All Questions
26 questions
3
votes
0
answers
79
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Question about Binyanim – Hebrew linguistics [closed]
I've looked into lots of linguistic works and found discussion of the 7 Binyanim (verb patterns) in much of modern Hebrew linguistics and even going back before. Obviously verbs in Tanakh (and all of ...
1
vote
0
answers
129
views
If we know for certain that certain types of Hebrew pronunciation aren't correct to the biblical standard, why still use them? [duplicate]
This question may be controversial but it isn't meant as an insult to any specific community. In fact, it kind of targets everyone if the hypothesis is correct. It speaks to the reality of the exile ...
- 1,413
2
votes
2
answers
715
views
Seeking copy of Torah in Ktav Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew)
Is there a copy of the Torah in Ktav Ivri (Paleo-Hebrew)?
If so, is there a copy online? If not, where might I find it in print?
- 8,383
1
vote
0
answers
163
views
Slavic People are called K'nan in jewish sources
Why is the slavic languages or people reffered to as Cannanim in Jewish sources? Who is the first to do this?
See for instance Minchas Yehuda in Mechokekei Yehuda explaining Rashi on Devarim 3:9 Here.
...
- 1,777
2
votes
1
answer
103
views
Jewish languages
Why haven't Jews had a consistent language throughout history? What was wrong with Lashon Hakodesh (besides for learning the local language)? We adopted Aramaic with a mixture of LHK and local ...
- 2,328
0
votes
1
answer
73
views
What is the earliest use of the term tzaddik? How far back does the concept go?
According to this website, there is a claim that "It is part of our glorious tradition going back thousands of years to seek a blessing from a Tzaddik for a sick relative (see Talmud Bava Basra ...
- 1,062
4
votes
1
answer
184
views
English Words in Tosfot?
Posting for someone else:
Rashi occasionally provides Old French words in his commentary to help understand certain terms or concepts. Who is the earliest author to have done the same with (Old) ...
- 21.2k
0
votes
0
answers
145
views
How can we say the Torah uses words of later-day languages? [duplicate]
My friend told me how the word das, which we use to mean halacha or religion, like k'das Moshe veYisroel, is actually a Persian word. If this is true, then how can commentators explain the word ...
- 127
2
votes
0
answers
145
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Evolution of the Term "Ger"
According to Plaut ("The Torah a Modern Commentary", Revised Edition, p. 530) the term "ger" has changed over time.
Ger was the term applied to resident non-Israelites who could ...
- 507
6
votes
0
answers
144
views
Unknown La'az in Teshuvot Rashi
In the Elfenbein (1943) edition of Teshuvot Rashi, in the teshuvot from Rashi to the rabbis of Auxerre ('סימן ג), Rashi writes "לשון דמות צלם" is "אאמיינדליי" in la'az. Elfenbein writes in his ...
- 171
0
votes
1
answer
226
views
How do the Rabbis rationalize Hebrew as being a divine language given from Hashem when we also believe Aramaic to be a sister language?
This is one of those issues that has always bugged me.
Hebrew and Aramaic are both languages found within the Torah/Tanakh. If Hebrew is a divine language and given to us from Hashem as his word, why ...
user15672
7
votes
1
answer
191
views
What Egyptian/Greek text was Ibn Ezra consulting for his commentary on the name "Moshe"?
Ibn Ezra suggests that Pharaoh's daughter, who spoke Egyptian, most likely called the baby Monios, the Egyptian word for drawn; the Torah translated into Hebrew as "Moshe." He then writes that he ...
- 136k
7
votes
3
answers
647
views
How is there Torah about Hebrew letters if the letters are not original?
Occasionally I hear Torah that relates to the iconography of Hebrew letters, like the significance around the fact that the yud is a small point, and how the hey has two openings, allowing repentants ...
- 383
20
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Was a sefer torah ever actually written in Greek?
This answer to a different question states that the only other language a sefer torah can be written in and be kosher is Greek. (Rambam, Hilchot Sefer Torah 1:19 says that this Greek no longer exists ...
- 23.3k
7
votes
3
answers
622
views
What was the language used in Torah study by Jews in Israel in 16th century
Did the Jewish inhabitants of Safed and Jerusalem (contemporaries of Rav Yosef Karo and the Ari) speak Hebrew when they learned Torah or did they speak Arabic, Ladino or some other language?
I saw a ...
- 7,620
13
votes
1
answer
737
views
Are the seventy distinct languages and nations listed?
It's a well known concept that there were 70 nations and 70 original languages. Is there any agreement about which ones they were/are? I found this which lists the nations, but I'm interested in ...
- 431
8
votes
2
answers
328
views
Speaking Yiddish vs. the host language at home [closed]
I understand that, before World War Ⅱ, the Jews of Hungary and Germany mostly spoke Hungarian and German, respectively, amongst themselves (at home), whereas the Jews of Poland mostly spoke Yiddish ...
- 73.9k
17
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
- 911
7
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Why was the Gemara written in Aramaic?
The Gemara (the Bavli and Yerushalmi) are the fundamental texts that we possess of the Oral law. Why were they written in Aramaic?
At first glance, Ravina and R' Ashi probably knew that this will be ...
- 40.8k
5
votes
2
answers
387
views
When did the use of Rashei Tevot, Heh Kuf, הק׳ in writings, books, letters, etc., begin?
Perhaps I'm among the last to have found this out, but it took me quite a while to understand why, in a signature, the name was preceded by a הק׳. The Ozar Rashei Tevot book has 31 different ...
- 1,427
7
votes
1
answer
463
views
How and when did the word "Kollel" come to mean "an institution for paying scholars to study Torah"?
How and when did the word "Kollel" come to mean "an institution for paying scholars to study Torah"?
If I'm not mistaken, the Hebrew word "kollel" means "includes."
But today we've all heard of the ...
- 136k
13
votes
1
answer
713
views
Kubutz and shuruk in Polish/Hungarian pronunciation
What is the origin or basis of the Polish and Hungarian prevalence for pronouncing "oo" vowels as "ee"? The variants of other vowels are easier to understand in the context of phonological shifting, ...
- 7,371
7
votes
3
answers
769
views
Source of appellation "Shimshon HaGibor"
I've heard it claimed that the expression "Shimshon HaGibor" (Samson the Mighty) [as a descriptive of Shimshon in Tanach] was invented by the Zionists, to promote their "strong Jew" narrative. Is this ...
- 21.2k
15
votes
3
answers
768
views
Why is Hebrew Called "Jewish" in the Bible?
We see that in most of the Bible, the Jews are called "בני ישראל/Israelites"; only in later books are they called "יהודים/Jews" (e.g. Esther 2:5, Zechariah 8:23), after the loss of the 10 tribes. ...
- 2,863
2
votes
2
answers
100
views
Research Project on How the Revival of the Hebrew Language Led to Jewish Nationalism [closed]
Can someone help me with finding sources (ie, things to read) about my research topic of "How the Revival of the Hebrew Language Led to Jewish Nationalism"
- 3,389
2
votes
2
answers
254
views
What is the Morph-Phonological Split in Hebrew that makes it so Unique? [closed]
Can some one explain this to me?
In a mixed language par excellence, large and monolithic blocks of material are
imported wholesale from each of the ancestral languages. Thus, while the verbal ...
- 3,389