Dialects The-Linguistic-Mohicans-1.283774

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS Volume 1 A–F

General Editor Geoffrey Khan

Associate Editors Shmuel Bolokzy Steven E. Fassberg Gary A. Rendsburg Aaron D. Rubin Ora R. Schwarzwald Tamar Zewi

Volume One

Introduction ...... vii List of Contributors ...... ix Transcription Tables ...... xiii Articles A-F ...... 1

Volume Two

Transcription Tables ...... vii Articles G-O ...... 1

Volume Three

Transcription Tables ...... vii Articles P-Z ...... 1

Volume Four

Transcription Tables ...... vii Index ...... 1

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3 diaspora, modern hebrew in 717 References nunciation closely, that is, by saying matayim, Agmon-Fruchtman, Maya. 1982. A question of Jerusalemites of a certain age are inclined to determination: Determinative and delimitative cat- realize the word as ma atayim or maatayim. egories in Israeli Hebrew. Tel-Aviv: Papyrus. ± Borer, Hagit. 2005. Structuring sense, volume 1: In name only. Oxford: Oxford University Press. References Shlonsky, Ur. 2004. “The form of Semitic noun Bar-Adon, Aharon. 1975. The rise and decline of a phrases”. Lingua 114:1465–1526. dialect: a study in the revival of Modern Hebrew. The Hague: Mouton. Gabi Danon Bar-Asher, Moshe. 2010. “On the multiple facets (Bar-Ilan University) of contemporary Hebrew” (in Hebrew). Ha-≠Ivrit (formerly Lłšonénu la-≠Am) 58:3–26. Ilani, Ofri. 2010. “Last of the linguistic Mohicans”. Haaretz (English edition), 1 April 2010. http:// Dialects www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/last-of- the-linguistic-mohicans-1.283774. For regional dialects of ancient Hebrew, with a Schwarzwald (Rodrigue), Ora. 2002. “Language focus on the division between Judahite Hebrew varieties in contemporary Hebrew” (in Hebrew). Te≠uda 18:141–175. (in the south) and Israelian Hebrew (in the north), Biblical Hebrew: Dialects and Lin- Gary A. Rendsburg guistic Variation. For Hebrew as a dialect of (Rutgers University) Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald ancient Canaanite (with Phoenician, Moabite, (Bar-Ilan University) Ammonite, and Edomite as the other main dialects), Canaanite and Hebrew; Phoenician/ Punic and Hebrew; Amarna Canaanite and Hebrew; Ammonite and Hebrew; Edomite and Diaspora, Modern Hebrew in Hebrew; Moabite and Hebrew. For written and spoken registers of ancient A prevailing conception of many years’ stand- Hebrew during both the biblical and rabbinic ing has been that the Hebrew language was periods, Diglossia. part of the identity and culture of Diaspora For other varieties of ancient Hebrew, Jews, a medium that served to connect Jews to Epigraphic Hebrew; Dead Sea Scrolls: Lin- each other, to their heritage, and to the State guistic Features; Samaritan Hebrew: Biblical. of Israel. Today, however, educators, Hebrew For dialectal diversity within the Biblical Maso- teachers, and communal leaders sense that the retic Text, Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Back- status of Hebrew in Diaspora communities is ground of Masoretic Text. For the various in decline; this feeling is supported by research pronunciation traditions of Biblical Hebrew, (Zisenwein 1997; Bekerman 1999; Schiff 1999; many of which reﬂect differences that derive Shohamy 1999; Mintz 2002; Wohl 2005). Dif- from an earlier dialectal diversity, Bibli- ferent Jewish groups relate to Hebrew as a cal Hebrew: Pronunciation Traditions, and the symbol of Jewish identity or as a language various entries on regional pronunciations and of culture, and there is little commitment to on transcriptions. teaching Hebrew as a spoken language. Spol- During the modern revival of Hebrew as a sky (2009:155) speculates on whether Modern spoken language, a speciﬁc Galilean dialect Hebrew will follow in the footsteps of Jewish developed, though it never gained widespread languages such as Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, and usage and is now essentially defunct (Bar-Adon Judeo-Greek, which have become no more than 1975; Ilani 2010; Galilean Dialect). an object of study for language scholars. Generally speaking, Modern Hebrew lacks Several reasons have been adduced for dialects, though there are sociolects, ethnolects, the current state of Hebrew in the Diaspora. religiolects, and many other varieties of the lan- According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, the guage (Schwarzwald 2002; Bar-Asher 2010; main causes are the following: the decline in Modern Hebrew: Language Varieties). The best the number of Jews worldwide; the weakening known local marker is the special pronuncia- hold of the Zionist ideology and the attenua- two hundred’ among tion of Israel Diaspora relations; a leadership‘ ָמ ַאת ִים tion of the word (at least older) residents of Jerusalem. While crisis in coping with these trends; and a weak- most Israelis approximate the Masoretic pro- ening of the hegemony of Hebrew in Israel, © 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3