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).

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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‘ ׳יה – (a great war’ (A. Walden 1860?: 2a‘ ׳לודג׳מחלמ – (he will’ (Munk 1898: 52‘ ׳יהי – (eating and drinking’ (Brandwein 1912: 31‘ ׳יתשוהליכא – (the ship’ (Michelsohn 1912: 63‘ ׳ינאה – (proof’ (Zak 1912: 29‘ ׳יאר – 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‘ ׳ימעפ – (robbers’ (Ehrmann 1903: 6a‘ ׳ינלזג – (big’ (Laufbahn 1914: 45‘ ׳ילודג – (the trustworthy witnesses’ (N. Duner 1899: 83‘ ׳ינמאנהםידעה – (they say’ (Stamm 1905: 5‘ ]…[ ׳ירמוא– (in the eyes’ (Brandwein 1912: 36‘ ׳יניעב – (holy ones’ (Michelsohn 1912: 29‘ ׳ישודק –

ת Omitted

(redemptions’ (Sofer 1904: 20‘ ׳ונוידפ – (thoughts’ (Brandwein 1912: 10‘ ׳ובשחמ – (at a Purim feast’ (Lieberson 1913: 53‘ םירופ׳דועסב – (to do’ (Shenkel 1903b: 11‘ ׳ושעל –

It is only rarely attested with other consonants, e.g.:

(near’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 12‘ ( בורק =) ׳ורק – (his fingers’ (Zak 1912: 39‘ ( ויתועבצא =) ׳יתועבצא –

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

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(him’ (Munk 1898: 82‘ ותוא – (the table’ (Stamm 1905: 18‘ ןחלושה – (standing’ (Brandwein 1912: 18‘ םידמוע – (in their power’ (Lieberson 1913: 48‘ םחוכב –

י With

(fifth’ (HaLevi 1909: 53‘ ישימח – (kiddush’ (Gemen 1914: 67‘ שודיק – (and he blessed’ (Brandwein 1912: 17‘ ךריבו – (the dirt’ (Lieberson 1913: 61‘ ךולכילה – (the reincarnated soul’ (Sofer 1904: 5‘ לוגליגה – (arranged match’ (Michelsohn 1912: 25‘ ךודיש – 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‘ ןאימ – (to forgive’ (Breitstein 1914: 16‘ לוחמיל – (to lie down’ (Shenkel 1883, pt. 1: 10‘ בכשיל – (your end’ (Michelsohn 1912: 86‘ ךציק – (to approach’ (Rosenthal 1909: 45‘ ברקיל – (it was given’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 42‘ ןתינ – (he commanded’ (Bodek 1865a: 11‘ הויצ –

,to represent qameṣ ḥaṭuf ו This tendency often includes the practice of using e.g.:

(when he heard’ (Bodek 1865c: 19‘ ועמושב – (to endure him/it’ (Singer 1900a, pt. 1: 8‘ ולבוסל – (to bother him’ (Breitstein 1914: 7‘ ודרוטל – (to sell it’ (Yellin 1913: 5‘ ורכומל – (to block him’ (Munk 1898: 35‘ ומתוסל –

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:

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(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.

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I’ the defective spelling is likely due to the fact that‘ יכנא 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) יכונא –

3.3.3 Representation of [v] :.is commonly employed to represent [v], e.g ו Double

(to accompany’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 25‘ תוולל – (they will be saved’ (Bodek 1865c: 5‘ ועשווי – (senior’ (Berger 1910a: 67‘ םיקיתוו – (with arguments’ (Hirsch 1900: 17‘ םיחוכיווב – (of course’ (Sofer 1904: 41‘ יאדווב – (confession’ (Stamm 1905: 29‘ יודיוו – (precisely’ (Lieberson 1913: 46‘ אקווד – (the loan’ (Michelsohn 1912: 26‘ האוולהה –

The single variant is not as frequently attested but is not rare, e.g.:

(certainly’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 4‘ יאדוב – (they became pale’ (Zak 1912: 159‘ ורוחתנ – (to the ritual bath’ (Gemen 1914: 90‘ הוקמל – (and [they] earn’ (Sofer 1904: 29‘ םיחיורמו – (to the ritual bath’ (Lieberson 1913: 46‘ הוקמהל – (he meant’ (Breitstein 1914: 11‘ ןויכ –

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‘ תואוקמה .and ritual baths’ (J. Duner 1899: 69); cf‘ תואווקמו – (J. Duner 1899: 69) (of course’ (Sofer 1904: 1‘ יאדוב .of course’ (Sofer 1904: 41); cf‘ יאדווב –

3.3.4 Representation of [ j] :.is frequently used to represent [j] within a word, e.g י Double

(that they should appease’ (Gemen 1914: 55‘ וסייפיש – (from villages’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 4‘ תורייעמ –

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(the judges’ (Hirsch 1900: 21‘ םיניידה – (until he finished’ (Brandwein 1912: 31‘ שדע םייס – (and doing the commandments’ (Lieberson 1913: 26‘ ו תיישע תוצמה – (he determined’ (Breitstein 1914: 12‘ בשייתנ ותעדב –

:.is attested, e.g י Much more rarely, a single

(with weeping’ (Gemen 1914: 84‘ היכבב – (merit’ (Jacob Isaac ben Asher of Przysucha 1908: 60‘ היכז – (to unite’ (Sofer 1904: 2‘ דחיל –

3.4 Non-Standard Use of matres lectionis

The Hasidic Hebrew tales exhibit some non-standard and unprecedented use .as detailed below ,י and ו of matres lectionis, particularly relating to

י Non-Standard Use of 3.4.1 -is very frequently used to represent ṣere in stressed sylla י The mater lectionis bles in cases where canonical varieties of Hebrew would not typically exhibit such a spelling. The motivation for this practice is likely rooted in phonological considerations: as the vowel ṣere and the combination ṣere plus mater lectio- in stressed open syllables are both pronounced identically in Ashkenazi י nis Hebrew (typically as the diphthong [ej] or [aj]), the authors most likely made -in the case of sin י no distinction between these two spellings and inserted the gular nouns on analogy with other Hebrew words in which ṣere is convention- e.g. the masculine plural construct form. This phenomenon ,י ally followed by extends to nouns, adjectives, possessive and object suffixes, and verbs. In some cases, particularly in nouns, there is precedent for these forms in rabbinic literature (chiefly the Tosefta, midrashim, and the two Talmuds), as shown below. Nevertheless, even in these instances in the rabbinic texts the plene forms are much less common than the defective ones, whereas in the are the norm. For example, in the י Hasidic Hebrew tales the variants with old woman’ appears‘ הנקז Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmuds, and midrashim the form while conversely in , הניקז more than five times more frequently than the variant .is relatively standard, as shown in the first example below הניקז Hasidic Hebrew

(the old woman’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 8‘ הניקזה – (slumber’ (Ehrmann 1903: 3b‘ המידרת – (your companion’ (Bodek 1865c: 12‘ ךריבח –

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(intellect’; ‘opinion’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 26‘ העיד – (level’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 31‘ הגירדמ – (my elder’ (Jacob Isaac ben Asher of Przysucha 1908: 45‘ יניקז – (to the friends’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1910: 21‘ םיריבחהל – (in my courtyard’ (Kaidaner 1875: 45b‘ יריצחב – (righteous converts’ (Munk 1898: 8‘ קדציריג – (and heavy’ (Zak 1912: 149‘ הדיבכו – (his shoulders’ (J. Duner 1899: 16‘ ויפיתכ – is particularly common before possessive and object י The use of non-standard suffixes. It is almost universal on singular nouns and prepositions with a 1cp suffix, as in the first four examples below. It is also frequently attested on verbs with 1cp and 3ms object suffixes, as in the last two examples. In this respect the authors’ phonological motivation is likely to have been reinforced by the fact in the canonical forms of י that plural nouns with a possessive suffix contain a the language.

(in our city’ (Rodkinsohn 1865: 1‘ וניריעב – (in our land’ (Kaidaner 1875: 12a‘ וניתנידמב – (our teacher and Rebbe’ (Heilmann 1902: 2‘ וניברוונירומ – (with/by us’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 1‘ ונילצא – (to destroy us’ (Bodek 1865c: 3‘ וניתולכל – (that he leave him alone’ (Breitstein 1914: 5‘ והיחיניש –

In some instances this Hasidic Hebrew use of extra matres lectionis seems to reflect the authors’ non-standard pronunciation of the words in question. The -things’ (shown in the first example below), which is com‘ םיציפח plural form is a , םיצפח monly attested in Hasidic Hebrew instead of the canonical variant in the second syllable suggests י case in point. The presence of the non-standard that the authors pronounced the word as if the defective form were pointed with a ṣere pointing the second syllable (perhaps on analogy with other , םיִצֵפֲח with a qameṣ. Significantly, this , םיִצָפֲח instead of ( םירבח plural nouns such as Hasidic Hebrew variant corresponds precisely to and therefore is most likely based directly on Yiddish, in which the same word is pronounced khfeytsim. Similarly, the second example reflects a non-standard pronunciation [jəʃe- , הניקז jnə], possibly formed on analogy with the much more common form which itself reflects the Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation of the standard . הָנֵקְז vocalization םכניקזמ A related phenomenon is illustrated in the third example: the form ‘from your elder’ seems to reflect paradigm levelling, whereby the standard

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(things’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 8‘ םיציפח – (old (fs)’ (N. Duner 1912: 18‘ הנישי – (from your elder’ (Ehrmann 1903: 19b‘ םכניקזמ –

While this tendency is widely visible throughout the Hasidic Hebrew tale corpus, it is not universal. The authors seem to have regarded the two variants as interchangeable, as evidenced by the fact that they may employ both of them in close proximity to each other, e.g.:

-Rod) ונמולשישנא .our benefactors’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 14); cf‘ ונימולשישנא – kinsohn 1864b: 14)

,is most typically restricted to nouns, adjectives י Although non-standard use of and possessive or object suffixes, in some cases the same phenomenon is exhibited in verbal forms as well. As in the case of nouns and suffixes, the use of the non-standard mater lectionis in verbs serves to represent the vowel ṣere. This is illustrated in the following verbal forms:

(Ruth 1:19) םֹהֵתַּו .and it buzzed’ (Kaidaner 1875: 10b); cf‘ םוהיתו – (they will protect’ (Ehrmann 1903: 16b‘ וניגי – (prosecutors’ (Lieberson 1913: 50‘ םיגירטקמ – (they persecute’ (J. Duner 1899: 31‘ וגירטקי – is not used to represent ṣere in closed, unstressed syllables as י ,By contrast the authors would have pronounced this as [ə] rather than as [ej] or [aj]; for in‘ רצחב in my courtyard’ is‘ יריצחב .example, the unsuffixed singular form of e.g a courtyard’ (Kaidaner 1875: 46a). -constitute one of many aspects of the orthog י These non-standard uses of raphy, morphology, syntax, and lexis of the Hasidic Hebrew tales in which the authors’ understanding and use of written Hebrew was mediated to a consider- able extent through their vernacular rather than solely through other Hebrew texts. This principle will be discussed further throughout this volume.

י and ו Interchangeability of 3.4.2 -in un ו Sometimes the Hasidic Hebrew authors employ the mater lectionis ,and vice-versa ,י stressed final syllables wherein one would expect to find

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-is rooted in phono י and ו as illustrated below. This interchangeability of logical considerations: in the authors’ Polish and Ukrainian ‘popular Ashke- nazic’ Hebrew pronunciation (as discussed in Katz 1993: 76–78), the unstressed shureq and ḥireq would both have been pronounced as [ə] (U. Weinreich 1965: 43). Similarly, stressed shureq was typically fronted to [i] (Katz 1993: 65, 68; see also M. Weinreich 1973, 2: 370–371). This phenomenon is most likely traceable to pre-standardized Yiddish orthographic practice, in which fluctuation between .(in unstressed final syllables is likewise attested (Kerler 1999: 150 י and ו

י instead of ו

(the prophet Elijah’ (Munk 1898: 31‘ ( איבנה =) והילא אובנה – an outstanding student’ (Bodek 1865a: 66; Laufbahn‘ ( דימלת =) דומלת קהבומ – 1914: 48) and his student said to him’ (Moses Leib of Sasov‘ ( ודימלת =) ולרמאו ודומלת – 1903: 34a) (the students of the Rebbe’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 37‘ ( ידימלת =) ידומלת יברה – (to the fair’ (Zak 1912: 9‘ ( דיריל =) דוריל –

ו instead of י

(medicine’ (Ehrmann 1903: 6b‘ ( הפורת =) הפירת – (salted fish’; ‘herring’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 39‘ ( חולמ =) גד חילמ – ’they stole the merchandise from his shop‘ ( ותונחמ =) מהרוחסהובנג ותינח – (M. Walden 1914: 59) (elderly and distinguished’ (HaLevi 1907: 22a‘ ( אושנ =) וןקז אישנ םינפ –

The same phenomenon is seen in the spelling of Eastern European place names (see 3.5.2.5) and also has an influence on certain Hasidic Hebrew grammatical issues such as noun gender (see 4.1). to Represent qameṣ ו Non-Standard Use of 3.4.3 The influence of Ashkenazi Hebrew and Yiddish on the authors’ use of vowels to represent qameṣ. This occurs in penultimate syllables ו extends to the use of that would have been stressed in their pronunciation, reflecting the underlying :or u]. The phenomenon is illustrated below כ] realization of qameṣ as

And he took a dead man whom‘ חקלו גרוה לומתאםוימגרהניכובריכהרשאדחא – he recognized as having been killed the day before’ (Ehrmann 1903: 8b) (in that week’s haftarah’ (Zak 1912: 147‘ ב הרוטפה עובשׁותואלשׁ –

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Again they searched in the haftarah of the‘ הבושפיחבוש הרוטפה אשנ׳פלש – Torah portion Nasso’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 36–37)

3.5 Spelling of Eastern European Proper Nouns and Loanwords

Hasidic Hebrew orthographic conventions relating to the representation of proper nouns rooted in the authors’ Eastern European surroundings (i.e. geo- graphical locations and personal names deriving from them) as well as of Yid- dish loanwords are not completely standardized, but generally conform to a number of common patterns. Most of these orthographic tendencies reflect direct influence from contemporaneous Yiddish spelling, which is logical given that the names in question are embedded in a Yiddish-speaking context.

3.5.1 Consonants 3.5.1.1 [f] The voiceless labio-dental fricative [f] appearing at the beginning of words as in Yiddish. This is illustrated below. In most cases no ,פ is represented by representing [p] and [f], but in פ orthographic distinction is made between certain texts (primarily Ehrmann’s) [f] in word-initial position is indicated by the diacritical mark rafe, as in the final example.

(Freydke’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 41‘ עקדיירפ – (from Frankfurt’ (Hirsch 1900: 42‘ טרופקנארפמ – (Fishl’ (Sofer 1904: 41‘ לישיפ – (Faivel’ (Ehrmann 1903: 8a‘ לבייפֿ –

3.5.1.2 [v] The voiced labio-dental fricative [v] is typically represented by the combina- :.as in Yiddish, e.g , וו tion

(Vitebsk’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 5‘ קספעטיוו – (from Piotrkow’ (Bromberg 1899: 43‘ וואקרטעיפמ – (from Dubrovno’ (Kaidaner 1875: 25a‘ ענווארבודמ – (from Kishinev’ (Lieberson 1913: 48‘ וואנישעקמ – (in Vienna’ (Sofer 1904: 39‘ ןעיווב – (in Warsaw’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911b: 19‘ אשראווב – (Vizhnitz’ (Michelsohn 1912: 145‘ אצינשיוו – (from Vilna’ (Sofer 1904: 5‘ אנליוומ –

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:.is used, e.g ו Rarely only one

(Vilna’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 6‘ אנליו – (Koidanov’ (Shalom of Koidanov 1882: 14‘ ואנדייאק –

:.e.g , וו is often used instead of ב Moreover, in word-final position

(Piotrkow’ (Bromberg 1899: 35‘ בקרטעיפ – (to Zolochiv’ (Brandwein 1912: 4‘ בושטאלזל – (in Barditchev’ (Lieberson 1913: 39‘ בושטידראבב – (from Ziditchov’ (Munk 1898: 3‘ בושטידיזמ – (Barditchev’ (Ehrmann 1911: 8b‘ בושטידראב – (of Blendow’ (Breitstein 1914: 15‘ בודנעלבמ – (to Rimanov’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 14i3‘ באנאמירל –

:.in word-medial position, e.g ב Only very rarely is [v] represented by

(Lvov’ (Shenkel 1903b: 3‘ בובל –

3.5.1.3 [t] :.e.g ,ט The voiceless alveolar stop [t] is invariably represented by

(and in Tarnipol’ (Sofer 1904: 38‘ לאפינראטבו – (Vitebsk’ (Kaidaner 1875: 34b‘ קספעטיוו – (Tuchyn’ (Hirsch 1900: 32‘ ןישטוט – (Stratyn’ (Brandwein 1912: 8‘ ןיטערטס – (from Satanov’ (Lieberson 1913: 41‘ בונאטאסמ –

3.5.1.4 [k] :.e.g ,ק The voiceless velar stop [k] is invariably represented by

(Vitebsk’ (Kaidaner 1875: 34b‘ קספעטיוו – (from Kishinev’ (Lieberson 1913: 48‘ וואנישעקמ – (from Munkacs’ (Michelsohn 1912: 71‘ שטאקנאממ – (to Kamianets’ (Munk 1898: 21‘ ץינימאקל – (of Kotzk’ (M. Walden 1914: 14‘ קצאקמ –

3 Two consecutive pages in this text are both numbered 14.

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3.5.1.5 [s] in the ס The voiceless alveolar sibilant [s] is almost invariably represented by the unpointed equivalent) ש spelling of proper names, but on rare occasions of שׂ as opposed to שׁ) is used instead, as below. This convention has precedent in Yiddish orthography prior to the yivo standardization (see Kerler 1999: 66, 118).

(R. Shlomo Rafaels’ (Kaidaner 1875: 40a‘ שלאפרהמלש׳ר – (to Nikolsburg’ (Munk 1898: 34‘ גרופשליקינל – (in Pressburg’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 133‘ גרובשערפב –

3.5.1.6 [ʃ] is used to ס A similarly marginal converse phenomenon is attested whereby represent [ʃ], as below. The origins of this practice are unclear, though it could theoretically be a reflection of German orthography whereby [ʃ] preceding a consonant is routinely spelled with s.

(Shpoler’4 (Bodek 1866: 39‘ רילאפס –

In rare cases the representation of [ʃ] may be influenced by Polish orthography. אשוז Thus, while the name Zusha (Meshullam Zusha of Hanipoli) is often spelt e.g. Sofer 1904: 12), it may sometimes be spelt) אשיז e.g. Kaidaner 1875: 48b) or) :e.g. Munk 1898: 2; Lieberson 1913: 64; Ehrmann 1903: 15a; N. Duner 1912) איסוז יס Menahem Mendel of Rimanov 1908: 22) with the consonant combination ;4 This spelling mirrors the Polish spelling .ש indicating [ʃ] instead of the expected of the name, which conforms to a Polish orthographic convention whereby [ʃ] can be indicated by the combination si.

3.5.1.7 [ʒ] Hasidic Hebrew lacks an unambiguous way of representing [ʒ], which is com- is employed to ז mon in place names of Slavic origin. Instead, the consonant denote this sound, e.g.:

(from Ruzhin’ (Bromberg 1899: 41‘ ןיזורמ – (Medzhybizh’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 26‘ ]…[ זוביזעמ– (Volozhin’ (Heilmann 1902: 79‘ ןיזאלאוו – (Lizhensk’ (Kaidaner 1875: 47a‘ ]…[ קסנעזיל–

4 I.e. from Shpola.

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(from Zhitomir’ (Bodek 1866: 58‘ רימאטיזמ – (in Zhitomir’ (Kamelhar 1909: 56‘ רימאטיזב – (from Vizhnitz’ (Ehrmann 1903: 10a‘ אצינזיוומ – (in Vizhnitz’ (Sofer 1904: 35‘ עצינזיווב –

In such cases familiarity with the place name is the only factor enabling the .[should be pronounced as [z] or as [ʒ ז reader to determine whether the used to designate [ʒ] (as שז Only on very rare occasions is the combination is common in Yiddish), e.g.:

(policeman’ (Sofer 1904: 35‘ ראדנאשז – (to Medzhybizh’ (Greenwald 1899: 51a‘ שזוביזעמל –

However this is used inconsistently even within the work of the same author; appearing in Sofer (1904) appears on the same page as ראדנאשז thus, the word . ]…[ רדנאז

3.5.1.8 [x] :.e.g ,ח The voiceless velar fricative [x] is most commonly represented by

(Lechovich’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 19‘ ץיווחעל – (in Kokhanovo’ (Stamm 1905: 5‘ וואניחאקב – (from Żelechów’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 19‘ באחילעזמ –

-as below. The authors re ,כ However, it may alternatively be represented by as interchangeable in this regard and sometimes employed כ and ח garded them in free variation in the spelling of the same place name, as comparison of the extract from Stamm (1905) above with the one below illustrates. This fluctuation is understandable considering that the Hasidic Hebrew authors .(identically as [x] (Katz 1993: 70 כ and ח would have pronounced both

(Chekhov’ (Bromberg 1899: 34‘ בוכעשט – (from Sochaczew’ (Michelsohn 1912: 38‘ בושטכאסמ – (in Kokhanovo’ (Stamm 1905: 33‘ וואניכאקב – (of Lechovich’ (Shalom of Koidanov 1882: 13‘ שטיווכעלמ –

3.5.1.9 [ts] in Word-Final Position The authors sometimes represent the voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate [ts] in word-final position in proper names and Yiddish loanwords with the tautolo- as below. Rarely this practice extends ,ץ instead of simply ץט gous combination

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(Schatz’ (Munk 1898: 62‘ ץטאש – (place’ (Sofer 1904: 25‘ ]…[ ץטאלפ– (Czernowitz’ (Seuss 1890: 62‘ ץטיוואנרעשט – (the palace’ (Greenwald 1899: 56a‘ ץטאלאפה – (from Bełżec’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 54‘ ץטיזלעבמ – (Horowitz’ (Munk 1898: 75‘ ץטיוואראה – (the landowner’ (Ehrmann 1903: 19b‘ ץטירפה –

3.5.1.10 [ʧ] The voiceless palato-alveolar affricate [ʧ] is represented by the combination :.as in Yiddish (see Kerler 1999: 151, 205), e.g , שט

(Barditchev’ (Ehrmann 1911: 8b‘ בושטידראב – (to Mezeritch’ (Kaidaner 1875: 34b‘ שטירעזעמל – (from Ziditchov’ (Munk 1898: 3‘ בושטידיזמ – (from Chernobyl’ (Chikernik 1908: 9‘ ליבאנרעשטמ – (Munkacs’ (Berger 1906: 48‘ ]…[ שטאקנומ– (from Czernowitz’ (Laufbahn 1914: 48‘ ץיוואנרעשטמ –

3.5.1.11 Double Consonants Sometimes place names and Yiddish loanwords appear with a double conso- nant, e.g.:

(A. Walden 1860?: 8b) (cf. German Adresse) עססערדא – (number’ (Sofer 1904: 15) (cf. German Nummer‘ רעממונ – Odessa’ (Heilmann 1902: 224) (cf. German Odessa and Russian‘ ]…[ אססעדא– Одесса) (shopkeeper’ (Sofer 1904: 29‘ רעממערק – (bucket’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 3‘ רעממע – (porridge’ (Ehrmann 1911: 32b‘ עששאק –

This practice is relatively sporadic. It is not a standard feature of Yiddish orthog- raphy, but is found in certain types of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century written Yiddish under German influence (see Mark 1978: 35 and Jacobs 2005: 52). The Hasidic Hebrew convention is thus also likely to derive via Yiddish from this German orthographic convention. This is particularly clearly visible

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3.5.2 Vowels 3.5.2.1 [a] The vowel [a] is relatively consistently represented orthographically in Hasidic .as below ,א Hebrew proper names and loanwords in word-medial position by As in the case of consonants discussed above, this convention derives from Yid- dish orthographic practice whereby word-medial [a] is typically represented in the same way (Mark 198: 34).

(Barditchev’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 3‘ בושטידראב – (from Warsaw’ (Zak 1912: 34‘ אשראוומ – (to Lubavitch’ (Kaidaner 1875: 28a‘ שטיוואבילל – (Prague’ (J. Duner 1899: 105‘ גארפ – (Hanipoli’ (Ehrmann 1903: 15a‘ אילאפינאה –

3.5.2.2 [e] Like medial [a], initial and medial [e] is relatively often represented ortho- which directly mirrors ,ע graphically in Hasidic Hebrew. It is designated by Yiddish orthographic practice (see Mark 1978: 34; Schaechter 1999: 1). Examples of this tendency are shown below:

(St. Petersburg’ (Kaidaner 1875: 42a‘ גרובסרעטעפ – (Piotrkow’ (Bromberg 1899: 35‘ בקרטעיפ – (Pest’ (Munk 1898: 29‘ טסעפ – (in Kishinev’ (Ehrmann 1905: 139a‘ ווענעשיקב – (to Belz’ (Bodek 1865b: 40‘ ץלעבל – (to Mezeritch’ (Zak 1912: 148‘ שטירזעמל – in these contexts is not universal or consistent: thus, the ע However, the use of :.in some cases and without it in others, e.g ע same word may appear with

(Rodkinsohn 1865: 8) ןילרעבב .in Berlin’ vs‘ ןילרבב –

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3.5.2.3 [ə] :as in the following ,א Word-final [ə] is often represented by

(Vilna’ (Rodkinsohn 1864a: 35‘ אנליוו – (Venice’ (Bodek 1865c: 15‘ איציניוו – (from Riga’ (Kaidaner 1875: 29a‘ אגירמ – (Poznań’ (J. Duner 1899: 18‘ אנזופ – (Hanipoli’ (Ehrmann 1903: 15a‘ אילאפינאה – (from Warsaw’ (Michelsohn 1912: 33‘ אשראוומ – as below. Aside from the ,ע Somewhat less frequently, it can be represented by is more commonly attested, both letters are treated interchangeably א fact that and inconsistently in these positions: the same proper noun may be spelt with on another. The last two examples below illustrate this ע on one occasion and א fluctuation.

(to Moscow’ (Heilmann 1902: 99‘ עווקסאמל – (Yekele’ (Lieberson 1913: 40‘ עליקעי – -Moscow’ (Rodkin‘ אווקסאמ .Moscow’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 37); cf‘ עווקסאמ – sohn 1864b: 38) (Kaidaner 1875: 48b) אשוז .Zusha’ (Kaidaner 1875: 48a); cf‘ עשוז – in medial and final positions ע or א is sometimes used instead of י ,In addition to denote [ə], e.g.:

(Berele’ (Bromberg 1899: 39‘ ילירעב – (from Moscow’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 34‘ יווקסאממ – (Yosele’ (Bromberg 1899: 40‘ ילסוי – (Motele’ (Lieberson 1913: 51‘ ילטאמ – (R. Shmelke’ (Hirsch 1900: 23‘ יקלעמש׳ר –

In contrast to earlier forms of Hebrew, as well as to Modern (Israeli) Hebrew, is hardly ever used to represent [ə] in final position in proper names. Some ה rare examples are shown below:

(Italy’ (Bodek 1865c: 15‘ הילאטיא – (Italy’ (J. Duner 1899: 18‘ האילאטיא –

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3.5.2.4 [ɔ] as below. This is ,א ɔ] in medial and final positions is typically represented by] likewise based on Yiddish precedent (U. Weinreich 2007: 333).

(Dubrovna’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 37‘ אנווארבוד – (to Moscow’ (Heilmann 1902: 99‘ עווקסאמל – (Odessa’ (Kaidaner 1875: 44a‘ סעדא – (Hanipoli’ (Ehrmann 1903: 15a‘ אילאפינאה – (from Moscow’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 34‘ יווקסאממ –

:.e.g ,ו Much less frequently, it may be represented by

(Poznań’ (J. Duner 1899: 18‘ אנזופ – (Barditchev’ (Ehrmann 1911: 8b‘ בושטידראב – (Piotrkow’ (Jacob Isaac ben Asher of Przysucha 1908: 109‘ בוקרטעיפ –

3.5.2.5 [i] and [u] in the ו and [u] is typically represented by י i] is typically represented by] are sometimes used ו and י ,spelling of Eastern European place names. However interchangeably, as in the case of Hebrew words (discussed in 3.4.2).

י instead of ו

(Tulchyn’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 34‘ ןישטלוט for ןושטלוט – (Russia’ (Kaidaner 1875: 44a‘ איסור for אוסור – (the Lubliner [Rebbe]’ (Laufbahn 1914: 48‘ רענילבולה for רענולבולה – (from Lizhensk’ (Bodek 1865a: 50‘ קסנעזילמ for קסנעזולמ –

ו instead of י

(from Ruzhin’ (Munk 1898: 17‘ ןיזורמ for ןיזירמ – (Kapust’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 46‘ טסופאק for טסיפאק –

3.5.2.6 Diphthongs [ej] and [ɔj] in Yiddish loanwoards ו The diphthongs [ej] and [ɔj] are often represented by (with the precise pronunciation depending on the Ashkenazi Hebrew/Yiddish dialect of the author, or perhaps typesetter). This convention is most likely an extension of the principle whereby ḥolem in open syllables is pronounced as [ej] in Northeastern (Lithuanian/Latvian/Belarussian) Ashkenazi Hebrew and as [ɔj] in Mideastern (Polish/Hungarian) and Southeastern (Ukrainian/Bessa-

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-pope’ (Kaidaner 1875: 12a) (pronounced as [pɔjps] or [pejps]; cf. Stan‘ ספופ – ( טספּיופּ dard Yiddish

3.6 Spelling of Divine Labels

There is a tendency among the Hasidic Hebrew authors to spell the word for in order to avoid the potential ה replacing the expected ק with a , םיקלא God’ as‘ for a printed divine name to be defaced in the event that the publication containing it should ever be destroyed. This is a frequent convention in Jewish non-liturgical writings. In some collections the word is invariably spelt with a ;e.g. Rodkinsohn 1864b; Landau 1892; Hirsch 1900; Ehrmann 1903; Sofer 1904) ק Sobelman 1909/10; Zak 1912). However, in many collections (e.g. Bodek 1865c; Bodek? 1866; Kaidaner 1875; Munk 1898; N. Duner 1899; Moses Leib of Sasov 1903; Michelsohn 1905; Stamm 1905; Teomim Fraenkel 1911b; Rakats 1912; Lieberson 1913) the convention is inconsistent, as shown below. It is unclear why the practice is followed consis- tently in some of the tale collections while others employ it only sporadically.

(your God’ (Bodek 1865c: 8‘ םכיקלא .our God’ (Bodek 1865c: 3); cf‘ וניהלא – (God’ (Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 6‘ םיקלא .Rakats 1912, pt. 1: 7); cf) םיהלא – (God’ (Stamm 1905: 21‘ םיקולא .God’ (Stamm 1905: 12); cf‘ םיהלאה – .my God and God of my ancestors’ (Lieberson 1913: 11); cf‘ יתובאיהלאויהלא – (your God’ (Lieberson 1913: 23‘ ךיקלא God’ (Baruch of‘ םיקלאה .our God’ (Baruch of Medzhybizh 1880: 24); cf‘ וניהלא – Medzhybizh 1880: 24)

3.7 Vocalization

Vocalization is not usually employed in the Hasidic Hebrew tales except as a pronunciation aid in the transcription of loanwords from Slavic languages, as in the Russian and Ukrainian borrowings shown below:

(interrogation (Russian)’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 7‘ ןיִסאָרפאַוו – (boot (Ukrainian)’ (Bodek? 1866: 14a‘ עֶקְנעֶטאַפ –

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Certain authors, most commonly Zak and Landau, also sometimes use par- tial vocalization in Yiddish loanwords. This usually consists of qameṣ and pataḥ -in accordance with the common Yiddish convention which subse ,א pointing quently became standardized in the official yivo orthography established in 1936. However, sometimes other symbols are employed, such as the ṣere shown in the penultimate example. Only very rarely is more extensive vocalization used for Yiddish loanwords, as in the final example.

(pre-wedding dance party’ (Zak 1912: 136‘ ]…[ ראָפ = ליפש – (photograph(y)’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 185‘ עיפאַרגטאָפ – (spy’ (Ehrmann 1905: 50a‘ ]…[ ןאָיפש– (dreidel’ (Landau 1892: 35‘ לידייֵרד – (monkey’ (Bodek? 1866: 5b‘ עֶפְלַאמ –

Moreover, some limited vocalization is sporadically attested on Hebrew words. In some cases, such vocalization may serve to clarify potentially ambiguous words. For example, in the following cases the pointing presumably serves to avoid confusion with the otherwise identically spelt words shown beside them. However, this phenomenon of disambiguation is extremely marginal, appearing only on a handful of occasions. Moreover, even in these cases the vocalization is strikingly undermotivated: in all of the sentences below the immediate context makes the other possible reading of the consonants highly unlikely or even (as in the first example) grammatically impossible, and thus the potential for confusion in an unvocalized text would be very low.

’knowing‘ ַעֵדוֹי .lest it be made known’ (Sofer 1904: 16); cf‘ עַדָוִיןפ – ’that everything‘ לֹכֶש .I had wits then’ (Michelsohn 1912: 20); cf‘ זאיל׳יהלֶכֵש – ,And after this plague broke out in their city‘ ל״חרםריעברֶבֶדהוהתנהזרחאו – ’thing’; ‘matter‘ רָבָד .may God protect us’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 30); cf

Vocalization is also sometimes attested in cases where even the tenuous prac- tical motivation discussed above does not seem to apply. Thus, some authors occasionally employ the pointed consonant שׁ instead of the more common as illustrated below. This phenomenon is not employed ,ש unpointed variant consistently or for any particular reason; for example, the pointed variants shown below do not appear on words that would otherwise have a potentially ambiguous meaning.

(dressed’ (Zak 1912: 136‘ ןישׁובל – (eighteen years old’ (Sofer 1904: 1‘ םינשׁיחןב –

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3.8 Gershayim

:is used in the following ways in Hasidic Hebrew ,״ Gershayim, the symbol a) It is placed before the last letter in acronyms (see 16.1.2 for further examples), e.g.:

(Habadniks’ (Bodek 1866: 53‘ שיקינד״בח – (anniversary of a death’ (Bromberg 1899: 5‘ טייצראי — צ״אי – (nevertheless’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 3‘ ןכיפלעףא — כ״פעא – (the synagogue’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 45‘ תסנכהתיב — ס״נכהיב – (afterwards’ (Munk 1898: 65‘ ךכרחא — כ״חא – b) It is placed between two Hebrew alphabetic symbols representing a numeral (see 3.10 for details), e.g.:

(eleven years’ (Bromberg 1899: 8‘ םינשא״י – (twelve men’ (Ehrmann 1903: 39a‘ םישנאב״י – (seventeen times’ (Stamm 1905: 22‘ םימעפז״י – (eighteen reinisch’ (Munk 1898: 64‘ שניירח״י – c) Very rarely, it is placed before the last letter of an unabbreviated Yiddish loanword, as below. This practice may stem from the convention found in Medieval Hebrew texts (e.g. Rashi’s biblical commentary) of placing ger- shayim before the last letter of a foreign word. However, this usage is extremely marginal in Hasidic Hebrew.

(Latin’ (Bodek 1865c: 16‘ ן״ייטל – (doorknob’ (Bromberg 1899: 42‘ ע״קמאלק –

3.9 Punctuation

The Hasidic Hebrew tale collections exhibit a range of different punctuation conventions, detailed below.

3.9.1 Minimal Punctuation In some collections, e.g. Rodkinsohn (1864b, 1865), Bodek (1866), Shalom of Koidanov (1882), Landau (1892), Sobelman (1909/10), and Zak (1912), punctu- ation consists of the following symbols:

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– a single mid-level dot (·) – a full stop (.) – sof pasuq (:)

Both · or . and : can be used to indicate the end of a sentence, but · and . are used to separate sentences within a narrative unit, while : serves to mark the end of a section. These punctuation conventions are illustrated below. The sentence dividers · or . are often used relatively sparingly so that there is no clear division between sentences, with sequences of coordinated and subordinated clauses continuing for several lines.

’.And he came before the (lit: his) father of our Rebbe‘ ןרמלשויבאינפלאבו . – (Landau 1892: 7) And the matter went into his heart, and he became‘ ובלברבדהסונכיו · רמרמתיו – bitter’ (Rodkinsohn 1864b: 32) (Therefore I am in great sorrow.’ (Zak 1912: 37‘ דאמרעצבינאכ״ע : –

3.9.2 Extended Punctuation In other collections, e.g. Ehrmann (1903), Sofer (1904), Sobelman (1909/10), Berger (1906, 1907, 1910a–c), Michelsohn (1905, 1910a–c, 1911, 1912), commas, full stops, exclamation marks, question marks, and other European-style punctua- tion symbols are employed. These punctuation symbols are often used in ways differing from standard convention in e.g. European languages and Modern (Israeli) Hebrew, as detailed below.

3.9.2.1 Full Stops Many authors employ full stops in a much wider range of syntactic contexts than usual in European languages, frequently using them to divide parts of sin- gle sentences. This is illustrated in the following examples, in which full stops appear directly preceding a relative clause and in the middle of a possessive construction respectively:

םידיסחהילודגמדחאדיסחהמש׳יהשטשיבראפידיסחןיבו . לצתחתדימתףפותסהש – And among the Hasidim of Probisht there was one of the great‘ ש״רהצ״הה Hasidim, who always found shelter with the righteous Rebbe Shalom’ (Zak 1912: 7) And they were dressed in‘ םינוירשב׳יהםישבולמו . תשוחנםיעבוכותשוחנלש – copper armour and copper hats’ (Sofer 1904: 1)

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This use of mid-sentence full stops is particularly common following tempo- ral clauses, e.g.:

When that Torah‘ זלהח״תהמשאברשאכ . ח״תהםעדחוימרדחלט״שעבהךלה – scholar arrived there, the Baʾal Shem Tov went to a special room with the Torah scholar’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 141) And when the man went out of his‘ ותיבמשיאהאצירשאכו . לרעהתמףכית . – house, the non-Jew immediately died.’ (Brandwein 1912: 46) And when‘ ל״נהדיגמהונבתיבלאברשאכו . ףסכילכךלשישךילעםירמואהנהולרמא – he arrived at the house of his son, that Maggid, he said to him …’ (Chikernik 1903a: 27) When they came home, the house was well‘ התיבהםאובב . בטיהםמוחמתיבה . – heated.’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 4)

Similarly, full stops often stand in for other symbols. For example, even though question marks are occasionally attested in Sobelman (1909/10), a full stop appears at the end of the question shown below:

’?What is the meaning of your knocking‘ ךלשתוקיפדבתנווכתנהנווכהזיא . – (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 33)

3.9.2.2 Question Marks Question marks are relatively rarely used, but when they do appear they are confined to question contexts, as expected, e.g.:

Let him please tell me why he said‘ זלהרומזמאקוודרמאעודמאנילדיגי ? – precisely this song?’ (Berger 1907: 53) (And how can I stay for the Sabbath?’ (? 1894: 5‘ תבשלעראשהללכואךיאו ? –

3.9.2.3 Exclamation Marks In contrast to the general convention in e.g. European langauges and Modern (Israeli) Hebrew, the Hasidic Hebrew authors often use exclamation marks in contexts lacking any element of heightened importance or emotion, where one might instead expect to find some other punctuation symbol such as a colon or full stop, e.g.:

And she told him as follows! And he said to‘ הלאהםירבדכולרפסתו ! הלרמאיו – her …’ (Berger 1910b: 72)

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Like full stops, exclamation marks may sometimes appear mid-sentence, as in the following examples:

And in the middle‘ הלילהעצמאב׳יהו ! רעשהחתפלעקופדלותרשמלרמאט״שעבהו – of the night! The Baʾal Shem Tov told his servant to knock on the gate’ (Ehrmann 1903: 5b)

3.9.2.4 In Conjunction with Mid-Level Dot and sof pasuq The authors who employ European-style punctuation symbols typically make use of the mid-level dot and sof pasuq as well. As in the case of the texts discussed above in 3.9.1, these authors often use sof pasuq to signal the end of a tale or narrative episode. In some cases it is the only marker of such divisions, while in others it appears as an additional indicator immediately following a full stop, exclamation mark, etc., e.g.: the servant of this tenant farmer!:’ (Ehrmann‘ הזלהראדנאראהלשתרשמה :! – 1903: 2b)

3.9.2.5 Quotation Marks In many tale collections direct speech is not explicitly indicated. However, in others quotation marks are employed, as follows:

Therefore, pay attention‘ „ ״גרובשערפבשורדליליתרדסשהמעמשוךינזאטהכ״א – (lit: incline your ear) and listen to what I have planned for my sermon in Pressburg’ (Michelsohn 1910b: 133) When I was‘ „ ״םלועבשארבנםושלערהלאלשילעיתלבקםינשהעבשןבדלייתייהשכ – a boy of seven years I took it upon myself not to harm any creature in the world’ (Berger 1907: 147) :Do you still have any questions?’ (N. Duner 1912‘ „ ״אישוקהזיאןיידעךלראשנה – 27)

Similarly, on occasion quotation marks are used to single out individual words as labels, e.g.:

,But when the “crazy man” was there‘ ה׳יהרשאכלבא „ רסח׳יה״עגושמ „ ״ריבגה – the “rich man” was missing’ (Rosenthal 1909: 77)

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3.10 Numerals and Dates

Numerals may be designated in several different ways in the Hasidic Hebrew tales. In some cases they are spelt out as words, as below:

(two men’ (J. Duner 1899: 99‘ םישנאינש – (nineteen’ (Kaidaner 1875: 17b‘ רשעהעשת – (eighteen’ (Sofer 1904: 9‘ רשעהנומש – :thirteen consecutive years’ (Moses Leib of Sasov 1903‘ םיפוצרםינשרשעהשלש – 21a) (twenty-two consecutive years’ (Michelsohn 1910c: 33‘ םיפוצרםינשיתשוםירשע – (a hundred and forty streets’ (Seuss 1890: 7‘ תוצוחםיעבראוהאמ –

Numerals up to twenty are also very frequently represented by their standard Hebrew alphabetic symbols, as below:

(two hours’ (A. Walden 1860?: 13b‘ תועש׳ב – (three hundred’ (Zak 1912: 18‘ תואמ׳ג – (three questions’ (Sofer 1904: 10‘ תוישק׳ג – (eleven years’ (Bromberg 1899: 8‘ םינשא״י – (twelve men’ (Ehrmann 1903: 39a‘ םישנאב״י – (twelve years old’ (Teomim Fraenkel 1911a: 33‘ םינשב״יןב – (about twelve seconds’ (Berger 1907: 148‘ ןעדנוקעסב״יכ – (about fifteen years old’ (Sofer 1904: 42‘ הנשו״טןבכ – (twenty years’ (Kaidaner 1875: 25b‘ הנש׳כ –

More rarely, a larger number is attested in this form, e.g.:

(a hundred ducats’ (N. Duner 1899: 89‘ םימודא׳ק –

Occasionally a numeral that has an iconic value in gematria, the Jewish numerological system, is represented as such. For example, eighteen is some- :.life’, its equivalent in gematria, e.g‘ יח times represented by the word

(eighteen years old’ (Sofer 1904: 1‘ םינשׁיחןב – (eighteen years’ (Berger 1910a: 58‘ הנשי״ח –

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Very rarely, the name of the alphabetic symbol is spelt out in full, e.g.:

(ten (lit: yod) generations’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 18‘ יוד דורות –

Arabic numerals are hardly attested within the tales. The following are rare examples:

:to strike the sermon giver fifty times (lit‘ להכות את הבעל דרשן 50 מכות במקל – strikes) with a stick’ (Sofer 1904: 32) (three hundred roubles’ (Sobelman 1909/10, pts. 1–2: 6‘ 300 רו״כ– (twenty-five złoty (or: guilders)’ (Ehrmann 1905: 158b‘ 25 זהובים – (half past four’ (Leichter 1901: 8b‘ זייגער4½ –

Dates are usually given according to the Hebrew calendar, e.g.:

(in the winter of the year 5653 (1893)’ (Yellin 1913: 38‘ בחורף שנת תרנ״ג – (in the year 5628 (1868)’ (Lieberson 1913: 53‘ בשנת תרכ״ח – (in the year 5602 (1842)’ (M. Walden 1914: 83‘ בשנת תר״ג – (the year 5552 (1792)’ (Shalom of Koidanov 1882: 13‘ שנת תקנ״ב – ’(and a son was born to them in the year 5507 (1747‘ ויולד להם בן בשנת תק״ז – (Heilmann 1902: 1)

Gregorian dates are cited only very rarely, and in such cases Arabic numerals are used, e.g.:

(in the year 1843’ (Heilmann 1902: 229‘ בשנת1843 – (in the year 1831 by their reckoning’ (Zak 1912: 36‘ . בשנת1831 למספרם –

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