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chapter 3 Orthography The Hasidic Hebrew tale does not deviate markedly from the orthographic norms of other widespread written forms of the language; however, it does dis- play a number of characteristic or non-standard conventions, to be discussed below. 3.1 Script The Hasidic Hebrew tales exhibit a mixture of block and Rashi script. The main typographical conventions are as follows: a) Some tale collections, e.g. Bodek (1865a), Bromberg (1899), Shenkel (1903), Zak (1912), Ehrmann (1903), Laufbahn (1914), Singer (1900a), M. Walden (1914) are printed wholly in block script. b) Some collections, e.g. Kaidaner (1875), Munk (1898), Duner (1899), Sofer (1904), Sobelman (1909/10), Berger (1906, 1907, 1910), Shenkel (1896) are printed almost completely in Rashi script, with only titles, major section headings, and the initial word of new sections appearing in block script. Bodek (1866), Lieberson (1913), HaLevi (1909), N. Duner (1899), Rosenthal (1909), Rapaport (1909), Rakats (1912) are printed according to similar con- ventions, except that sometimes proper names and occasionally dates within the body of the text are also set in block script. Rashi script is never used for titles or section headings in any tale collection. In most collections that are wholly in block script headings and sometimes proper names are printed in bigger font, e.g. Zak (1912), Ehrmann (1903). c) Some collections, e.g. Rodkinsohn (1864, 1865), Bodek (1865), Yellinִ (1913) are printed in a mix of Rashi and block script, with the two alternating in an apparently arbitrary manner (e.g. some tales or parts of tales may appear in block script while others appear in block script, with no clear stylistic motivation for the difference). © Lily Kahn, 2015 | doi: 10.1163/9789004281622_004 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported (cc-by-nc 3.0) License. Lily Kahn - 9789004281622 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 08:05:49AM via free access orthography 15 3.2 Omission of Final Letter(s) The Hasidic Hebrew authors frequently drop the final letter of words and is the letter most commonly ה .indicate the omission by a single apostrophe omitted in this way, e.g.: (it was’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911b: 14‘ הי׳ – (a great war’ (A. Walden 1860?: 2a‘ מלחמ׳ גדול׳ – (he will’ (Munk 1898: 52‘ יהי׳ – (eating and drinking’ (Brandwein 1912: 31‘ אכילה ושתי׳ – (the ship’ (Michelsohn 1912: 63‘ האני׳ – (proof’ (Zak 1912: 29‘ ראי׳ – and (less ם However, other letters may be omitted as well. This usually affects :usually as the last consonant of plural suffixes, as below ,ת (frequently ם Omitted (occasions’ (Bodek 1865c: 12‘ פעמי׳ – (robbers’ (Ehrmann 1903: 6a‘ גזלני׳ – (big’ (Laufbahn 1914: 45‘ גדולי׳ – (the trustworthy witnesses’ (N. Duner 1899: 83‘ העדים הנאמני׳ – (they say’ (Stamm 1905: 5‘ […] אומרי׳– (in the eyes’ (Brandwein 1912: 36‘ בעיני׳ – (holy ones’ (Michelsohn 1912: 29‘ קדושי׳ – ת Omitted (redemptions’ (Sofer 1904: 20‘ פדיונו׳ – (thoughts’ (Brandwein 1912: 10‘ מחשבו׳ – (at a Purim feast’ (Lieberson 1913: 53‘ בסעוד׳ פורים – (to do’ (Shenkel 1903b: 11‘ לעשו׳ – It is only rarely attested with other consonants, e.g.: (near’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 12‘ (קרוב =) קרו׳ – (his fingers’ (Zak 1912: 39‘ (אצבעותיו =) אצבעותי׳ – There is a similar practice whereby an entire word is abbreviated to the first, or sometimes first few, consonants. This is particularly common with the words Lily Kahn - 9789004281622 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 08:05:49AM via free access 16 chapter 3 one’, ‘a’, as in the first four‘ אחת/אחד holy’; and‘ קדוש ;’rabbi’, ‘rebbe’, ‘Mr‘ רב examples below. This convention is not limited to the Hasidic tales but is found in many earlier types of Hebrew texts with which the authors would have been familiar, e.g. responsa literature. (the holy Rabbi R. Asher’ (Gemen 1914: 77‘ (רב =) הרב הקדוש ר׳ אשר – (that1 holy Rebbe’ (Lieberson 1913: 7‘ (הקדוש =) הרב הק׳ הנ״ל – (a rich man’ (Kaidaner 1875: 11b‘ (אחד =) גביר א׳ – (the Vilna Gaon’ (Sofer 1904: 6‘ (הגאון =) הג׳ מווילנא – (weekly Torah portion’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 36–37‘ (פרשה =) פ׳ – (may He be blessed’ (Hirsch 1900: 12‘ (יתברך =) ית׳ – (even’ (Stamm 1905: 11‘ (אפילו =) […] אפי׳– (regard’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 1‘ (בחינה =) בחי׳ – The motivation for this practice varies from case to case. The frequent omis- may be due to a reluctance to avoid the resulting י following ה sion of final as this comprises a form of the Divine Name (see Suriano 2013 יה combination for discussion of this issue in Jewish tradition); however, the omission is very inconsistent, which means that this was not a universal concern if it indeed played any role. Likewise, the practice does not seem to be attributable to the need to conserve printing space, as the omitted letters appear in various loca- tions within the texts and not necessarily at the end of a line where space considerations would be most likely to prompt such a technique. However, it may be due to other typesetting issues such as a shortage of certain letters (e.g. .on a single typeset page (ה and ם the frequently used 3.3 Plene and Defective Spelling 3.3.1 Plene Spelling The Hasidic Hebrew tales typically employ plene spelling with both matres :.e.g ,י and ו lectionis ו With (them’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 17‘ אותם – (clothed’ (Hirsch 1900: 48‘ מלובשים – .literally means ‘aforementioned’; see 5.5.2.1.4 for discussion הנ״ל 1 Lily Kahn - 9789004281622 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 08:05:49AM via free access orthography 17 (him’ (Munk 1898: 82‘ אותו – (the table’ (Stamm 1905: 18‘ השולחן – (standing’ (Brandwein 1912: 18‘ עומדים – (in their power’ (Lieberson 1913: 48‘ בכוחם – י With (fifth’ (HaLevi 1909: 53‘ חמישי – (kiddush’ (Gemen 1914: 67‘ קידוש – (and he blessed’ (Brandwein 1912: 17‘ ובירך – (the dirt’ (Lieberson 1913: 61‘ הליכלוך – (the reincarnated soul’ (Sofer 1904: 5‘ הגילגול – (arranged match’ (Michelsohn 1912: 25‘ שידוך – to represent י The preference for plene spelling typically extends to the use of [i] in closed syllables, e.g.: (he refused’ (N. Duner 1912: 2‘ מיאן – (to forgive’ (Breitstein 1914: 16‘ לימחול – (to lie down’ (Shenkel 1883, pt. 1: 10‘ לישכב – (your end’ (Michelsohn 1912: 86‘ קיצך – (to approach’ (Rosenthal 1909: 45‘ ליקרב – (it was given’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 42‘ ניתן – (he commanded’ (Bodek 1865a: 11‘ ציוה – ,to represent qameṣ ḥaṭuf ו This tendency often includes the practice of using e.g.: (when he heard’ (Bodek 1865c: 19‘ בשומעו – (to endure him/it’ (Singer 1900a, pt. 1: 8‘ לסובלו – (to bother him’ (Breitstein 1914: 7‘ לטורדו – (to sell it’ (Yellin 1913: 5‘ למוכרו – (to block him’ (Munk 1898: 35‘ לסותמו – 3.3.2 Defective Spelling Although plene spelling is the norm in the Hasidic Hebrew tale, defective spelling is also attested. In most cases the selection of a defective variant is sporadic and does not seem to be subject to rules or patterns, as in the following cases, which may be spelt plene elsewhere in the tales: Lily Kahn - 9789004281622 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 08:05:49AM via free access 18 chapter 3 (he received’ (Bodek 1865c: 2‘ קבל – (to accompany’ (M. Walden 1914: 116‘ ללות – (to inflict suffering’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 8‘ ליסר – (table’ (Zak 1912: 22‘ שלחן – (root’ (Kaidaner 1875: 13a‘ שרש – (in the morning’ (Michelsohn 1910c: 60‘ בבקר – (the stories’ (Brandwein 1912: 31‘ הספורים – The interchangeable nature of the plene and defective spelling is illustrated in the following examples, in which both variants appear on the same page of a single text: to understand their chirping and their speech’ (Rakats‘ להבין צפצופם ודבורם – then you will understand their speech‘ אז תבין דיבורם וצפצופם .pt. 1: 17); cf ,1912 and their chirping’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 17) ’on the table‘ על השולחן .on the table’ (Laufbahn 1914: 48); cf‘ על השלחן – (Laufbahn 1914: 48) the‘ המגלה .the Scroll of Esther’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 24); cf‘ המגילה – Scroll of Esther’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 24) Although sometimes spelt plene, as shown above, suffixed qal infinitives con- struct comparatively often appear in their defective form, as below. The two alternatives are employed in free variation. (when they travelled’ (Sofer 1904: 6‘ בנסעם – (while they were standing’ (Rodkinsohn 1865: 12‘ בעמדם – (when he heard’ (Rosenthal 1909: 14‘ בשמעו – (when he opened’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 36–37‘ ובפתחו – (when he was travelling’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 14i2‘ בנסעו – Only the following two words are relatively consistently spelt defectively: (I’ (Zak 1912: 19‘ אנכי – (a woman’ (Stamm 1905: 5‘ אשה – 2 Two consecutive pages in this text are both numbered 14. Lily Kahn - 9789004281622 Downloaded from Brill.com09/30/2021 08:05:49AM via free access orthography 19 I’ the defective spelling is likely due to the fact that‘ אנכי In the case of this is a characteristically biblical word and is spelt defectively in the Bible. Nevertheless, even this is spelt plene on rare occasions, e.g.: (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 39) אנוכי – 3.3.3 Representation of [v] :.is commonly employed to represent [v], e.g ו Double (to accompany’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 25‘ ללוות – (they will be saved’ (Bodek 1865c: 5‘ יוושעו – (senior’ (Berger 1910a: 67‘ וותיקים – (with arguments’ (Hirsch 1900: 17‘ בוויכוחים – (of course’ (Sofer 1904: 41‘ בוודאי – (confession’ (Stamm 1905: 29‘ ווידוי – (precisely’ (Lieberson 1913: 46‘ דווקא – (the loan’ (Michelsohn 1912: 26‘ ההלוואה – The single variant is not as frequently attested but is not rare, e.g.: (certainly’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 4‘ בודאי – (they became pale’ (Zak 1912: 159‘ נתחורו – (to the ritual bath’ (Gemen 1914: 90‘ למקוה – (and [they] earn’ (Sofer 1904: 29‘ ומרויחים – (to the ritual bath’ (Lieberson 1913: 46‘ להמקוה – (he meant’ (Breitstein 1914: 11‘ כיון – The authors treat the plene and defective variants as interchangeable, as evi- denced by the fact that they sometimes employ both of them in close proximity to each other, e.g.: ’the ritual baths‘ המקואות .and ritual baths’ (J.