts into Jewish languages, religiolects, and varieties have been widespread throughout the Jewish world. This volume is a study of the genre of these translations, known as the šarḥ, into... more
Translations of Hebrew and Aramaic sacred texts into Jewish languages, religiolects, and varieties have been widespread throughout the Jewish world. This volume is a study of the genre of these translations, known as the šarḥ, into Judeo-Arabic in Egypt in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The study places Judeo-Arabic along the Jewish linguistic spectrum, traces its history and offers insights to the spoken variety of Egyptian Judeo-Arabic, which set it apart from other Arabic dialects. The book also provides a linguistic model of the translation of the sacred texts. Rather than viewing the translation as only verbatim, the study traces in great detail the literal/interpretive linguistic tension with which the translators struggled in their work.
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This volume contains a study of multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic in addition to a critical edition, annotated translation, and a cultural and a grammatical study of The Purim Scroll of the Cairene Jewish Community, written in 1524 to... more
This volume contains a study of multiglossia in Judeo-Arabic in addition to a critical edition, annotated translation, and a cultural and a grammatical study of The Purim Scroll of the Cairene Jewish Community, written in 1524 to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews of Cairo from Ahmad Pasha, the governor of Egypt.
'Multiglossia' is a linguistic state in which different varieties of a language exist side by side in a language community and are used under different circumstances or with various functions. 'Judeo-Arabic' has been written and spoken in various forms by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world.
Part One places the language of the Judeo-Arabic text of the Scroll within the multiglossic history of Judeo-Arabic. Part Two introduces the two critical editions of the Scroll, both in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic, with the variant readings followed by an annotated translation. Part Three presents a detailed grammar of the Scroll using the framework of Judeo-Arabic multiglossia.
'Multiglossia' is a linguistic state in which different varieties of a language exist side by side in a language community and are used under different circumstances or with various functions. 'Judeo-Arabic' has been written and spoken in various forms by Jews throughout the Arabic-speaking world.
Part One places the language of the Judeo-Arabic text of the Scroll within the multiglossic history of Judeo-Arabic. Part Two introduces the two critical editions of the Scroll, both in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic, with the variant readings followed by an annotated translation. Part Three presents a detailed grammar of the Scroll using the framework of Judeo-Arabic multiglossia.
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This chapter begins with a general inquiry into the translation of sacred religious texts into Jewish religiolects. It considers the perceived sanctity of the translated texts and demonstrates how translators dealt with the constant... more
This chapter begins with a general inquiry into the translation of sacred religious texts into Jewish religiolects. It considers the perceived sanctity of the translated texts and demonstrates how translators dealt with the constant linguistic tension between their desire to provide as literal a translation of the original sacred text as possible, and the need to make this translation from Hebrew or Aramaic fit the linguistic parameters of the target religiolect so that the reader could comprehend the texts. The chapter traces the evolution of this genre, called sarḥ in Judeo-Arabic. It offers a linguistic model for the analysis of the translations of sacred texts, based on scanning the text in descending units of grammatical structure. The chapter concludes with a description of two mechanisms which translators/interpreters, called sarḥanim in Judeo-Arabic, used when performing translations of sacred texts.Keywords: sarḥ; sarḥanim; Arabic linguistic structure; Jewish religiolects; Judeo-Arabic; sacred texts
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This chapter analyzes the surūḥ of Genesis, Esther, and the Passover Haggadah. It scans selected examples through the morphosyntactic level. The use of the particle /lam/ to negate the perfect in the sarḥ is a verbatim translation that... more
This chapter analyzes the surūḥ of Genesis, Esther, and the Passover Haggadah. It scans selected examples through the morphosyntactic level. The use of the particle /lam/ to negate the perfect in the sarḥ is a verbatim translation that imitates the Hebrew original in its use of the negation particle and the following tense/aspect. In Later Egyptian Judeo-Arabic in general, and in the texts of the surūḥ in particular, the negation particle /lam/ appears, not infrequently, preceded by a perfect verb. At times the sarḥan used spoken Judeo-Arabic prepositions in a probable attempt to translate interpretively. At other times the sarḥan selected a nonequivalent Judeo- Arabic preposition to translate the Hebrew original, also in an interpretive attempt.Keywords: sarḥ; sarḥan; surūḥ; Esther; Genesis; Hebrew; Judeo- Arabic preposition; morphosyntactic level; Passover Haggadah
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This chapter introduces the methodological considerations for reconstructing the spoken Judeo-Arabic variety used by Egyptian Jews, as extracted from the texts of the surūḥ. It examines the various linguistic levels in the texts, and... more
This chapter introduces the methodological considerations for reconstructing the spoken Judeo-Arabic variety used by Egyptian Jews, as extracted from the texts of the surūḥ. It examines the various linguistic levels in the texts, and emphasizes the connection between the orthography and phonetics/ phonology, including its limitations. The chapter points out similar orthographical trends in today's published modern Egyptian dialect. It analyzes selected characteristics of dialectal features of spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic in phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, and the lexicon. The chapter summarizes the characteristics of spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic, as reflected in the texts of the surūḥ, that set it apart from spoken Egyptian Arabic used by Christians and Muslims. As is common in other Jewish religiolects, many of the dialectal characteristics of Egyptian Judeo-Arabic incorporate Hebrew and Aramaic elements and are archaic forms of the majority dialect; some of them reflect migrated dialectalism.Keywords: sarḥ texts; Egyptian Jews; Jewish religiolects; orthography; spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic
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This chapter explores Judeo-Arabic within the framework of other Jewish religiolects. It reviews the history of this religiolect and analyzes its structure in some detail. Then, the chapter discusses the language continuum employed by... more
This chapter explores Judeo-Arabic within the framework of other Jewish religiolects. It reviews the history of this religiolect and analyzes its structure in some detail. Then, the chapter discusses the language continuum employed by users of Judeo-Arabic and traces its diachronic evolution. It also tackles some terminological issues, especially with respect to the denotation of Arabic-speaking Jews. This is followed by a discussion on state of Judeo-Arabic today. The Judeo-Arabic religiolect today is endangered and close to becoming extinct. The extensive emigration of Arabic-speaking Jews from the late 1940s through the 1960s is the main reason for this situation. Today there are still sizeable Jewish communities in Tunisia and in Morocco. The population of Judeo-Arabic speakers is aging, so that Judeo-Arabic's use as a native religiolect will likely disappear in the near future. Consequently, there is an urgent need to encourage research on Judeo-Arabic.Keywords: Jewish linguistic spectrum; Jewish religiolects; Judeo-Arabic speakers; Morocco
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This chapter examines the use of pseudocorrections in Judeo-Arabic in general and in the Egyptian surūḥ in particular. It demonstrates how both hypercorrections and hypocorrections, which are two different types of pseudocorrections, are... more
This chapter examines the use of pseudocorrections in Judeo-Arabic in general and in the Egyptian surūḥ in particular. It demonstrates how both hypercorrections and hypocorrections, which are two different types of pseudocorrections, are used in the texts. The chapter discusses the implications of the standardization of pseudocorrections in Egyptian Judeo-Arabic for both the literary and the spoken varieties. A theoretical model is developed for the use of Hebrew and Aramaic components in Jewish religiolects in general and in Judeo-Arabic in particular. Using Uriel Weinreich's work on languages in contact, this model demonstrates how components are transferred to Judeo-Arabic from two different directions, supplying the reasons for each direction and giving examples for each direction from the various Egyptian surūḥ. The chapter concludes with a discussion on Hebrew and Aramaic lexical items employed in the Egyptian surūḥ.Keywords: sarḥ tradition; Aramaic lexical items; Egyptian surūḥ; Jewish religiolects; Judeo-Arabic; pseudocorrections; Uriel Weinreich
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Page 1. TRANSLATING RELIGION LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF JUDEO ARABIC SACRED TEXTS FROM EGYPT PFXJAMIN H. HARY Page 2. Translating Religion Page 3. Études sur le Judaïsme Médiéval Fondées par Georges Vajda Dirigées par Paul B. Fenton TOME... more
Page 1. TRANSLATING RELIGION LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF JUDEO ARABIC SACRED TEXTS FROM EGYPT PFXJAMIN H. HARY Page 2. Translating Religion Page 3. Études sur le Judaïsme Médiéval Fondées par Georges Vajda Dirigées par Paul B. Fenton TOME XXXVIII ...
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Several years ago an international conference was held at the University of California to honor Professor William Brinner, whose personal scholarship throughout the years has focused on both the Jewish and Muslim historical, cultural, and... more
Several years ago an international conference was held at the University of California to honor Professor William Brinner, whose personal scholarship throughout the years has focused on both the Jewish and Muslim historical, cultural, and intellectual experiences. This volume, ...
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This chapter examines the use of pseudocorrections in Judeo-Arabic in general and in the Egyptian surūḥ in particular. It demonstrates how both hypercorrections and hypocorrections, which are two different types of pseudocorrections, are... more
This chapter examines the use of pseudocorrections in Judeo-Arabic in general and in the Egyptian surūḥ in particular. It demonstrates how both hypercorrections and hypocorrections, which are two different types of pseudocorrections, are used in the texts. The chapter discusses the implications of the standardization of pseudocorrections in Egyptian Judeo-Arabic for both the literary and the spoken varieties. A theoretical model is developed for the use of Hebrew and Aramaic components in Jewish religiolects in general and in Judeo-Arabic in particular. Using Uriel Weinreich's work on languages in contact, this model demonstrates how components are transferred to Judeo-Arabic from two different directions, supplying the reasons for each direction and giving examples for each direction from the various Egyptian surūḥ. The chapter concludes with a discussion on Hebrew and Aramaic lexical items employed in the Egyptian surūḥ.Keywords: sarḥ tradition; Aramaic lexical items; Egyptian surūḥ; Jewish religiolects; Judeo-Arabic; pseudocorrections; Uriel Weinreich
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This chapter discusses the use of language varieties in the Jewish diaspora experience in the framework of sociolinguistic studies. Wherever Jews have lived and either wished to distinguish themselves from their neighbors or were... more
This chapter discusses the use of language varieties in the Jewish diaspora experience in the framework of sociolinguistic studies. Wherever Jews have lived and either wished to distinguish themselves from their neighbors or were encouraged or forced to distinguish themselves, they did so through clothing, food, ritual, and also through language: they have spoken and written somewhat differently from their neighbors around them. Examining the Jewish linguistic spectrum through theories of language continuum, distinctiveness, and repertoire allows us to recognize patterns and commonalities across time and a space. Sociocultural and sociolinguistic analysis of Jewish religiolects demonstrates a tight connection between language and religion, while also helping elucidate the ways in which Jews—as well as non-Jews—have crossed religious boundaries.
Research Interests:
In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this... more
In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this type of analysis is important.
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Research Interests: Philosophy and Arabic
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This chapter deals with the linguistic model of the surūḥ, and provides examples of how the sarḥanim translated their sacred texts using translation Mechanisms A and B. It discusses methodological considerations concerning the... more
This chapter deals with the linguistic model of the surūḥ, and provides examples of how the sarḥanim translated their sacred texts using translation Mechanisms A and B. It discusses methodological considerations concerning the organization of the examples and demonstrates the dynamic literal/interpretive linguistic tension that characterizes the translations. The chapter explains how calque translations were incorporated into the surūḥ. The detailed analysis presented here highlights the understanding that the sarḥ created its own Judeo-Arabic grammar and structure. The chapter provides examples that illustrate the complex analysis of understanding the sarḥan's work by using the method of scanning tfrom head to toet. It also presents several examples that can be analyzed on different levels (phrase, word, morphosyntax, and segment) and thereby produce different analytical results. The organization of the examples according to different categories facilitates the examination of the literal/interpretive linguistic tension as well as the translation mechanisms (A and B).Keywords: sarḥanim; Judeo-Arabic grammar; linguistic model of surūḥ; sacred texts; translation mechanisms
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This chapter investigates the spectrum of Jewish linguistic usage in historical and sociolinguistic terms. First, it examines how sociolinguistics and history have inquired into when, how, and why Jews have written and spoken differently... more
This chapter investigates the spectrum of Jewish linguistic usage in historical and sociolinguistic terms. First, it examines how sociolinguistics and history have inquired into when, how, and why Jews have written and spoken differently from their neighbors. Next, the chapter tracks the emergence and development of "Jewish languages." It then talks about instances where Christians and Muslims have adopted Jewish linguistic usages, leading to a proposal for some modifications in the accepted terminology. The chapter maps the prototype of a Jewish language and lists the various Jewish languages mentioned in the literature. It provides definitions for several terms that include: Jewish-defined language, majority language, (language) variety, linguistic intelligibility, religiolect, and castelect. Three Jewish religiolects hold a special place in Jewish culture, because they have been used both over a wide geographical area and for a long period of time: Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Spanish, and Yiddish.Keywords: Christians; Jewish languages; Jewish linguistic spectrum; Jewish religiolects; Judeo-Arabic; Muslims; sociolinguistics; Yiddish
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This chapter analyzes the surūḥ of Genesis, Esther, and the Passover Haggadah, scanning selected examples through the segmental level. It emphasizes Judeo-Arabic orthography and phonetics/phonology and the connection between them.... more
This chapter analyzes the surūḥ of Genesis, Esther, and the Passover Haggadah, scanning selected examples through the segmental level. It emphasizes Judeo-Arabic orthography and phonetics/phonology and the connection between them. Judeo-Arabic orthography ought to be considered cautiously when reconstructing phonetic and phonological structure. When the orthography, however, is supported by additional evidence, phonetic and phonological features can be established with greater certainty. Many of the examples presented here are connected to the Hebraized orthography, where Hebrew influenced Judeo-Arabic orthography in the late periods of the religiolect. The Hebrew influence on the orthography reflects a tendency toward literal translation, because the Judeo-Arabic Hebraized orthography is closely associated with the Hebrew sacred texts. The features discussed here also connected to spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic elements.Keywords: surūḥ; Esther; Genesis; Hebrew sacred texts; Judeo-Arabic orthography; Passover Haggadah; phonetics; segmental level
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PART ONE - JUDEO-ARABIC: THE LANGUAGE OF ARABIC-SPEAKING JEWS 1. The Jewish Linguistic Spectrum 2. Judeo-Arabic within the Jewish Linguistic 3. The Translation of Sacred Texts into Judeo-Arabic (the sarh) 4. Spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic:... more
PART ONE - JUDEO-ARABIC: THE LANGUAGE OF ARABIC-SPEAKING JEWS 1. The Jewish Linguistic Spectrum 2. Judeo-Arabic within the Jewish Linguistic 3. The Translation of Sacred Texts into Judeo-Arabic (the sarh) 4. Spoken Egyptian Judeo-Arabic: The Evidence from the sarh Texts 5. Additional Linguistic Issues of the sarh Tradition PART II - A LINGUISTIC MODEL OF THE JUDEO-ARABIC TRANSLATIONS OF SACRED TEXTS 6. Applying the Model 7. The Phrase and the Word Levels 8. The Morphosyntactic Level 9. The Segment Level
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EJ410436 - Middle Arabic: Proposals for New Terminology.
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In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this... more
In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this type of analysis is important.
Research Interests:
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In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities, building on Birnbaum’s, Weinreich’s, Gold’s, and others’ suggestions, on the relatively small amount of comparative research that... more
In this chapter, we present a research agenda for the comparative linguistic study of Jewish communities,
building on Birnbaum’s, Weinreich’s, Gold’s, and others’ suggestions, on the relatively small amount of comparative research that has been done, and on the language descriptions in this book. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this type of analysis is important.
building on Birnbaum’s, Weinreich’s, Gold’s, and others’ suggestions, on the relatively small amount of comparative research that has been done, and on the language descriptions in this book. We survey past scholarship, discuss preliminaries for comparative study, propose some research questions, and offer reasons why this type of analysis is important.
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This paper offers a research agenda for Jewish linguistic studies for the next decade or two. It especially emphasizes sociolinguistic correlations; the research on Hebrew/Aramaic components in Jewish language varieties, as well as... more
This paper offers a research agenda for Jewish linguistic studies for the next decade or two. It especially emphasizes sociolinguistic correlations; the research on Hebrew/Aramaic components in Jewish language varieties, as well as ideology, perceptions, and status.
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This is a historical, sociolinguistic and linguistic description of Judeo-Arabic, the language of Jews in the Arabic-speaking world.
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"A cultural critique of the phenomenon of sacred text translation, centering on the enormous global Bible translation project, but also including comparative references to the Qur’an, and to sacred texts of religions other than Judaism,... more
"A cultural critique of the phenomenon of sacred text translation, centering on the enormous global Bible translation project, but also including comparative references to the Qur’an, and to sacred texts of religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This is framed by a general discussion of the triangular relationship of language, religion, and nationalism.
Research Interests:
Abstract: This paper describes the initial design of the Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew (CoSIH). CoSIH will attempt to include a representation of most varieties of spoken Hebrew as it is used in Israel today. CoSIH is designed to... more
Abstract: This paper describes the initial design of the Corpus of Spoken Israeli Hebrew (CoSIH). CoSIH will attempt to include a representation of most varieties of spoken Hebrew as it is used in Israel today. CoSIH is designed to consist of two complementary corpora: a ...