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Appendix: Transcription, Transliteration and Translation Appendix: Transcription, Transliteration and Translation I. GENERAL x = phonetic transcription (sometimes transliteration, see below) a major stress a secondary stress [X] transcription according to the International Phonetic Alphabet Ixl phonemic transcription a = syllable *x x is an undocumented form {X} x is a morpheme ylabc - abc is a root Dealing with Hebrew or Israeli noun/verb/adjective patterns, I use ODD for the radicals rather than 123, V?// or Vfa/. Thus, miODaOstands for the Hebrew noun-pattern miqfil, currently pronounced miktdl. The Hebrew term for noun-pattern (and adjective-pattern) is *?pWB, I mishkal, whilst the Hebrew term for verb-pattern is 1^3,1 binydn. However, I use noun-pattern and verb-pattern respectively. In this book lexeme = lexical item = the unit conventionally listed in dictionaries as a separate entry, i.e. as a headword (cf. Lyons 1977: Chapter 1, Matthews 1974: Chapter 2, Crystal 1997). I sometimes prefer 'lexeme' to the more modern 'lexical item' because it emphasizes the dichotomy between lexeme and sememe. In this book sememe = the unit conventionally listed in dictionaries as a separate definition of an entry, a (sub)sense. It is sometimes called semanteme. One lexeme (entry) might have several sememes. This use is similar to the one in European versions of 'componential analysis', and should be distinguished from Bloomfield's use, since for him a sememe is the meaning of a morpheme, cf. Bloomfield (1935: 162) and Matthews (1997: 335-6). II. PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION Unless stated otherwise, I use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). II.1 Israeli As this book may be of interest to linguists who are not familiar with Oriental Transcription, it uses - along with the Hebrew orthography - the most user-friendly Anglicized form of transcription: sh rather than [f] or s; kh and not [x] or ch/x/h/h/b/k\ ts and not [5] or tz/c\ zh and not [3] or i, ch and not [tj] or 6/tsh. To prevent confusion with other transcription forms I use dzh rather thany (for IPA [%]). For the convenience 260 Appendix 261 of the reader, stress is indicated although it is not represented in Israeli orthography. I use the acute stress system: /, 4, a, 6, u. Importantly, the transcription adopted here matches the one used for Yiddish (see §11.3). My transcription is very descriptive: I transcribe the Israeli word as it is pronounced by the majority of (young) native Israeli-speakers today. For example, y (I) and K (/) are generally not represented because they are not usually pronounced. They are only represented (both as ') when in a post-consonantal position within uncommon words9 in which case they are pronounced. Compare the frequently used IrHOJ nira [ni'ifa] 'seemed (m, sg)' (where the glottal stop is not pronounced) to the rare *?Kwn tish 'el [tij'?el] 'interrogated, questioned (m, sg)' (where the glottal stop is pronounced). The consonant' (y) is usually not represented unless it is pronounced, cf. khaim rather than khayim (D"n). That said, n (h) is represented in every location although in reality it is hardly pronounced (it is pronounced only in the case of uncommon words, and by some speakers at the beginning of phrases). In special cases, when the exact pronunciation is needed, IP A is used. Using IP A, the Israeli unique uvular approximant - transcribed in this book as r - is transcribed as [K] although it is pronounced by most native Israeli-speakers born in Israel [K], which is much 'softer' than Ar. fc [K] (as in Ar. *> |>azza] 'Gaza') and different from the French uvular trill [R]. However, some native Israeli-speakers pronounce r as the voiced alveolar trill [r]. In the case of Israeli names, titles, sentences, and meta-language expressions: 1. If their English parallel is given in the book source or if they have a common transcription, I usually adopt it. This is also the reason for the apparent inconsistency in the transcriptions of the Israeli publisher name HDO nnp: Kiryath Sepher (Kutscher 1965), Kiryat-Sefer (Even-Shoshan's 1997 hamilon hekhaddsh - hamahadura hameshulivet). I simply employ the transcription which appears in each book. Similarly, I do not Britishize American forms. 2. Otherwise, I use a user-friendly Anglicized form of transcription (see above). 11.2 Hebrew In addition to providing the Hebrew orthography, I use the IPA modified according to the following traditional Hebrew transcriptions: [b], [k], and [p] represent spirantized [b], [k] and [p], i.e. IPA [bh], [kh] and [pb]; cf. [fl], [xfand [$], and Israeli [v], [x] and [f] respectively. The signs [?] and [fl transcribe the pharyngealized Semitic sounds that correspond to IPA [sv] and [t9]. Using IPA for Hebrew - as opposed to the user-friendly Anglicized transcription used for Israeli - helps the reader differentiate easily between Hebrew, the ancient language, no longer spoken, and Israeli, a modern, spoken tongue. My transcription of Biblical Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, and the medieval versions of Hebrew represents in detail the Hebrew vocalization ('vowel marking', cf. OEHD's 'pointing', a caique of 17ip3 nihid, see OEHD: ix, xxiii) even though this traditional Tiberian vocalization (as well as the other forms of Hebrew vocalization such as the superscribed Babylonian and Palestinian) is post-rabbinic, having been introduced between AD 600-850. The following are the signs used (with their names in Israeli): 262 Appendix shvd (Schwa) i khirik T khirikmale e tseri (some prefer 5), long/tense 6 segol (some prefer e) g khatdf segol a patdkh khatdfpatdkh & -i a T kamats (some prefer a, others o) £ Tl khatdf kamdts o kamats katan 0 kholam 0 1 kholdm mate u kubuts a shuruk By and large, these forms are endorsed by Khan's description of Hebrew vowels (1997: 91-9), which may not fully adhere to the classical conventions. In Ashkenazic and Maskilic Hebrew, the stress is different from earlier forms; note also that H [0] and [e] become MasH/AshH oy and ey respectively. For a detailed analysis of the phonology of Ashkenazic Hebrew, see Katz (1993b). 11.3 Yiddish Besides the Hebrew orthography of Yiddish lexical items, I provide a phonetic transcription for them. I use 9 (though not in the bibliographical references, where eli is used instead), as well as syllabic n (as n) and syllabic / (as /). However, I use o for [o], and e for [e]. As in the case of Israeli, the most user-friendly Anglicized form of transcription is employed: sh rather than [f] or S; kh and not [x] or ch/x/h/M& ts and not [S] or tz/c\ zh and not [3] or i, ch and not [tj] or 6/tsh. To prevent confusion with other transcription forms I use dzh rather than j (for IPA [a^]). For the convenience of the non-Yiddish-speaking reader I indicate stress although it is not represented in the Yiddish orthography; I use the acute stress system: 1, e, d, 6, u. Note that the prevalent pronunciation of Y1 (r) is [K] (examples of exceptions are Vilna and the Moscow State Theatre), and this influenced, I believe, the widespread pronunciation of I "1 (which I transcribe here as r): [K]. 11.4 Arabic I use the broad International Phonetic Alphabet for both Standard Arabic (phonemic transcription) and Vernacular Arabic (phonetic transcription). However, with regard to the emphatic (pharyngealized) consonants, I follow (i) The Encyclopaedia of Islam 1960 (cf. vol. i, p. xiii); (ii) Library of Congress (cf. Cataloging Service, Bulletin 118, Summer 1976); (iii) International Journal of Middle East Studies (cf. vol. xxxi, 1999: 724); and (iv) Wehr's Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (e.g. 1994). Thus, I use s for a- (cf. IPA [s*]), 4 for u* (cf. IPA [d*]), {for J- (cf. IPA [t9]), and z for ± (cf. IPA [6s]). Final hamza (following ?alif) is represented by ?. Long vowels are represented by IPA [:] following the vowel, rather than by a bar over the vowel. The letter C is represented as IPA [d3] although in most Arabic dialects in Israel it is pronounced [3]. Appendix 263 II.5 Chinese I bring examples from Modern Standard Chinese [MSC], which is based on Mandarin, as well as from Taiwan Mandarin, and from Cantonese. In the case of Mandarin, in addition to the Chinese characters, I use the (Hanyu) PXnyin transcription, the official spelling system of mainland China - as opposed to Wade- Giles system of romanization and Taiwan's Tongydng Plnyin. Note that although Plnyin uses consonants such as b, d and g, MSC has no distinctively voiced consonants and those usually stand for unaspirated voicelss consonants. I also indicate tones. MSC has 5 tones (or 4, excluding the neutral): 1. (level tone) e.g. MSC ma 'mother' 2. ' (rising tone) eg- m MSC ma 'hemp, flax (a plant)' 3. v (dipping tone) eg. m MSC m&'horse' 4. (falling tone) eg. MSC mi 'to curse, swear, speak badly of 5. 0 (neutral) eg. MSC ma (an interrogative particle) I use the 'solid' method (see Ramsey 1989: 61), i.e. within the boundaries of a word I do not leave spaces between the (usually) monosyllabic morphemes; this method is currently preferred by most linguists and government agencies although it follows neither the traditional writing system (e.g. in Vietnamese, ibid.: 60) nor the native Chinese-speaker's tendency to conceive of a word as a combination of monosyllabic morphemes (unlike native English-speakers who would not write establish ment or Fin land). The advantage of using the 'solid' method is that it enables an easy distinction between words in a compound. However, one must be careful not to extend this method 'hypercorrectly' beyond the word boundaries since this can result in a Polynesian- or German-like sesquipedalian polysyllable such as fctfflllifll&^I^^JR Shinydngshlfanxueyuanxuebao 'The Journal of Shenyang Teachers College' (ibid.: 61).
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