COMPARATIVE SEMITIC PHILOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS EDITED BY
T. MURAOKA A...
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COMPARATIVE SEMITIC PHILOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS EDITED BY
T. MURAOKA AND C.H.M. VERSTEEGH
VOLUME XL COMPARATIVE SEMITIC PHILOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
COMPARATIVE SEMITIC PHILOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES From Sa#adiah Gaon to Ibn Barån (10th-12th C.) BY
AHARON MAMAN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY DAVID LYONS
BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2004
The publication of this work has been made possible by the Authority for Research and Development, the Charles Wolfson Fund, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mamam, Aaron. Comparative Semitic philology in the Middle Ages : from Sa’adiah Gaon to Ibn Barån (10th-12th c.) / by Aharon Maman ; translated into English by David Lyons. p. cm. — (Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics ; 40) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 90-04-13620-7 1. Hebrew language—Grammar, Comparative—Arabic—History. 2. Hebrew language—Grammar, Comparative—Aramaic—History. I. Title. II. Series. PJ4527.M34 2004 492.4’5’09021—dc22 2004050577
ISSN 0081-8461 ISBN 90 04 13620 7
© Copyright 2004 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers , MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. printed in the netherlands
In memory of my beloved sisters Óannah (1946–64) and Dinah (1951–67) z”l
CONTENTS
Abbreviations .............................................................................. Introductory Notes .................................................................... Foreword .................................................................................... Introduction ................................................................................ The present study and previous studies .............................. Delimitation of the subject ....................................................
xiii xv xvii 1 1 4
Chapter One The motives of the comparative philology .... 1.1 Linguistic motives .............................................................. 1.2 Literary motives ................................................................
8 8 10
Chapter Two The fundaments of comparison and the restrictions imposed ................................................................ 2.1 The permissible extent of comparative philology .......... 2.2 The measure of affinity between the three languages .... 2.3 The problem of loan words: Were loans from Aramaic and Arabic reckoned with by the Hebrew grammarians? .................................................................... 2.4 The theory of substitutions .............................................. 2.5 The theory of the root and its effect on comparative philology ............................................................................ 2.6 The semantic equivalence factor .................................... Chapter Three Explicit comparisons .................................... 3.1 The nomenclature of the languages and the terminology for comparison ............................................ 3.2 Explicit comparison identifiable on tauto-etymological grounds .............................................................................. 3.3 Explicit comparison on the strength of the Arabic model ................................................................................ 3.4 Implicit comparisons holding the rank of explicit comparisons ...................................................................... 3.5 Comparison formulae ...................................................... 3.6 Explicit comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic .............. 3.7 The three-way comparison: Heb./Aram./Arab. ............
13 13 18
21 32 39 40 50 50 60 61 61 62 63 74
viii
contents
3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11
The Heb./Arab. comparison ........................................ The Aram./Arab. comparison ...................................... Appendix .......................................................................... Conclusion ......................................................................
76 76 76 78
Chapter Four The implicit comparison ................................ 4.1 “Zero” term .................................................................... 4.2 Integrated comparisons with explicit and implicit components ...................................................................... 4.3 Implicit comparison in one place converted elsewhere into explicit ...................................................................... 4.4 Implicit comparison by one scholar converted into explicit by a subsequent one .......................................... 4.5 Sequence of several words translated by their Arabic cognates .............................................................. 4.6 Hebrew synonyms and their Arabic synonym equivalents ........................................................................ 4.7 Entries translated by both cognates and non-cognates .................................................................... 4.8 The location of the cognate when accompanied by synonyms .......................................................................... 4.9 The choice between a cognate and a non-cognate .... 4.10 Entries translated only by cognates .............................. 4.11 Summary .......................................................................... 4.12 Appendix to 4.7 ..............................................................
80 83
Chapter Five The aims of language comparison ................ 5.1 Typology of the linguistic works .................................... 5.2 The aims of comparison as promulgated by the authors ............................................................................ 5.3 Aims of comparison according to the comparison formulae .......................................................................... 5.4 Synopsis and conclusion ................................................
100 100
Chapter Six Language comparison in treatises translated into Hebrew ............................................................................ 6.1 Omissions of explicit comparisons ................................ 6.2 “Zero” in "Ußùl > “comparison” in Shorashim .............. 6.3 Aram./Arab. comparisons in Shorashim ........................ 6.4 Ibn Tibbon retention of comparisons in "Ußùl ............
83 84 85 86 86 90 93 94 95 97 98
102 104 133
138 140 148 157 158
contents 6.5
ix
Ibn Tibbon’s method of adducing Arabic materials in comparisons and in inner-Arabic specimens .......... Summary ........................................................................
160 161
Chapter Seven Rav Sa'adiah Ga"on ...................................... 7.1 Grammatical comparisons ............................................ 7.2 Hebrew/Arabic stylistic comparisons ............................ 7.3.1 Lexical comparisons of Hebrew/Arabic cognates ...... 7.3.2 Hebrew/Arabic semantic comparisons ........................ 7.3.3 Hebrew/Aramaic etymological comparisons ................ 7.3.4 Implicit comparisons ...................................................... 7.3.5 Translation by cognates ................................................ 7.4 Nomenclature and comparative terms ........................
162 163 165 165 166 166 169 172 178
Chapter Eight R. Judah ibn Quraysh (in remark Dunash b. Tamìm) ..............................................................................
180
6.6
Chapter Nine David b. Abraham Alfàsi’s comparative philology .................................................................................. 9.1 Alfàsi’s theory of language comparisons ...................... 9.2 Comparisons in areas of syntax and style .................. 9.3 Letter substitutions in the comparison theory ............ 9.4 The Hebrew/Aramaic comparisons ............................ 9.5 Explicit comparisons: Hebrew/Arabic .......................... 9.6 Hebrew/Aramaic/Arabic .............................................. 9.7 Cognate Aram./Arab. comparisons .............................. 9.8 Full listing of Heb./Arab. implicit comparisons .......... 9.9 Uncertain comparisons .................................................. 9.10 The comparisons as reflected in the texts of the copyists and compendia editors of Alfàsi’s lexicon .... 9.11 The comparison terminology ........................................ 9.12 The sources used by David b. Abraham Alfàsi .......... Chapter Ten Mena˙em B. Saruq .......................................... 10.1 Mena˙em b. Saruq and his opinion on Hebrew comparison with Arabic ................................................ 10.2 Hebrew/Aramaic comparison as recorded by Mena˙em ........................................................................ 10.3 The nomenclature for the languages and the comparison terminology ................................................
182 182 186 188 196 213 224 228 228 232 234 236 250 276 276 283 287
x 10.4 10.5
contents Comparisons recorded by Mena˙em’s disciples ........ Comparative terms ........................................................
288 288
Chapter Eleven Dunash ben Labrat ...................................... 11.1 Comparisons with Arabic ............................................ 11.2 Letter interchanges ........................................................ 11.3 Hebrew/Aramaic comparisons .................................... 11.4 Grammatical comparisons ............................................ 11.5 The comparative terms ................................................
289 289 292 293 294 295
Chapter Twelve Rabbi Judah Óayyùj .................................. 12.1 Comparisons in the grammatical treatises .................. 12.2 The comparisons in Kitàb al-Nutaf .............................. 12.3 Nomenclature for the languages and the comparative terminology ....................................................................
296 296 297
Chapter Thirteen R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙ .................................. 13.1 Ibn Janà˙’s comparative philology and the text versions of the Rouen manuscript .............................. 13.2 The theory of letter interchange as used by Ibn Janà˙ ...................................................................... 13.3 The condition necessary for comparison record: A comparison established only in instances of specificity ........................................................................ 13.4 Comparison methods .................................................... 13.5 Comparison with Aramaic cognates ............................ 13.6 On formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram./Arab. .................................................................. 13.7 Listing of comparisons on formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate) ...................................................... 13.8 Comparison of Hebrew with Arabic .......................... 13.9 Explicit comparisons in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim (Heb./Arab. cognates) .................................................. 13.10 Implicit comparison—cognate in "Ußùl/“zero” comparison in Shorashim ................................................ 13.11 Implicit comparison—cognate "Ußùl/explicit comparison in Shorashim ................................................ 13.12 Explicit comparison—non-cognate translation synonym 13.13 Explicit “semantic” comparisons at entries which are non-cognates both in "Ußùl and in Shorashim ..............
299
298
300 316
324 326 330 337 339 341 343 345 347 347 348
contents
xi
Heb./Arab. explicit semantic comparisons in "Ußùl/ “zero” in Shorashim ........................................................ Comparisons in Ibn Janà˙’s Opuscules ........................ Comparative philology in Sefer haRiqmah .................... Uncertain comparisons ................................................ Rejected comparisons .................................................... Nomenclature for languages and comparative terminology .................................................................... Ibn Janà˙’s sources ...................................................... The unique nature of Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons ........
357 367 368
Chapter Fourteen Hai Ga"on, Abù-l-Faraj, Samuel HaNagid and Abraham HaBavli ............................ 14.1 R. Hai Ga"on ................................................................ 14.2 Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Ibn Al-Faraj .................................. 14.3 R. Shemuel HaNagid .................................................. 14.4 Abraham HaBavli ........................................................
371 371 375 380 382
Chapter Fifteen Mosheh HaKohen ibn Gikatilla, Judah b. Bal'am and Isaac b. Barùn .................................. 15.1 Mosheh HaKohen ibn Gikatilla .................................. 15.2 Judah ibn Bal'am .......................................................... 15.3 Isaac ibn Barùn ............................................................
384 384 385 392
Synopsis and conclusion ............................................................
403
Chapter Sixteen
The chart of comparisons ..........................
413
Abbreviations and Bibliographical References ........................ General Index ............................................................................
479 491
13.14 13.15 13.16 13.17 13.18 13.19 13.20 13.21
350 352 353 355 355
ABBREVIATIONS
Arab. Aram. Bib. Aram. Bib. Heb. ed. etym. exp. comp Heb. imp. comp prim. rad. Rab. Heb. Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr TJ Talm. Aram. Targ. Aram. v. var. lect.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Arabic, Arabic entry Aramaic, Aramaic entry biblical Aramaic biblical Hebrew edition etymological explicit comparison(s) Hebrew, Hebrew entry implied comparison first radical of a trilateral root Rabbinic Hebrew Rav Sa'adiah’s Arabic translation of the Bible Targum Yonatan (b. Uzziel) Talmudic Aramaic Targumic Aramaic versus variant reading
INTRODUCTORY NOTES
1. All emphases in quotations from the works of philologists are my emphases, unless it is explicitly stated that the emphasis was in the source text. 2. If one letter of a weak verbal root is printed in parentheses, it is implied that in the opinion of the scholar under discussion, the parenthesized letter is non-radical; in his lexicon, the root is to be located disregarding the aforementioned letter. For Example, [d(y) means, according to David b. Abraham, that the yod is not part of the root; in his lexicon, the root can be found within the letter daleth entries. 3. Regarding the numeral appearing in parentheses after a comparison of excerpts from the works of David b. Abraham, it is not regularly indicated whether this numeral relates to vol. 1 or vol. 2 of Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ; this can be easily ascertained from the root of the entry word itself, as based on the grammatical approach of David b. Abraham. 4. A reference to an entry in R. Jonah ibn Janà˙’s lexicon is comprised of two numerals set apart by a diagonal. The numeral to the left of the diagonal refers to "Ußùl and that to the right to Shorashim. If no numeral is noted the entry can be located by the root. 5. Two or three entries set apart from one another by diagonal(s) are interrelated qua tr. syn, whether cognate or non-cognate. The entry to the extreme left of the expression is a Hebrew entry; the second (to the left) is an Aramaic one; the third (i.e. that on the extreme right) is an Arabic one (unless otherwise indicated). If the expression contains only two entry words, the second (viz. the one on the right) can be identified as Aram. by the paragraph rubric or by a special symbol. 6. Wherever the term “etymology/etymological” appears, it refers to the meaning of the given entry (word) according to ancient linguistic scholarship and not according to modern scientific linguistics. For instance, J. Marouzeau, 1961, p. 90, distinguishes between the meaning of “etymology” in early linguistics and its meaning in modern linguistics. He defines its ancient sense as “Science de la filiation des mots, ç.a.d. . . . recherche de leur sense propre (gr. etymon)” (= “the
xvi
introductory notes
science of the stemmatization of words from each other,” i.e. the investigation of their true meaning. In contrast, etymology in modern linguistics incorporates, additionally, the study of the diachronic links between words. See, in addition, F. de Saussure, 1983, p. 259, which also enumerates several senses for the term “etymology”: the fourth sense listed relates to the intralinguistic non-diachronic connection between different entry words.1 7. When I speak of “semantic transparency,” I imply the sense used by D. Téné, 1983, p. 269 (= the transparency of an unexplained Hebrew word by an Arab. or Aram. cognate) and not its standard sense in Hebrew semantics (as e.g. used by G.B. Sarfatti, Hebrew Semantics, Jerusalem 1978, ch. 4, especially pp. 60–61; bibliography, ibid., p. 18. See also R. Nir, Semantics of Modern Hebrew, Tel Aviv 1978, pp. 9, 11–14, 240. 8. Chapters 1–6 of the present study are introductory; they deal with general problems of language comparison and with matters relating to linguistic scholars of the given epoch in general. Chapters 7–15 set out the comparison data culled from the works of each grammarian who flourished in the given epoch, together with the specific problems regarding each one. Each of chapters 7–13 is devoted to one grammarian, in chronological order; the chapters on Judah ibn Quraysh (ch. 8) and Óayyùj (ch. 12) are extremely short (for the system and theory of Ibn Quraysh has been exhaustively discussed by D. Becker, The Risàla of Judah b. Quraysh, A Critical Edition, Tel Aviv 1984, while very few comparisons are recorded by Óayyùj). The special rank occupied by these two scholars in the history of comparative philology justifies in my opinion the decision to allocate separate chapters to them. Chapter 14 comprises a discussion of four grammarians from whose works little data for comparison survive; the chronological arrangement of Hebrew grammarians is to some extent disturbed in this chapter (the material is too sparse to justify a division into separate chapters). Finally, one chapter (ch. 15) is devoted to a discussion of the three grammarians who lived at the very end of the period to which this study relates.
1 See also B. Pottier (ed.) 1973, p. 125: “Etymology was a non-diachronic concept until the 19th century . . .”; Larousse, in the Dictionary of Linguistics, Paris 1973, s.v.
FOREWORD
The encounter of medieval Jewish scholars with Arabic linguistic literature during the last decades of the tenth century CE produced one of the most important branches of Hebrew linguistics, namely, that of comparative Semitic philology. This branch not only changed the nature of Hebrew philology but influenced considerably the philological exegesis of the Bible as well. The purpose of the present study is to give a detailed overview of the medieval theoretical framework in which fourteen Hebrew philologists practised comparative Semitic philology during the tenth and eleventh centuries, from R. Sa'adiah Ga"on at the beginning of this period until R. Isaac ibn Barùn at its end. This literary activity spread in the Arabic-speaking area from Iraq in the east, through the Land of Israel, Egypt and North Africa, to Andalusia in the west. This study also describes the contribution of each of these philologists, focusing on his specific characteristics. The study presents a full-scale description of the lexical comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic and Arabic and resorts to comparative grammar only when necessary for the purposes of the study. Certainly, medieval comparative Semitic grammar as reflected in the works of these scholars as well as the comparative philology of the successors of Ibn Barùn are worth a comprehensive study but such a descriptions is beyond the scope of the present volume. At any rate, as regards a comparative lexicon, it seems that the general principles revealed here did not undergo significant change after Ibn Barùn. This study has its origins in a dissertation written at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the years 1980–84, under the joint supervision of Professor Moshé Bar-Asher and the late Professor David Téné. In the last two decades, several works touching upon medieval grammatical thought in general and on comparative philology in particular have been published, both by myself and by others, especially in the light of new materials from the Cairo Genizah and other manuscripts that were then either inaccessible or unknown. The time has come for the publication of an updated study, for the benefit of scholars interested in medieval Hebrew philology, comparative Semitic philology and even general comparative philology.
xviii
foreword
I would like to express here my deep gratitude to the esteemed advisers of my dissertation. It was a privilege to study under them. It is also a pleasant duty to thank Dr. Dovid Lyons for his translation of the Hebrew original into English. A special debt of gratitude is owed to Mrs. Evelyn Katrak for her excellent editing of the English style and to Professor T. Muraoka for his invaluable comments to the final draft.
INTRODUCTION
The present study and previous studies1 Hebrew philologists of the tenth and eleventh centuries C.E. set out explicit and systematic comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic and Aramaic in the areas of vocabulary and grammar. Certain scholars even wrote works devoted entirely to comparison between these languages. At the commencement of this period, R. Judah ibn Quraysh compiled the Risàla; Dunash ibn Tamìm, almost contemporary with Ibn Quraysh (according to R. Abraham ibn Ezra in the preface to Sefer Moznayim) “wrote a work compounded of the Languages of Eber and Arabia,” a work that has survived merely in some quotations; at the termination of our period, R. Isaac Ibn Barùn compiled the Kitàb al-Muwàzana bayn al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya wal-'Arabiyya. The other Hebrew grammarians incorporated a considerable number of comparisons between these languages in their grammatical treatises and/or lexicons; this was the practice of R. Saadiah Gaon, David b. Abraham Alfàsi, Mena˙em b. Saruq, R. Hai b. Sherira (Gaon), R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, R. Moses HaKohen b. Gikatilla and R. Judah ibn Bal'am. Comparisons are also included in the critiques and polemical works of Dunash b. Labrat, Ibn Saruq’s Disciples and Yehudi b. Sheshet as well as in Bible commentaries such as those of R. Sa'adiah, Salmon b. Yeru˙im and other Karaites, Ibn Bal'am etc. European scholars of the late nineteenth century showed a keen interest in the language comparisons between the three Semitic languages per se, several of them considered these to be the beginnings of comparative Semitic linguistics. They published scholarly reviews comprising a considerable quantity of the comparison data culled from the source texts known to them and on the basis of the methodology they adopted: S. Pinsker, Liqqutei Qadmoniot (1860) set down a list of lexical comparisons, selected from the material in David b. 1 For a concise review of scholarly achievements in the study of language comparison during the tenth-twelfth centuries, see Poznanski 1926, pp. 237–45; D. Téné 1983, p. 244 (n. 20), outlines in a brief bibliographical survey, the recent developments on this issue in the scholarly world, as of 1982–83.
2
introduction
Abraham Alfàsi’s Kitàb Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ; and W. Bacher (1882) surveyed briefly R. Abraham ibn Ezra’s Hebrew comparisons with Arabic; Bacher also published two synopses (1884, 1885) of the language comparisons occurring in the works of R. Jonah b. Janà˙. P.K. Kokowtzow (1890, 1916) edited R. Isaac ibn Barùn’s Kitàb al-Muwàzana and (1893) appended a translation and notes in Russian. S. Eppenstein (1900) issued a study of the language comparisons with Arabic, taken up by R. Judah ibn. Quraysh. S. Poznanski (1916) published a selection of Hebrew-Arabic comparison data documented in Ibn Bal'am’s grammatical treatises and Bible commentaries. These surveys and their like are no more than incomplete monographs based on a selection of the works; they fall short of a thorough discussion of the comparison literature in its entirety. Furthermore, the above-mentioned studies, despite their use of MS copies as a basis and granted that several detailed comparison data were thereby made available to serious students who hitherto had no access to the relevant source material, have meantime become outdated. Several of these studies are now useless for research, first, since text “sources” that were known at the end of the nineteenth century cannot objectively be considered sufficient nowadays; second, because the theory of language adopted by the nineteenth and early twentieth century scholars for evaluating the materials is unacceptable in present times. Take as an example Bacher’s surveys: when he reviewed Ibn Janà˙’s language comparisons, there had been issued neither the original Arabic text of Kitàb al-Luma' nor the Hebrew translation of Sefer HaShorashim and he used Sefer Ha-Riqma in its inaccurate version as edited by Goldberg (1856). Subsequently, Kitàb al-Luma' (1886) and Sefer HaShorashim (1896) were published; likewise, a critical edition of Sefer HaRiqma (ed. Wilensky, 1929–31 and ed. Wilensky-Téné, 1964). Kitàb al-"Ußùl, which had originally been published in 1875, had now undergone textual improvement2 with further text emendations by Razhabi, 1966, pp. 273–95. Bacher, in the introduction to his edition of Shorashim, p. xxiv, held that his 1884 and 1885 works had exhaustively collated “everything appearing in R. Jonah’s treatises concerning views, arguments and suppositions as to the similarity between cognate Semitic languages 2 W. Bacher, “Berichtungen zur Neubauer’schen Aufgabe des Kitàb al-"Ußùl ”, ZDMG 1884, pp. 620–29; ibid., “Weitere Berichtungen zur Neubauer’schen Ausgabe des Kitàb al-Ußùl,” ZDMG 42, 1888, pp. 307–10.
introduction
3
and Hebrew,” whereas in fact he had failed to enter a considerable quantity of the materials; he did not record the “tenets” and “arguments” in their entirety. As remarked by P.K. Kokowtzow (1916b, p. 76): “There has yet to be produced a thorough review and evaluation of the contributions of the author of Kitàb al-Tanqì˙ to Hebrew linguistics.” The latter judgment does not apply only to the works of R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙; the 1856–57 Bargès-Goldberg edition of R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s Risàla also contained several errors, as is clearly demonstrated by the critical edition of the work issued by D. Becker (originally in 1977 and more recently in 1984). David b. Abraham Alfàsi’s important lexicon was then known merely from fragments published by S. Pinsker in 1860, while scholars can now use the edition by S.L. Skoss (1936; 1945). In the area of the scientific theory of language, in the period subsequent to the issue of the above-mentioned surveys, a new branch in linguistic studies evolved, namely semantics, while the fields of lexicology and lexicography had each further developed, as also the theory of “languages in contact” and “translation theory”; thus current scholarship now possesses new linguistic tools for the investigation of the comparative philology adopted by Jewish grammarians. Furthermore, subjective critical judgments of the comparison theory of the Hebrew grammarians, made by several nineteenth century scholars, such as those of Steinschneider (1901, pp. 131–32) concerning R. Hai B. Sherira Ga"on and by Kokowtzow (1893: p. 80, n. 168; p. 88, n. 175) concerning R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ and Ibn Barùn, were founded on the premise of identifying the comparison method of the Hebrew grammarians with the modern approach of comparative linguistics (see e.g. A. Dotan, 1977, p. 135); such an identification is nowadays unacceptable to several scholars (D. Téné, 1980 and 1982–83); the nineteenth and early twentieth century research has thus left open wide areas and extensive scope for contemporary scholars to fill in. Several important and fundamental problems in the comparison methods of Hebrew grammarians, in their wider context of reference, have yet to be discussed. For the first time since the survey written by Pinsker in 1860, D. Téné (in 1982–83) raised the question of how it was that the Hebrew grammarians reached the field of language comparisons. Only recently (Dotan, 1977; Téné, 1980) has the attention of the scholarly milieu been once again engaged by the problem of the demarcation between language comparison adopted by the Hebrew grammarians and modern comparative linguistic science. Several other problems in this
4
introduction
subject are still presently being debated, while the discussion of yet other questions remains to be opened. Now that the scope of base texts has expanded and scholarly tools having improved, the time is ripe for a definitive analysis of this topic. Indeed, the subject, which has been termed by D. Téné (1982–83, p. 269) “one of the most notable characteristics of Jewish medieval linguistic scholarship,” is in need of a renewed, exhaustive and updated study. The present study proposes a discussion of the general problems in linguistic comparison made by Hebrew grammarians as well as of their principles and methodology, so that the theories of linguistic comparison of the various grammarians, most of which were to date only partially described, will be set out fully in this work.
Delimitation of the subject The period The literature of Hebrew philology composed by the Hebrew grammarians, including the records of comparative philology, commences, indeed, with the writings of R. Sa'adiah Gaon (who is described by R. Abraham ibn Ezra [Moznayim, p. 1b]), as foremost in the register of “the sages of the Hebrew language”; however, the very initial steps in this field remain lost “in the depths of obscurity” (Téné, 1982–83, p. 239). But this literature does not terminate with Ibn Barùn; it continues into the subsequent period, with R. Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Bible commentary,3 in the late thirteenth century Tan˙um Yerushalmi’s Al-Murshid al-Kàfi (ed. Shy, 1974–75, pp. 80–86), etc. In principle, the latter should also be included in the discussion; however, the literature produced in the tenth and eleventh centuries alone constitutes in itself “a chapter” in the history of the comparative philology of the Hebrew grammarians—a “chapter” possessing
3 Eppenstein (1900–01), p. 233 declares that “Ibn Ezra marks the commencement of the deterioration of Hebrew linguistics.” This statement warrants validation; if it can be verified, it would constitute a further reason for delimiting the period of this study—i.e. to the peak of dynamic linguistic productivity, marked by Ibn Barùn and prior to the subsequent regression, marked by Ibn Ezra. I plan to deal elsewhere with language comparison after the time of Ibn Barùn.
introduction
5
clear, unambiguous features. This “chapter” has a beginning, a middle and an end. This two-hundred-year period saw the composition of the outstanding writings in comparative philology: the Risàla by R. Judah ibn Quraysh, at its beginning and Kitàb al-Muwàzana by R. Isaac ibn Barùn, at its end. (The third magnum opus, written close to Ibn Quraysh’s time, i.e. the work of Dunash ibn Tamìm, has been transmitted to us by merely some few quotations). The two aforementioned major works enable scholars to observe the stages of development of comparative philology during the two centuries. Furthermore, precisely at the mid-point of this defined period, Hebrew linguistic science underwent a drastic change: R. Judah b. David Óayyùj founded the novel conception of the Hebrew language root; this new approach additionally created a change in the direction taken by, and the theory of, comparative philology. Ibn Barùn’s achievement is to a certain extent treated as the peak in language comparative study as reached by the Hebrew grammarians; and this serves as the essential reason for my decision to set Ibn Barùn as the termination point of the period of this investigation and not simply as an arbitrary delimitation mark. The sources An additional limitation adopted in this research project relates to the literary sources serving my collation of comparison data. My intention is to present a systematic discussion of the comparison data appearing in works devoted entirely to this topic as well as those data recorded in the grammatical treatises and the lexicons, thus excluding those comparison data that are embedded in exegetical literature. This rule of collation has not been applied with regard to comparison data previously collated (from Bible commentaries) in the framework of certain monographs, such as that of Poznanski (1916), nor, to some extent, to the materials I myself have collected from commentaries adjoining R. Sa'adiah Gaon’s Bible translation. It must also be borne in mind that the present study has, in the main, adopted printed editions; only when necessary has it used manuscript materials as basic text sources; and it must be emphasized that in this respect the various linguistic works are anything but uniform (textually). Some works are available in excellent editions, e.g., Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ (ed. Skoss 1936; 1945); Mena˙em b. Saruq’s Ma˙beret and the Teshubot de Dunash b. Labrat (= Objections of Dunash to the
6
introduction
Ma˙beret of Mena˙em; eds. A. Sáenz-Badillos, 1980); R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s Risàla (ed. Becker, 1984). Others appear in editions that were satisfactory at the time but that presently await updating, such as R. Jonah ibn Janà˙’s Kitàb al-"Ußùl 4 (ed. Neubauer, 1873–75). Yet others are available only in editions presenting an unsatisfactory version of the text. In any case, in all cases in which I had reason to suspect the printed text version as possibly corrupt, I consulted the manuscripts.5 The above limitations, both historical and philological, may well result in a restriction in the scope of the comparisons but in my opinion they do no injustice to this analysis of the fundamental problems in comparison theory. It should be further noted that the comparison theory in the various treatises is far from being homogeneous; this activity comprises several subtypes and incorporates an assortment of trends in comparative philology. The upshot is that it is very unlikely that an investigation of comparison data in the later literary documents, whether in the biblical exegetical texts or in other text sources pertaining to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (and possibly later as well), would reveal additional aspects of comparison theory. To sum up, the comparison models that can be abstracted from the text sources relating to the periods taken up in this study can be assumed to serve as a reliable typological “spectrum” for the materials pertaining to the later periods, too. The problems The topics dealt with in the present study are of two kinds: methodological problems and essential questions. Methodological analysis aims at defining objectively whether a datum of comparison is present or not and whether translation by an Arabic cognate is to be
4 Certain problems in methodology, which are subsequently discussed in the present work (see below, ch. 6, “Language Comparison in Treatises translated into Hebrew”; ch. 13.1, “Comparative philology by Ibn Janà˙ and the Text Version of the Rouen MS”) are likely to provide philological criteria for the determination of the correct text version of Ibn Janà˙’s Kitàb al-"Ußùl. 5 I express my deepest appreciation to the Israel National and University Library’s Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew MSS for giving me access to microfilms and enlargements (enumerated below); I am also greatly indebted to the late Prof. D. Téné for making available for my use several copies of the manuscripts of Kitàb al-"Ußùl in his possession.
introduction
7
regarded as a comparison datum (implicit comparison) or not; whether the Hebrew grammarians additionally conceived of interlingual loans between two of the three relevant languages; which of the different text variants in a given treatise most likely records accurately the form penned by the author. The latter question crops up chiefly in the comparisons used by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, as these appear to be formulated in the version of Oxford MS of the al-"Ußùl, in the Rouen MS and in the (translated) Hebrew work Sefer HaShorashim produced by R. Judah ibn Tibbon. But the question further pertains to the several text forms, whether original Arabic or Hebrew translation, of the grammatical treatises of Ibn Bal'am. Similar is the question whether an additional criterion can be applied in attempting a resolution of a central issue under dispute, i.e. whether Mena˙em b. Saruq resorted to comparisons with Arabic or not. The term “essential questions” refers to the description of the comparison theory of each grammarian separately as well as the ideological and technical conditions within which comparison of languages is in fact applied. All the comparison data deriving from the treatises inspected in the historical and textual scopes previously detailed, whether explicit or implicit comparisons, has been assembled for this study. These materials have been classified by models and subtypes, thus resolutions to the above-mentioned problems have been established. In each and every case, the aims of the comparative philology with its terminology have also been evaluated, thereby abstracting general principles from the disparate details.
CHAPTER ONE
THE MOTIVES OF THE COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY
The basic question in the topic dealt with in the present work, namely when and where Semitic comparative philology originated as well as what the circumstances were of its evolution, is the subject of a recent publication of D. Téné (1982–83). That extensive article contains a thorough survey, so there is no need to dwell on it at length. However, for the sake of setting a complete picture, I shall summarize Téné’s study, with a certain emphasis on some data and criticism of others and with a concise classification of the several kinds of motivations for comparative philology. The circumstances that served as soil for the growth and development of comparison between Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic comprise motives of several types and forms:
1.1 1.1.1
Linguistic motives
The speech motive
The linguistic conditions with which tenth to eleventh century Jews lived, termed by Téné (ibid. §2) “a multi-language diglossia” were an invitation to “associative interlingual links” (ibid. §§3–4). Téné (ibid.) interrelated medieval comparative philology with the acquaintance to the languages, which were subject to that comparative theory. That is, the fact that the Jews in the epoch under discussion spoke Arabic for their daily life and studied Hebrew and Aramaic for cultural purposes, enabled them to engage in a comparative philology. Basically this thesis holds true. However, one aspect has to be reexamined. Had comparative philology been only dependent on knowing another cognate (Semitic) language, one would expect it to have emerged much earlier. For similar linguistic conditions must be assumed to have prevailed at a considerably earlier period, extending from the last decades of the Second Temple until the Arab conquests in the seventh century. Aramaic was then a living
the motives of the comparative philology
9
language; the Jews dwelled in a diglossia of Hebrew and Aramaic. This state of affairs induced thought associations linking the two languages. However, the time was not yet ripe for the production of a Hebrew/Aramaic comparative lexicon or grammar. Only a few testimonies of such interlingual links are embedded in rabbinic literature. The total number of Hebrew-Aramaic comparisons in the Babylonian Talmud is few and does not surpass the comparisons with Greek or with Arabic recorded there.1 It follows, therefore, that comparative philology, including its Hebrew-Aramaic part, along with Hebrew grammar itself, began only with the knowledge of Arabic and possibly only with the study of Arabic linguistic literature. 1.1.2
The graphic factor
The fact that the Jews generally wrote Arabic with Hebrew characters “made a considerable impression on the student of the extent of similarity between the sequence of written symbols in the Hebrew on the one hand and the Arabic which it proposed to translate on the other” (ibid., p. 249, referring to Kokowtzow, ibid., p. 268). This motive can be deduced also from the definition given by Ibn Barùn (in his Kitàb al-Muwàzana, ch. 23) for the maximal correspondence between a given Hebrew entry and its Arabic cognate. In this category, in Ibn Barùn’s opinion, the cognate matches the entry in writing, too (. . . fùklab qaptala yp [qw brùx). Such a correspondence can be understood solely on the basis of Arabic transcribed with Hebrew characters. It goes without saying that between Hebrew and Aramaic such correspondence is obviously present, as early as the Bible itself. This kind of correspondence clearly served as an important function in comparative philology.
1 See, for example, BT Sanhedrin 26a, where the word alwflf (hlflf ˚lflfm Isa. 22:17) is compared with its cognate Talm. Aram./Bib. Heb.; ibid. 107a, the word ammz (compared, similarly, with the word ytwmz; Ps. 17:3); BT Gittin 68a, comparing the Aramaic expressions ˆytdyçw hdyç (Babylonian dialect) and atdyç (Palestinian dialect) on the basis of the cognate Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., twdçw hdç (Eccles. 2:8).
10
chapter one 1.2
1.2.1
Literary motives
The theoretical framework of the grammatical treatises
Becker (1998) has recently uncovered the Arabic grammatical works that served as the sources for the grammatical treatises of Ibn Janà˙ and Ibn Barùn. The same was done by N. Basal (1998, 1999) for the works of Abù-l-Faraj Harùn. Becker has shown that Ibn Janà˙ not only cast his Kitàb al-Luma' in the mold of Arabic grammars of his time but also copied from them a great many rules and definitions. All he had to do was change the Arabic examples into their Hebrew counterparts (whenever they existed). Scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries who investigated medieval Hebrew linguistic literature postulated that Ibn Janà˙ and other Hebrew medieval philologists were influenced by Arabic grammatical thought; yet Becker was the first to point out specific Arabic grammars and to decipher the text processing of Ibn Janà˙. He compared paragraphs and chapters from Ibn Janà˙ to their Arabic sources. This has an important implication, namely, that the systematic Hebrew grammar was initially formulated as a comparative and contrastive grammar, regardless of whether the comparison was made explicitly or implicitly. That is to say, comparative philology emerged concomitantly and interrelated with Hebrew grammar. Now, since Hebrew grammar emerged while Arabic grammatical theory prevailed in the cultural world of the Jews, they could not prevent it unless they could suggest an alternative theory. Once they decided to cast their own treatises in the framework of the already existing theory, it was only natural for them to use intensively any readymade rule, definition or paradigm. This characteristic is not peculiar to medieval Hebrew philologists or to that epoch alone; rather it is universal in theoretical sciences. However, it should be emphasized here that Becker’s approach is applicable only to syntax and to some parts of phonology and morphology, certainly not to lexicon, which is the subject matter of our study. Needless to say, the comparison with Aramaic was entirely deliberate and independent. I shall therefore, in what follows, point out other literary motives for the lexical interlingual comparison:
the motives of the comparative philology 1.2.2
11
Biblical Aramaic
The fact that Aramaic texts exist in the Bible side by side with Hebrew texts (in some cases these even provide “on-the-spot” original + translation: see d[elig"/at;Wdh}c; rg"y“ (Gen. 31:47). 1.2.3
The existence of Aramaic Bible translations
With the exception of Dunash b. Tamìm and Ibn Barùn, in the works of whom no systematic comparison data between Hebrew and Aramaic was included, all the Jewish philologists in the period in question who practised language comparisons record comparisons of Hebrew with Targumic Aramaic. In other words, the Aramaic Bible translation was used by them as a bilingual “lexicon” for comparative purposes (albeit not in an alphabetical or topical arrangement but in the order of the biblical text). 1.2.4
The existence of Arabic Bible translations
The fact that there existed Arabic translations of the Bible: These indeed played a part in the emergence of Arab./Heb. comparative philology, especially if it can be posited that the initial ground for comparative philology was the necessity felt for deciphering obscure words and phrases as well as rare expressions and hapax legomena in the biblical text. It can be shown that the Hebrew grammarians drew freely and directly on the Bible translations or made reference to them. Alfàsi, for example, borrowed material form R. Sa'adiah Gaon’s Tafsìr as well as from Karaite translations (i.e. Salmon b. Yeru˙im; see below 9.12). Furthermore, Ibn Barùn proposed more suitable translations for several biblical words (below, 5.3.4). It can further be assumed that R. Judah ibn Quraysh is also by no means free of the shackles that had bound the biblical language materials with the Arabic Bible translations and this assumption applies to Part C1 of the Risàla, too, for in this part he refrains from incorporating unconnected or abstract entries; included are only lemmatized entries presented exactly as they appear in the Bible. It is not easy to evaluate which of the above-mentioned motives had the greater influence on the formative stage of comparative philology in the tenth century. It is even more difficult to conjecture what might have been the fate of comparative philology if not
12
chapter one
for Aramaic and Arabic Bible translations. At any rate, it is not improbable that these translations hastened the arrival of comparative linguistics, at least of the more sophisticated aspects of this science; for a parallel can clearly be discerned between the seven correspondence levels set down by Ibn Barùn in the preface to his Kitàb al-Muwàzana (Téné, ibid. §5) on the one hand and the several stages in the evolution of comparative philology on the other. In that it constitutes the simplest and “most natural” level, the First Level defined as those language comparisons that show a maximal correspondence between the translation synonym entries, i.e. in writing, in pronunciation and in sense (yn[mlaw f ¤ pllaw f¤klab), was discerned with ease by the readers and speakers. The subsequent correspondence types, as their equivalence level diminishes, demand of the reader-cum-speaker a higher level of abstraction and reflection on the language data to grasp, orally or from the literary source texts, the linguistic parallels, that he compared.2
2
This argument is elaborated in Maman (1998).
CHAPTER TWO
THE FUNDAMENTS OF COMPARISON AND THE RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED
2.1 The permissible extent of comparative philology Certain Hebrew grammarians occasionally apologize in their treatises for comparing Hebrew with Arabic; behind these apologies can be discerned the traces of a dispute that raged between differing factions, a fundamental dispute concerning the very issue of comparing Hebrew with Arabic. Some Hebrew grammarians are silent on this issue. This silence cannot, however, be taken as proof that there was no opposition to language comparison in their times. A good example can be found in the treatise of Ibn Barùn. The materials surviving from this treatise, which constitute a considerable quantity textually, contain no statement of apology, not even a veiled statement of such, for language comparison. This might well lead to the assumption that in his generation opposition to language comparison had subsided and that comparison of Hebrew with other languages had become a widespread and conventional practice. But information from external sources rules out this assumption. R. Moshe b. Ezra wrote in one of his poems in praise of al-Muwàzana that language comparison with Arabic is “like sweet honey for the pureminded and like wormwood for the deceitful (the hypocrites)”1 (see R. Moshe ibn Ezra, Diwan, ed. Brody, p. 17, line 31; Wechter (1941), p. 5; p. 133, n. 53). Scholars have concluded from this allusion that in Ibn Barùn’s time the opposition to language comparison with Arabic continued. It is possible that Ibn Barùn did apologize somewhere in his work, in which case it can be assumed that this apology appeared in the part of the treatise that was lost (it should be noted that most of the introduction has not survived). Another possibility is that the author simply ignored the objections of his contemporaries, bypassing them entirely. In the survey below, the Hebrew
1
μypnjl çwrw μypwxk μyrbl
14
chapter two
grammarians are not discussed in chronological order but rather in accordance with the relative measure(s) of their opposition to language comparison: Commencing with those grammarians who voiced outspoken and unequivocal opposition; next, those who voiced a more moderate opposition and finally, those who expressly justified the practice of language comparison. Mena˙em b. Saruq expresses no clear opinion on this matter; however, his failure to incorporate any comparison with Arabic (below, 10.1) can serve as a solid basis for our deduction that he did not favor language comparison with Arabic. Such a conclusion finds support in unambiguous statements of B. Saruq’s disciples.2 Mena˙em’s disciples were even opposed to comparisons with Aramaic.3 On this issue, at any rate, the disciples do not reflect the stand taken by Mena˙em himself; Mena˙em did indeed compare Hebrew with Aramaic (below, 10.2). Furthermore, despite their theoretical opposition to such, the disciples actually recorded comparisons with Aram.; it was Dunash’s pupil Yehudi b. Sheshet (see Stern II, p. 24) who showed the disciples the error they had made regarding the standpoint they had imputed to Mena˙em. Paradoxical though it be, it is hard to reconcile “fundamental,” axiomatic, pronouncements that tend to assume a rather stringent tone, on the one hand, with actual linguistic habits in all their details, on the other; these latter tend perforce to compromise with the needs of dynamic lexicographic activity. It is clearly “applied lexico-linguistics” rather than pure theoretical affidavits that determine the true conviction and attitude of the grammarian; for linguistic comparative activity is always conducted unconsciously. The frequently used reason for opposition to language comparison of Hebrew with Arabic is either that the one is “sacred” and the other “secular” or that the one is the “mistress” and the other the “maidservant” (see Becker, p. 19). The reasoning given by Mena˙em’s disciples is, however, different: “If we are to state that any word lacking a parallel word of similar nature in Hebrew can be analogized by a similar word in Aramaic or Arabic, we thereby imply that the languages are “equal” and “indistinguishable”: The remaining parts of Hebrew that became “missing” could thus be 2 See Teshubot Talmidey Mena˙em pp. 95–96; Yellin, Toledot Hitpatte˙ut Ha-Diqduq Ha-'Ibri, 1945, p. 97; N. Netzer, Leshon Hakhamim Be-Khitbey HaMedaqdeqim Ha-'Ibriyyim Biymey HaBenayim, 1983, p. 161; pp. 163–64; Becker, 1984, p. 19 and n. 7. 3 See Teshubot Talmidey Mena˙em, p. 15; p. 98 stanza 77; p. 96, etc.
the fundaments of comparison and the restrictions
15
retrieved from the other two languages and such an assumption is unacceptable.”4 They are concerned about possible “breaches in the bounds” of the sacred Hebrew language, a concern stemming from the presumption that the several languages subject to comparison are all on an equal footing. Recording an interlingual comparison on such an assumption is tantamount to assessing the three languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic as having the same status, “and such . . . is unacceptable.” Furthermore, the linguistic setting of the three languages that stood out as a clear fact was one of non-identity, for which reason the opponents rejected language comparison. However, as noted above, Mena˙em as well as his disciples did not refrain from comparing Heb. with Aram. Dunash and his pupil Yehudi b. Sheshet, the disputants of Mena˙em and his pupils, viewed language comparison with Aramaic and Arabic positively; although no trace of apology can be detected in the writings of the former, a restrictive principle can be noted, namely, linguistic comparison must not be used whenever it is “theoretically” possible (i.e. in every case in which the conventional technical requirements for such are fulfilled); it should be used only on a limited scale. “You should know that Hebrew should not be likened to Aramaic, nor to Arabic, unless no intra-Hebrew parallel at all can be found . . .” (retort 26 to R. Sa'adiah Gaon, ed. Schröter, p. 8); “. . . and Hebrew is comparable with Aramaic and Arabic in exigency only” (Schröter, p. 18). According to this approach, language comparison constitutes not a matter of discretion but rather a necessity.5 My impression is that the latter approach was also adopted by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, for he states (Riqma, p. 18): Comparison should be made “regarding words, for which Hebrew evidence is lacking.” However, he records comparison even in instances in which no exigency can be felt (below, 5.3.5.3). The fact that Ibn Janà˙ does not 4 waxmn br[w tymra ˆwçlb hmwd hl çy yk wnrma ˆwymd (!) ˚l ˆya rça hlym lk wlyaw ˆkty al ˆk twyhlw ,rsjnhw μl[nh tyrb[h ˆwçl raç wndmlw hldbh ylbm twwç twnwçlh
(Teshubot Talmidey Mena˙em, p. 96). It is noteworthy that Ben-Yehuda’s policy on the coinage of new Hebrew words, at the time of the revival of the language, accorded precisely with the approach of Mena˙em’s disciples. See Ben-Yehuda, Lexicon, Introduction with Addenda, Jerusalem, 1939–40, p. 13. 5 This standpoint is to be noted in R. Abraham ibn Ezra’s sefat yeter, also; see ibid., p. 61: tymral ˚rwx wnl ˆya qùùhlb rbh wl wnaxmç rjaw (“now that a counterpart has been found in Hebrew, there is no further need for [comparison with] Aramaic”). In comparison with the extreme viewpoint of Ibn Barùn, Ibn Ezra’s words are truly a step backward. See Eppenstein, 1900–01, p. 233.
16
chapter two
record a comparison whenever such is theoretically possible does not relate to ideology but rather to technique; just as he does not trouble to express definitions for those entries termed “well-known,” so likewise he is not exhaustive in recording comparisons. But it is in Ibn Janà˙’s works, more than in those of other contemporary linguists, that traces are noticeable of the vigorous dispute that was raging, between the “party” of the grammarians who were “procomparison” and the “party” of the “opponents to comparison,” in his lifetime. Ibn Janà˙ calls the opponents “those of our contemporaries whose knowledge is frail and whose erudition is meager.”6 He furthermore rejects their main claim that “language comparison implies that sacred words have need of secular words,”7 stating that Hebrew does not stand in need of Arabic; language comparison was designed merely to show that “what is fitting in the Hebrew language befits other languages, too” (Riqma, pp. 235–36). This reasoning recurs many times in his works.8 Ibn Janà˙ also falls back on R. Sa'adiah Gaon in approving language comparison (ibid.). In the opinion of Perez (1978, pp. 442–49; ibid. 1981, pp. 214–15), Ibn Bal'am, too, apologized for recording comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic, merely echoing Ibn Janà˙’s statements, although Ibn Bal'am does not draw openly on R. Jonah but falls back only on R. Sa'adiah Gaon and R. Hai Gaon. In the remnants of the works of R. Moses ibn Gikatilla, no apologetic statement has survived, nor is there any discussion whatsoever on the question of permissibility of language comparison. However, in Ibn Gikatilla’s preface to his Hebrew translation of Óayyùj’s works (Nutt, 1870) an allusion appears: “Hebrew language is concealed, while Arabic, revealed and explicit and the Holy Tongue is obscure and it is befitting to explain the concealed by means of the intelligible and to interpret the obscure by means of the explicit” (emphasis added). This is meant to imply that for a Hebrew word whose meaning is obscure and “concealed,” the sense can be derived from the Arabic etymological cognate, provided that the latter possesses a well-known meaning. (ˆwky is used here in the sense of “befitting, feasible and permissible.”) This statement is not meant as an apology but rather as a way of
6 7 8
Riqma, p. 17, Kitàb al-Luma' p. 6; Bacher, Shorashim, p. XXIII. Bacher, ibidem. Mustal˙aq, pp. 140–141; "Ußùl, p. 122 lbg, p. 130 çwg a.e.; see seq., below, 5.2.
the fundaments of comparison and the restrictions
17
explaining infrequent words in the Bible. In the comparison data within the fragmentary remnants of the works of R. Sa'adiah Gaon and R. Hai Gaon, no apologetics appear. Also, the philologists who drew on them, e.g. R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and Ibn Bal'am did not, to the best of my knowledge, quote from them any note of apology. Further to the above, R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s Risàla also, in the surviving text at least, presents no apologetic statement. Becker (1984, p. 19) states categorically: “If in R. Jonah b. Janà˙’s lifetime there were still opponents to comparison of Hebrew with Arabic, a fortiori must there have been such in the time of R. Judah ibn Quraysh. It is therefore very surprising that in the introduction to Risàla and in the copious materials that survive from it, the opposition to comparison is nowhere expressly spelled out. It is very far-fetched to suggest the argument that R. Judah ibn Quraysh fought shy of issuing an express “headline” regarding comparison of Hebrew with Arabic (ibid.). It cannot be stated of a scholar who compared with Arabic hundreds of Hebrew entries, including a large number of not-so-rare biblical words, that he conducts language comparison activity in an unobtrusive manner. On the contrary, he goes to the extreme of incorporating the chapters containing comparison of biblical Hebrew with Aramaic and with Rabbinic Hebrew in the section devoted to Hebrew/Arabic comparison. From the set-up of his book it can be inferred that he opines the status of Arabic to be equivalent to the status of Aramaic and of rabbinic Hebrew (the latter two being indubitably sacred languages), as regards the right of a linguist to resort to Arabic for purposes of Bible interpretation. The work of Alfàsi, despite its extensive scope, does not contain even a single expression that might point to the author’s standpoint on the matter under discussion.9 His silence on this matter might perhaps be interpreted as an implied acquiescence to the viewpoints that had been widespread before his time and continued also in his time, i.e. the opinions of R. Sa'adiah Gaon and of R. Judah ibn
9 Becker (1984, p. 19, n. 7) quotes the following from Alfàsi (vol. 1, p. 510): “Aramaic can serve no proof for Hebrew”; he includes this formula among the expressions listed as apologetic statements made by the other grammarians regarding comparison of Hebrew with Arabic and with Aramaic. In my opinion, however, Becker is mistaken. The above-mentioned quote contains no trace of apology; it is simply meant as a factual explanation, ad loc., restricted specifically to a single issue, that the Hebrew root (h)yj is not to be determined on the basis of the Aramaic root (a)j(m).
chapter two
18
Quraysh, as to whether these opinions had reached him directly or indirectly. At any rate, the comparisons themselves as well as the undertones of the comparative terminology, which set side by side the three components Heb./Aram./Arab., are conducive to the conception that the three languages are close to one another and constitute entities deserving of comparison. As for the aims of the language comparison, it is crystal clear that comparison is legitimate per se and not merely as a tool for the correct understanding of the Bible. No tone of apologetics can be detected in Alfàsi’s words regarding his having to resort to Arabic for the elucidation of the biblical text. To sum up:10 Comparison of Hebrew with Aramaic was a conventional and customary matter, according to the school and theory of the Hebrew grammarians. This was so even for Mena˙em b. Saruq, who neither posed ideological obstacles to, nor formulated any apologies for such comparison. The opposition that arose was only to comparison with Arabic; it was apparently only in Spain that the tendency was to refrain from comparing Hebrew with Arabic, whereas in the Orient there is no record of apologetic statements; here language comparison was practised to the maximal extent, probably in the wake of R. Sa'adiah Gaon’s stand on the matter. The extent to which the Arabic language is resorted to differs from scholar to scholar. The extremists in dissension to such comparison are Mena˙em and his disciples. At the opposite extreme stand R. Judah ibn Quraysh, Alfàsi, R. Jonah b. Janà˙, Ibn Bal'am and Ibn Barùn, who conduct comparison with Arabic indiscriminately, as apparently do R. Sa'adiah Gaon and R. Hai Gaon. Dunash b. Labrat stands somewhat midway between the camps; he permits the practice of Hebrew/Arabic comparison restrictively and on a limited scale, specifically when “under compulsion,” i.e. failing any other option.
2.2
The measure of affinity between the three languages
R. Jonah b. Janà˙ is the only scholar in the period under discussion to record an explicit opinion regarding the affinity between Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic. He discusses this matter at length in 10 Regarding Dunash ibn. Tamim and R. Samuel Ha-Nagid there is virtually nothing to note on this issue on account of the paucity of textual materials surviving from their treatises.
the fundaments of comparison and the restrictions
19
Mustal˙aq (pp. 131–36). The substance of R. Jonah’s view can be stated as follows: Hebrew and Aramaic are closer to each other than either of the two languages are to Arabic. They are so close that they can justly be termed twins. The special affinity existing between Hebrew and Aramaic, in the opinion of Ibn Janà˙, stems from the following phenomena: 1. In terms of grammar the two languages possess common features, these being absent from Arabic: the same vocalization signs, the common influence effected by the four laryngeals [ ,j ,h ,a on the vowels; their similarity regarding the vocalic entities twjtpw twxmq (= vocalization signs in general), most of which are lacking in Arabic; the declension of the Hebrew hitpa''el conjugation for roots commencing with a sibilant, like Aramaic itpe'el l[tpa, etc. 2. The Masora treats the two as one language-entity; Hebrew and Aramaic words (= word occurrences) that are identical are listed and enumerated indiscriminately. 3. Our ancestors were familiar with Hebrew and Aramaic equally, on account of their affinity. 4. The proof that the two languages were equally “known” is that in two biblical books, Daniel and Ezra, the two languages are utilized alternately. R. Jonah b. Janà˙ himself does not treat items 3 and 4 separately but records them as a single “factor.” The only “factor” that can be considered a genuinely linguistic one is item 1, for here a structural affinity is pointed up between the two languages; this is of course stated in an exemplary fashion. The others are either historical (2, 3) or literary (2, 4). R. Judah ibn Quraysh (Risàla, p. 19) links the linguistic affinity between Hebrew and the other two Semitic languages with the “genealogical” affinity between the Hebrew-speaking, Arabic-speaking and Aramaic-speaking nations as well as with their geographical closeness. However, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ refers, in his comparative discussion, to the typological aspect common to these languages, and no more than that. In several other places in his works (e.g. introduction to Riqma, p. 18) R. Jonah b. Janà˙ reiterates his claim that Aramaic and Hebrew show a greater reciprocal affinity than the respective affinity of each with Arabic; occasionally he treats of language features relating to the two languages jointly, as though treating of one language. A case in point is his discussion of the partial assimilation of taw
20
chapter two
characterizing the hitpa''el conjugation with the following letter zayin (= first radical) to daleth (in the Aramaic ˆwtnmdzh (Dan. 2:9): Riqma, p. 107). The remaining Hebrew grammarians make no express statement regarding the measure of affinity between these three languages. Their opinion can be deduced solely from comparison practice or from several indirect allusions: Mena˙em sometimes relates to Hebrew + Aramaic as if to one language. An example is in his discussion of the he bearing a mappiq (p. 51). Likewise, Alfàsi: In the framework of his discursus on the interchange of letters (ynxylh pp. 439–445) Alfàsi treats of intra-Hebrew switches, intra-Aramaic switches and interlingual Heb./Aram. switches but does not treat of intra-Arabic switches nor of switches of the pattern Heb./Arab., Aram./Arab. He most likely views Hebrew-cumAramaic as needing to be treated as one entity, versus Arabic, which is “distant” from them. The lexicons produced by Alfàsi and by Mena˙em deal at random with Hebrew and/or Aramaic entries. The amalgamation of entries may well originate from the simple fact that the compiler intended to exhaust the elucidation of all biblical word entries. However, the raison d’être of “cause-and-effect” proceeded further: the linguistic comparison pointing up the joint occurrence of the two languages in the Bible served as evidence for the specific affinity between the two. In contrast to Alfàsi, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ did not register the Aramaic entries in his lexicon; he included Hebrew entries only. Theoretically, these two grammarians could have set aside the Aramaic entries in a separate section, as R. David Qim˙i did centuries later. That both Alfàsi and Mena˙em merged the Hebrew entries with the Aramaic ones is clear evidence of their opinion regarding the affinity between Hebrew and Aramaic. (Clearly no such conflation of lexical materials, i.e. Hebrew side by side with Arabic entries, would have been postulated if an equivalent Arabic lexicon had been produced.) In the several introductions to their Lexicons, or in their commentaries, the Hebrew grammarians outline a methodology for explicating words in the Bible for which no intra-biblical match can be found. They employ a graded method of preference, which can hardly be seen to be arbitrary: (a) evidence for the “support” of rabbinic Hebrew (via a comparison therewith) can be enlisted; (b) if the use of the word in question cannot be documented in rabbinic
the fundaments of comparison and the restrictions
21
Hebrew, the “support” of Aramaic (via a comparison therewith) is feasible; (c) if neither (a) nor (b) is relevant, the “support” of Arabic, (via a comparison therewith) can be postulated. A graded system of this kind is posited by Alfàsi in the introduction to his Kitàb Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ (p. 12), as also R. Judah Ibn Bal'am in the introduction to his Bible Commentary (Perez, 1981, p. 214). In all likelihood, the facts enumerated by R. Jonah b. Janà˙ (above) were not unknown to the other Hebrew grammarians; such data clearly directed them in their molding of an approach of this nature, namely, that Aramaic possesses a higher grade of affinity with Hebrew, with Arabic ranking third in this respect. The opinion(s) of Dunash ibn Tamìm and of Ibn Barùn on the above issue remain(s) unknown, for these two grammarians compiled works dealing with Hebrew/Arabic comparison only. Can it be assumed that they thought the equivalence of grammar-cum-lexicon of Heb.+Aram. to be more restricted than the corresponding one of Heb.+Arab.? Is it possible that they concluded therefrom that Arabic’s affinity with Hebrew is of a higher grade? At any rate, a few isolated comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic are recorded in Ibn Barùn’s work, showing that this grammarian did not neglect the Aramaic language entirely.
2.3
The problem of loan words: Were loans from Aramaic and Arabic reckoned with by the Hebrew grammarians?
Alfàsi says in entry brz (p. 506): wtmxn wbrzy t[b ( Job 6:17): tqw yp
ahl sylw ljnt μhyl[ smçla ˆùkst am dn[ ùgwlùtla yn[y w[mqna wbrzy ù≈jm ybr[ wh lb ynarb[la yp qaqtça i.e. since this word is a hapax and “has no Hebrew etymology” it should be regarded as “pure Arabic.” Similarly in entry fj (532), Alfàsi regards hnfja (Gen. 31:39) as “rare in the Bible, from Arabic . . .” In these instances as well as in many others an ambiguous statement appears in the texts of the Hebrew grammarians. On the one hand, it is implied (a) that the origin of a given biblical Hebrew word is in Aramaic or in Arabic, i.e. no language comparison is applicable, it is merely the source language of the word in question that is to be ascertained. On the other hand, a contradictory implication is to be noticed simultaneously, (b) that the matter at stake is indeed language comparison, as between the Hebrew word
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and its equivalent in Aramaic or in Arabic. If (a) suggests the correct intent, then we can conclude that the Hebrew grammarians determined that Arabic and Aramaic loan words do exist in biblical Hebrew. If however, (b) is correct, how are we to accommodate such an express formulation regarding “foreign” words imported, so to speak, into biblical Hebrew? The clarification of this matter is important (1) per se, as one essential element of the totality of problems involved in the issue of the Hebrew grammarians’ ideology concerning language theory and comparison method; and (2) for practical purposes of material classification i.e. for weeding out the loan entries (if such are postulated) from the register of instances of language comparison. Bacher, for example (1884, Appendix II, p. 72), takes for granted that Alfàsi determined several biblical words, e.g. hnfja, lxpyw, μrqyw, to be loan words from Arabic. Skoss held the same opinion in his introduction to the edition of Alfàsi’s work (p. xl). As for R. Judah ibn Quraysh, Becker discussed this question (1984, pp. 25–30); his conclusion (ibid., p. 29) is that Ibn Quraysh postulated loan words from Aramaic only and not from Arabic. This conclusion will be further discussed below (2.3.4). Let us attempt to clarify this issue as reflected in the theories of Alfàsi, Mena˙em, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and other grammarians. 2.3.1
Formulae
Formulae in the same vein as those quoted above are adopted by David b. Abraham in the following root entries: bwz (506); (532); fj (561); rmj; rkn (272); (287); bxn abs (302); μt[ (439); lxp (532 fj); rpx (524); μrq (576); qpr (622); [qr (628); açç (710). The same impression, namely that Alfàsi postulated loan words in Hebrew from Arabic, is obtained vis-à-vis the existence of loan words from Aramaic. The terms and expressions seem to relate unambiguously to lexical loan: The root of the Hebrew word under discussion is borrowed from Aramaic, although it is dressed-up, grammatically and contextually, in Hebrew garb.11 Mena˙em b. Saruq also uses
11 This view would clearly not be held of the several Aramaic phrases appearing in the midst of a continuous Hebrew text, as, for example, atwdhç rgy (Gen. 31:47) or the well-known completely Aramaic verse ( Jer. 10:11) and of course vis-à-vis the Aramaic sections in Daniel and Ezra. The Aramaic character of these excerpts is unmistakable; these texts were ostensibly viewed as “texts in a language
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expressions that could imply word borrowing from Aramaic, for example: awh tymra ˆwçl yk μyrmwa rça μyrtwphm çyw . . . ask (= Several expositors state that this word is Aramaic—p. 107); twyhl ˆkty . . . qpç tymra ˆwçl taz hlm (= It is befitting that this word is Aramaic,— p. 179); awh tymraw . . . qnpm (= this is Aramaic, p. 143); ta-hkk-μaw yl hçw[- (Num. 11:15) ˚nbrbrw tnaw tymra ˆwçlb hrwbd hlmh tyarn (= this word is apparently an Aramaic expression, as in the verse tnaw ˚nbrbrw (Dan. 5:23; p. 38). R. Jonah b. Janà˙, likewise,12 when he deals with the formation of the word dj (Ezek. 33:30), states (Riqma, p. 275): dj hyhyç rçpaw μyymrah μylmh ˆm (= The word may perhaps be one of the Aramaic loan words); and so, in relation to the dagesh in the taw of lwmT]aime (1 Sam. 10:11), R. Jonah adopts a phraseology with a fairly clear “borrowing” import: ymrah rwbdh ghnm wb wghn (= in marking the dagesh they adopted the practice current in Aramaic speech, i.e. language); regarding rjs he remarks ("Ußùl, p. 479): ynayrsla ˆm qtçm. If we are to take these phrases literally, as terms denoting loan words from Arabic and Aramaic, we are faced with the following problems: Did the Hebrew grammarians presuppose that as early as Mosaic times, the historical and geographic linguistic setting allowed for the influence of the Arabic and Aramaic languages on Hebrew? This question arises, because loan terms of this type occur even with regard to several words in the Pentateuch, such as hnfja (Gen. 31:39), lxpyw (ibid. 30:37), rmj (Deut. 32:14), rkntyw (Gen. 42:7), etc. Moreover, it can be supposed that the orthodox beliefs of the Hebrew grammarians could accommodate the notion that within the Holy Scriptures there are to be found words borrowed from Arabic. If this were the case, the unique issue would certainly not have been left unmentioned! It is also worth asking why, when David b. Abraham determines that rmj is ybr[la hgl ˆm, he chose Arabic as its source rather than Aramaic; the same word rmj is regularly and frequently used so in Aramaic, (including biblical Aramaic armj, Dan. 5:1). In Aramaic it
distinct from the usual biblical language”; for these passages, the concept of “loan” would not have been postulated even theoretically by the Hebrew grammarians. Regarding the issue of loan words in Indo-European languages, see, for example, A. Meillet (1937), ch. 8, pp. 378ff. 12 Perez (1981, p. 223) remarks that in the "Ußùl, he did not encounter any “terms of etymology” (ˆwrzg lç μyjnwm), implying that R. Jonah b. Janà˙ refrained from the use of any phraseology reserved for word loans. However, Perez curtailed any further discussion on this issue.
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is even more commonly used than the word rmùk is in Arabic!13 Considering, then, that there is a greater affinity between Hebrew and Aramaic, in that historically, within the time frame of the Hebrew grammarians, both are Jewish languages and these languages, and no other, are employed in the Bible, would it not be more probable that Hebrew borrowed a word (if indeed this is a matter of loan) from its closer “sister,” Aramaic, rather than from its distant “sister,” Arabic? Furthermore, on what basis did Alfàsi state categorically that this word is a loan word in Hebrew only; why should it not also be considered a loan in Aramaic? Why is Aramaic given preference, on the assumption that in that language the word is not a loan? For he remarks: ynayrslabw (= also in Aramaic). We must thus infer the following assumption: the aforesaid expressions and phraseologies despite their plain sense implying word borrowing are not to be taken at face value; the Hebrew grammarians did not mean to imply that the lexical entries employing such expressions are in fact loans from Arabic. This assumption finds additional support as follows: 1. The Arabic expressions ybr[la hgl ˆm ,ù≈jm ybr[ (= from the Arabic language, pure Arabic)14 are most likely not to be taken literally; they are intended to point up the total similarity between the Hebrew entry and the Arabic one, a similarity in all the linguistic aspects, phonetic, phonological, etymological, semantic and perhaps even textual. Were it not for the Arabic, we would be unable to ascertain its precise Hebrew meaning, on account of the rarity of the word (which is sometimes even hapax legomenon) in the Bible. 2. In the case of several of the words regarding which the grammarians applied the phraseology the plain sense of which indicates word loan, an additional etymological discussion is recorded elsewhere in the treatise(s); where the formulation adopted is a clear expression of comparison with Arabic, not borrowing from that language. For example, in the lexical entry çt(n) in Alfàsi’s Lexicon (p. 754), the entries abs ,bxn ,fj ,brz appear merely within the formula brq ˆm (br[la hgl), that is, as entries for language comparison, although the
13 In several Arabic dialects the words barçw ybn are more usual; furthermore, Alfàsi himself (ˆyy, 51) uses bn[la barç as a rendering for ˆyy. 14 When this expression occurs in the Risàla, Becker (1984, pp. 27–28) translates “precisely as in Arabic” (tybr[b wmk çmm).
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four specified words had previously been described as loans. Further, in the same lexicon, the entries rmj/rmùk are listed in an excursus on j/ùk switches in the entry ljb (p. 208), and there also merely for the purpose of language comparison. The same phenomenon occurs in R. Jonah b. Janà˙’s works. The word dj, which had originally (Riqma p. 275) been treated under the head “word-borrowing” (i.e. governed by the term literally referring to such), recurs in the "Ußùl (p. 211) under the unambiguous heading of language comparison: ynayrsll snaùgm whw; likewise the word lwmja is again discussed in Riqma (p. 407), where the term used is specifically one of language comparison: ymrah çwmçl hmwd awh. Also when the word rjs reappears under the entry rwç, R. Jonah adopts the usual term for language comparison of the subtype Bib.-Heb./Targ.Aram. i.e. μwgrt ˆm The non-literal implication of the loan phraseologies is almost certainly the case in Mena˙em’s works, too. In his Ma˙beret he neither records any express discussion nor any clear-cut expression implying that he is dealing with “word loan.” Since no statement or justification of loans vis-à-vis those specific entries in which the term appears, we are entitled to assume that in these entries Mena˙em’s intended sense is that of language comparison, not of word borrowing. Even more remarkable is that in the lexicons of Alfàsi and of R. Jonah b. Janà˙, the two alternative phraseologies for indicating the connection of the Hebrew entry word with the Arabic one sometimes appear together in the same entry. In the entry fj (p. 532), Alfàsi first states that this word is ybr[la hgl ˆm; but at the end of the entry, he states: hnfja ynarb[law ybr[la yp qpta amk (Gen. 31:39). What had initially seemed to be a loan from Arabic is not such but merely a comparison with Arabic, i.e. very similar to the Arabic or entirely equivalent to it. If we interpret at face value the expression at the close of the entry and presume that the phraseology earlier on in the entry is to be thereby interpreted, the conclusion reached is that the phrase ybr[la hgl ˆm is not meant to indicate word loan. In the same light is to be treated the phrase hybr[ hùfpl yhw, occurring in the entry abs. Prima facie this is a term for word loan; however, the correct understanding of the expression ensues from the phrase br[la ˆwlwqy amk occurring subsequently in the entry text; this phrase proves more or less explicitly that the lexicographer’s intent was language comparison and no more.
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chapter two Aramaic word-loan terminology
With regard to Aramaic, too, the use of the word-loan terminology may be followed up in the same vicinity by substitute expressions, conveying the true meaning, namely that of comparison. For example, in discussing the sense of the word rtk ( Job 36:2), Alfàsi states that rtk is “derived from Aramaic” (μwgrtla ˆm qtçm whw), serving as the Targum translation for ljy (Mic. 5:6); but in the immediate sequel, he adds that the sentence containing the word rtk comprises four words, including the word rtk, all of which are “shared with Aramaic” (ynayrsla hgl [m hkrtçm). If rtk belongs to both Hebrew and Aramaic, the implication is that this word is an integral part of both, i.e. it is not a loan word. Further examples of the phenomenon of dual terminology are proffered by the entries rf[ and qls. In entry rf[ (p. 387) he states ynayrsla ˆm lb ynarb[la ˆm hùfpllla hùdh sylw (= this word is not from Hebrew but from Aramaic), and in entry q(l)s (p. 347) he states: ynayrsla ˆm hnkl ryùfn ynarb[la yp hl sylw (= It has no equivalent in Hebrew but is from Aramaic), i.e. borrowing terminology. The substance of these two entries is reiterated in an excursus appearing under the entry πqt (p. 750), recorded under the heading ryùtkw ynayrsla [m ˚rtçy ynarb[la yp (= many [words] in Hebrew are shared with Aramaic), implying that the word pertains to both languages.15 R. Jonah b. Janà˙ in entry drf (p. 267) states that drf is hùfpl hynayrs (a case of word borrowing); but then continues aùxya hybr[w, which addition totally changes the import; it is quite out of the question to posit that the same word is borrowed simultaneously from two different sources, Arabic and Aramaic. In a Bib. Heb./Tal. Aram. comparison ˆmk/ˆmk (p. 322), Ibn Janà˙ similarly adopts in the same dictum two expressions that are apparently contradictory: (a) snaùgm ynayrsll and (b) hnm qtçm. It is very probable that ˆm qtçm is nothing other than an abstract phrase indicating “semantically derived from” (see below, the terms of R. Jonah b. Janà˙, in sub-section 2.3.3) The common feature shared by the entries for which the Hebrew
15 It is noteworthy that the copyists and the compilers of the work Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ made a frequent practice of interchanging these terms. An example is the entry μùgrtmla hyp laq ˆ[f yùdkw (ibid., p. 18), where a varia lectio in MS E reads hgl ˆm ynayrsla; The same holds for the entry πç (p. 696; also πqt, p. 749) where the body of the text has merely μwgrtw, while in MS I the text reads ryùfn hl sylw ynayrs hnklw ynarb[la yp. These redactor-transmitters, then, did not take literally the very borrowing terms they themselves used.
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grammarians tend to adopt the phraseologies implying prima facie word borrowing is their recording of rare biblical words, including hapax legomena. Absolute consistency, however, is not maintained for all the infrequent words. A certain number are entered with the borrowing terminology, although in the main, the comparison terminology stands. The following examples are from the lexicon of Alfàsi: in the case of brs (p. 353), jtm (p. 238) and tksh (p. 326) he remarks: (ynarb[la yp) ryùfn hl sylw, i.e. the entries recorded are biblically unique; for tksh, he uses on the one hand, a borrowing expression, μwgrt ˆm, while for the others he makes do with the expression of concurrence: for brs, ynayrsla yp hnklw for jtm, μwgrtw. 2.3.3 Besides the terminological inferences, the following inferences can be adduced David b. Abraham Alfàsi: If Alfàsi indeed believed that the Hebrew language contains loans from Aramaic and Arabic, how can it be explained that he nowhere uses the specific loan-word terminology, for example, ù≈artqa, or, at least, hra[tsa?16 R. Jonah b. Janà˙: True, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ resorts in one instance to the unambiguous loan word terminology: . . . hdydjla yh ˆbrdh hlyùkd yh lb hybr[ hùfpl tsylw qrçmla lha dn[ açrap amstw (= dorban is a peace of iron . . . called farisha in the Orient and it is not an Arabic word but rather a borrowed one), although the matter here is one of a Hebrew loan word in Arabic.17 But at any rate, Ibn Janà˙ is fully aware of the concept of word borrowing from one language to another; had he thought that Arabic and/or Aramaic 16 Two non-Hebrew words appearing in the Book of Esther regarding which explicit loan word expressions are used cannot invalidate the inference. I am referring to rwp and ˆrtçja. In the entries rwp (p. 452), ˆrtçja (p. 69) and çkr (p. 610) these are defined explicitly by the grammarian as Persian words, for the simple reason that the biblical text itself records them as such ad loc together with their Hebrew translational synonyms. This could easily have served Alfàsi as a clear indication that a colloquial dialect was here recorded in Scripture itself for the purpose of providing a vivid description of the actions and events narrated in the Esther Scroll. This is no different from the phenomenon, highlighted by Alfàsi in entry rwp (p. 452), that the Bible itself sets the name d[lg alongside with its Aramaic parallel atwdhç rgy. The exclusive term hra[tsa in its special connotation of metaphor occurs in entry [xq (p. 568). The same term, in the sense of borrowing from one language to another, appears in the preface to the Risàla of R. Judah ibn Quraysh (pp. 118–19; for some reason, this reference was omitted from Becker’s index). 17 This is not the only instance of the assumption of a Hebrew loan word in Arabic: Bacher (1884, p. 33) remarks that in Ibn Janà˙’s opinion, the Arabic word ˆzrk is a loan from the Hebrew ˆzrg.
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loan words existed in biblical Hebrew, he certainly could have used the above-mentioned exclusive term(s) in dealing with them. Assume for a moment that the Hebrew grammarians did affirm the existence of word loans in Hebrew; how would such an assumption be compatible with the fact that their linguistic approach was of a descriptive rather than historical nature? For a detailed examination of their theory proves this quite conclusively.18 The fundamental pronouncements set out in the several introductions to the works of the Hebrew grammarians proclaim that unique or infrequent words in the Bible can be interpreted by rabbinic Hebrew, Aramaic or Arabic, whereas no indication is given, with regard to the phenomenon of word borrowing from Arabic or Aramaic. The context proves beyond all doubt that the grounds for resorting to these two Semitic languages is the concurrence they share with biblical Hebrew. It is therefore highly likely, if not certain, that the terms superficially implying word borrowing are in fact about interlingual comparison terms; thus the entries treating of lexical entities by such terms are indeed an integral part of the inventory of lexical comparisons. Ibn Bal'am: Perez (1981, p. 223) states that Ibn Bal'am does not interpret a biblical word under discussion on the basis of an Arabic etymology but rather by mere comparison with Arabic.19 The contrast between “etymology” (ˆwrzg) and “comparison” (hawwçh) in this context is tantamount to contrasting “word loan” with “language comparison.” Ibn Barùn: With regard to Ibn Barùn, I have been unable to detect in the Kitàb al-Muwàzana even a single expression that might be interpreted as implying word loan; and this is indeed to be expected, considering that the title of Ibn Barùn’s opus stipulates language comparison, not word borrowing. 2.3.4
R. Judah ibn Quraysh
The above arguments have the same validity with regard to R. Judah ibn Quraysh, too. Yet Becker (1984, p. 29), having thoroughly 18 The term diachronic is out of the question here, since no diachronic approach existed prior to the end of the 18th century. 19
hawwçh yùùp[ ala tybr[h ˆm ˆwrzg yùùp[ hnwdnh tyarqmh hlmh ta rabm awh ˆya taz ˆwçll
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inspected ibn Quraysh’s theory, asserts that R. Judah postulates word borrowings into (biblical) Hebrew from Aramaic but not from Arabic. However, it would seem very probable that in the work of Ibn Quraysh also, the word loans are only seemingly so. This is evident from various remarks in lexical entries recorded by Ibn Quraysh; for example: In Risàla (A3, pp. 122–23), the biblical word wypnk is termed ˆwçl ù≈jmla çdwqh (“pure holy language” or “pure Hebrew”) (Becker, 1984, p. 28), in contrast to its synonym wypga. Becker (p. 29) concludes therefrom that in Ibn Quraysh’s opinion wypga is a loan word from Aramaic. The upshot of Becker’s discussion (ibid., pp. 28–29) is that the expression ù≈jmla çdwqh ˆwçl is decisive proof for this. But as Becker himself assumed (ibid., p. 27) regarding several prima-facie Arabic word loans, this expression, too, can be interpreted metaphorically. It is thus quite feasible that R. Judah maintained wypnk to be indeed a “pure Hebrew” word, for the reason that of the two synonyms wypnk and wypga, the former is the Hebrew word par excellence whereas the latter is rarer as Hebrew and is properly an Aramaic word. A survey of all the 94 entries contained in part 1 of the Risàla, i.e. Hebrew-Aramaic comparisons, reveals that in the opinion of Ibn Quraysh, 91 entry words are spelled with the same root letters as those of the Aramaic words with which they are compared. These comparisons are generally of the pattern Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb2/Targ. Aram. In Becker’s opinion, the picture evolving is such that the entry words are Aramaic borrowed into Hebrew, the pattern being Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (below, 3.6.7). It seems likely that this entry setup served as the grounds for Becker’s conclusion that Ibn Quraysh postulated Aramaic loans into Hebrew. However, three of the entries involve letter substitution, rendering the foregoing conclusion, somewhat problematic. Details are as follows: Ibn Quraysh states definitively that ytljz (entry A53) corresponds with tyljd. This being the Targum translation for ytary, the oneto-one relationship of these two words is exactly the same as that of the pairs, abhd/bhz, a[wrd/[wrz, anqd/ˆqz, i.e. the pairs are characterized by the consonantal interchange20 d/z. This letter switch is interlingual: it operates between Hebrew and Aramaic and is neither
20
I have avoided the use of modern terms such as “shift” which emerged in the nineteenth century as part of the diachronic approach.
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an intra-Aramaic nor an intra-Hebrew switch. Hence, ytljz also is a Hebrew word, for if it were a loan from Aramaic, it would have to be ytljd, i.e. spelled with a daleth. The assumption that R. Judah envisaged the said interchange as having taken place after or before the time of the loan must be ruled out; for if such were the case it would deserve explicit mention. A similar situation occurs in the pairs rpa/arp[m (A19) and ≈mwg/axmwk (A37). These are thus clear indications that no word loan is involved but rather language comparison: the three specific entries in question serve as a basis for deriving the general principle that comparisons and comparisons only, are perceived by Ibn Quraysh. Furthermore, we have the right to ask, regarding Ibn Quraysh: what is the criterion for his determining a word loan? If the criterion is (biblical) infrequency, this can be refuted by the fact that in part C1 of the Risàla, too, 28 percent of the entries consist of rarely occurring words (Becker, p. 50) and yet R. Judah does not state that these are loans from Arabic! Becker (p. 120) entitles the first part of the Risàla μylmh r[ç arqmb twywxmh twymrah (= The Chapter of Aramaic Words Occurring in the Bible). On p. 29 he explains that to all intents and purposes these are tymram twlwaç μylm (= words borrowed from Aramaic). Discussion of several of these words, however, recurs in part C1, i.e. a section whose heading makes unmistakable mention of Hebrew words being compared with Arabic (Becker, p. 221). For instance, rmj (C1 495) is entered as Hebrew, whereas previously (A71) it was recorded as Aramaic. Likewise, rfj is entered twice (C1 501; A73) once under each. True, in part C1 he includes a few Aramaic words culled from the Aramaic biblical texts, e.g. rjp yd πçj (C1 512). But this is a genuine exception, for the majority of the words recorded in this connection (part C1) are unequivocally Hebrew items, whereas the “pure” Aramaic words that are sporadically recorded there can be clearly discerned as such by the text from which they have been culled; any remark concerning their Aramaic nature would be superfluous. This is not the case regarding a word that is “Aramaic loaned into Hebrew” (tyrb[h ˚wtb hlwaç tymra). Such an instance certainly calls for an express remark by Ibn Quraysh and failing such a remark the word must surely be classified in its proper perspective as a Hebrew word, for the very reason that it is recorded in the midst of a series of Hebrew entries. The claim that an Aramaic
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word is to be treated as a loan merely on account of its being incorporated into part A of the Risàla is thus refuted. However, another difficulty arises: the reasoning serving Ibn Quraysh as grounds for the assumption of an affinity between the three languages Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic is set out as twofold, “genealogical affinity and environmental affinity” (twnkçh tbrqw çjyh tnrq; Becker, 1984, pp. 25; 116–19); “environmental affinity” for our purposes implies interlingual word borrowing. Ibn Quraysh is thus fully aware of the borrowing concept. But it is one thing to state that there exists a linguistic law, and quite another to show how it actually works in the language concerned. At any rate, if there were such an “environmental affinity” between Hebrew and Arabic (Becker maintains that R. Judah did not posit any word borrowing between these two), or between Aramaic and Hebrew, Ibn Quraysh failed to explain the implications. One wonders whether the opinion of J. Derenbourg (1895, p. 156) can be borne out, namely that Ibn Quraysh’s purpose in comparing Hebrew with Arabic, Aramaic and even Berber was to reveal Hebrew elements within these languages. According to such an assumption, the word borrowing is in the opposite direction: i.e. from Hebrew into Arabic and Aramaic. Even as a conjecture, however, Derenburg’s stand fails to find any support from the actual expressions used by Ibn Quraysh in his lexicon. It must therefore be concluded that in the eyes of the Hebrew grammarians the loaning concept was vague and unclear, because neither Ibn Quraysh, nor his successors, ever formulated clear principles enabling a clear-cut determination as to whether a certain word is a loan word and if so from which language it was borrowed. This indistinct perception of the matter of word loan stands behind the stereotyped comparison applied by R. Jonah b. Janà˙ regarding the word(s) μyt[rt/[rt/[rt (pp. 549, 700). It does not occur to this grammarian to query why Hebrew needs to resort to two signifiants, yt[rt and r[wç for the same referent signifié, whereas Aramaic makes do with [rt alone; also what the real connection is between [rt and r[ç. It stands to reason that the language comparison system conventionally operated by the Hebrew grammarians (see below) was not conducive to developing a theory of any substance on loaning between the several languages under discussion. It is furthermore quite probable that a fundamental demurrer can be discerned in linguistic literature, which obviated entirely any assumption of borrowings
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from foreign languages within Hebrew. An unmistakable expression of such a demurrer is contained in a statement by R. Abraham Ibn Ezra in Safah Berurah referring to rçp: “Many people opine that this word is [of ] Aramaic [origin]; God forbid; this is a “Holy Language” (= Hebrew) [expression] and both languages are equal.”21
2.4
The theory of substitutions
Lexical-etymological comparison can be defined as the comparison of a Hebrew root (realized in the form of an entry, according to the Hebrew grammarians’ methods) with an Arabic or Aramaic root. The letters constituting the corresponding radices are matched respectively and in the same order, according to a conventional chart of correspondences, as is enumerated below. For instance, the radices dlg/dlùg match each other letter-wise (d/d ,l/l ,ùg/g) and in the same order (3d 2l 1g/3d 2l 1ùg). Some corresponding radices consist of matching radical letters, which, however, do not appear respectively in the same order. In these cases, the comparison operates by metathesis (as Alfàsi puts it: swk[la qyrf ˆm; or, as other Hebrew grammarians write: blqlab). Comparisons of the latter type are attested in the works of all the Hebrew grammarians but their scope is considerably restricted. For example, Alfàsi records a comparison of the two entries rpx/πrx (p. 524) between which there exists a metathesis of the second and third radicals. Further examples of comparisons involving metathesis appear in the works of R. Judah ibn Quraysh (Becker 1984, p. 40), Mena˙em (below, 10.2.1.8), Dunash b. Labrat (below, 11.3. 5), R. Jonah b. Janà˙ (Bacher 1884, pp. 34–35) and Ibn Barùn (Wechter 1964, n. 310). At the base of the etymological comparison of Hebrew/Arabic entries lies a chart of correspondence setting out the correlation of each Hebrew letter with the corresponding Arabic letter bearing a similar name to its Hebrew counterpart (Téné, 1983, p. 262). The same definition clearly applies also to Hebrew comparisons with Aramaic. As regards Arabic, the equivalences are true graphically as well as regard the Hebrew accepted transcription system of Judeo-
21 ytçw çdwqh ˆwçl awh qr ,hlylj hlylj ,tymra hrzgm taz yk wbçj μybrw (1 g) twwç twnwçlh
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33
Arabic. If some minor differences in the sounds of certain phones are set aside, such as those of the letters b and k, which in Hebrew and in Aramaic have two phonetic values they are sometimes pronounced with dagesh and other times aspirated, whereas in Arabic these are monophones, i.e. with dagesh, it can be said that the congruences hold true phonologically, too. Thus the basic chart of correspondences reads: a, b, g, d (nowadays termed 1d) h, w, z (= 1z), j (= 1j), f (= 1f), y, k, l, m, n, s, [ (= 1[), p, x (= 1x), q (= 1q), r, ç (= 1ç), t. For example, in the threefold comparison of bt;K/ ] bt…K/] BatæKi the letter k is identical in all three languages; likewise the two letters t and b. This chart of equivalents was acceptable to all Hebrew grammarians in medieval times (nowadays, also). Those who opposed comparison with Arabic adopted the chart only insofar as the Hebrew-Aramaic correspondences are concerned. The above chart is, however, only part of a largerscale Table of Comparison. The element complementing the abovementioned basic chart and thereby completing the table comprises Hebrew letters matched by Aramaic and/or Arabic parallel letters by a system of substitution; the substitutions may be phonetic or graphic in nature. The exhaustive Correspondence Table, which is really an abstraction, was not accepted in its entirety by all the Hebrew grammarians. Some adopted the greater part while others made use of only a small part. Mena˙em practises the substitution system for the letters yùùwha alone and postulates comparisons with Aramaic only, whereas Ibn Barùn extends the scope to the utmost, incorporating 49 Heb./Arab. letter substitutions.22 The remaining grammarians stand midway between the two extremes. We set out herewith a Comparative Table of Correspondences by Letter Substitutions for six Hebrew grammarians, whose respective methods and theories in this field are known fairly well in the scholarly world.
22 Téné, (1983, §5.2) enumerates 43 substitutions used by Ibn Barùn; three further substitutions, namely g-ùg, a-h and t-y (see below, table and note) are to be included as well as an additional three substitutions, listed by Téné, in the paragraph dealing with taß˙ìf (= erroneous graphic interchanges in Arabic), i.e. z-r, jùg and g-[ (ibid., §5.4).
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2.4.1 Table of Hebrew-Arabic letter substitution according to several Hebrew grammarians23 Substitution Heb./Arab. a-[ a-h a-w a-y b-p b-m g-ùg g-ùk g-k g-[25 g-g d-t d-ùt d-ùd d-x d-ùx w-a w-y z-ùd26 z-r z-x27
23
Ibn Quraysh
Alfàsi
Dunash
Ibn Janà˙
Ibn Bal'am
= =24 = =
(=) = =
= =
=
(=) = = =
=
= =
= =
= =
= = = = = = = = =
=
=
Ibn Barùn
=
= = =
=
=
= = =
The data in this table have been partially culled from the listings of Téné (1983, n. 69 regarding Alfàsi and §5.2 regarding Ibn Barùn) as well as those of Becker, 1984, pp. 37–38. 24 Téné (1983, 5.2) failed to mention the substitution g-ùg in the list of Ibn Barùn’s substitutions; but this substitution is implicit in his comparisons çrg/çyrùg, hççgn/sùg, μçg/μsùg (p. 167). The substitution a-h also is clearly implied in the comparisons hahn, an-yhn (ibid., p. 169) 25 Bacher (1884, pp. 33–34) enumerated g-h as one of Ibn Janà˙’s substitutions; cf also Becker (1984, p. 39, n. 27) but see below, 13.2.1. 26 (Téné, 1983, n. 69) entered z-d as an additional substitution, for Alfàsi. The proof adduced is not from an explicit comparison; therefore the comparison and thus the substitution cannot be considered certain. As for f-ùf, it should be noted that the relevant comparison is non-explicit. On the other hand, in Téné ibid., the following substitutions should be added: g-ùk, d-ùx, z-d, j-ùk, [-g; the Heb.-Aram. substitutions are also to be added. 27 Téné (ibid., n. 61) ascribes this substitution for Ibn Quraysh also; but this remains a matter of uncertainty, for the reason that the pair of words jrzak/jyrxlak
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(cont.) Substitution
j-a j-ùg j-ùk j-[ j-k j-h f-t f-ùd f-ùf y-a y-h y-w k-ùg29 k-ùk k-q l-r30 l-n n-l n-m z-s ç-s x-s [-ùk [-g p-b
Ibn Quraysh
=
Alfàsi
=
Dunash
=
Ibn Janà˙
= (=)
Ibn Bal'am
=
(=) 28
(=) =
(=) =
=
=
Ibn Barùn = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
= = = = = =
= =
= =
= =
= =
=
= =
=
were adduced solely for an illustration of grammatical comparison (k/k as a prefix of similarity). Becker (1984, pp. 37–38) excludes this substitution pair from the list of Ibn Quraysh; cf also p. 343, n. 1 (ibid.) 28 This substitution is applied by Ibn Janà˙ in Aram.-Arab. comparisons. 29 Téné (ibid., n. 62) records the substitution k/ùg for Ibn Quraysh on the basis of the comparison tyçk/twsùg; Becker, on the other hand (ibid., pp. 37–38) excludes it. We opine that its inclusion is justified, for Ibn Quraysh compares twçk with Rab. Heb. entry hsg. The existence of the two aforementioned comparisons provides ground for carrying over the intra-Hebrew comparison k-g into the realm of Heb.-Arab. substitutions as k/ùg. 30 Téné (ibid., n. 63) ascribes the substitution l-m to Ibn Quraysh, his grounds being the comparison wtlglg/htmùgmùg. However, these translation synonyms are adduced (Risàla, C1, p. 546), rather than for their own sake (and certainly not for the sake of the aforementioned substitution), as part of one section of a verse, which itself is cited for the discussion of another word, i.e. (wtlglg ta) ≈rtw ( Judg. 9:53) and as illustration of the substitution ùx/x. Becker (ibid., pp. 37–38) indeed excludes this substitution (l-m) from those of Ibn Quraysh.
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36 (cont.) Substitution
x-s x-ùx x-ùf q-k r-l ç-t ç-ùt ç-z ç-s ç-x ç-f c-ç t-ùt t-f t-y32
Ibn Quraysh
Alfàsi
Dunash
= = =
= =
= =
=
=
=
=
=
=
= = =
= =
=
Ibn Janà˙
Ibn Bal'am
Ibn Barùn
= = =
= =
= = = = = =
31
= = =
= =
= =
= =
=
= = = =
2.4.1.1 Classified summary of data in figures The following 9 substitutions were approved and used by all Hebrew grammarians: g-ùg, z-ùd, j-ùk, [-g, x-ùx, x-ùf, ç-t, ç-s, c-ç 18 substitutions are used jointly by several of the Heb. grammarians; out of these, the following 13 are used by two grammarians only: a-h, b-p, g-ùk, g-k, g-[, g-g, w-y, j-[, f-ùf, k-ùg, k-ùk, p-b, q-k; one by three grammarians: s-ç; 4 by four grammarians: d-ùd, y-w, sx, t-ùt. 35 substitutions in our table are known each to have been used by only one Hebrew grammarian; in detail: 2 substitutions are uniquely used by R. Judah b. Quraysh: ç-f, n-m. 2 substitutions are uniquely used by Alfàsi: d-ùx, [-ùk.
31
Used as a substitution in Aram./Arab. comparison. Ibn Barùn compares ttr with hytr (Kitàb al-Muwàzana p. 95). This comparison would seem to posit two substitutions: (a) t-ùt (as regard the first t in ttr); (b) t-y (as to the second t of (ttr by a taß˙ìf switch: t and y in Arabic differ from each other, as to their diacritical points only, otherwise these two letters are graphically identical. 32
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4 substitutions are uniquely used by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙: a-h, f-
t, x-s, ç-z. 27 substitutions, representing almost one half of the total number, are used by Ibn Barùn alone. A certain number of these may well have been adopted owing to the phonetic affinity between the two sounds (clearly, this affinity has to be defined in accord with the categories and terms current in the works of the Hebrew grammarians, such as Riqma, p. 36): laryngeals: a-[, j-a, j-h; labials: b-m; linguals: d-t, d-ùt, f-ùd, l-r (?), l-n, n-l, r-l (?), t-f; dentals: z-x, s-z, ç-x; palatals; k-q. Several letters constituting letter substitution pertain to the special group yùùwha a-w, a-y, w-a, y-a, y-h. Certain substitutions Ibn Barùn himself explained on grounds of taß˙ìf (Arabic graphic interchange): d-x, z-r, j-ùg (Téné, 1983, pp. 266–267), likewise t-y. Finally, two substitutions defy classification according to the above categories: j-k, ç-t. Thus the sum total of substitutions in the Table is 61. Only 12 of this total are unattested by Ibn Barùn, in all probability because his work did not survive in its entirety. For each of the other grammarians there can be abstracted, in descending order, smaller totals of substitutions: For Ibn Janà˙, 23 substitutions; for Ibn Quraysh, 19; for Alfàsi, 17; for Dunash, 14; and for Ibn Bal'am, 11. It is probable that in the case of some grammarians the fairly low totals of substitutions are due to the incomplete surviving documentation of their works. As already noted, the comparison data encountered in the writings of Dunash b. Labrat as a whole are not truly representative, in that the character of Dunash’s opus is essentially selective in nature. For Ibn Bal'am, the comparison data have yet to be exhaustively culled from his biblical commentary. At any rate, I have incorporated in the table only those substitutions, whose employment can be quite definitely determined, whether from absolutely explicit application or from more or less explicit instances, as for the working hypotheses of the Hebrew grammarians in toto. The disparity between the total substitutions used by Ibn Barùn, 49, and the totals abstracted from the works of the other grammarians is certainly remarkable; 27 switches are unique to Ibn Barùn alone! A rationale for this phenomenon has already been put forward by P. Kokowtzow (1893, pp. 84–89) and more recently by Téné, (1983, p. 267ff.). Let this suffice for the moment.
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38 2.4.2
Table of letter substitutions: Hebrew-Aramaic
Substitution Heb.-Aram. a-[ b-p g-k g-q d-z h-a w-y z-d f-t s-ç x-f ç-t
2.4.3
Ibn Quraysh
Alfàsi
Ibn Janà˙
=
= = =
Ibn Bal'am
Habavli
= =
= = = =
= =
= = = = =
=
Table of letter substitutions: Aramaic-Arabic
Substitution Aram.-Arab. g-ùg z-ùd j-ùk f-ùf s-ç [-g q-ùg q-k ç-s t-ùt
Ibn Quraysh
=
Alfàsi
Ibn Janà˙
Ibn Bal'am
= = = =
=
=
= =33
= =
= = = = = =
The data in the above two Tables also is not to be considered exhaustive on account of the incomplete documentation. The nonexhaustivity is specifically predominant as for Ibn Bal'am; as for Dunash, not a single Heb./Aram. or Aram./Arab. substitution has been encountered, while Ibn Barùn very seldom recorded comparisons with Aramaic.
33
See Téné, 1983, n. 55.
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Three-way language substitutions were hardly treated by the Hebrew grammarians. Only Alfàsi dealt with the three-way switch x-f-ùf (in comparison of the entries ybx/ybf/ybùf, (p. 143, entry wqa) and ç-ts in comparing the entries çy/ytya/sya (ibid., p. 79). The switch of the type x/[/ùx was not traced by the Hebrew grammarians.
2.5
The theory of the root and its effect on comparative philology
The theory of Óayyùj regarding the triliterality of the Hebrew root (see, recently, Goldenberg, 1980) did not affect the comparison of radices belonging to the regular verb; in certain cases such comparisons were rejected by later Hebrew grammarians but on different grounds. Several comparisons of weak radices as well as of geminate radices also remained unaffected; however, in the latter the concept of the root and thus the nature of the comparisons underwent a change. For example, the three comparisons πa/πna, ˚j/˚nh, lgm/lùgnm (as e.g. in R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s lexicon, p. 234, entry C1 37): before the time of Óayyùj, it was assumed that the n in the Aramaic or the Arabic was supplementary to the root, while the root was represented by the Hebrew forms. From Óayyùj’s time onward it became clear that the n belongs to the root: in Hebrew it is dropped (in forms without affixes) or is assimilated (in forms with affixes); (see e.g. R. Jonah b. Janà˙, "Ußùl, entries lgm p. 363; lgn, p. 405). As for the weak verbs, the comparisons of the root types subsequently termed yùùp and yùùl (or hùùl) can serve as a good illustration. When Alfàsi (vol. 2, p. 50) and R. Judah ibn Quraysh (C1, 177) compared the Hebrew root πjy with the Arabic cognate ypj, the assumption was that there existed full etymological concurrence between the two radices, i.e. pùùj(y)/(y)ù pj. But after Óayyùj’s time, the Hebrew grammarians (such as Ibn Barùn, Muwàzana p. 61) felt the need to posit an etymological stipulation for such a comparison, namely (a) the interchange of pùùhp (= the first radical) with pùùhl (= the third radical) or (b) the alternation of radical patterns (= yùùp-yùùl). Ibn Quraysh also compared abg with bùg on the assumption that the root is identical, namely, (a)bg/(b)bùg, whereas after the time of Óayyùj, such comparison remained valid solely on the understanding that there root pattern alternation existed between aùùl and [ùù[. In fact R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ compared abg with hybaùg, which clearly matches the root abg more suitably.
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Another example: R. Judah ibn Quraysh established a comparison wmh/wmah (C1 132, p. 254), assuming that the two verbs were cognate (of the same root); however, Ibn Barùn (Muwàzana, p. 168b) posited a qualification for the comparison, stating that its validity depends on pattern alternation. Yet there are cases in which later Hebrew grammarians ruled out comparisons established by earlier Hebrew grammarians, on account of more novel conceptions in Hebrew grammar, such as were introduced by Óayyùj. For instance, Alfàsi compares dwdg with (ˆyymd) ˆydgn (p. 301), jgn with (abrq) yjygm (p. 316), yzm (b[r) with (anwtal) hzml (ibid. root ùz, p. 469) and rwçm with rwsa (I, p. 129); his grammatical theory treated these pairs as identical radices in Hebrew and Aramaic respectively, i.e.: dùùg, jùùg, ùz, rùùs. From Óayyùj’s time onward, however, these comparisons were rejected, either e silentio (by their not being recorded at all) or in some cases explicitly (see Ibn Janàh, below, 13.18).
2.6
The semantic equivalence factor
A characteristic feature of the comparison theory of the Hebrew grammarians is that entries in two or more of the three relevant languages are compared on the grounds of common etymology only if the respective meanings of the entries are alike in the two languages. But grammarians do not make explicit mention of this issue, with the possible exception of two allusive statements. (1) Yehudi b. Sheshet (Stern p. 24; Varela Moreno, pp. *18, 36) states in one of his rejoinders that “the words of the Jewish language are not to be likened to those of the Arabic on the basis of phonological affinity (lit: “when the two are close in pronunciation”) but differing semantically (lit: “in their elucidation(s),” as, for example, ˚mjra (Ps. 18:2).” (2) Ibn Janà˙ ("Ußùl, entry ˆwrç, p. 749) brackets together hqbafm yn[mla (= semantic congruence) with ùfplla hsnaùgm (= phonological/ etymological similarity). The proximity of the terms points to the restriction under discussion. Actually the stand of the Hebrew grammarians can be ascertained only from their applied language comparison practice. Evidence for such conditioning is of two types: (a) positive indication (on the basis of comparisons actually adopted in many entries) and (b) negative evidence (absence of comparisons) in instances where comparison would be predictable, or on the basis
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of an express or implied rejection of language comparison, as adduced by other grammarians. There is no need to deal at length with proofs of type (a). Suffice it to say that language comparisons that the Hebrew grammarians adopted conform to this principle. Such, for example, is the case in Heb./Aram. comparisons of the pattern Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (see below, 3.6.4 and 5.3.2.1). Negative evidence (b) is pertinent regarding the exhaustive biblical lexicons of Alfàsi and R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and to a limited extent regarding the comparative treatises of R. Judah ibn Quraysh and of Ibn Barùn; but it is inapplicable for the Egron of R. Sa'adiah Gaon and for the Ma˙beret of Mena˙em b. Saruq, the reason being the paucity of comparison materials in these lexicons. 2.6.1
Evidence from rejection of comparisons
In Risàla (C1, entry 278), Ibn Quraysh compares wrkny (Deut. 32:27) and hrkntmw (1 Kings 14:6) with the Arabic cognates wrkny (= they deny) and hrkntmw (= disguising herself, masquerading [fem. sing.]); he states bluntly, however, that these words should neither be correlated with rkn (1 Sam. 23:7) nor with rkn ynb (2 Sam. 22:45), etc. The implication is that despite the existence of a semantic link with the former entries, the latter entries are not to be compared with their Hebrew “counterparts”; and naturally not with the adduced Arabic cognate, for their meanings are non-concurrent. The same reservation can be detected, when the grammarian rejects the comparison μyalj/ylj (ibid., B22, p. 190): μyalj refers to the referent “a specific ornament,” whereas the cognate ylj in Arabic refers to the referent “ornaments in general,” since these two referents possess semantic affinity. But lacking an absolute semantic equivalence, they, too, are barred from serving as etymological synonyms. Dunash records a well-known instance of comparison rejection. In the entry ynjfw (Sáenz-Badillos, 1980 p. 113, ibid. 1981, p. 367) Dunash challenges Mena˙em b. Saruq: “You elucidated jmq, w[mçmk (= according to the meaning of its Arabic cognate);34 its correct elucidation is
34 jmqhw hfjh ayh tybr[b w[mçmk jmqh yk ,w[mçmk wnwrtp ˆyaw ,w[mçmk jmq trtpw .qbak qdh ˆwjfh awh tyrb[b On w[mçmk as used by Mena˙em, see below, ch. 10.1, devoted to Mena˙em’s comparisons.
42
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not w[mçmk; for the plain meaning of jmq in Arabic is wheat, whereas jmq in Hebrew means wheat ground fine like dust!” The modern-day linguist would summarize the above principle more or less as follows: Etymological parallels are not to be compared unless they are real synonyms. This proviso can be adduced additionally from a further objection raised by Dunash against Mena˙em, for his having compared ty[ra (Dan. 6:25) with [ra (= the Targum translation for ≈ra) (see Sáenz-Badillos 1980, p. 30; see also the retort to the latter by R. Tam, ed. Philipowski, p. 17). In "Ußùl 281/402, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ remarks that the word hlbn stems from the root lbn, in the sense of lpn (= fall); a carcass is so called because it is hlwpnw h[wrç (= outstretched and fallen); this is evident also from the word hlpm (hyrah tlpm, Judg. 14:8) which there connotes hlbn (= carcass). He further states explicitly that the word hlybn in Arabic, despite its phonetic and semantic similarity with the Heb. hlbn, has no connection with it; for the Arabic hlybn derives from a different semanteme, a metaphorical sense, i.e. lybn in the sense of açn ,μr ,lyxa (= noble, aristocrat, exalted); this term is used in Arabic for “carcass” on account of its being hhwbg ,taçn twjypnm (= elevated, high owing to swelling). Thus the “comparison” hlbn/hlybn is negative; it is cited merely to obviate an erroneous notion. In other words, a comparison cannot be maintained on the basis of mere external affinity, even in a case where the two entries undergoing treatment refer to the same referent, at least from the descriptive and applied perspective (for when all is said and done, the two words hlbn/hlybn are translation synonyms); a cognizance of the semantic background of the two translation synonyms as well as their respective relevance to the meanings of their respective radices, leads to the conclusion that no semantic concurrence exists between them; an etymological comparison between them is thus also ruled out. Furthermore, mere etymological equivalence between a Hebrew entry and an Arabic (or Aramaic) one cannot serve as a guarantee that the two entries possess semantic equivalence. For this reason, Ibn Janà˙ does not consider it sufficient to check the etymological equivalence but wherever possible sets up other restricting factors, too; it is not at all surprising that in his explanations he often resorts to a comparison with rabbinic Hebrew entries as well as to comparison with Arabic or Aramaic. A factor of decisive importance, which is checked out, is the semantic criterion. When a Hebrew
the fundaments of comparison and the restrictions
43
entry is etymologically congruent with an Arabic one, both entries being closely similar in their meaning but the semantic factor hampers the assumption that the two entries indeed refer to the same referent, then the etymological equivalence is considered valueless. For example, some authorities identified rpk (Cant. 1:14) with the Arabic rwpak (p. 329), most likely on the basis of etymological equivalence; however, R. Jonah b. Janà˙’s semantic parameter nullifies this identity for the reason that rp,K has a raceme (rpkh lkça ibid.), while the rwpak is without a raceme, though both are fragrant plants (see below, 13.18). 2.6.2
Evidence based on the avoidance of application of semantic connection
Alfàsi occasionally records, in the framework of one main entry, a number of subentries; this grammarian does not highlight any etymological liaison between the subentries, for the reason that in linguistic usage these are heterosemic. An example is çab in Hebrew versus atçyab in Aramaic; Alfàsi considers each of these an independent entry. Likewise Mena˙em b. Saruq; in root bx(y) (p. 148). In the third subsection of this root he records Hebrew entries from this root, in the sense of “standing,” such as bxytyw (1 Sam. 3:10), while in the fourth subsection, he places co-radical Aramaic entries, the sense of which is “truth” (hmh fçq ˆyyn[), such as byxy (Dan. 2:45); he sees no common feature bridging between the notion of “standing,” “firmness” and the notion of “truth.” Thus, failing semantic equivalence, the etymological connection is disregarded. 2.6.3
Evidence from a polysemic entry
2.6.3.1 Examples Example: The entry μwy is a polyseme. Alfàsi (II, p. 44) records therein two distinct senses: (1) rahn (= day as opposed to night); (2) μwy (= a complete 24–hour unit). It cannot be coincidental that in references for sense (1), no note is made of the cognate μwy; all the instances are translated, uniquely, by the term rahn. It is evident from this that in the case of what is a biblical polysemic entry (such as μwy), the Hebrew grammarians are giving expression to the various senses by means of differing Arabic translation synonyms (such
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as, in our case, rahn, μwy); but for one of the senses and for one only do they adopt an Arabic definition that is also a cognate, namely for that sense in which the entry and its definition are semantically equivalent (in our case: μwy in the sense 24 hours). In principle, this Arabic etymological cognate is one quite suitable for the entry word in all its senses; however, the Hebrew grammarians consistently avoid such a generalized indication. They do not view the etymological comparison as an entity distinct from the semantic linkage. A further example: Alfàsi translates the entry jyç (p. 317) initially tabnla ryasw . . . rùgç; only subsequently does this grammarian remark: jyç anlw . . . jyç . Prima facie, the etymological connection could have been mentioned with regard to the first of the senses discussed. Further examples: Entry hpç (II, p. 342) is defined by its Arabic cognate hpç only for the first sense (lip) but no further mention is made of the connection between these two etymological synonyms with regard to the other senses, i.e. hpç in the sense hgl (language), hpç in the sense hyçaj (edge), etc., although these senses are nowadays regarded as metonymic developments from the basic meaning “edge.” Likewise for jfç (p. 663) he defines/compares jfs but for jfç (μyypk) the definition is (ˆyypkla) fsb; for alm (p. 209) he defines/compares lamk, following which comes the definition “ample” (alm/wlm); for bçj (p. 593) he defines/compares bsj but twbçjm is defined tarybdt; afj (p. 533) is defined/compared afùk, while tafj is defined jùxn; [qr (p. 628) is defined/compared [qr, while for the senses listed earlier ([qr in the sense fsb and [qr in the sense qqr), the definition in each case is indicated without comparison. For πtk (p. 136) he defines/compares πtk while in the subsequent enumeration of senses, πtk is merely defined as bnaùg; πrj (p. 587) is defined as atç, in contrast with the expression yprj-ymy ( Job 29:4) for which he defines/compares ypyrùk μaya; μjl (p. 159) is first defined zbùk and only subsequently is μjl defined/compared with μjl; tm (p. 237) is first defined/compared with tam, tyam but in the causal sense tymh (= put to death, kill) the word is merely translated ltq. 2.6.3.2 The "Ußùl of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ The same picture can be demonstrated in the "Ußùl of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙. In entry bçj (p. 253) he fails to link bçj defined as and compared with bsj with bçj defined as rkp, yar, ˆùf; nor (p. 219) does he link afj defined/compared yfùk with other senses of afj, i.e. defined rpgtsa, etc. Likewise (p. 335) with πtk: Its primary
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definition is πwr[m (= well-known); he creates no connection between that sense of the root and between its second and third senses, hhùg hyjanw and ˆabyùg respectively; similarly with the entry μwy (p. 279): Its primary translation is rahn; only later in the entry is the word μwy defined/compared μaya; likewise (p. 738) no connection is drawn between hpç defined/compared hpç and hpç defined hyçaj or hpç defined hgl. Regarding the entry alm (pp. 374–76), Ibn Janà˙ takes the trouble to remark explicitly that this verb ought not to be translated mechanically, in each instance, as its etym. synonym cognate alm, since in some cases semantic concurrence is lacking; the translation should be either lmk or μt, according to the context. In the entry μjl (p. 351) an etymological link with the Arabic μjl is established only for the sense “meat,” this despite the fact that he provides a descriptive classification for the meanings of μj,l, and states explicitly that the primary sense of the word is lkay rça lkam lk (= any foodstuff) and in the great majority of occurrences, refers to hrw[çhm wa hfjhm hpam (= what is baked from wheat or from barley); no description is presented of the semantic narrowing of usage that occurred in Hebrew and it goes without saying that no mention or allusion is made regarding the narrowing of the sense of this word in Arabic, or in comparison therewith. The entry ≈pq (p. 640) in its basic sense is implicitly compared by R. Jonah with the Arabic cognate zpq but in positing a translation of ≈pq in the rabbinic Hebrew metaphorical usage ybwjb hnbgaç ydk wnwlaw ≈pqa (BT Gittin, 49b) he does not mechanically adopt the definition zpq, for the reason that with Arabic zpq the semantic development noted with ≈pq did not occur; he translates the expression: yçla yl[ bwùtww hrdabm. Of all the entries stemming from the root rbg, i.e. rybig,“ hr;Wbg“, rb'g,: etc. Ibn Janà˙ records comparison only for the entry showing semantic equivalence, i.e. rwbg (p. 122) defined/compared rabùg. Of the entries bkç (p. 719) Ibn Janà˙ records a comparison with bks only for those possessing semantic concurrence with the Arabic such as lfh tbkç (Exod. 16:14); the same applies to the several senses of entry lqçm (p. 746); each sense is translated by means of the translation synonym that matches it semantically: 1lqçm is translated ˆzw, while 2lqçm is translated/compared laqùtm; he does not establish an etymological link between these two entries and thus of course does not spell out a semantic development.35
35
It should be conceded that on this score the several grammarians very likely
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2.6.3.3 Works devoted to language comparison The same phenomenon can be traced in works devoted specifically to language comparison, i.e. works that are not necessarily complete lexicons. Ibn Quraysh in entry πtk (C1, p. 211) records merely a reference pertaining to the comparison of πtk with Arabic πtk, whereas references pertaining to other senses of the root are omitted. Likewise for entry root afj (C1, p. 493), the grammarian records only the words af]je and μyaiFj ; ', which match the sense applicable to the Arabic cognate yfùk but, for instance, he refrains from recording tafj, since the cognate does not concur semantically with this word. The situation is similar with μjl (C1, p. 219): the comparison refers only to the sense μjl (= meat), whereas for other senses of this entry no reference is made. 2.6.3.4 Ibn Barùn Ibn Barùn follows suit. In entry bçj, he records several references for the verb bçj, μtbçj (Gen. 50:20); bv'j;w (2 Sam. 14:13); wbC]jy' “ (2 Kings 12:16) comparing them with the Arabic cognate bsja; however, twbçjm is excluded. The root qry (Gen. 9:3; Exod. 10:15) he compares with qrw, defining its meaning as μyl[ (= leaves) but, for instance, he omits a reference to qrqry (Lev. 12:49). For [qr he adduces [yqr and compares it with the Arabic cognate but he omits any other word pertaining to this root. As regards afj compared with afùk, he fails to record, among other things, the form tafh, for the reason that this word would not be suitably translated by afùk. Even when Ibn Barùn posits comparisons not recorded by his predecessors, the validity of the comparison does not hold for all the senses of the Arabic cognate, while a diachronic description of the semantic links between the translation synonyms fails to appear; the comparison is always restricted to the concurrent meanings of the entry and to these alone. In Kitàb al-Muwàzana, p. 64, for example,
had differences of view. For instance: Alfàsi (p. 663) rather than rendering jfç (μyypk+) by means of an Arabic cognate syn., prefers the tr. syn (non-cognate) fsb; R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, in contrast ("Ußùl, p. 716) mentions both of these options. Similarly, in the case of entry [qr (see Ibn Janà˙, p. 689 and Alfàsi, above). However, the dispute (if such exists) is restricted to the question as to whether semantic congruence is to be assumed between homophonic Heb. and Arab. entries— not that one grammarian assumes historical semantic links while the other rejects them. A further instance can be noted: Ibn Quraysh, in contrast to Alfàsi and Ibn Barùn, adduces twbçjm (C1, p. 393) in his comparisons with Arabic bsj.
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when comparing bçy with bùtw, the scope of reference is restricted to d[q yn[mb bùtw, as used by the residents of Óimyar; no reference is made to the other sense of bùtw (= jump). The same exclusion occurs in entry rma (ibid., p. 38): he compares with the Arabic rma only those instances of the Hebrew rma that have the meaning “command” but not the frequent Hebrew verb rma (in the sense of “say, speak”). Comparisons of the type hmda with Arabic hmda (such as are to be found in Alfàsi’s lexicon and elsewhere) are to be viewed in the same light. This comparison and others like it is not intended as a comparison of Hebrew hmda as to its diachronic connection with Arabic hmda (= outer shell, skin) but rather as setting an affinity semantically between the Arabic hmda and the Hebrew; Ibn Barùn makes an effort to find the Hebrew sense within an etymologically parallel Arabic usage, even if such can be found solely in a remote usage and a rare textual documentation of the word. 2.6.3.5 Omission of cognate translation synonyms In all the instances enumerated above as well as in many others it goes without saying that the Hebrew grammarians have no interest in tracing diachronic semantic connections between a Bib. Heb. entry with its several senses on the one hand and the Arabic translation synonym with its various senses on the other; but that is not all: within the Hebrew entry itself, no priority is given, in the arrangement of the several meanings of the entry word, to that specific meaning for which the Bib. Heb. entry is translated/compared with the Arabic cognate; the meaning for which the comparison is recorded appears in a random place within the several subsections of the entry. In the general Bible lexicons written by Alfàsi and by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ further evidence is forthcoming for the above thesis. In these lexicons several entries appear for which the authors did not resort to cognate translation synonyms, although prima facie it would have been appropriate to record such cognates; the omission of such materials can only be explained on the grounds that these grammarians were concerned solely about etymological comparison if and when it can be associated with semantic concordance. For example, in the entry rmt (palm-tree) Alfàsi (p. 738) records the translation lùkn, while R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ (p. 764) states first πwr[m (well-known) and then second hlùkn; neither of the two grammarians make note of any historical semantic connection of the entry word with the
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Arabic cognate rmt. Likewise, the entry çbk: Alfàsi (p. 85) translates it ˆaùxw πwrùk, while Ibn Janà˙ (p. 307) renders it hùg[nw lmj; neither makes reference to the cognate çbk. Similarly with the entry blj: Alfàsi (p. 551) and R. Jonah (p. 226) both translate it ˆbl; and both grammarians refrain from setting up a link for this entry word with the Arabic cognate bylj; and so on. Only in the works of R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and Ibn Barùn have I found a small number of cases, constituting a breach of this principle. Below, I enumerate the instances that run counter to the norm. 1. The entry qza (20/31) is defined by R. Jonah b. Janà˙: [mawùg lalgaw (Ibn Tibbon translates: μyl[w twrswm); he posits a comparison with etymological parallels that are not translation synonyms, namely qza-qzam, in the sense of hmjlmb hqwxm (military predicament) and hkr[mh hdç (battlefield). The grammarian determines that the connection between the Hebrew qza and the Arabic qza is limited to what present-day linguistics refers to as “a single feature,” in this case qyùx (rendered by Ibn Tibbon: wqwx rwb[b (= on account of his straits). 2. A further instance of comparing of entries between which affinity of meaning exists, though without absolute equivalence: In comparing [wxqm/lymza/lymza (453/642), Ibn Janà˙ notes that lymza in Aramaic signifies wawlmb ylkh (the utensil as a whole) (its non-etym. synonym in Hebrew being [wxqm). In Arabic on the other hand, lymza has a more restricted signification, namely “merely the blade of such an implement.” Indeed, the phraseology adopted (ibid.) i.e.: hrpçll hùfplla hùdh br[la tra[tsaw may well imply that the original signification was the one current in Aramaic, whereas the specialization of meaning occurred within Arabic (this of course is not meant to imply that this word is a loan word in Arabic!). 3. A similar picture appears with regard the comparison μrg/μrg/mùf[ (99/144). The Hebrew μrg and the Arabic μùf[ have equivalent meanings, their basic (a) and metaphorical (b) meanings respectively: (1) the basic signification, “organ of the body”; (2) the metaphorical sense, “the substance of something, the essence.” The Aramaic word μrg, however, is used only in sense (1). Despite this, the grammarian had no qualms about setting up a semantic comparison in which the metaphorical signification (2) appears. 4. Several such cases can be found in the work of Ibn Barùn, too. For the comparison rsb/rsb (p. 165) he posits a restriction of the semantic congruence, namely that in Hebrew the entry word can
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signify any fruit that is unripe, whereas in Arabic the sense is restricted to “the unripe fruit of the palm-tree.” 5. A similar case in which Ibn Barùn sets a restriction regarding a semantic equivalence can be found in the comparison of rab (a well of running water) with Arab. ryb as against the comparison of rwb (a pit that must be dug and does not contain water) with ryb. For additional cases of etymological congruences in which the relatedness is characterized by a plain sense of the entry word for one member versus a metaphorical sense for the other, see qrz/qrz, πnj/πnj. Even in these instances, the grammarians do not trace a development in the Hebrew signification vis-à-vis the etymologically parallel Arabic signification, or vice versa. What is shown by these instances is a restriction of the semantic congruence of the translation synonym or a statement of the semantic affinity between the two parallel entities, in other words, an indication of partial equivalence, namely an equivalence in respect of a single semantic feature common to the two etymological parallels irrespective of the question as to whether the two are indeed translation synonyms, or ever served as such.
CHAPTER THREE
EXPLICIT COMPARISONS
Two characteristic features are present in explicit lexical comparison: (1) The grammarian recording a comparison juxtaposes two lexical entries, pertaining to two distinct languages. (2) A special expression is used to indicate that there exists a linkage, whether etymological, or semantic, or of whatever kind, between the two entries.
3.1
The nomenclature of the languages and the terminology for comparison
The stock of expressions serving in this context is fairly well defined and virtually unambiguous. By and large the nomenclature and term recur for each and every language comparison, with very few changes or variations. The repeated application and occurrence of each expression and/or term led to a professional technicalization of these usages in comparative language science. It is reasonably probable that terms consisting of one word and embodying the nucleus of the term are an outcome of a reduction of the basic expansive expressions that can be seen to be structured on the same nucleus. However, the opposite development may also have occurred, i.e. concise expressions that were originally customary underwent an expansion, thus bringing about more lengthy phraseology. The range of terms must be considered an essential element in the comparison methodology (of each and every grammarian, lexicographer and exegete) and corresponds with each respective “system” of concepts. The terminology adopted by the grammarians is highly instructive for an appreciation of the character of their theories of language comparison, whether individual theories or those held in common by one or other of the schools of the medieval linguists. Terms can further serve us in tracing whether or not one lexicographer relied on another.1 For these reasons a study of the terminological 1
For instance, judging from the comparison terms adopted respectively by R. Judah
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system is important for its own sake. Certain terms can serve as excellent examples. For instance, it became necessary (below, 10.1) to determine whether the term w[mçmk as used by Mena˙em in his Ma˙beret, although this expression in itself shows no evidence of its being a comparison term, belongs in fact to the “term system” or not. Were it indubitably clear that this expression implies language comparison, Mena˙em’s inventory of comparisons would expand considerably, for it would then also incorporate those instances in which the term w[mçmk is utilized (below, 10.1). What is more, it is subsequently shown that the range of terms also includes zero term. In other words, comparisons can be discerned in which no external indicator shows a motive of comparison. The adoption of the term “zero” in itself has far-reaching implications for determining the complete inventory of language comparisons used by the Hebrew grammarians. For instance, several Heb./Aram. explicit comparisons on which no doubt can be cast were recorded with a zero comparative term. Such an assumption is also very probable in the case of many non-explicit Heb./Arab. comparisons. Furthermore, an elucidation of the precise meaning of several expressions that may be, at least potentially, terms for lexical borrowing, implying Aramaic or Arabic borrowings in Hebrew, is of prime importance for deciding what is to be reckoned as part of the comparison inventory and what is to be excluded from it. Apart from the significance of terminological definition for determining the scope of the corpus of comparisons, this aspect is essential for resolving debatable and problematic issues as regards the nature of certain comparisons, and their aims. For example, in entry rM'ai (p. 118) Alfàsi compares the entries consisting of the translation synonyms çbk/rma (Exod. 29:35) and subjoining two Hebrew nominals belonging to the semantic field twrwhfh twmhbh (= pure beasts) with their Aramaic counterparts: μyrp/ˆyrwt (Exod. 24:5) and μylyaw/ˆyrkd (Exod. 25:5). It is very likely that this apparent digression from the “topical” lexicon entry word under consideration in fact characterizes a common practice of this grammarian to provide a full explication of the source text cited for lexical purposes, together with its wider context, in this case the phrase ˆyrwt ˆyrma ˆyrkd (Ezra 7:17). This is not an exceptional instance but a clear example of Alfàsi’s habit of expanding his lexical definition by setting out an elucidation of the biblical source phrase in its entirety. b. Quraysh and Alfàsi, it is doubtful if interdependence between the two can be definitively determined (Becker, 1984, pp. 74–77).
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As a rule this tendency is noticeable in cases of extensive exegetical discussion or instances about which differences of opinion prevail as to their interpretation; in contrast, setting out a Hebrew translation for a series of consecutive Aramaic words cannot be considered as exegesis of any specific note. It would therefore seem preferable to treat the above-mentioned excerpt as a discussion on a minor detail and of to the semantic field concerned. Here the terminology adopted is indeed instructive. As we have discovered, the inventory of terms denoting semantic comparison is essentially and linguistically different from such colorless expressions as μwgrtw, that cannot be reckoned as a specific comparison term; the latter is indeed the standard term for translational comparisons in instances that present no semantic discussion. Furthermore, a scrutiny of the terminological system reveals not only the concepts expressly contained in it but also what is lacking in it of its prima facie components or of what constitutes other systems of terminology. For example, the non-appearance of a clear-cut term for word loan (that might have signified the borrowing of an entry in one language from that in another) such as ù≈artqa or hra[tsa in the discipline of language comparison of the Hebrew grammarians, as well as the absence of an explicit expression testifying to a language apparatus of this kind in the set of the non-specific terms, lends support to the conclusion that the Hebrew grammarians did not literally imply the existence of word borrowing in Hebrew from Arabic or Aramaic, despite that at first sight the terms adopted might seem to convey the impression of word loan. The range of terms may also serve as a philological criterion for ascertaining the authenticity of texts attributed to certain authors. For instance, in the textual variants glossed in later copies and abridgments of Kitàb Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, certain terms alien to the set of terms indubitably used by David b. Abraham himself can be noted. One example: in the comparison μyç/μyç according to MSS X and Z (pp. 331–32) the term ynadskla is used. This expression, unknown elsewhere in the scope of language comparison, is adopted (albeit only twice) by Alfàsi ( Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ I, pp. 3, 153) but not as a term of comparison. The abnormality in such usage serves as grounds for suspicion regarding the authentic attribution to Alfàsi of the glossed variants in these MSS; on these grounds it is likely that these lectiones are copyists’ later additions.2 2
The nomenclature for the several languages and the comparison terms used by
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For the terminologies of R. Judah b. Quraysh and Ibn Barùn, references are merely made to earlier studies. In the present section, a rather generalized and concise statement is set out and no more. Those terms for which no specific source is referenced can be assumed to be general terms, utilized by all the Hebrew grammarians or most of them. 3.1.1
The nomenclature for the languages
The three languages that were systematically treated by the Hebrew grammarians are Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic. These languages are referred to sometimes, each by its respective name (below) and sometimes collectively, by the name tagl ùtalùtla (= the three languages) (so Ibn Bal'am) or by the more elaborate expression ùtalùtla ahanml[ ytla tagl (= the three languages with which we are familiar) (so Alfàsi). The specific language nomenclature, however, is far more frequent. 3.1.1.1 Nomenclature for Hebrew The names for Hebrew are ynarb[la, yrb[ ˆwçl (so Dunash and R. Judah ibn Tibbon), çdwq(h) ˆwçl (so R. Judah ibn Quraysh, p. 119) and lyarsa ynb hgl (so R. Sa'adiah Gaon). Occasionally the given term denotes the speaker of the language rather than the language itself; for Hebrew speakers the regular term is ˆwynarb[la (so R. Sa'adiah and Ibn Janà˙); once only R. Sa'adiah uses the term lyarsa ynb. These terms, it goes without saying, relate to Hebrew speakers of the biblical and Mishnaic epochs, not to Hebrew readers or writers contemporary with the Hebrew grammarians themselves. 3.1.1.2 Nomenclature for Aramaic The most characteristic name for the Aramaic language with its various dialects is ynayrs (Syriac or Syrian). This name is a transformation, first in Greek, and subsequently in Arabic, of the Hebrew term tyrwça. The latter of course was originally the name for another
each grammarian are dealt with in detail in separate sections, below (for R. Sa'adiah, see section 4.7; for Alfàsi, 9.11; for Mena˙em b. Saruq, 10.3; for Mena˙em’s disciples, 10.5; for Dunash b. Labrat, 11.5.1; for R. Hai Gaon, 14.1.3; for Abu alFaraj, 14.2.5; for Judah Óayyùj, 12.3; for R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and R. Judah b. Tibbon, 13.19; for Ibn Bal'am, 15.2.4; for Abraham HaBavli, 14.4.
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Semitic language nowadays termed Akkadian but at some point in early history, subsequent to the extinction of Akkadian as a spoken language and to its widespread oblivion, it was generally thought that “Assyrian” equals “Aramaic” (tyrwça equals tyrws).3 For example, Alfàsi’s Arabic rendering for the name tymra in the biblical verse (2 Kings 18:26) tymra ˚ydb[ la an-rbd is lwqy ahypw ynayrsla hgl yh and for the name μydçk ˆwçl (another biblical term for Aramaic) his rendering of Dan. 1:4 μydçk ˆwçlw rps μdmllw (root mwa, p. 153; introduction p. 3) is: ynadskla hgl ˆm adz[w laynd yp am. This term ynayrs is commonly used by most of the Hebrew grammarians,4 and is applied also to post-biblical Aramaic (Poznanski 1896, p. 16; 1909, p. 256, n. 2). Apart from ynayrs, the following three designations appear for Aramaic: (h)ynadskla (R. Sa'adiah, the transmitters of Alfàsi’s work, and R. Hai Gaon); ydçk ˆwçl (Dunash b. Labrat); (la) yfbn (R. Sa'adiah, Ibn Bal'am [once], R. Hai [4 times, within a fairly short extract of text]). H. Lammens (1890, p. 177) quotes in the name of Palgrave a conjectural etymology for the term yfbnla: “an appellation used by the Arabs for the non-Arab population resident in Aram Naharayim.” In fact, this term is in the main used by the Babylonian grammarians. The common designation for this language in the works of the grammarians who wrote Hebrew is (t)ymra or (t)ymra ˆwçl (so Mena˙em b. Saruq, Dunash, HaBavli, and R. Judah ibn Tibbon). Terms used to designate the Aramaic speakers of the ancient past are: ˆyynadskla (hgl) (R. Sa'adiah; see Bacher 1895, p. 249, n. 1), tymra yl[b (Mena˙em), ˆylwala (lwq) (for talmudic Aramaic and so for Aramaic generally, Ibn Bal'am), and lyawala (lwq) (so R. Jonah b. Janà˙). Several terms that eventually came to designate Aramaic are literally designations for Aramaic literary texts: (hgl), μwgrt, μwgrt ˆwçl
3 The events set out in 2 Kings 18:17–28 may well have served to strengthen the identification of the two, for Ravshaqeh, an “Assyrian,” spoke Aramaic. See also Oßar Ha-Ge"onim to Tractate Gittin, § 28, p. 13: wçk[ awhç ysrws btkw ysrws ˆwçlw arqn awh μwqm wtwa μç-l[ ynayrws wtwa ˆyarwqw lbbb μyyrxn ydyb (the Sursian Language and the Sursian script which at present is in the hands of the Nazeriyyim in Babylon and which people call Suryane, it is named after that location, namely Syria). D. Rubens (1881) in his introduction discusses the origins of the two names tyrws and tymra; see also Epstein, 1982, p. 49, n. 183, and the bibliography ibid. pp. 51–53. 4 Clearly this term is absent from the works of those grammarians who wrote in Hebrew or from those whose writings little has survived.
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μwgrt la (R. Sa'adiah Gaon, Dunash, R. Judah b. Tibbon); laynd; swlqnwa; layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwy (so R. Sa'adiah, Alfàsi, Mena˙em and his disciples). The term μwgrt serves mainly to designate Targumic Aramaic and in this connotation the term occurs as early as the Mishnah (Megillah, I, 1); however, the term was used for biblical Aramaic also, as in Mishnah Yadayim IV, 5; Bavli, Shabbat 115a.5 Talmudic Aramaic is termed dwmlt (so R. Hai Gaon and R. Jonah b. Janà˙), dwmlt ˆyçl (so R. Judah b. Tibbon); this dialect is sometimes even called hnçm ˆwçl or hnçm (see Abramson 1974, p. 175; Becker 1984, p. 33 and n. 12; Epstein 1982, pp. 31, 38, 52). 3.1.1.3 Nomenclature for the Arabic language The name most extensively used for the Arabic language is ybr[, with several variations: (h)ybr[la, br[la μalk (so Ibn Janà˙, Ibn Bal'am), br[la ˆasl (ibid.). In Hebrew writing the language is designated (y)la[mçy ˆwçl (so Dunash, Ibn Bal'am), ybr[ ˆwçl (ibid., R. Judah b. Tibbon), yrgh ˆwçl (so Dunash). The nomenclature for Arabic occasionally refers to a certain aspect of the language only, rather than to the language as a whole; the aspect implied might be, for example, phonology or etymology, under the term ybr[la ùfplla. Various terms are used for Arabic speakers. The most frequent is br[la—in Hebrew br[h (so Ibn Tibbon); other terms: μyla[mçyh (Ibn Bal'am). The latter by and large designates the ancient Arabs as well as their mother tongue as reflected in the grammar books and lexicons; however, the reference in the Hebrew grammarians is sometimes to contemporary Arabic-speakers or even to their compatriots (specifically). For this restricted usage the following are used: sanla (R. Sa'adiah); μwqla (ibid.); andn[, qar[la yp, ˆmyla lha, hma[la, (the latter four terms are used by Ibn Janà˙). Occasionally Ibn Janà˙ quotes the Arab linguists or their works, in a general way, rather than by their individual names; the expressions used are dn[ br[la aml[; br[la batk yp.
5 See Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 15, col. 811, entry “Targum”. See also Epstein 1982, p. 65.
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chapter three Terms used for comparison
3.1.2.1 Heb./Arab. and Heb./Aram. comparisons As a rule, terms commonly used in comparing Hebrew with Arabic are customary for Hebrew/Aramaic comparison also. There are, however, several terms whose application is specifically for comparison with one or other of the two languages (the special usages are indicated below, in each case) and not for both. The terms for comparison are often extremely condensed, as, for example, when the term is concerned with a single letter or a single short particle attached to a word or phrase designating one of the languages. In such cases, a particle is not itself an indicator of a comparison; this is identified by the phraseology as a whole. An abstraction of the phraseology would read: “(Hebrew) entry word A (is) in Aramaic (or: in Arabic) B.” From this expression one is to deduce that equivalence exists between the Hebrew entry and its counterpart in the other language, or that the two are in fact identical. The particles used are b, yp, dn[ together with a name of one of the languages, as br[la μalk yp, ynayrsla hglb. At times the particle is accompanied by a verb with the meaning of “being” or of “knowing,” thus: ynayrsla yp . . . rwhçm ,. . . yp ùfplla aùdh ˆwky ,(ynayrsla) yp dùgn dqw (these examples are from entries of Ibn Janà˙). The particle may at times be a personal pronoun such as awh or ayh functioning as a copula that links (or identifies) the word in question with its counterpart in the other language. Examples: ymra ˆwçl awhw (HaBavli); . . . μwgrt awh (Dunash); . . . . hybr[w hynayrs hùfpl yhw (R. Jonah ibn Janà˙); μwgrtla hglb wh (R. Sa'adiah); μgrtmla lwq whw (Alfàsi). 3.1.2.2 Words with the sense of “alternative” or “substitute” Sometimes the term of comparison is a word with the sense of “alternative” or “substitute,” from which follows, as an extension, the word “translation” (μwgrt). The sense then is the “substitute” in Arabic or Aramaic for the Hebrew entry word X is Y; thus ynarb[la yp hmaqm (R. Sa'adiah); wmk μaqm πk (R. Judah ibn Quraysh, B67, p. 7); . . . μaqm yhw (Alfàsi). For the latter implication, as might be expected, the term frequently used is “translation” (μwgrt), in Hebrew or in Arabic, thus wmwgrtw (Mena˙em); hmwgrtw or htmùgrtw. This expression may sometimes be preceded by a causal conjunction, as: μwgrt yk (Ibn Bal'am); μwgrt hnal (R. Sa'adiah, Alfàsi et al.). Another commonly used particle is ˆm. When this particle is adjoined to one or
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other of the names for Aramaic or Arabic it serves to indicate, prima facie, the “source” of the entry word; however, the true import is merely that of comparison (see 2.3 on word loans). Examples: /hgl ˆm ynayrsla lwq (Ibn Janà˙); tymrah yrbdm (R. Judah ibn Tibbon); ˆm μwgrt (Alfàsi); μwgrt ˆwçl ˆm (R. Sa'adiah); ˆwlwala lwq ˆm (Ibn Bal'am); la[mçy ˆwçl ˆm/ˆwçlm (Dunash, (Ibn Bal'am). At times there is a directional reversal of the source phrase(ology): μùgrtmla lwqy hnmw (Ibn Bal'am). For an extension of the source particle, the following verbs/ verbals can be added: ˆm qtçm (Alfàsi, Ibn Janà˙) qaqtça ˆm (Alfàsi); ˆm ùdwùkam (Abu Al-Faraj, Ibn Janà˙). 3.1.2.3 Translation by means of certain verbs At times the Hebrew grammarians designate the translation synonym in the other language by means of certain verbs. It is then that the general context determines the application of comparison; for these verbs in particular are not generally used to imply language comparison. The verbs used are semantemes of lwq (saying, calling); hymst (appellation); qalfa (appellation; R. Sa'adiah); lam[tsa (use, sense; R. Sa'adiah, Alfàsi, Ibn Janà˙) with its Hebrew parallel çwmyç (Dunash); hmùgrt (translation); jalfxa (terminology; R. Sa'adiah); [wqw (correspondence, overlapping; Alfàsi, Ibn Janà˙); anb (structuring on a formula; Alfàsi). These verbs are used at times to delineate a limited linguistic action whether of grammatical, semantic or other nature. Examples: ùda yla ˆyj ˆwpyùxyw (R. Hai); ynayrsla yp ˆwmùkpy dq (R. Sa'adiah); . . . πxt br[law (Ibn Janà˙); Hebrew parallels: . . . wrps tymra yl[bw (Mena˙em); . . . ˆyyn[h hzm wprx al μyla[mçyhw (Ibn Bal'am); ˚lùdkw, br[la tra[tsaw, lùtmla hb brùxt br[la, br[la [stt (all three, Ibn Janà˙); μwgrtla hgl yp za¤g am yl[ (R. Sa'adiah). 3.1.2.4 Word or verbs in the usage of comparison The following terms are founded on, or derived from, a word or verb in the general service or usage of comparison; as a result they became fit for use as comparison terms. They are: . . . hlwq ryùfn, lùtm, (Alfàsi); tymra ˆwçlb wnwymdw (Ibn Tibbon); wmk, ˆkw (Mena˙em, Ibn Tibbon, Ibn Bal'am); hlkç ˆmw ˚lùdkw, aùdkhw, amk (. . . lwq)k, (Alfàsi); . . . hqyrf yl[ (transmitters of Alfàsi’s work). The following verbs, whose general connotation is that of similarity, equivalence, identity, congruence, concurrence, affinity or interrelation between diverse entities, were commonly earmarked for language comparison; the prominent examples: hbç in its various forms, as ùfplla yp htbaçm
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(Ibn Quraysh, p. 343, according to Becker’s index of terms, p. 382), ˚rtça (Ibn Quraysh; Alfàsi), ˆytglla hyp tkrtça (Alfàsi); hsnaùgm (mainly from the time of Ibn Janà˙ and onward. Regarding the term synùgt as used by Ibn Bal'am, see Kokowtzow, 1916, III 202, n. 4; on its use by Ibn Barùn, see Wechter, n. 318); hglla yp hbsanm (only Ibn Quraysh, ib); hbraqm (frequently used by most Hebrew grammarians); dy[b in the sense of “contrast,” as the opposite of hbraqm: as hglla yp dy[b yç . . . ˆyb sylw (Alfàsi); . . . twast (Ibn Quraysh, p. 335; Ibn Janà˙); hqpawm or qapta6 (most Hebrew grammarians); hnzawm (once in Ibn Quraysh, p. 299. This term serves also as the title for Ibn Barùn’s work) (see Eppenstein 1900–01, p. 236); t[mùg or t[mtùga (Alfàsi); yrùgm . . . yrùg (Óayyùj; Ibn Janà˙); hlkaçm (Ibn Janà˙); also the parallels in Hebrew: hmd (Dunash, Ibn Tibbon); hwç (Ibn Tibbon). 3.1.2.5 Other expressions for language comparison Other expressions indicative of language comparison: ùfplla yl[ (ynayrsla) (Óayyùj); . . . ùgrùkm yl[ (Óayyùj); h[wmsm yl[ (unique to the style of Alfàsi); hrha¤f yl[ (Ibn Janà˙, twice only); also, the Hebrew equivalents: w[mçmk ybr[ (used by transmitters of the work of Alfàsi); w[mçmk (Dunash). Regarding the adoption of the term w[mçmk, it is plausible that some connection existed, between Alfàsi’s transmitters and Dunash (or one of Dunash’s disciples). 3.1.2.6 The term “zero” An examination of the lexicons of the Hebrew grammarians reveals an occasional biblical quote containing an Aramaic entry word adjacent to one containing a Hebrew entry word, without any term of comparison; in some instances, the entry caption is Hebrew, in others it is Aramaic. The lexicographer was no doubt aware of the source of his Aramaic Bible quote (e.g. from Daniel, etc.) and was quite aware of its being in the Aramaic language. This is clearly evi-
6
The term qapta is found additionally in the exceptional sense of “random,” “unintended and extraordinary correlation;” R. Moshe b. Ezra adopted the term in this connotation in discussing Ibn Barùn’s comparison of Hebrew with Latin and with Berber (A. Halkin, 1975, p. 40). For the use of the term with the same meaning in medieval philosophy, see Moreh Nevukhim, e.g. part 3, ch. 17 (ed. Schwarz, p. 474, n. 2 and the reference).
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dent; for in several other cases, quotes from the same text sources appear with express indication of the Aramaic nature of the entry word and with an explicit statement of comparison. It must further be presumed that the compiler relied on the reader of the lexicon himself recognizing the Aramaic language of the entry word, though this was not explicitly stated. Moreover, if the reader resorted to the lexicon on perusing an Aramaic text source (bearing in mind that this was precisely the aim and purpose of the lexicon!), there was all the more reason to assume that he could identify the word in question as Aramaic. The conclusion is that in such cases the comparison between the Hebrew and the Aramaic entry words is presented with no comparative term, or, in other words, by the term “zero.” Zero term can be assumed also for non-explicit comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic (below, 4.1). 3.1.2.7 Terms for “contrast” Occasionally a grammarian may posit a contrast between entries set out for comparison. In some cases, this may be in order to guide a reader who might erroneously established a comparison, owing to the phonetic-phonological similarity between the two. Phraseologies indicating contrast are . . . yp amaw; . . . l πlaùkm; yl[ lyld (ynayrsla) sylw (ynarb[la), these examples, being all from Alfàsi’s lexicon. 3.1.2.8 Conclusion The above classification of the terminology relates predominantly to form and style; substantially, all the terms were meant to denote the same content, namely, to mark the etymological or semantic connection (or, rarely, the absence of such link) between entry words pertaining to two or all three of the languages under discussion. In fact the contexts calling for the occurrence of the terms are fairly uniform; the conditioning for the occurrence of any given term is quite restricted. Moreover, late grammarians quote several comparisons from their predecessors; while they meticulously quote the entry words, they show no concern to record the comparative term verbatim. For instance, Ibn Janà˙ set a comparison of the pair of entries rwnk/rank, using the term br[la dn[. Ibn Barùn recorded the same comparison, more or less word for word, which he had indubitably quoted from Ibn Janà˙; the term he used, however, was different: l snaùgm (Muwàzana, p. 68). It is thus clear that for Ibn Barùn the two expressions were
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identical in substance and meaning. Such was also the practice of those who transmitted abridged versions of Alfàsi’s lexicon (below, 9.11.3.3). There are, however, a good number of explicit comparisons, whose nature is determinable not by a specific term but by other means. Such labels of language comparison now follow.
3.2
Explicit comparison identifiable on tauto-etymological grounds
In some instances, explicit comparison is established, not directly by a given term of comparison but indirectly, on what might be termed “tauto-etymological grounds.” An example is a case where an exegete, for the sake of illustrating the sense of a word X of some obscurity, resorts to a word Y—Y being co-radical with X, thus rendering the meaning of X more transparent semantically; it thus transpires that X and Y pertain to the same radix. The structure of the reasoning (grounds) is as follows: Let Y equal A1; X equal A2. A2, as a meaningful word, is consequent on A1, or: A2 conveys the general sense/idea of A1, in that A1 is (so to speak) contained within A2 (A1 and A2 are homo-radical.) The reasoning is etymological, because we are to interpret A2 on the basis of A1, the two being co-radical; it is tautological, because the second member is largely a reiteration of the first. It is somewhat like presenting an identical equation A = A (when verbalized, the equals sign is replaced by the copulae awh, ayh or by ˆwçlm and the like). If, for example, it is proposed that tqrb (= one of the precious stones of the breastplate; Exod. 28:17) is thus named on account of its qrb, we would have a proposition, whose part is expressed as a tauto-etymological cause. Formulations of this nature are quite clearly frequent and widespread in Hebrew literature, from the Bible right up to contemporary literature, especially in the literatures of hermeneutics, exegesis, and linguistics. However, in the “primary” form the interlingual comparison has yet to appear. Such comparison commences the moment the defining word (= the [Hebrew] word standing as basis for the definition) in the second part of the proposition is replaced by its cognate, entry word, equivalent, in Arabic. After this change the proposition reads tqrb, thus named on account of its barq. This formulation implies an etymological equation of head and adjunct, tqrb/qrb. It follows that tautoetymological reasoning conceals a latent etymological semantic
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comparison between Hebrew and Arabic. Such language comparison has the same weight as explicit comparison. Tauto-etymological reasoning occurs in 16 entries in Alfàsi’s lexicon and three in Ibn Janà˙’s.
3.3
Explicit comparison on the strength of the Arabic model
"Ußùl contains several comparisons, whose explicit nature can be determined from the setting of the lexicological discussion itself, rather than from any specific comparison term. For example, in the comparison twlypa/hlpa (p. 44; Shorashim, p. 64) Ibn Janà˙ adduces the expressions ù≈rala tjt bag aùda μnùgla lpaw ,bag aùda yçla lpa tbg ˆya ya an[ tlpa ˆya laqyw ,smçla (tlpa) ˚lùdkw, all of which are unique to Arabic. There can be no doubt that these are presented expressly for the purpose of illustrating the sense of lpa in Arabic and at the same time to point up the etymological and semantic connection between the two cognates lpa/lpa. Although Ibn Janà˙ makes no overt statement phrased in the set terminology to the effect that a comparison is being made, it is manifest from his lexicological procedure that the Arabic data are recorded for purposes of comparison. The characteristic features of the discussion in this and other similar instances can be summed up as follows: the grammarian is making note of a linguistic usage current in Arabic. This remark has no direct relevance to the entry word. The linguistic usage does not serve as a rendering of a Hebrew quote/reference; it is adduced for its own sake and to clarify something. The fact that no comparison term occurs, as is customary for explicit comparisons, can in no way extenuate the explicit nature of the comparison. In such cases the word laqy is mostly used, a word that has no meaningful interpretation other than ybr[lab laqy.
3.4
Implicit comparisons holding the rank of explicit comparisons
The Hebrew grammarians record instances of comparison in which appear neither a comparison term nor an indication in one of the aforementioned ways that a comparison is intended. Non-explicit comparisons possessing the weight of explicit comparisons are of the following types:
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If their documentation is in a grammatical treatise devoted uniquely to language comparison, a comparison is “explicit” even if the comparison term is absent; one clear statement of intent in the introduction to the treatise covers all the comparisons in the work, rendering them explicit comparison; an expression of intent, for each comparison would be redundant. In excursuses devoted specifically to language comparison and incorporated within comprehensive treatises, such as those contained within Alfàsi’s Jàmi' al-AlfaΩ, the same applies as in the case of treatises dwelling specifically on comparison: one general proposition is sufficient to cover all the comparisons listed in the excursus. Comparisons with Aramaic (with the exception of inevitable comparisons—see below, 3.6.1) are always explicit comparisons, because neither are they part of the body of the discussion on the entry words nor do they belong to the substance of the exposition; they are invariably adduced for the specific purpose of comparison. Likewise, a comparison occurring once in a given treatise as a non-explicit comparison but reiterated elsewhere in the same treatise as an explicit one is reckoned as an explicit comparison as in Alfàsi’s work (below, 9.5.5) and in that of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ (below, 13.4.3) (Hebrew/Arabic non-explicit comparisons are given special treatment, below, in chap. 4).
3.5
Comparison formulae
The comparisons recorded by the Hebrew grammarians are set out below, in accordance with various formulae, which were in fact adopted in the treatises themselves. The grammarians failed to spell out clearly the formulae on which the comparisons are arranged; it is quite feasible that the formulae were adopted intuitively; or perhaps the formulae were at least partly an imitation of the methods of their precursors. An attempt will be made to uncover the pattern underlying the comparisons and set them out in the form of a formulaic presentation. The latter should not be taken as a merely ornamental or symbolic expedient; rather it is intended to convey thereby the essential basis of the comparison, the vessel that shapes the substance poured into it. Further, the formula is an objective instrument, aiding and assisting the scholar to sift the materials: to distinguish comparisons from non-comparisons; to detect which comparisons are
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deliberate and consciously built, as opposed to those that are forced or involuntary; to distinguish comparisons recorded in the true interest of language comparison from those adduced for other objectives. Within these subtypes, the thematic treatment serves to point up the finer colorings and features of the comparison; for not all comparisons that superficially appear identical prove to be so in fact. Moreover, several language strata set out for comparison are intrinsic to the formulae themselves. From the thematic setting the comparison can be readily analyzed into its primary and secondary element. This is notably the case with compound formulae, each comprising more than two elements for comparison. The thematic arrangement can occasionally be decisive for doubtful cases, such as to determine whether the comparison is etymological or merely semantic in nature. For instance: on the grounds of Alfàsi comparing the Aramaic [a with Hebrew ≈[ (p. 129), it might be inferred that he was making an etymological comparison and a knowledge of the historical sound shift involved in [/x as well as the dissimilating shift [ > a, [[ > [a, might thereby be attributed to Alfàsi, which is an unfounded imputation. The formula to which the given comparison pertains proves clearly that the grammarian was aiming merely at semantic comparison. In thematic presentation, the entry before the diagonal line designates the entry referred to, while the entry/ies to the right of the diagonal indicate the languages with which the given entry word is compared.
3.6 3.6.1
Explicit comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic
Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. inevitable comparison (Alfàsi and Mena˙em)
The lexicons of Alfàsi and Mena˙em (also that of R. Hai Ga"on) do not allocate separate sections to biblical Hebrew and biblical Aramaic; the entries pertaining to the two languages are amalgamated and assembled together, whether in alternate consecutive units or as parts of one, overarching entry, as though the two languages were one. This lexicological method provides for a single entry comprising biblical Hebrew and biblical Aramaic side by side. When the radical consonants of the given entry word are etymologically and phonologically equal in Hebrew and Aramaic, without any sound shift, these lexicographers find it necessary to enter the technically
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identical entry caption twice, once as Hebrew and once as Aramaic, under the same arch-entry. Juxtaposing the identical entries consecutively as two subentries invites language comparison, whether explicit or implicit. (Were two separate divisions allocated to the two languages, one for the Hebrew and one for the Aramaic, a comparison would not be automatically established.) Such an editing arrangement would prevent the assumption of a deliberate Hebrew/Aramaic comparison by David b. Abraham and Mena˙em. It is quite feasible that in such cases the grammarian had no intention of setting up a comparison but merely purposed to set forth the lexicographical data; the impression of a language comparison derives from the external editorial method. For example, in the entry rb (p. 271), Alfàsi states: twyj lk hlùtmw ( Job 39:4) rbb wbry μhynb wmljy arjxla rb rb anlw • .ynayrsla yp (Dan. 2:28) arb In the given entry, the Hebrew rb and the Aramaic rb appear under the same archentry rùùb, thus inducing almost imperceptibly a reciprocal language comparison. A comparison of this type is what I have termed an inevitable comparison; for the other Hebrew grammarians such a comparison is deliberate. 3.6.2 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. deliberate comparisons even for Alfàsi The formula referred to here is that of pairs of Heb./Aram. entries in which the respective members are etymologically and semantically equivalent but possess non-identical phonological realizations. This inequality of realization may at times be manifest (1) by the substitution of radical letters, for instance, Heb. z versus Aram. d in pairs such as rbzg/rbdg (as Alfàsi puts it, p. 301: ˆyzla lydbtb) or bhzw/abhd (ibid., ynxylh, p. 442) or (2) by the addition of one letter in one of the entries vis-à-vis its cognate counterpart in the other parallel language, as for example, the addition of the dissimilating n, in Aramaic, to the entry hdm, hdnm (Alfàsi does not use the given terms but states simply hdayzb ˆwnla; entry dm, p. 189). He thus does not deem it necessary, in the light of his lexical system, for the two to be recorded under one archentry. The two subentries are in fact edited separately, each ad loc. as for its salient phonological feature: hdm on p. 189, hdnm on p. 216. The comparison established by the grammarian is in no way forced upon him; it is quite definitely deliberate. For Mena˙em, such translation synonyms are non-cognate, for he refrains from adopting
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the letter substitution system (with the exception of yùùwha); he therefore fails to establish any comparison for hdm/hdnm. The rest of the Hebrew grammarians employ the present formula in several ways. For example, R. Sa'adiah Ga"on adduces the comparison ˆyfj/ˆyfnj in his discussion on μlnm ( Job 15:29) (see Bacher 1895, Nitzanei hadiqduq p. 61, n. 3). 3.6.3
Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
In several entries, the Hebrew grammarians compare a Biblical Hebrew entry word under discussion with its cognate in Targumic Aramaic; the Aramaic translation synonym, however, is not always the direct rendering (= equivalent) of the biblical Hebrew word in the relevant quote/reference. For example, in the comparison jg(n)/j(w)g: (Exod. 21:28) abrq yjygm brjla laùgr μùgrtmla ymsy ˚lùd ˆmw . . . rwç jgy ykw (Alfàsi, p. 316), where the Targ. Aram. word is not a rendering of the Bib. Heb. under discussion. Such cases should be clearly distinguished from those in which the Targ. Aram. adduced indeed serves to translate the relevant Bib. Heb., e.g. laq yùdkw . . . μkry[b ta wn[f . . . ˆwkry[b ty wnw[f μùgrmla hyp (Gen. 45:17, ˆ[f, p. 18). An example recorded by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ for a Targ. Aram. not ad loc. is the comparison qpç/qps ("Ußùl, p. 741). An instance given by R. Sa'adiah Ga"on relates to the Bib. Heb. ˚[, l O B] (Prov. 23:2) in his commentary to his biblical translation (ibid.). There are even cases in which the Targ. Aram. that is adduced for comparison is not a rendering of any actual Bib. Heb. word but rather a part of the exegetical augmentation of the Targum translation. For instance, the Aramaic word adgn occurs in the augmentation of the translation of the verse μym yljn ≈ra (Deut. 8:7), which is rendered ˆyymd ˆyljn adgn, the word serves merely for elucidation. This word (adgn) is adduced by Alfàsi ( Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ, entry dg, p. 301) for comparison with the word dwdg in the verse hydwdg tjn (Ps. 65:11). 3.6.4
Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram.7
In the group of entries presenting comparisons according to this formula, the Hebrew grammarians highlight the etymological equivalence
7 A rudimentary demonstration of this formula has been set out by Becker regarding Ibn Quraysh (1984, p. 31, p. 32, n. 8). Becker remarks that this formula was
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between the Bib. Heb. entry word under discussion (= Bib. Heb.1) and the etymologically parallel Targ. Aram. word, which, however, is an ad loc. rendering not of that Bib. Heb. word but of another synonymous or semantically related Bib./Heb. word (= Bib. Heb.2). The three-way comparison aids the grammarian in two aspects—or perhaps in a single determination comprised of two connected arguments—(1) regarding the aim: to determine the etymological equivalence of Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram.; and (2) incidentally: to determine the semantic equivalence of Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Heb.2. In some of such comparisons the etymological equivalence is transparent, in others it is less so. Three cases in point are I ≈mwg/≈mwk, II hrg/arga, and III wnyhtw/ynhta, despite their relatively different degrees of transparency, these all belong to the same formula. For a full understanding of the present formula, it is worth studying two of the abovementioned entries as entered by several grammarians. Example I: Recorded by R. Judah ibn Quraysh (A, p. 37), by Alfàsi (p. 331) and by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ (p. 139). The entry is recorded as follows by Alfàsi and similarly by the other grammarians: (Isa. 24:17) tjpw djp ynayrslab ˚lùd ˆmw ,hybz (Eccles. 10:8) ≈mwg rpj •
lmygla μaqm μwqt πklaw axmwkw aljd The ultimate aim is to give a sense for the Bib. Heb.1 ≈mwg. With this in mind, the Hebrew grammarians adduce Bib. Heb.2 tjp, with the Targ. Aram. ad loc. translation axmwk. On account of the phonetic non-equivalence of Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram., the comparison includes an explanation, i.e. that the substitution g/k occurred. A schematic presentation of the comparisons might be as follows To be Shown: ≈mwg Data: 1) tjp 2) ≈mwg Conclusion: tjp
= = = =
? (sense) axmwk (non-cognate tr. syn) axmwk (cognates) ≈mwg (sense)
adopted by the rest of the grammarians, too. If, however, Ibn Quraysh indeed allowed for word borrowing from Aramaic (ibid., p. 29), it must be said that he adopted a different formula, i.e. Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (see below, 3.6.7, and above, 2.3).
explicit comparisons Abstraction: To be Shown: Data: 1) 2) Conclusion:
Bib. Bib. Bib. Bib.
Heb.1 Heb.2 Heb.1 Heb.1
= = = =
67
? (sense) Targ. Aram. (non-cognate tr. syn) Targ. Aram. (cognates) Bib. Heb.2 (sense)
Example II: The comparison is recorded as follows, by Alfàsi (entry
ˆyh, p. 434): [xb hm μwgrtw μt[mf hryspt (Deut. 1:41) hrhh twl[l wnyhtw • .anl ynhtn ˆwmm hm (Gen. 37:26) The entry requiring definition is wnyhtw. These are the data: the word is identical etymologically (according to the grammatical opinion on the radix, of this grammarian) with the Targ. Aram. ynhtn; since the latter is itself a translation synonym for [xb, the conclusion is that wnyhtw and [xb are semantically equal. In both Examples I and II, more than one argument serves in determining the second datum, namely the equivalence between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ.-Aram., owing to the need to resort to a secondary datum, whether a substitution of letters as in Ex. I, or the determination of the number of radical letters—ˆh or ˆyh for wnyhtw and ˆh or ynh for ynhtn—as in Ex. II. However, in the large majority of comparisons pertaining to this formula, the etymological equations can be established with virtually no difficulty. E.g. ˆwfa/ˆwfa, wla/wla, ˆma/ˆma, l[y/al[y, [xb/[xb etc. Nonetheless, even in the straightforward instances, the second datum should not be omitted when tabulating the comparison. Underlying the present formula a presumption exists that Bib. Heb.2, which is adduced as that which sets the definition and so does not act merely as an intermediary between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ.Aram., is more clearly understood than what it comes to define, namely Bib. Heb.1. We are thus provided with a clue for classifying Biblical Hebrew entries according to two kinds, those whose meaning the Hebrew grammarians saw as obvious (self-explanatory) and those whose meaning was less obvious to them. It would seem that such an estimation by the Hebrew grammarians conceals a solution to the question as to when and under what circumstances the Hebrew grammarians altogether resorted to language comparison by noncognate translation synonyms.
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Sub-formulae that are “alternates” of the above arch-formula, which differ from it neither in essence nor by objective but merely set the order of the entry components differently from the standard formula arrangement, are recorded in comparisons of Alfàsi, ˆwçydb/ amyr/μyr (p. 379); ˚rd/jra/tra (p. 405). In these comparisons, Bib. Heb.1 appears third in the formula arrangement and not first; thus the formula reads: Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb.1. Yet a different arrangement is salient in the comparisons wqa/l[y/al[y (p. 144), ˆwçyd/μar/amyr (ibid.), and rmj/rk/rwk (ibid., p. 561). In the latter arrangement, Bib. Heb.1 intervenes between Bib. Heb.2 and Targ. Aram. 3.6.5
Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.)
This formula is basically the same as the previous one. The difference is that whereas in the previous formula Targ. Aram. is expressly indicated, in the present formula it is to be understood implicitly. But considering that Targ. Aram. is cognate with Bib. Heb.1, its inclusion can be dispensed with. A suitable example: R. Sa'adiah Gaon translates μypkw ( Job 30:6) as rwùkxlaw. But in a marginal gloss he comments: μy[ls μwgrt μypkw. This gloss is in fact a condensed form of a more expansive statement, one that incorporates the Targ. Aram. too, namely: aypyk/ˆypk μy[ls μwgrt :μypkw (reconstruction). Thus here two elements in the arch-formula are lacking: (1) an actual quote/reference from the Bible text for Bib. Heb.2 and for its Targ. Aram., and (2) an explicit dictum asserting the etymological equivalence of Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram. But as stated earlier, this equivalence is self-evident. 3.6.6
Rab. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
This formula is structured similarly to Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (above, 3.6.4) except that here the entry word is attested in rabbinic Hebrew and not in the Bible. The formula is used in lexicons or in commentaries discussing on Rab. Heb. entries, when such are in need of definition, as in R. Hai Gaon’s lexicon Kitàb al-Óàwi (below, ch. 14).
explicit comparisons 3.6.7
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Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
This formula occurs for Aramaic/Hebrew comparisons only, i.e. in instances where the relevant entry is from Bib. Aram. The formula consists of two elements: (1) comparison of entry word with noncognate translation synonym in Bib. Heb. and Targ. Aram.; (2) comparison of cognate in Bib. Aram. and Targ. Aram. However, it may well be that the second datum should not be treated as a comparison, considering that the matter at issue here is that of two manifestations (for the Hebrew grammarians perhaps two dialects) of one and the same language, one being from Biblical Aramaic and the other from the targumic dialect. It is hardly reasonable to reckon as a comparison a case in which equivalence, in fact identity, is proposed between a datum from Bib. Aram. and its counterpart in Targ. Aram. For all intents and purposes, this would be comparison of an entity with itself. Thus when tabulated schematically the present formula can be said to parallel the above formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. as follows: To be shown: rma = ? (sense) Data: 1) arma = çbk (non-cognate tr. syn) 2) arma = rma (identity) Conclusion: rma = çbk (non-cognate tr. syn) Generalized: To be shown: Bib. Aram. = ? (sense) Data: 1) Targ. Aram. = Bib. Heb. (non-cognate translation synonym) 2) Bib. Aram. = Targ. Aram. (identity) Conclusion: Bib. Aram. = Bib. Heb. (non cognate translation synonym) The condensed tabulation formulaically generalized, omitting datum (2) will appear as follows: To be shown: Bib. Aram. = ? (sense) Datum: Bib. Heb. = Targ. Aram. (= Bib. Aram.) (non cognate translation synonym) Conclusion: Bib. Aram. = Bib. Heb. (non cognate translation synonym) Further, it can be incidentally deduced from this formula that the Hebrew grammarians thought that a Bib. Heb. entry word adduced to assist in the definition is more intelligible than its counterpart in
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Bib. Aram. It thus follows that for the contemporary student in the era of the Hebrew grammarians, Aramaic was less intelligible than Hebrew and perhaps less known, too. The aforementioned formula occurs regularly and systematically when the Hebrew grammarians discuss Bib. Aram. For instance, when biblical exegetes wrote their commentaries also on the Bible chapters in Aramaic, or when lexicologists discussed entry words occurring in the Aramaic sections (Alfàsi, Mena˙em, and R. Hai Gaon). An example from Rav Sa'adiah’s Bible translation (Tafsìr) of Dan. 7:25: (Exod. 23:17) μym[p çlç μwgrt ˆynmz tlt laq amk . . . ˆynmz •
3.6.8
Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.)
This formula is practically identical with the previous one. The only difference is that in the present formula no specific quote is adduced by the Hebrew grammarians for the Bib. Heb. and for its Targ. Aram. counterpart; they find it sufficient to state that the Bib. Aram. entry word is the same word recorded by the Targ. Aram. for the Bib. Heb. with which the entry is compared: as e.g. (Dan. 2:28) μrb ˚a μwgrt . . . (Alfàsi, p. 277). In this sub-formula, the Hebrew grammarians dispense with two elements that were present in the previous formula: (1) actual quotes/references from the Bible text and from the targumic Aramaic text, to illustrate Bib. Heb. and Targ. Aram.; (2) an explicit statement of the etymological equivalence of Bib. Aram. and Targ. Aram. The omission of these two elements can most probably be attributed to their being palpably obvious and not requiring any corroboration. 3.6.9
Talm. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
This formula is similar to the previous; its specific character is noticeable from the text source of the entry word. In the present formula the source is talmudic Aramaic (whereas in the previous formulae it is Biblical Aramaic). This formula occurs occasionally in R. Hai Gaon’s Kitàb al-Óàwi (below, ch. 14), where Talmudic Aramaic entry words in a status of definiendum are systematically discussed.
explicit comparisons 3.6.10
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Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram.
At times, the Hebrew grammarians merge comparisons pertaining to different formulae. The present formula combines Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. with one of the two formulae Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.; Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. The first segment, the comparison Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram., can be either inevitable (as in the works of Alfàsi and of Mena˙em) or deliberate. In neither case is the comparison a sufficient basis for turning Bib. Heb. into a semantically transparent entry word; for this reason, the lexicologist resorts to the formula latent in the second segment. Here is an example from Alfàsi’s work (p. 213): ybl ˚lmyw (Neh. 5:7) ynayrsla yp hlùjmw .yblq raça ˚nyklma hmwgrt ˚x[ya .˚dn[ ˆsjt ytrwçm (Dan. 4:24) ˚l[ rpçy yklm (Exod. 18:19). 3.6.11
Bib. Aram./Rab. Heb.
At times, for the definition of a Bib. Aram. entry word, a Hebrew grammarian may resort to a rabbinical Hebrew entry of more common occurrence and having greater semantic transparency. The present formula is encountered, in particular (as one might expect), in the works of those Hebrew grammarians who systematically discussed biblical Aramaic. This is exemplified in an extract from R. Sa'adiah’s Bible translation of Dan. 3:27: μyjsp) μhlwqk hpylùk ˆgsw . . . ayngs . . . μynhkh ˆgs hynnj ùr (w ,a. 3.6.12
Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram.
In a certain sense this formula has greater affinity with the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. than with Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., because a Targ. Aram. synonym, whether cognate or non-cognate, is immediately available for the author, as a direct translation corresponding with Bib. Heb. (in the Aramaic biblical Targums). Comparison with Bib. Aram. (not inevitable) and with Talm. Aram., however, emanates from the grammarian’s own efforts or his knowledge; he has the laborious task of locating the Aramaic entry he seeks, unless something happens to bring it to mind. An example of this formula appears in "Ußùl, p. 137, where R. Jonah records, in the name of certain authorities—perhaps the opinion referred to is that of R. Sa'adiah Gaon (Alfàsi records the same comparison and he, too, “quotes” it, in the
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name of “certain authorities”), the word ymwlg (Ez. 27:24) with amylg, a word of common occurrence in the Talmud (see TB Shabbat 77b; see also hùfpl ˆy[bs, p. 34).8 3.6.13
Rab. Heb./Talm. Aram.
This formula is basically similar to the previous, its distinctive feature being in the source of the entry word that in the present formula is Rab. Heb. The formula is encountered in lexicons and commentaries that regularly discuss entries from Rab. Heb. bearing
8 A Bib. Heb./Syriac comparison? Ibn Janà˙ compares the entry ˚ça (Lev. 21:20) with the Aramaic al[t ykça (48/70). The same comparison is encountered in an entry written by R. Judah b, Quraysh in Risàla B, 5. An identification of the likely source used by Ibn Quraysh as a basis for this comparison was made by Epstein (1982, p. 73); in the introduction to his Pèrush HaGe"onìm le-Seder Teharot (also by Becker, 1984, p. 33). The source suggested is the Works of Medicine (twawpr yrps) in Syriac. The question remains whether R. Jonah b. Janà˙ borrowed the comparison from the Risàla or gleaned it directly from the Works of Medicine. Bacher (1885, p. 36; see Becker 1983, p. 171, n. 5) argues that Ibn Janà˙ utilized Ibn Quraysh. Although this stand is reasonably probable, the possibility cannot be ruled out that Ibn Janà˙ himself cited those Works of Medicine directly, since medicine was indeed his profession (see Bacher, introduction to HaShorashim, p. 12) and it is not far-fetched to suppose that he possessed a copy of these works. Moreover the phraseology used by Ibn Janà˙ in the entry under discussion, rather than indicative of secondary quotation, shows evidence of direct citation, for the comparison text runs as follows:
ykça amsy bl[ùtla axùkb πwr[mla ryq[ll ynayrslab laqyw ˆyyùtnala jwsmm ˚ça jwrm al[t. Had he quoted secondarily from Risàla, it would have been more appropriate to phrase it: al[t ykça amsy bl[ùtla axùkb πwr[mla ryq[la ˆa laqyw. Furthermore, whether he intended to confirm this rendition or proposed to dispute it, one would expect that Ibn Janà˙ would at least cite R. Judah b. Quraysh’s definition (= translation) for ˚ça jwrm i.e. hyxùkla ù˚wpnm. In fact, instead of doing so, he phrased his own translation differently, as ˆyyùtnala jwsmm. The initial question clearly bears on a more important and fundamental problem, namely: whether Ibn Janà˙ knew that he was positing a comparison with a non-Jewish dialect of Aramaic and if so whether he was aware of the nature of this dialect and how it was related to Jewish Aramaic. Had he cited the Works of Medicine directly, it would have followed that he knew the language of these to be Syriac. If, however, his source was secondary, in a quotation from Ibn Quraysh, he might well have thought the source text to be in Jewish Aramaic. Epstein (1982, p. 72) conjectures that the Works of Medicine utilized by Pèrush HaGe"onìm “had been transcribed from Syriac script into Hebrew square script and thus had been made available for the use of Jewish scholars.” It is probable that such was also the case with the text of Works of Medicine used by Ibn Quraysh (and Ibn Janà˙). However, Epstein notes that R. Sherira Ga"on himself never saw the Works, rather it was the author of Pèrush HaGe"onìm who had discovered it and that R. Sherira Ga"on had taken it over secondarily from that author. This may have been the case with Ibn Quraysh and Ibn Janà˙, too.
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the status of an entity requiring definition, such as in the work of R. Hai Ga"on (below, ch. 14). 3.6.14
Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb.2 (non-cognate)
This formula is seldom encountered in comparisons of the type cognate translation synonym; the need to define and classify it is twofold: (1) because it can serve in setting up cognate comparisons and (2) because it serves as basis for the next formula (3.6.15), which indeed sets up cognate comparisons. The present formula is not meant to represent one three-way comparison but two separate comparisons possessing in common an equivalent Targ. Aram. entry word. The two separate comparisons might be represented schematically as Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram. + Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. This scheme, however, does not point up the Targ. Aram. equivalence in the two comparisons. For example, in the entry word [rk, Ibn Janà˙ records the comparison of the structure Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym) μy[rk/ˆylwsrq. This comparison in no way differs from the regular comparisons of the structure Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym). The difference is that whereas in those comparisons the ultimate aim of comparison is to adduce a Targ. Aram. entry word, the sense thereof being plainer than the caption entry (Bib. Heb.), in the present formula, the Aram. word is less transparent. In the example under discussion, the word ˆylwsrq seemed to Ibn Janà˙ insufficiently intelligible, so he adduces a second comparison, of the structure Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym), comprising a Targ. Aram. identical with that appearing in the first comparison, in this instance, twnwhb/ˆylwsrq. In effect, this is merely a means of establishing the semantic equivalence of the two Biblical Hebrew words: μy[rk and twnwhb. The measure of intelligibility of the Targ. Aram. is of no import; its weight is no more than that it serves as a third entity to which two other entities are equivalent. The fact that these are equal in value to the third entity (= the Targ. Aram. entry word) proves that the two are themselves equivalent. Thus Targ. Aram. here is not an end but a means. This is what Ibn Janà˙ is referring to when summing up the comparisons twgw[/ˆxyrg and twlj/ˆxyrg as follows (p. 507): hgw[la aws hljlaw; Ibn Tibbon’s rendering is (p. 357): hljhw hgw[h ˆk μaw twwç, “thus hgw[ and hlj are equivalent.”
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A schematic representation of the purpose of this formula is as follows: [rk/lwsrq + ˆhwb/lwsrq = [rk/ˆhwb: or, as an abstraction: Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram.1 + Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram.1 = Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2.
In the present formula, it is not essential that etymological equivalence exist between the three entry words constituting the two comparisons, namely between the Bib. Heb.1, Bib. Heb.2 and the Targ. Aram. entry word.9 This indeed distinguishes the present formula from Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. 3.6.15
Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram.—Rab. Heb./Bib. Heb.2
This formula is on the same lines as the previous one, with the reservation that the Bib. Heb.2 entry word instead of being compared with Targ. Aram. is compared to a Rab. Heb. entry word, cognate to the Targ. Aram. rendering of Bib. Heb.1 The formula is encountered only once, in a comparison recorded by Ibn Janà˙: ˆbg/trfj l[b/tçbd (l[b)10 (Kitàb al-Ußùl, p. 122).
3.7
The three-way comparison: Heb./Aram./Arab.
The three-way comparison between Heb./Aram./Arab. entries can be divided into five types, according to the nature of the link existing between the several components, whether etymological or nonetymological; this aside from the textual typology of sources for the entries, i.e. biblical or post biblical as to the Heb. or the Aram.; targumic or talmudic Aramaic, when the entry word is Aramaic etc.:
9 An exception is the comparison wyçwbm/htthb tyb in which according to current concepts, Bib. Heb. and Targ. Aram. are cognate synonyms, although the comparison term used by Ibn Janà˙ shows clearly that the grammarian did not treat these words as such. 10 Actually, the second comparison represented here by this formula is tçbd/trfj; to combine this comparison with the first one, we subjoin the word l[b to the second comparison. The comparison established is thus tçbd l[b/trfj l[b, this being a suitable match for the first comparison, ˆbg/trfj l[b.
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1. Etymological equivalence of all three entries, e.g. dlg/dlg/dlùg 2. Etymological ambivalence of all three entries, e.g. rwçat/[wrkça/ ˆybrç (Ibn Janà˙ 51/74) 3. Etymological equivalence between two of the three entries, i.e. between Heb. and Arab., e.g. rdg/ltwk/rydùg; (ibid., 86/125) 4. Ditto between Aram. and Arab., e.g. hla/amfwb/μfb (ibid., 30/47) 5. Ditto between Heb. and Aram., e.g. πga/πg/janùg (ibid., 12/20) (Note: Regarding type 5, failing an explicit comparison with Arabic, the three-way feature of the comparison is insignificant, such a comparison is therefore presented as merely two-way: Heb./Aram.) The great majority of three-way comparisons Heb./Aram./Arab. are those of cognates in all three languages; the minority are comparisons between non-cognate translation synonym. The aspect of comparison between the Heb. and the Aram. entries has been dealt with above in the context of Heb./Aram. comparisons and their subtypes. Because this aspect, according to its formulae, terms and aims, is essentially no different from the express two-way Heb./Aram. comparisons in which no third comparative element with Arab. is present. (The comparison with Arabic in these three-way comparisons is at times explicit comparison and at times implicit comparison). Thus the comparison formulae for the threeway comparison are basically structured on the same pattern as the two-way Heb./Aram. formulae (enumerated above), except that the third, Arab. element is to be appended to them. For example, according to the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., the Arabic element may be subjoined, thus resulting in the expanded formula: Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Arab.; and the latter, in turn, may be (a) an Arabic explicit comparison or an implicit comp. and/or (b) an Arabic non-cognate translation synonym comparison or a cognate comparison. No need was felt to reiterate the several aforementioned formulae of two-way comparisons merely for the sake of subjoining to them the third Arabic element. Here it seems sufficient to note the principal element in these compound structures. In the formulaic listings, however, the pattern for each formula will be spelled out in full (in the captions to the listings).
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The Heb./Arab. comparison
Heb./Arab. comparison formulae can be divided into two main types, according to the explicit/implicit nature of the comparison. As for explicit comparisons, the relevant question is merely whether the comparison is Heb./Arab. (cognate) or Heb./Arab. (non-cognate translation synonym). Comparison of non-cognates is the so-called semantic comparison. In implicit comparisons, it is of importance to note whether a non-cognate synonym appears alongside the cognate, Heb./Arab. (cognate + non cognate), or whether there is an iteration of the cognate. A lengthy discussion of these formulae is included in the chapter on the implicit comparisons (below, 4.7–4.10).
3.9 The Aram./Arab. comparison In the records of those grammarians who systematically discuss the Aramaic portions in the Bible and whose works are in Arabic (with the exception of Mena˙em), Aram./Arab. comparisons are liable to occur. An example is rjp/raùkp from the work of Alfàsi (p. 457). However, even in the works of the Hebrew grammarians who incorporate no special discussion on biblical Aram., such comparisons are occasionally encountered; the above instance of comparison is itself to be found in the lexicon of R. Judah b. Quraysh (C1, p. 512).
3.10
Appendix
In the two subsections, following, two further formulae are set out peripherally that, rather than representing cognate syn. comparisons, are of general significance, with especial reference to sundry problems discussed in the present work. 3.10.1 Bib. Heb.1 = Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym) The present formula is encountered only twice, in Ibn Janà˙’s (noncognate) comparisons πwn = hpn/˚lp (Ußùl, p. 418); twb[ = twb[/(ˆ)lydg (ibid., p. 501). The importance of this formula is manifold: (a) It well illustrates the procedure of intra-Hebrew etymological identification
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in Hebrew lexicology and in particular how the linguistic materials are set out. The grammarian first presents a Bib. Heb. entry word (πwn, twb[) appearing as an integral part of a biblical verse (πwn hpy: Ps. 48:3; wmytwb[ wnmm hkylçnw: ibid., 2:3). He then adduces as exegetical evidence11 the Aramaic Targ. translation of a (cognate) counterpart of the entry, in another biblical occurrence of the entry word, (twpn: Josh. 11:2/ˆyklp; μytwb[: Judg. 15:13/ˆlydg). (b) The main import: by setting out the material according to this formula, it becomes evident that no Aramaic Targ. was available to the grammarian for the first biblical verse in each entry (the verse incorporating the respective entry words).12 For if the reverse were the case, why resort to a remote Targ. translation? Had he possessed an immediate Aram. translation for Bib. Heb.1, he could have recorded the comparison as a normal non-cognate translation synonym comparison formula: Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. The unambiguous conclusion is that the Aramaic Targum to the Book of Psalms—the text source for the verses cited and containing the relevant entry words—was not available to him. This, then, is an additional piece of evidence for what is in fact known from elsewhere to be the case, that R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙ did not know of the Aramaic Targum to Psalms.13 A further similar formula, Rab. Heb. = Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., is employed in Pèrush HaGe"onìm (see Epstein, 1982, p. 75). 3.10.2
Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2 = Arab.
Bib. Heb.2 and Arab. are cognates. This formula is predictable, in principle, when Bib. Heb.1 requires definition; the only clue to its meaning by other linguistic/exegetical means is its being synonymous with Bib. Heb.2, while Bib. Heb.2 tself is a cognate synonym with Arabic. In actuality, this comparison formula occurs only once, in
11 The phraseology adopted by Ibn Janà˙ himself, μytwb[ yp μwgrtla laq ˚lùdkw μyçdj, leaves no room for doubt that the adduction of the second Bible quote with
its Aram. translation was meant as semantic evidence and not merely as an additional example. 12 In Miqra"ot Gedolot—Psalms, ed. Warsaw, 5622–26, photographic reprint Etz Chayyim. Jerusalem 1974 (in which this translation is attributed to “Jonathan” [μwgrt ˆtnwy]), this phrase is rendered: ˆwhtwlçlç annm qwlsnw. If Ibn Janà˙ had had an objection to such a rendering and preferred ˆlydg, it is fair to assume that he would have remarked on the matter. 13 For Alfàsi’s text sources see below, 9.12.1.2
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an apparently casual manner, in R. Judah ibn Tibbon’s translation of (= Sefer Hashorashim). Ibn Tibbon renders Ibn Janà˙’s definition ryda = sap, ˆyzrk ("Ußùl, p. 13) ryda = ˆzrg; he appends a further comparison ˆzrg/ˆzrk (that is itself contingent on an explicit comp. recorded by Ibn Janà˙ himself in entry ˆzrg; p. 148). Thus transpired the definition/comparison ryda/ˆzrg = ˆzrk.
3.11
Conclusion
To conclude the topic of comparison formulae, mention should be made of the salient difference between the Aramaic and Arabic formulae. In comparisons with Aramaic, diverse formulae occur, of which many are compound. This is not the case in comparisons with Arabic. For example, there exists no Arab. comparison formula *Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Arab. corresponding to the formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. To grasp why that formula is nonexistent for Arab., let us examine the hypothetical comparison *≈ra/hmda/ù≈ra. Externally this would seem to be built on the lines of the comparison formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram., since (1) we have Bib. Heb.1 (≈ra) + Bib. Heb.2 (hmda), these two being (partial) Hebrew synonyms; (2) is a cognate to the Arab., i.e. ≈ra/ù≈ra; (3) ù≈ra is a frequent non-cognate synonym for hmda in the Arabic translation of the Bible. However, this formula differs from Bib. Heb. 1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. in two significant aspects: (1) In the former the Bib. Heb.1 is frequent and not in need of definition: (2) in order to arrive at the Arab. cognate ù≈ra and ipso facto to determine the sense of the entry word, the intermediary Bib. Heb.2 is redundant, for the Arab. Bible translation provides an on-the-spot comparison ≈ra/ù≈ra. Likewise in the hypothetical comparison *ˆçy/μwn/ˆsw the intermediary μwn is unnecessary. Another theoretical pattern, of the type hm;d:a}/≈r,a/ , hmda, is absolutely ruled out, for the Arab. cognate is a rare word and would never show up as the Bible tr. of the Heb. entry word ≈r,a, (= Bib. Heb.2). There is a further reason for the paucity of Arab. comparison formulae: Aramaic text sources are clearly classified and mutually distinct. Thus in accord with the several Aram. types alone, the arch-formula Heb./Aram. yields three sub-formulae (a) Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram.,(b) Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., and (c) Bib. Heb./Tal. Aram. By contrast, the literary sources of Arabic used by the Hebrew grammarians in
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their comparisons, though variegated, were lacking a corresponding dialectal status of the sort applying in Aramaic. In principle, the Arab. comparisons could be likewise subdivided into sub-formulae, something like: *Heb./Arab. (Qur"àn), Heb./Arab. (poetry), Heb./Arab. (Bible translation), Heb./Arab. (dialects). But there is no evidence that Hebrew grammarian implied such subcategories except in a few rare cases. In many instances, it cannot be ascertained which of the text sources had served them for the Arabic entry word; it is also very doubtful whether the grammarians indeed significantly distinguished the several aforementioned Arabic language strata.14 Another factor highlighting the difference between Heb./Aram. and Heb./Arab. is quite clearly reflected in comparison formulae: it is never an Arabic word that occupies the status of the entity requiring definition; whereas Aramaic entry words quite regularly occupy such a status, precisely as Hebrew entries do.
14
See Becker 2001.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE IMPLICIT COMPARISON
The explicit comparison, as demonstrated above, involves the juxtaposition of a lexical entry word from one language with a lexical entry word from a second language, accompanied by an explicit remark as to the similarity between them; the remark is identifiable by being phrased as a specific term or by being an intentional turn of phrase, a clearly defined statement of the affinity between the mutual entry words, whether that affinity is etymological, semantic or whatever. In contrast to some frequently encountered lexicons and Bible commentaries the juxtaposition of two cognate entries with the use of no specific comparison term, prima facie juxtaposition of such could be treated as no more than a translational definition of the biblical entry word. However, it is feasible that such records include language comparison also and may well be based upon such comparison. For example, in the entry lf ( Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, p. 12), Alfàsi states: ˚lf twrwa lf yk (Isa. 26:19) μlf wnty (Zach. 8:12) adnw lf hlk. By setting the definition of Bib. Heb. lf by the Arab. cognate lf, the grammarian may possibly be employing language comparison, whereas it might be merely an unintentional translator’s definition in which case there is no distinction between the cognate tr. syn and the comparison lf/adn, for then it could be assumed that the intention is to posit a plain translation synonym. To obtain a correct concept of the term “unsophisticated translator/translating,” it is worthwhile to compare Ibn Barùn’s translation for the word qj, (Kitàb al-Muwàzana p. 47): qj wplj (Isa. 24:5) μsrla awplùk, while in the entry itself, (ibid., p. 52) the definition/rendering is: qjla awplaùk/qj wplj. This is to be explained as follows: At the entry itself, where the translation was adduced for the purposes of (explicit) comparison, the grammarian took care to render it with a cognate, while in the record external to the entry he used an unsophisticated translation, a noncognate translation synonym. Theoretically, a cognate can serve as an unsophisticated rendering also, when recorded casually. It is hardly possible to set criteria of preference between these two options of
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analysis. A methodological investigation of the issue in itself is indeed important, while also having direct and significant bearing on the question of the scope of the inventory of comparisons of the Hebrew grammarians. Furthermore, this has relevance for other fundamental questions, too: the extent to which comparisons were practised by the Hebrew grammarians in lexicology (and in exegesis), and the measure of their consistency in recording etymological comparisons. Scholars who took an interest in language comparison as practised by grammarians in the period under discussion did not question the non-explicit comparisons. Some scholars treated cognate tr-syns. as a clear sign of language comparison, e.g. Pinsker (p. 157), Shay (1975, pp. 82, 84–85), and Perez (1978, p. 437); others disregarded implicit comparisons in their discussions, as though these were not to be considered comparisons, e.g. Bacher (1884) and Poznanski (1916). Becker (1984, p. 115) leaves open the question of whether an implicit comparison is indeed a comparison or not.1 Téné (1983, pp. 258, 261) makes a clear delineation of implicit comparison as an independent category. He also states his intention to resume the discussion of this issue elsewhere. A correct judgment on the issue is not easy because we are liable to fall into the trap of imposing our own knowledge on the grammarians’ text and thus presenting an anachronistic distortion of the facts. To illustrate a hypothetical misjudgment of such a kind, consider the entry rmj in "Ußùl (p. 235), which reads: rmj rmùkla yms yn[mla aùdh ˆmw . . . rmja hryspt . . . (Ps. 75:9) rmj ˆyyw • yl[ ahnal (Deut. 32:14) rmj htçt (Isa. 27:2) hl wn[ rmj μrk lyq amk rmj htçt bn[ μdw hlwq yp μdlab ahhbç hart ala armj rùtkala . . . (ibid.) 1 Becker (1984, p. 36, n. 20) remarks on the use of implicit comparison by certain grammarians. It is worthwhile following up the development of his footnotes and how they are phrased, from the time his doctoral dissertation was written in 1977, right up to the year his printed edition of the Risàla appeared (1984). The general impression is that Becker was initially inclined to treat a translation by an Arabic cognate as an implicit comparison, while later he retracted and left the matter undecided. For example, with the comparison h[md/h[md (C1, p. 123) he remarked in his earlier version that “R. Saadiah Ga"on and Alfàsi render it thus;” but in the later edition he omitted this footnote, leaving in his text merely: “R. Jonah b. Janà˙ compares this entry word with Arabic” and making no mention of the aforementioned two grammarians. The upshot is that he does not now reckon cognate tr. syn alone as comparison. Likewise in several entries in his 1977 work Becker remarked: “Explicit comparison with Arabic is made only by R. Judah b. Quraysh” (Part C1, entries 121, 131, 133, 139, 140, 162, 195, 217, etc.). This phrasing implies
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Had R. Jonah not expanded his discussion in this entry, elaborating his etymological reasoning, that is, had he merely set a definition, namely the definition underlying his phrasing, i.e. rmj/rmùk, we would be quite liable to attribute to him the etymological comparison rmj/rmùk, exactly as recorded by Ibn Quraysh (Risàla, C1, p. 495) and precisely as is currently adopted by Semitists. But once the grammarian set out the etymological link of rmj with rmja (= red), the etymological connection rmj/rmùk is ruled out, though the substitution j (Heb.)/ùk (Arab.) is recognized in principle. Thus it is the expressly stated opinion of the grammarian and that alone, that has spared us from making an error of judgment. I now proceed to set out data that can satisfactorily prove that translational definitions consisting of juxtaposition of a cognate Arabic with the Hebrew entry word are really comparisons, even though no term or phraseology of comparison appears, thus corroborating the existence of the category I have termed as “non-explicit comparisons.” I shall attempt to back up this conclusion: (a) on grounds of logic2 but not on these grounds alone, for the weakness of such is in their “subjectivity,” and in that they involve a risk of anachronistic ramifications; but also (b) basing my determination on sound evidence. In the discussion, I take as basis the inventory in Jàmi' al"AlfàΩ and in the "Ußùl, these being complete, exhaustive lexicons; the outcome of the discussion can be applied to implicit comparisons in the other works, too.3
that the other grammarians compared but non-explicitly. In the 1984 edition, this remark was generally removed and was only sporadically retained (as in C1, 212, 213). 2 Becker (1984, p. 35) makes a claim in favor of the existence of implicit comparisons in the Risàla, as follows: “In a work in which one of the main topics dealt with is the comparison of Hebrew words with Arabic, it would be far-fetched to postulate that the author was unaware that these entry words also constitute a parallel to their Arabic counterparts.” This claim is certainly acceptable; but while our categorization requires no further proof in respect of a work devoted entirely to language comparison, proof must be adduced for it as for the general lexicological works, which are not devoted exclusively to language comparison. 3 These works are in the main fragmentary (e.g. the works of R. Hai Ga"on and Abù l-Faraj) or are dependent on the work of Ibn Janà˙; thus their comparisons, e.g., the grammatical treatises of Ibn Bal'am, or even works on exegesis, a subject outside our scope of reference, are to be treated with caution. In contrast are those treatises devoted to language comparison and no more, i.e. Risàla and Kitàb alMuwàzana. These contain, almost exclusively, explicit comparisons (see previous note). Bible translations form a literary category of their own. In them, Arabic cog-
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“Zero” term
The entity that might be designated “zero term” in comparisons, denoting the absence of any feature identifying it as comparison, was an intrinsic component in the comparative science of the Hebrew grammarians and was an integral part of the array of technical terms employed by them. In comparisons with Aramaic, the term “zero” definitely implies a comparison. For example, in entry lhm, David b. Abraham states: amlab htwq [afqna yn[y amlab [wfqm ˚barç (Isa. 1:22) μymb lwhm ˚absùù • .ù (see Targum to Exod. 4: 25) ajlwhm ˆatùkla amsy ˚ld ˆmw On the surface, the term used by the grammarians to denote comparison of Hebrew with Aramaic seems redundant and its inclusion would seem to be nothing more than a stereotyped expression; for example the term ynayrslabw turns the comparison into an explicit comparison, whereas if this term were dispensed with, the nature of the comparison would in no way be impaired and such a record would retain its status as an explicit comparison, because the text following wnayrslabw, even disregarding the term, cannot be read as anything except Aramaic. Why then should a corresponding Heb./ Arab. comparison record be denied the standing of an implicit comparison merely because it lacks the technical term ybr[lab or the like? Is it not self-explanatory that what is involved is Arabic?!
4.2 Integrated comparisons with explicit and implicit components R. Jonah b. Janà˙ records three-way comparisons of cognates according to the Heb./Aram./Arab. formula, in which the Heb./Arab. element of comparison is non-explicit but in which the phraseology of the Heb./Aram. comparison element, which is itself explicit, serves as grounds for determining that the former element also possesses the status of explicit comparison. A formulation of this nature is
nates are particularly problematic, in that there is always the possibility that the translator produced the rendering in an unsophisticated manner; in any case, they cannot be granted the status of implicit comparisons encountered in lexicons and Bible commentaries.
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found in the comparison -lbq/-lbql/hlabq (624/439); the grammarian first compares with Arab. as an implicit comparison and then, compares with Aram. as follows: ynayrsll aùxya snaùgm ùfplla aùdhw. It is probable that the word aùxya is intended to imply the inclusion of the Aram. element in the comparison, apart from the aforementioned Arab. comparison element, in which case the phrasing adopted in the second clause throws light on the ambiguous non-explicit phrasing in the first clause.
4.3
Implicit comparison in one place converted elsewhere into explicit
The Hebrew grammarians who compiled lexicons or Bible commentaries generally adduced comparisons in accord with the needs of each respective entry. Alfàsi, however, compiled excursuses of comparison lists, including those having no direct relevance to the entry at hand (see Téné, 1983, p. 240 and n. 8). The comparison records in the several lists were intended to serve as evidence for several aspects of comparison theory as well as for illustration (below, 5.3.5.2). This form of collection is thus representative of merely a minute part of the totality of comparisons scattered in the lexical entries. An investigation of the relationship between the scattered comparisons on the one hand and those in the above-mentioned lists on the other is extremely instructive for dealing with the question presently under discussion. In Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ I noted thirty instances of comparison (enumerated below, 9.5.5), each of which is an implicit comparison in its respective entry but recorded by Alfàsi in the excursuses, thus giving them the status of explicit comparisons. It might be concluded that what holds for one portion of the implicit comparisons (for the said 30 cases) holds for all the implicit comparisons. R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ does not record excursuses of comparison lists in any of his works (the majority of the Hebrew grammarians likewise). For this reason, it was not possible to check out Ibn Janà˙’s implicit comparisons in the way possible for Alfàsi’s. Nevertheless there are a few comparisons in "Ußùl, that, as separate entries, are implicit comparisons but that when mentioned incidentally elsewhere (i.e. outside the framework of their entries) are labeled as explicit comparisons. For example, hyj (2 Sam. 23:11)/yj is recorded in its own entry in "Ußùl (p. 221) merely as an implicit comparison, whereas
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in the entry hwj (p. 214) it is labeled as an explicit comparison; and in the entry ≈xm (p. 386) Ibn Janà˙ recorded the comparison ≈m/≈m merely as an implicit comparison4 whereas in the entry ≈ym (p. 373) the same comparison with the same biblical quotation is recorded as an explicit comparison.
4.4
Implicit comparison by one scholar converted into explicit by a subsequent one
On occasion, the Hebrew grammarians relate to implicit comparisons of their forebears as real comparisons. For example, the copyists of Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ (as well as those who abridged this work), who may in part have been Alfàsi’s disciples or disciples of his disciples, converted some of Alfàsi’s implicit comparisons into explicit ones (below, 9.10.2). It is not impossible that these copyists relied on some oral teachings they had received, directly or indirectly, from their mentor. Ibn Bal'am also (Poznanski 1916, p. 468) converted a few implicit comparisons of Ibn Janà˙ into explicit ones, e.g., hçqm (p. 650) and twkbç (p. 698). The practice of R. Sa'adiah’s commentators and critics is a different and problematic matter. In a case where a commentator or critic comments on R. Sa'adiah Ga"on’s adoption of a given comparison, it is a moot point whether this is to be taken as an individual interpretation of the plain data in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr or a reaction to the original argumentation of Sa'adiah, which was in fact stated in his commentary but has failed to survive for our perusal. The textual condition of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr and of the appended commentary in particular, of which only a meager quantity has survived, does not suffice to resolve this problem. The Retorts to R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, which are generally attributed to Dunash, are by and large based on explicit dicta of Sa'adiah in his commentary. For example, Retorts ## 26, 27, 48, 55 are founded on Sa'adiah’s commentary appended to his translation of the respective passages, while Retort # 45 is founded on Sa'adiah’s Kitàb al-Sab'ìn LafΩa al-Mufrada (ed. Allony, entry 90). But meantime it cannot be ascertained whether Ibn Bal'am’s critical remarks on Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr in his commentary
4
The text as based on the emendation of Bacher, ZDMG 1884, p. 621.
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to Num. 7:84; 11:8, 31; 14:44 etc. (see Fuchs 1893) relate to express statements of Sa'adiah in his commentary or whether they are Ibn Bal'am’s own interpretation of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr.5
4.5
Sequence of several words translated by their Arabic cognates
In certain cases the Hebrew grammarians render two or three (or more) consecutive words of a given quotation by means of their own Arabic cognates. For example, Alfàsi translates drwf πld (Prov. 27:15) drfm πld,6 and ayh μdb rçbh çpn (Lev. 17:11) he translates spn yh μdlab rçbla (entry μd, p. 386) and likewise in many other instances. For renderings of this type it would indeed seem far-fetched to postulate that the translations here, too, are merely unintentional and the translator was totally unaware that the Arabic wording adopted in his translation is linguistically cognate with the phrase in the source text (it being irrelevant whether the rendering is his own or borrowed from others). If it were merely an isolated word rendered by a cognate, this indeed might be a coincidence but for a phrase of two words, and it goes without saying for a phrase of three, four or more words, a rendering by means of a cognate could not have been produced coincidentally or casually. In these cases, despite the non-appearance of a comparison term, we have no right to set them aside; we are obliged to affirm that they indeed constitute language comparison.
4.6
Hebrew synonyms and their Arabic synonym equivalents
In the biblical lexicon, many words can be found that share close semantic affinity, i.e. possess jointly several common semantic features, thus showing partial synonymity. The method adopted by the Hebrew grammarians for biblical synonyms is extremely instructive for the issue under discussion here. Out of several synonymic entry
5 Dunash’s interpretation of the expression w[mçmk as used by Mena˙em, as supposedly, signifying a Heb./Arab. comparison, is here irrelevant. See below, ch. 10.1. 6 See Téné, 1983, n. 35 and below, 9.12.2.3, concerning the rendering of Salmon b.Yeru˙im for Ps. 65:5.
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words, R. Jonah b. Janà˙ and Alfàsi choose a cognate for only one Hebrew entry that entry whose cognate is precisely suitable; they fail to record it for any other entry, even where the same translation synonym would serve very satisfactorily as a non-cognate. I shall now exemplify this practice as applied in entries that those two Hebrew grammarians, each according to his methods, would view as synonym entities. 4.6.1
David b. Abraham Alfàsi 7
The entry word ata (p. 168) is rendered three times by Arab. yta. At the end of the entry Alfàsi records the non-cognate aùg, too; however, at entry word ab (pp. 178–84) it is remarkable that this entry word is rendered seven times by aùg and not even once by yta. In other words, a cognate rendering is resorted to when and only when, a comparison is relevant; and though this is no more than an implicit comparison, the use of a cognate where it is most suitable cannot be treated as a fluke. For the entry word t[ two, different translation synonyms apply and are used: tqw and ˆamz; but at entry ˆmz (p. 490), ˆamz alone is used, as an explicit comparison, whereas tqw, though applicable as a non-cognate translation synonyms, does not appear. Alfàsi, then, clearly gave prominence to etymological equivalence. In the entry wg (p. 309), three words appear as definition: the cognate synonym awùg and the two non-cognates fsw and πwùg; at entry ˚wt (p. 728), awùg is not recorded, the only definiendum being fsw. At rdg (p. 304) Alfàsi states explicitly that the entry is synonymous with ltwk and ryq; it is indeed remarkable that he employs radùg as a cognate translation for rdg, alongside the non-cognate fyaj. For ryq, however, he employs the renderings fyaj and rws only (ibid., p. 551) but not radùg (the word ltwk he omits entirely, at its appropriate position in the lexicon). At çby he records the cognate sby as well as the non-cognate πpùg; at the entry of the synonym brj (p. 582), however, he registers πpùg alone. At hma (p. 113) he adduces the cognate hma, while at hjpç; (p. 696) he records hyraùg alone.
7
On questions related to this topic, see also Maman 1992.
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hmda (p. 34) is rendered by the cognate hmda as well as by the non-cognate ù≈ra; at its synonym ≈ra (p. 154), however, ù≈ra alone is used and no mention of hmda is made. At rfn (p. 267) he employs the cognate tr. rfn, whereas at rmç (p. 684) he records the non-cognates ùfpj, srj, lbq and zrtja, excluding rfn. ˆçy is rendered with the cognate ˆsw as well as with the non-cognate μan; however, at μwn (p. 275) μan alone appears (twice). At (μyypk+) qps (p. 344) only the cognate qpx is employed; at the entry of the synonym (πk+) ajm (p. 197), however, he records brùx only and not qps. At ˚ry (p. 71) the rendering is by the cognate ˚rw as well as by the non-cognate ù≈ùkùp,8 whereas at djp (p. 456) only ùdùkùp is employed and not ˚rw. Many additional illustrative examples9 could be provided for this grammarian’s practice but the examples cited above are sufficient for setting a fairly clear picture. 4.6.2
R. Jonah ibn Janà˙
The scope for examining the rendering of each and every synonym entered in "Ußùl is far more restricted than in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, because a synonym pertaining to one of the weak word patterns is left undefined by Ibn Janà˙, who finds it sufficient merely to provide a reference to his minor treatises or to the works of Óayyùj. Likewise, a synonym labeled by Ibn Janà˙ πwr[m (= well-known) or left without any definition prevents us from systematically checking how Ibn Janà˙ rendered sundry Hebrew synonyms. For example, in the case of (πk) qps (p. 491) Ibn Janà˙ employed qpx (cognate) together with brùx, whereas at ajm (p. 370) there appears merely a reference to the works of Óayyùj. At qz[ (p. 516) he uses the renderings qz[ as well as rpj, while at the synonymous rpj (p. 241), he merely notes πwr[m and at yet another synonym, hrk (p. 331) he simply refers to Óayyùj’s Kitàb al-Af 'àl Dhawàt Óurùf al-Lìn. He renders the entry ˆwra (p. 68) as ˆara and twbat, whereas hbyt (p. 758) is left undefined. 8 See the footnote of Skoss, ad loc.; Skoss fails to remark that this is merely a vernacular form corresponding to the classical form ùdùkùp. 9 See e.g., the translations for the following synonyms πa/μfj; ≈wb/db/çç/μytçp; rzb/rzp; dwd/bha; zg/rb[/πlj; z[/jk/μx[/hrwbg.
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Nonetheless, at the entries in which the synonyms are in fact rendered, it is evident that his method is no different from that of Alfàsi. For example, the entry llgb (p. 135) is rendered with the cognate lalùg ˆm and with the non-cognate lùga ˆm; at the entry of the synonym ˆ[ml (p. 385), however, he records lùga ˆm alone (as well as amyk, for another sense). At the entry trdjh (p. 212) he proposes the rendering hnmkla ya hrdaùkla whereas at the synonym bra (p. 67) he records merely ˆmk. In hmj he adduces hymj as well as bùxg, whereas at s[k he records only bùxg together with another (non-cognate) translation synonym but makes no mention of hymj. 4.6.3
“Group A” and “Group B”
In each of the above-mentioned examples we observe synonymous Hebrew entry words (denoted “Group A”) versus their Arabic translation synonyms, these also being respectively synonyms (denoted “Group B”). Prima facie, each and every definiens of Group B is suitable and applicable for each and every definitum in Group A. Take for example the cluster of synonymous definita qps and ajm. Versus these, we observe the cluster of synonymous definientes qpx and brùx. How can we be sure that the lexicographer viewed the entry words in each cluster as synonyms? Surely from the practice he adopts in his definitions. If he adduces one definiens only, for two definita, it is clear that he treated the two definita as synonyms (e.g. in the given example, for both definita qps and ajm, the one definiens ùbrùxù is used). Likewise, if he adduces two different definientes for one definitum, we can conclude with certainty that the two definientes are synonyms in the eyes of the grammarian (for example both Ibn Janà˙ and Alfàsi defined qps by qpx as well as by brùx). In instances in which the lexicographer had a choice of several definientes, he may have made the choice casually or intentionally. It is only by discerning some regularity amid the array of definientes versus the definita that an indication can be found regarding the method of choice and its motives. Definitions of the type qps-brùx and ajm-qpx express no sign of regularity. But the array qps-qpx and ajm-brùx leads us to deduce that preference was given to a cognate definiens (for the definitum) when such was feasible.10 This criterion
10
When, however, only one Arabic definiens was available for the grammarian,
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clearly applies to the definitions hmda/hmda, hma/hma, rfn/rfn, ˚ry/˚rw rdg/radùg, çby/sby, and the like. They all have in common that the definiens with its difinitum are cognate translation synonyms. For the rest of the definita in each cluster, these of course being synonyms, the lexicographer could find no cognate and therefore resorted to a non-cognate. But here also he had the option of choosing one definiens from a cluster of non-cognates; the question remains what criterion directed him in his preference of one non-cognate over another. For instance, for the definitum ajm (synonymous with qps) two possible definientes were available, qpx and brùx; Alfàsi used brùx. He likewise preferred to establish ryq/fyaj rather than ryq/radùg; hjpç/hyraùg rather than hjpç/hma; ≈ra/ù≈ra rather than ≈ra/hmda, etc. It is probable that the definientes actually chosen (i.e. brùx, fyaj, hyraùg, ù≈ra) were viewed as words of common occurrence and thus more lucid for purposes of definition than their respective synonyms (qpx, radùg, hma, hmda) which were regarded as rare and thus less intelligible words (see 4.7).
4.7
Entries translated by both cognates and non-cognates
The definitions for entry words in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ and "Ußùl include a group of entries each showing two or more definientes for a given entry word; one of these, generally the first recorded, is a cognate for the definitum, whereas the second is a non-cognate; of the two or more syns. the cognate is liable to be less frequent, in the wider context of linguistic usage,11 than the non-cognate. It seems probable that the definiens that is also a cognate is less intelligible (being a rarer word) than the non-cognate. Therefore an additional definiens is resorted to, i.e. a non-cognate. It is thus quite clear that the adduction of the cognate is not to be seen as a purely lexicographical
he had perforce to record it at each and every Hebrew synonymous entry. For example, in Alfàsi’s lexicon the entry words rfm (p. 202) and μçg (p. 353) are each defined by rfm. Also hhg (p. 306) and hap (p. 443) are both defined by hhùg. It stands to reason that what are to be taken into account are those definientes that are actually encountered in the lexicon of each respective grammarian, not the total inventory of all possible definentes obtainable from the Arabic lexicons. 11 See lists of implicit comparisons, below, in paragraphs on the formulae Bib. Heb./cognate + non-cognate translation synonym (9.8.1; 13.10.1); also appendix to the present chapter (4.12).
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requirement; because, as demonstrated, the lexicographer could have been content well with the non-cognate. In other words, the use of the cognate is neither coincidental nor an unsophisticated practice of the translator; rather it appears in order to demonstrate the etymological equivalence of the Hebrew definitum and its Arabic definiens, although no express statement of such an intention appears. (It is indeed quite irrelevant whether the cognate was produced at the initiative of the lexicographer or he borrowed it from a Bible translation available to him.) Thus, in instances of this category a “non-explicit comparison” is indeed a genuine explicit language comparison! I shall proceed to demonstrate this postulate. The entry word hmda is rendered by the cognate hmda and also by the non-cognate ùxra in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, (p. 34). It is possible that the choice of hmda as definens for hmda was not founded on a genuine meaning of the Arabic entry word but on an artificial sense attributed to this Arabic word by the Hebrew lexicographer (or by the translator).12 What is beyond all doubt is that according to early Arabic lexicons, the word hmda possesses no more than an approximate affinity of meaning with that of the Hebrew entry word, its meaning is posited as (1) “the crust of the ground,” but generally the word pertains to the semantic field of (2) “outer shell,” “skin.” Ibn Barùn also (Muwàzana, p. 28), when comparing hmda with hmda, states a restriction in the sense of the latter: ahhùgw yhw ù≈rala hmdal snaùgm. (The sequel to this comment tends to indicate that this was meant as objective etymological argumentation, not as etymological comparison of entries possessing total or partial semantic correspondence.) The decisive datum is as follows: A comparison of the total numbers of instances recorded by the early Arabic lexicons for the two entry words hmda and ù≈ra respectively, and on the basis of their relative frequency in the ÓadìΔ (according to Wensinck’s Concordance, Leiden 1936–39), proves indubitably that ù≈ra is more frequent than hmda (see below 4.12). On the status of a cognate adjacent to which a non-cognate appears within the same entry, it is of interest to follow up a certain definition formula adopted by Ibn Janà˙ in his lexicon. In the entry rqn (p. 454) he states: (Isa. 51:1) μtrqn rwx tbqm law . . . (1 Sam. 11:2) ˆymy ˆy[ lk μkl rwqnb • .[fqlaw rpjla wh rqnlaw
12
See below 9.12.1.3; Ben-Shammai, 1978, p. 296.
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By opening his definition with the phrase rqnlaw and omitting the prefatory phraseology that might have been expected (see below), the grammarian implies that the comparative identification of rqn/rqn is so obvious that its explicit mention would be redundant. This comparative equivalence is axiomatic for his statement of definition; for the thought of the author is: What must be expressed further, after considering the self-explanatory equation of rqn (Heb.) and rqn (Arab.), is merely reasoning and grounds for the said etymological equation. The formula, in full, applicable to this type of definition is as follows: Bib. Heb. equals Arab. cognate and this cognate equals non-cognate translation synonyms.
This formula is encountered in several entries, among them f[b (p. 100): . . . lhùgla yp wlgla wh fa[balaw f[bap ˆms f[byw ˆrwçy ˆmçyw •
likewise in lçm (p. 395): . . . jspn ùtydjla wh lùtmlaw lùtm . . . hxylmw lçm •
at [wbm (p. 402): . . . ˆy[la wh [wbnylaw [wbnyla yl[ [wbmh l[ •
etc. Now, both aforementioned formulae, the unabridged and the abridged, are to be found in cases of definition associated with explicit comparison. It cannot be assumed that the use of the very same formula did not imply that the grammarian had in mind the same aims in the case in point, the aim of comparison, no matter whether this be explicit or implicit. A similar case is to be noted at entry rwbk (p. 325) at which Ibn Janà˙ records two Bible quotations and, immediately, leaving no indication of his omitting the definiens, deals with the implied definiens. Hence the statement . . . dw[la laqyw πdla laqyw, rwbnfla br[la dn[ ranklaw •
Thus in R. Jonah’s eyes the use of an Arabic cognate13 as the definiens, for defining the given entry word (considering it a term of
13
For the instance ad loc. at issue, Arabic language traditions show disagreement
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realia) was quite natural. The phrasing . . . ranklaw . . . rwnk makes sense only on the assumption that Ibn Janà˙ presents the self-explanatory equation as a citation from some existing Bible translation, or that he opines the simplest way of defining a biblical term to be by an Arabic cognate (that is, of course, if he has available a suitable equivalent and the conditions stipulated in the previous chapters are met). The possibility of this being a citation finds next to no support from the surviving fragments of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr, since Sa'adiah renders the entry word rwbnf (4 times), ratyq (5 times), ùgnx (once), dw[ (twice) (according to Alloni, HaEgron, p. 241), whereas the rendering rank is undocumented. (My own check of the translations of the Karaites Salmon b. Yeru˙im and Japhet for the 13 occurrences of rwnk in the Book of Psalms revealed not even one case of rank). It is therefore probable that the second assumption is the correct one: a cognate is used as definiens, just because it shows etymological equivalence with its definitum, this, then, being an implicit comparison.
4.8
The location of the cognate when accompanied by synonyms
An examination of the location of the cognate when accompanied by synonyms leads to the following results:14 The Arabic cognate stands out as initial definiens, whereas the synonyms of that cognate (that are themselves non-cognates qua the Hebrew entry word) are placed following it in second, third, etc positions. This very practice of placing the cognate translation synonym in direct juxtaposition to the Heb. entry word gives prominence to as to the sense of the given cognate, three different equivalents being suggested (see e.g. al-munjid lexicon). Despite this, Ibn Janà˙ had no qualms about recording it for determining the sense of the Hebrew expression. 14 Sometimes R. Jonah records several consecutive quotes to illustrate different entry words pertaining to the same root; but instead of writing their respective definitions adjacently, he sets out at the end a series of several consecutive definientes, without stating which definiens relates to which quotation. For example, at root db[ (p. 497) he records various entry words (within quotations) with no statement of definition, while at the end he sums up: hjalpw hdab[w μadùktsaw hmdùk [ymùgla yn[m. Prima facie, the additional three definientes would appear to be synonyms of hdab[, which is itself a cognate for db[. But in fact there is no synonymity at all; rather each definiens relates to one specific quote and thus to one specific sense, e.g. hdab[ pertains to the verse l[bh ta db[ (2 Kings 10:18), hjalp to hmda db[ (Gen. 4:2), and so on. Similarly, only after enumerating his entry quotes for hpç does Ibn Janà˙ set out their definitions: hyçajw hpç, which are clearly not synonyms!
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the etymological affinity between the definitum and its (first) definiens as well as the motive of fixing that meaning for the entry word that finds expression in the subsequent definientes, which are non-cognates. At any rate, the systematic placement of a cognate in direct adjacency to the definitum is certainly indicative of real language comparison. It is quite rare that the cognate is located second in position to the entry word. Examples (in "Ußùl ): At ˆqz (p. 201), a non-cognate hyjl was recorded as first definiens, being merely followed by the cognate ˆqùd. (However, the latter is a textual addition, appearing only in MS O (Neubauer places it in parentheses); it is probable that here Ibn Janà˙ did not resort to a cognate at all. At ddwmth (p. 364), lwaft appears first and only after it the cognate dtma. At bq[ (p. 543) b[x and r[w are registered first and only after them, the cognate hbq[. At dqpth (p. 580) dh[t appears first and only after it the cognate dqpt. At lhx (p. 600) tawxla [pr precedes the cognate lyhx. At μydqh (p. 625) adtba and hylza precede μdqt. At dxq (p. 643) qyùx is given precedence over rxq, most probably because verbs in the sense of qyùx were also entered first (e.g. [xmh rxq; Isa. 28:3); in this sense, these may not have been considered real synonyms. At brq (p. 647) wnd is placed before cognate brq. At μyçar (p. 658) rabk rahna is placed before cognate swar. At ç[r (p. 684) barfùxa is given precedence over ça[tra. These exceptions, however, are a tiny minority. Of the total of 113 comparisons in this category in "Ußùl, a cognate is placed in initial position in 103 of them (i.e. 92 percent). Furthermore, even in the 10 exceptional instances in which a non-cognate is placed initially, it is quite clear that the ensuing cognate is recorded for comparison purposes. Is it not reasonable to posit that the grammarian, having already registered the frequent definiens, that is a non-cognate, and thus fulfilled his lexicographic duty, appended a cognate also (which by and large is a rarer word) for purposes of etymological comparison?
4.9
The choice between a cognate and a non-cognate
It can be postulated that when a lexicographer or a translator/exegete was about to render a Bib. Heb. entry, he had a translational choice. With regard to the issue presently being dealt with, his choice was between a cognate and a non-cognate. When the works of Alfàsi and Ibn Janà˙ are investigated with regard to the translation sources available to them (below, 9.12; 13.20), it transpires that occasionally
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they preferred a cognate to a non-cognate. For example, R. Jonah rendered ry[ (arp; Job 11:12) by the cognate ry[ (p. 521), in spite of the fact that in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr this entry word is translated by the non-cognate çjùg and likewise in the case of rwnk/rank as mentioned above (4.7).
4.10
Entries translated only by cognates
In the list of Heb./Arab. implicit comparisons, there are a certain number of items for which the lexicographers record one Arabic definiens only, no matter whether it appears only once in the entry or is of repeated occurrence. Some 50 percent of the definientes in this group are items in the list of “basic vocabulary items” of the Hebrew and Arabic languages. Here follow several examples, culled from Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ: • Words pertaining to the area of natural phenomena: μymç/ams; drb/drb; rfm/rfm; μwy/μwy; br[/brg; ç[/hyyç[; rjç/rjs. • Words pertaining to the area of realia—animal: lY:a'/lya; rçn/rsn; of realia—vegetable: zra,/zra; jyç/jyç; ˚wç/˚wç; awçq/aùtq; ˆwmr/hnamr; jwpt/hjapt; ˆçwç/ˆasws. • Words pertaining to parts of the body: μfj/μfùk; crk/çrk; ˆwçl/ˆasl; y[m/a[m; ˆy[/ˆy[; μx[/μùf[; djp/ùdùkùp; çar/sar; lgr/lùgr; μjr/μjr. • Words pertaining to names of family relatives: ba/ba; μyçn/asn; μymwat/μwt. • Words pertaining to terms for material culture and nomenclature for basic foodstuffs: hxyb/hùxyb; çrg/çyrùg; rb/rb. • Words denoting clothing: l[n/l[n. • Words denoting substances and names of occupations connected with livelihood: rab/ryb; hkreb/hkrb; rq b O /raqb; h[ Or/y[ar; [rz/ [rz; çrj/ùtrj; ˆjf/ˆjf; fql/fql; rd[/rd[; dyx/dax; hqç/yqs; lyk/lyk; ddm/dm; lqç/lqùt; rfn/rfn; μwn/μan; μjl/μjl (in sense of “war”); hbç/ybs. • Words pertaining to the areas of humanities and spiritual culture, denoting faith, religion and worship: hnwma/hnama; çdq/sdq. • The numeral substantives: πla/πla; çmj/smùk; ˆwrç[/rç[; ty[ybr/ [br; yçylç/ùtlaùt; hnmç/hynamùt. To sum up: Of the 191 items belonging to the category “implicit comparisons recorded twice or more” in the work of Alfàsi, roughly 90 are basic lexical items, about 48 percent. The list of “implicit
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comparisons of single occurrence” is no different in nature. The common factor in the two lists is the non-appearance of synonyms for the definientes in their entries. This is not surprising, for basic lexical Items and especially terms for realia possess the most restricted and meticulous sense content attainable in language. From the standpoint of language comparison, how are we to relate to the recording of these translation synonyms? On the one hand it is only natural and even essential to record them; considering that it was the concern of the grammarian to record some definiens to serve as translation synonyms for the given entry, in the above-mentioned cases this was bound to be a cognate, no alternative definiens was available. The question remaining, is whether these definientes (that are cognate) have a unique standing, in that they possess a special quality absent from non-cognates (as, for instance, bytn/hks; qyrf (p. 295); jtn/wùx[ (ibid.); and similar comparisons). In both these categories, the cognate as well as the non-cognate, their use is merely as translation synonyms, whose adduction is the prime purpose of the lexicon. The conclusion is that if the two categories are, for the given sector of entries, considered of equal standing, there is no basis for the claim that the adduction of cognate rather than non-cognate translation synonyms constitutes language comparison; indeed, this may be no more than simply a technique of translation. On the other hand, granted that the cognate recorded is natural or essential, such as to exclude any other synonym and further considering that this translation synonym is a basic vocabulary item, it would be far-fetched to postulate that the author was not aware of the phenomenon of basic vocabulary equivalence between the two languages. If the Hebrew grammarians could regularly establish comparisons between cognate Hebrew and Arabic synonyms in the case of words of rare occurrence in the Bible, how can it be postulated that for the frequent, basic vocabulary items so common in both languages, he did not think of registering such linguistic comparison, as for example ba/ba; ˆy[/ˆy[, and the like (these being even graphically identical, according to their spelling in Hebrew characters!)? How much more so, when the definiens is reiterated time and again in the text of the entry: the very fact that the definiendum and the definiens, cognate as they are, recur several times in one entry (when several examples of the Bib. Heb. are under discussion) precludes the likelihood that the phenomenon is random, that the
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author did not pay attention to what he had written. A good illustration: the parallel placement of the entry words ˚pç/˚ps appears seven times consecutively, in instances adduced in entry ˚pç (p. 698). Is it feasible that the translator did not pay attention to the phonetic similarity, echoing in his ears throughout the sevenfold iteration of the pair and thus to the etymological aspect of the bond between the Hebrew and Arabic words? The reiteration of the Bib. Heb. itself, with its cognate placed adjacently, is indicative of language comparison. This is also the case in the work of Ibn Janà˙ (in implicit comparisons reiterated).
4.11
Summary
The upshot of the above-mentioned arguments is that it is probable, even very likely, that what I have termed “non-explicit comparisons” are indeed real comparisons and cannot be dismissed as though they are not instances of language comparison. But as for their formal presentation, they are not to be amalgamated within the same framework as of “explicit comparisons;” such a step would in effect disallow the option reserved for the assumption of an occasional or isolated non-explicit comparison, in which the grammarian had no inkling of a comparison or was not concerned to recognize such.15 In such an occasional instance, it seems reasonable to presume that the grammarian recorded the Arabic entry word, seen by us as etymologically cognate and semantically equivalent to the given Hebrew entry word, merely as a matter of unintentional translation, his intention being to render the entry by the most suitable translation synonym, rather than by its etymological equivalence to the Bib. Heb. and its translation synonym. The pitfall of anachronism, the imposition of present knowledge on the science of the Hebrew grammarians, regarding some comparisons, should also be avoided. It is therefore imperative that a clear-cut boundary be drawn between comparisons expressly named as such by the grammarians and those that are not spelled out verbatim but emerge from an allusion or
15 For example, in entry ˆmç Alfàsi five times renders by hmwsd and only once, by the cognate ˆms.
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some other external parameter. Provided all the necessary precautions are followed, the above-mentioned arguments favor the treatment of non-explicit comparisons as real linguistic comparisons.
4.12
Appendix to 4.7 (above)
An attempt was made to ascertain the credibility of the claim that in a category in which appear two or more definientes, of which one is a cognate, in Classical Arabic itself the frequency of the given cognate is lower than that of the corresponding non-cognate. Despite consultation with specialist scholars, it has not yet been possible to locate suitable studies on lexical frequency in classical Arabic and certainly no such study on lexical frequency in Judeo-Arabic of the epoch under discussion.16 Furthermore, there is an insufficiency of concordances to texts pertaining to sundry fields current in the period applicable to the stock of vocabulary encountered in lexicographical definitions of Alfàsi.17 Meanwhile, I have perforce resorted to a single method, although indirect, of seeking a solution to this problem, through the Concordance to ÓadìΔ.18 Although the lexical stock in ÓadìΔ is generally too restricted for our issue, it does contain a fairly general scope of vocabulary, although partial, used in ordinary prose.
16 Even in modern Arabic, there exists only one study on this topic and it describes word frequency in journalese. I refer to M. Brill’s scholarly monograph twlm rxwa tybr[h tymwyh twnwt[b dwsyh (= the inventory of basic vocabulary in the Arabic daily press), Tarbiz, XI, pp. 176–87. This study has of course no relevance to the present problem. 17 An inspection based on G. Troupeau (Paris 1976) has shown clearly that Lexique Index du Kitàb de Sibawayhi is of no use in this matter, because the lexical stock in this work comprises mainly grammatical terms or words used to exemplify grammatical phenomena. The major part of the inventory of words of that category in non-cognate tr. syns occurring as definitions as used by Alfàsi, as well as practically all the the inventory of cognates is undocumented in Troupeau’s concordance. The Concordance to the Qur"àn is also unsuitable for our purposes, the vocabulary of the Qur"àn being far too specific, apart from its language not being that of ordinary prose. 18 Wensinck, Concordance de la Tradition Musulmane, 1936–39. Even in works on the inventory of rare words in Arabic, such as kitàb al-nawàdir li-"abi mas˙al al-"i'ràbiy no solution to our problem is forthcoming, because the latter works are concerned primarily with rare morphological types for frequent and well-known words, rather than with issues and problems such as those with which we are here concerned.
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An inspection of the Concordance to ÓadìΔ led to the following results: In approximately one-half of the pairs of synonymous definientes (of mutual synonymity), the frequency ratio accords with what has been postulated, namely, that a cognate entry word appearing in Alfàsi’s definitions is rare or not encountered at all in ÓadìΔ, whereas its non-cognate counterpart is common in ÓadìΔ. In a total of 33 pairs of definientes pertaining to the relevant category, the cognate member is entirely undocumented in ÓadìΔ, whereas each respective counterpart, that is a non-cognate for Alfàsi, appears dozens of times. The following are examples of the type that are for Alfàsi cognates: hmda, r[ba, drùg, frùk, lbs, zwl, ysamt, hrt[, the frequently occurring non-cognate counterparts being: ù≈ra, byys, Kj, fùk, smg, lwz, baùd, ˆaùkd. But the remaining half of the material does not bear out the postulation. The cognate/non-cognate frequency ratio is about equal in ÓadìΔ; about 6 percent of the entry words of both members in the category are entirely absent from ÓadìΔ. For this sector it is very likely that the second definiens, the non-cognate, was adduced by Alfàsi not on account of the Arabic lexical rarity of the cognate initially adduced but on the basis of some other pattern of entry structure that did not take into account the linguistic frequency of a definiens but merely adopted the lexicographic habit of recording several alternative definientes for the convenience of the reader.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE AIMS OF LANGUAGE COMPARISON
5.1
Typology of the linguistic works
5.1.1 The aims of comparison in works devoted specifically to comparative philology The comparison aims in the Risàla have already been discussed (Becker, 1984, pp. 18–20). Therefore in the present context, I shall relate only to a collation of Ibn Quraysh’s comparison aims with those of Ibn Barùn in his Kitàb al-Muwàzana. Beginning with the assumption that no work typologically comparable to Risàla preceded this work, it is possible to claim that R. Judah ibn Quraysh succeeded in two respects: (1) in summing up comparative philology theory to the extent that this had taken shape by his time and according to the degree of its inclusion in the biblical exegetical literature or as transmitted orally; (2) in forging a new path in Hebrew language science, namely to determine the general principles of Heb./Aram./ Arab. comparative philology and to test them, this in itself being a novel contribution to scholarship. Thus the comparison materials ought to be considered illustrative rather than exhaustive. The Kitàb al-Muwàzana, however, was produced after 200 years’ pursuit of comparison of these languages, its main concern being an exhaustive assembly of language comparison materials as well as a survey of the theory of comparison of Hebrew with Arabic (Ibn Barùn entered comparisons with Aramaic only in rare cases). While there are several novel contributions to be found in the work, it is essentially a compendium. The same typology is applicable in determining the nature of the excursuses in Dunash’s Retorts against Mena˙em as well as those in Alfàsi’s lexicon. These latter, which are each a miniature work within a major work, are of the same type as the Risàla, in that they are only illustrative: they discuss the fundamental aspects of language comparison in a general manner, without purporting to exhaust the theory and methodology of the subject.
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The aim of language comparison in the lexicons
The Bible lexicons produced by Alfàsi, Mena˙em, and R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙ are not works devoted specifically to the subject of language comparison. Thus it cannot be posited that these were initially written for the purpose of comparative philology whether with the aim of establishing some theory in the area of language comparison or providing evidence for the efficacy of comparisons for Bible exegesis or for the study of the Hebrew language in general. Moreover, considering that these lexicons were not written for the sake of language comparison, it is quite tenable to argue that all the comparisons provided by their authors in the respective lexicon entries are subject to one single purpose, the elucidation of the inventory of the biblical vocabulary. In point of fact, however, in the lexicons, at least in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ and Kitàb al-"Ußùl, there definitely can be found several comparisons recorded for their own sake, so that within this limited scope, a similarity can be noted between Jàmi' and "Ußùl on the one hand and the Risàla on the other. The Risàla was initially planned with the aim of language comparison. Nonetheless, as Becker (1984, p. 29) has shown, some of its chapters are structured like a lexicon and thus incorporate some comparisons recorded with other objectives. In contrast, the situation in the aforementioned lexicons is reversed: their primary objective was to produce a lexicon to the Bible. Nevertheless, comparisons established for their own sake can occasionally be encountered within them. 5.1.3
The aim of comparative philology as reflected in polemical writings
In one respect the polemical writings of Dunash, Dunash’s disciple, and Mena˙em’s disciples are similar to the Risàla. These works, like the latter, tend to discuss fundamental matters bearing upon language comparison. The essentials of the issue are: (1) Is language comparison permissible? and (2) under circumstances where it is permissible, within what restrictions can it be practised (see above 2.1)? 5.1.4
The aim of comparative philology in Bible commentaries
Language comparison in biblical exegetical works, as portrayed in the materials assembled by Fuchs (1893), Poznanski (1895, 1916), and Perez (1978), culled as it is from the commentaries of Ibn Bal'am
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and Ibn Gikatilla, is merely an activity subordinated to exegesis; its objective is merely to clarify the sense of the biblical entry word at its given occurrence. The comparisons encountered in the explanatory comments appended to R. Sa'adiah Ga"on’s Bible translation are largely aimed at providing grounds for the translation he is undertaking, for a single biblical word or a word combination. The comparisons to be found in Abù al-Faraj’s Bible translation also belong to this category (see Poznanski, 1896).
5.2
The aims of comparison as promulgated by the authors
Certain Hebrew grammarians living in the tenth and eleventh centuries propagated their intention to compare Hebrew with Arabic or Aramaic and even provided a rationale, usually in the prefaces to their works, for their decision to practise language comparison. The essentials of these preliminary announcements have been discussed above, in the chapter devoted to the fundamental of comparison (above, 2.1; 2.2). We are here concerned with an analysis of one of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙’s proclamatory statements, reiterated time and again in sundry locations in his works. An example follows: the proclamation as stated in Riqmah, pp. 235–36: wtlwzbw hz yrpsb μtwnwçlb μtw[dw br[h yrbd aybm yna yk yl[ bwçjt law • μytwph twarhl ˚a ,μhyghnmw μyrb[h tw[db yrbd μhb qyzjhl ˆm μymwr[ μhw μy[dwy μh yk μmx[b μyrwbs μh rça ,μymkjtmh ˆm μtlwzw .twnwçlh ˆm htlwzb μg ˆkty tyrb[h ˆwçlb ˆktyç rmwa rça hz yk ,t[dh (= . . . But do not accuse me (lit: attribute to, think of me) that my adducing, in this work and in other works of mine, [of ] the Arabs’ wording as well as [of] their thoughts concerning their languages is [meant] for the corroboration of my stated opinions of the Hebrew conceptions and practices. [This is certainly not the case,] rather [my aim is] to put right ignoramuses and such like, as well as individuals who make out that they are wise, indeed are convinced that they know but [as I show,] are verily lacking any knowledge: let me enunciate my position unambiguously: [By employing language comparison] I wish to imply that what is feasible in the Hebrew language is indeed feasible in other languages.) The gist of the above is additionally enunciated elsewhere, by Ibn Janà˙ (Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq, pp. 140–41, pp. 181–82; "Ußùl, entries lbg,
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p. 122 and çwg, pp. 129–30; Riqmah p. 24). Ibn Janà˙ would hereby convey that Hebrew, as a language, is not imperfect, either qualitatively or quantitatively; it is independent and capable of being elucidated internally. Language comparisons were intended to do no more than demonstrate that the characteristics of the Hebrew language, rather than existing in isolation, are paralleled in other languages. The upshot is clearly that in his eyes language comparison is for its own sake and not merely for the purpose of explicating lexicographical entries or rationalizing sundry grammatical features. As it happens, other enunciations and comparison practice encountered in Ibn Janà˙’s works draw a totally different picture. In the first place, the above quoted statement may at most be applicable to comparisons of general grammatical traits but is inapplicable to lexicological comparisons. For example, regarding the entry word ynypwt (p. 768) R. Jonah states: batkla ˆm ,hùfplla yn[m yl[ anl lyld alw (in Ibn Tibbon’s translation: arqmh ˆm hlmh ˆyn[ l[ hyar wnl ˆyaw (= we possess no evidence of the meaning of the word, from the Bible itself ). This is doubtless the rationale for etymological and semantic extra-biblical research resorted to, specifically in rabbinic source texts and through comparison with Arabic. Here, as in the greater part of the lexical comparisons, the statement that “the comparison was intended merely to demonstrate that what is feasible in Hebrew is feasible outside Hebrew also” cannot be borne out; for in this instance nothing at all is feasible/applicable (i.e. no interpretation for the entry word is possible) without resorting to Arabic. Thus comparison is here an essential procedure, not a secondary or trivial matter. In cases of grammatical comparisons, too, there are some instances where a comparison is of a functional nature, serving to establish norms for Hebrew, and not merely to provide a raison-d’être for Hebrew usage. A prominent category of such is the kind of comparison with Arabic applied by Ibn Janà˙ for a conclusive determination of the Hebrew root of several entry words. An example is the verb wttwht (Ps. 62:4), which is a hapax legomenon. Óayyùj had been uncertain as to its grammatical parsing and had proposed one of two alternative roots: (1) tùùwh, i.e. of the medial yod pattern, whose conjugation is in the manner of the [ùù[ category (as ttwml from tùùwm) or (2) tùùth of the [ùù[ pattern. Óayyùj had not come to a conclusion on the matter, but R. Jonah decides in favor of second alternative, arguing that this reflects the correct parsing; his reasoning is: ynal th ybr[la ùfpllab hhbça (= for I compare it with the Arabic root
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h-t; p. 181). Were it not for the fact that Arabic serves as evidence for Hebrew, no decision could be arrived at regarding the two alternatives set by Óayyùj. Furthermore, the above-quoted claim is tenable with regard to Hebrew-versus-Arabic comparison of existing data that are equivalent or parallel in the two languages. However, a comparison in one language versus “zero” comparison in the other runs counter to the said enunciation. For example, on p. 344 the grammarian states that whereas the Hebrew language possesses the substantive hnbel as well as the denominative verb ˆbll, in Arabic a cognate exists only for the noun, i.e. hnbl, whereas no such cognate exists for the verb. When set out schematically, the comparison thus reads: hnbel/ˆbll//hnbl/ø. Here the axiomatic statement ˆktyç hm htlwzb μg ˆkty tyrb[h ˆwçlb is untenable, because the comparison demonstrates that an element present in Hebrew is lacking in the other language. It is therefore more or less certain that enunciations of the type al ybr[h ˆwçlh ˆm d[ wyl[ axmaw ytrkzç hm d[ wyl[ axma alç hmw . . . . . . wb ywlgh ˆm d[ aybhl [nma (= when I cannot find any [internal, intra-Hebrew] evidence for what I have recorded but am able to adduce evidence from Arabic, I shall not refrain from recording such proof, inasmuch as it is manifest) (Riqmah, p. 16) and the like, are to be treated as decisive, whereas statements of the former type are very restricted in their applicability; they were probably voiced for tactical purposes only, i.e. to appease the opinions of skeptical people or those unequivocably opposed to comparison with Arabic.
5.3 5.3.1
Aims of comparison according to the comparison formulae
Inevitable comparisons
In the lexicons of Alfàsi and Mena˙em, are to be found language comparisons that, rather than having been produced at the instigation of the author, are inevitable products of the lexicographical method. Because the system adopted makes for homophonic entries deriving from Hebrew and from biblical Aramaic within one common archentry. For this reason, it cannot be claimed that comparisons pertaining to this type were recorded at the outset with a particular objective; although it cannot be ruled out that here and there some objective may be discernible. As far as we are concerned, these are largely an
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automatic end-product of the lexicographical method and insofar as they contain no additional linguistic comparative information, there seems no reason to search for any hidden specific aims within them. In comparisons with Arabic occurring in other lexicons, too, a certain type can be discerned as inevitable, as also emanating from the lexicographical system; the lexicons of Alfàsi and R. Jonah b. Janà˙ are each structured as a bilingual lexicon, setting out for each entry word its Arabic translation synonym. The definitions appearing in them comprise many entries, that are rendered by a cognate Arabic only, appending neither a non cognate translation synonym nor a description for the entry. For these entries, it may well be that lexicographers could find no additional definiens (in the form of a non-cognate). The comparison transpiring from the presentation of the entry word side by side with its cognate is therefore inevitable. In several instances this fact can be deduced from the lexicographers’ method itself. For example, the entry word hrwga is translated by Alfàsi hrùga (p. 345); the entry word fwj by fyùk (p. 526) and the entry word jçp by ù˚sp (p. 487) etc. It is probable that Alfàsi had no alternative definiens available for these entry words, evident from the tr. synonyms he proposes for their respective Hebrew synonyms: rkç (p. 325) is rendered by hrùga (rkç in Alfàsi’s opinion is a synonym for hrwga); lytp (p. 491) is fyùk and πfç (p. 690) is rendered ù˚sp. Similarly, both rçp (p. 488) and rtp (p. 492) are rendered by rsp; both ryx (p. 508) and dy (p. 41) by (babla) ryx; and rwç (p. 658) as well as hmwj (p. 527) by rws. It can therefore be posited, for these instances at least and for the category “hapax legomena implicit comparisons or comparisons that seldom occur,” that the comparison must be inevitable, considering that the lexicographical method compelled the authors to adduce the cognate as a definiens, even if their conscious intention was to maintain a linguistic comparison between the cognate and the Hebrew (or Aramaic) entry word, or they merely wished to elucidate the entry word. This fact can be borne out for the three-way comparisons, too: the Heb./Aram./Arab. comparisons such as [bxa/[bxa/[bxa (Alfàsi, p. 141), μçg/μçg/μçùg (ibid. p. 353), rkz/rkd/rkùd (ibid. p. 381), ˆwgra/ˆawùgra/ˆmgra (p. 150), [wrz/[rd/[arùd ([rd, p. 407), and the like. To sum up: Because the comparison in the above-mentioned types is inevitable, no effort is made to observe any specific objective unless an unambiguous wording of a redundant nature can be noted, that would allow for a conscious objective in the comparison.
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5.3.2 Comparison for determination of the meaning of the entry under discussion Language comparison as an instrument for determining the meaning of biblical entries, whether Hebrew or Aramaic, is quite clearly the primary and supreme objective of comparative linguistics in the epoch under discussion. This has been explicitly stated (a) by medieval Hebrew grammarians who practised language comparison and (b) by scholars of recent times who have studied and examined their theories and methods. Examples of relevant documented statements within the last century and a half are among others: Munk, 1851, p. 2; Hirschfeld, 1926, p. 7; Skoss, introduction to his edition of Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ, p. 36; Wechter, 1941, p. 172; Malter, 1942, p. 141; Kopf 1954, p. 72; Tur-Sinai (introduction to HaRiqmah, 1964, p. 9); Téné, 1983, p. 243; Becker, 1984, p. 50. This aim of linguistic comparison seems to be so highly acclaimed as not to be in need of any proof, for which reason we could spare ourselves the trouble of further discussing it. Nevertheless, this determination is worthy of systematic corroboration, notwithstanding the widespread consensus it has gained, the latter being grounded merely on a general impression. What is more, by setting out the appropriate tools for putting comparisons to the test with this aim in mind, i.e. that of semantic determination of entry words, we are well-equipped for the task of substantiating the other objectives of comparison; I shall therefore proceed to investigate the (correct) application of this axiomatic statement, through the comparison types according to their several formulae. The formulae will be set out according to their frequency of occurrence and according to their relative importance, rather than being based on their formal structure. The conclusions set out below stem from a meticulous inspection of each and every comparison adopted by the Hebrew grammarians in their several works. In this chapter, only summaries and selected instances are presented. 5.3.2.1 The aim as reflected in comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic In formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. The procedure of comparison used in this formula was noted above (3.6.4). The lexicographer or exegete here simultaneously compares Bib. Heb.1 with Targ. Aram., the latter being etymologically equivalent to the former. Since this has the identical sense as Bib. Heb.2, serving as the Heb. rendering in a given Aramaic Bible translation,
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the implication is that Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Heb.2 are themselves semantically equivalent. Prima facie, the aim of the comparison in this formula is straightforward and obvious; there would seem to be no room for any doubt that the objective is the semantic determination of the entry word. Nevertheless, the complex fabric of the formula allows for an interpretation of a different nature and therefore warrants further investigation. Take for example the comparison ba/yrp/aba (Alfàsi, p. 22; Mena˙em, p. 11). This comparison in effect comprises two interlingual comparisons and an intra-Heb. comparison. The interlingual comparisons are: (a) a cognate comparison: Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram. (ba/aba); (b) a non-cognate translation synonym comparison: Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (yrp/aba). The intra-Heb. comparison is (c): Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2 (ba/yrp). It is therefore indeed an open question: the three-way comparison: Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. may equally have been recorded having in mind comparison (a) (Bib. Heb.1/Targ. Aram. as the main aim, just as it might have been adduced with the comparison (b) being its main objective; in either case it cannot be assumed for certain that comparison (c) (Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2) was the unique objective. The following arguments will establish that the comparison aimed at by the lexicographer is the intra-Hebrew comparison (c). (1) If comparison Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. were the principal one, it would be fair to assume that the comparison was recorded, in the lexicon or in the commentary, at a location in which Bib. Heb.2 constituted the entry word. One would expect the comparison to be recorded either at that location alone or at that location as the main record together with an additional location constituting a secondary record of the comparison (c). For example, from the comparison ba/yrp/ba we would expect to encounter at entry yrp (Alfàsi, p. 481; Mena˙em, p. 145) a Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. comparison: yrp/aba. Similarly, the entry rtym (Alfàsi, p. 75; Mena˙em, p. 101; Ibn Janà˙, p. 302) would have been the natural location for the comparison rtym/ˆzfa (out of the comparison ˆwfa/rtym/ˆwfa) but in fact is absent there. A systematic inspection of all the entry words pertaining to the formula under discussion, as slot Bib. Heb.2 in their natural locations in the lexicons of Alfàsi, Mena˙em and R. Jonah ibn. Janà˙, shows that in 106 instances of a Bib. Heb.2 in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, the comparison is recorded in only 5 cases; out of 148 instances of a Bib. Heb.2 in the al-"Ußùl, the comparison is recorded in only two cases, whereas in the 24
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instances in the Ma˙beret, no express reiteration of the comparison appears at all (in two cases a trace of a comparison can be noticed but no more than that). Even in the isolated instances the reiteration can in each case be rationalized.1 If such a comparison was important, it should certainly have been recorded within all Bib. Heb.2 entries or at least within a considerable number of them. But it is not surprising that these Bib. Heb.2 entry words do not systematically call for comparisons, since they are much more intelligible than the corresponding Bib. Heb.1 entry words. A check of the frequency of occurrence of the latter versus the Bib. Heb.2 entry words bears this out. The outcome is that almost all Bib. Heb.1 entry words are hapax legomena or very rare, whereas the Bib. Heb.2 entry words are quite common and frequent. For example, ba appears only twice in the Bible, whereas yrp occurs 76 times with its basis signification, with a further 42 occurrences in a metaphorical sense; hrwga is hapax legomenon, whereas rkç occurs 28 times; ˆwfa is hapax, whereas rtym appears 9 times; ˆkbw twice only, za 141 times and so on. Therefore, in conjunction with Bib. Heb.2, at the latter’s entry location, no comparison appears with its Aramaic translation synonym; in fact, it has no need of such comparison for semantic purposes; the Bib. Heb.1 entry words, on the other hand, are extremely rare, so their sense is less transparent and needs external corroboration (in the manner described above). In certain entries, the Hebrew
1 Alfàsi recorded the comparison dj/dja/dj at entry dja (p. 62) as well as at entry dj (p. 521). At the latter entry the comparison appears as an essential Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. comparison, this being its logical location, whereas at the former entry it is employed for the refutation of an alternative etymological analysis (i.e. that dj is simply an abbreviation for dja). In contrast, however, the comparison wqa/al[y/l[y is reiterated, at l[y (p. 60) and at wqa (p. 144), the reason being that both entry words are of rare occurrence. This is the case for yj/an/yj; jçp/πsç/jçp, too; the comparison yj/an is reiterated at Bib. Heb.2 (an), probably because Alfàsi intended to reject the sense given by the Targum together with the comparison implied within it. In the work of Ibn Janà˙, at πwn (p. 418) we find a reiteration of the comparison entered at ˚lp/hpn/˚lp (p. 574); whereas at çrj (p. 253) there is a repetition of the comparison entered at hkwç/çrj/hkws (p. 709). At rhg, however, (p. 126), he refrains from reiterating a comparison; instead, a cross reference is given to ˆjg (p. 132). In the Ma˙beret, it seems that the definition djp (jwpn) for ˚ça (p. 35) alludes to the comparison established at ent djp (p. 141); the comparison wnllfyw/lx/llf occurs at lx (p. 149) specifically, rather than at llf, that is merely given a general definition lx ˆwçl; as a matter of fact, it seems that the comparison here is incorrectly located.
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grammarians themselves take note of the fact that a (Bib. Heb.1) entry word is a hapax or of extremely rare occurrence; this is expressed ryùfn hl sylw or by some similar expression. With these formulae, a comparison will appear, in juxtaposition, as for instance in Alfàsi’s work where the standard formula is . . . μwgrtw ‚ryfn hl sylw, as in entries ˆmk (p. 110), tks (p. 326), brs (p. 353), çjr (p. 606), ttr (p. 633) or (y)pç (p. 696). In Mena˙em’s Ma˙beret we find hlml ˆya . . . ˆwfa whwmk tymra ˆwçlb lba . . . ˆwymd wz (p. 22); likewise at wpygy (p. 58), etc. Let us now weigh up the former alternative, that the three-way comparison established by the Hebrew grammarians was geared to highlighting the etymological equivalence between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram. (= the translation of Bib. Heb.2), as ba/aba, ˆwfa/ˆwfa, and the like so that Bib. Heb.2 is adduced as merely subservient to this aim. The following data and arguments tend to refute such a possibility: Many entries in the Hebrew grammarians’ lexicons present no comparison between Heb. and Aram. to uphold the etymological link between the two, as μylydg (Alfàsi, p. 302, Ibn Janà˙, p. 124) and πrg (Alfàsi p. 350, Ibn Janà˙, p. 146), even though a three-way comparison of the given formula, Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. could have been recorded, such as: *μylydg (Deut. 22:12)/twb[ (Exod. 28:14)/wlydg (Targ. Onkelos ib); *πrg/h[y (Exod. 23:17)/typwrgm (Targ. ibid.);2
If the Hebrew grammarians were concerned with etymological comparisons for their own sake, they would surely have recorded these comparisons and many similar ones. Furthermore, they could have adopted a good many comparisons pertaining to formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognate available from local translation), such as: ˆbg (Lev. 21:20)/ˆybg; lag/lyag (Num. 35:25); çydg/çydg (Exod. 22:5); rdg/rdg (Num. 22:24); zzg/zzg (Gen. 31:19); lglg/lglg (Isa. 17:13) πgn/πgn (Exod. 21:35) and many others, whereas
2 This theoretical argument must not be adduced regarding potential comparisons in which etymological equivalence between the Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram. components is determinable solely by testimony for such a Targ. Aram. entity in the Aramaic Targum(s) of Job, Psalms and other books of the Ketuvim, because these Targums were not yet available at the time of Alfàsi and Ibn Janà˙ (see below, 9.12.12; 13.20, also above, 3.10.1).
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these comparisons were all left unrecorded. What is more, in several such entries, comparison was indeed registered with non-cognate translation synonyms, so if they were concerned with cognate translation synonyms, such were immediately available. For example R. Jonah compares ˆbg with trwfyj (p. 122) whereas with the cognate ˆybg he established no comparison. If indeed the intermedium Bib. Heb.2 served merely to create the said etymological link between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram., whereas Bib. Heb.2 in itself is secondary in the comparison, it could have simply been omitted; the Hebrew grammarians could have maintained the comparison as per the formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognate from a distant location). Moreover, in the following instances the grammarians placed several Bib. Heb.2 entities to intermediate between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram. for comparisons of this type, one entity being insufficient for this purpose. Examples: ≈wb/db, çç, μytçp/≈wb (Alfàsi, p. 191; Ibn Janà˙, p. 87) (db alone or çç alone would, prima facie, have sufficed); twryç/jj, dymx, hd[xa/ryç (Ibn Janà˙, p. 718); bwj/(t)afj, ˆw[, μça/ hbwj (Alfàsi, p. 512); hd[/çwm, rws, rb[/hd[ (ibid. p. 371). Were the intermediation in itself insignificant, one example would surely have been enough. The upshot is that it is not Bib. Heb.2 that serves to mediate between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram.; rather Targ. Aram. serves as intervenior between Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Heb.2, its function being to determine the semantic synonymity between the two; the more synonymic entities adduced to illustrate this, the better. A further argument: the present formula is but one of an array of inductions for determining the sense of an entry word. For example, for fixing the definition of the entry word πrf (Gen. 8:11), R. Jonah sets down three sources of arguments, one of which pertains to the present formula (p. 269). Also, in Alfàsi’s lexicon there is a case of almost direct evidence for determining the real aim of the comparison in Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. when recording comparison rypx/ry[ç/rypx (entry ry[ç, p. 337; the comparison appears at rypx, p. 525, too). The grammarian states: rypxhw hlwql djaw wh ry[çw rypxw ˆwy ˚lm ry[çh (Dan. 8:21), i.e. what has already been proven from the Targum is again demonstrated by the synonymity between Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Heb.2. Ibn Janà˙, likewise (p. 495), following his comparison, concludes: djaw hxnw rdms yn[mp.
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The data and reasoning set out above all point to the conclusion that it is not the etymological comparison between Bib. Heb.1 and Targ. Aram. that constitutes the main aim neither is it the translational non-etymological comparison between Bib. Heb.2 and Targ. Aram. The objective of comparison is the result of the combination of these two comparisons, i.e. the sense equivalence between Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Heb.2. Indeed this is to be seen as the ultimate aim. 5.3.2.2 Formulae Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. and Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) Comparisons pertaining to this formula were also adopted with the aim of determining the sense of the Aramaic entry word under discussion (see analysis of this formula, above 3.6.7). Support for this contention is to be found in the similarity existing between this formula and formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.; the single aspect differentiating between these two formulae is the source of the entry word, that in one case is biblical Aramaic and in the other biblical Hebrew. Further, the very same phenomena identified in Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. are to be noticed in the present formula, too: the majority of Aramaic entry words dealt with are infrequent biblical words, very often, even hapax legomena. For this reason these are in need of language comparison; their Hebrew counterparts, in contrast, are generally of very common occurrence. Examples (from Alfàsi): çab, t(w)b, wkz, (y)dj, ≈rj, ≈jr, çmç, ayxyç are all unique words in Aramaic, whereas their Hebrew counterparts are frequently occurring words: [r occurs 438 times (as noun or verb), ˆùùwl 40 times, qùùdx 317 times (as verb or noun), hzj 13 times, μyntm 47 times, jfb 162 times, trç 62 times, trk 285 times. Furthermore, on perusal of the Hebrew entry words, each in its appropriate place in the lexicons appearing as an entry caption,3 it transpires that there is not a single instance presenting a comparison with Aramaic. It is also impossible to postulate that the aim of the comparison here is the etymological equivalence of Bib. Aram. and Targ. Aram., for these two are co-lingual and it is very improbable that Alfàsi and
3 See for example, çbk (p. 85), [r (p. 615), ˆl (p. 170), ary is entirely out of place (pp. 70, 582), appearing only at hr (p. 537) but not as an entry caption; lya (p. 76), jtn (p. 295), qdx (p. 501), etc.
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Mena˙em treated the two strata of Aramaic as representing two different languages. It it thus conclusive that comparison serves to determine the sense of an entry word under discussion. 5.3.2.3 In formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. is here an inevitable comparison in the lexicons of Alfàsi and Mena˙em (in contradistinction to Ibn Janà˙, who treats this comparison as deliberate). It is therefore likely that the additional portion of the complex comparison, structured as it is on Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (or on Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.) aims at providing greater intelligibility to Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Aram. (respectively); for these latter, despite their mutual comparison, remain somewhat insufficiently lucid, for which reason they require comparison with a translation synonym. Indeed, both Bib. Heb.1 and Bib. Aram. have low frequency, for example rmg (in the sense under discussion) appears only once in biblical Aramaic and twice in biblical Hebrew; contrast lylk, which appears 15 times; rbdh 4 times in biblical Aramaic (plus once only (in the opinion of Alfàsi] in biblical Hebrew); contrast root ghn‚ which appears 30 times as a verb, apart from all its occurrences as a noun; llf is a hapax in biblical Hebrew and also in biblical Aramaic, in contrast with lx, which occurs 53 times as a noun and twice more as a verb; ˚lm (in the sense of “counsel,” “advise”) is a hapax both in biblical Aramaic and in biblical Hebrew, as against ≈[y 65 times as a verb (apart from the several nominal occurrences of same); dhc, is also a hapax both in biblical Aramaic and in biblical Hebrew, whereas the substantive d[e, appears 69 times, and the verb dùùw[, a further 40 times. 5.3.2.4 In Formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. In this category, the comparison is between two entries, whose etymological equivalence is crystal clear. It would seem at first that the comparison plays no significant part in determining the sense of the relevant Bib. Heb. For instance, if it is stated that biblical Heb. jtm is equivalent to jtm in Targ. Aram., it would seem, superficially, that such comparison contributes nothing on the semantic plane; it might be assumed that this comparison is merely for its own sake. As shown below (5.3.5), the number of comparisons recorded by the Hebrew grammarians, according to this formula is relatively low. Occasionally R. Jonah b. Janà˙ adopts this formula of comparison (as aylya/μylya, p. 39; yla/yla, p. 46; wzgn/ˆwzygyw, p. 130, etc.). But
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because he perceives that the elucidation of meaning of the entry word is not aided by the comparison, he resorts to comparison by another formula, lya/hma/lya; yla/ˆnwq/yla; wzgn/jlx/zwg and these appear subsequently in the text of the respective entries. This perception is on occasion even expressed in words. For instance, when, having compared (Ezek. 24:26) hla with its Targ. Aram. cognate, he determines: hyp hbhùdm yrda amw (= I do not know his opinion on this), implying that translation by a cognate can be worthless for semantics. If the Hebrew grammarians held as their main objective to established cognate Heb./Aram. comparisons for their own sake, it would have been quite than simple to utilize the Aramaic Targum systematically, no matter whether the Targ. Aram. provided corroboration for the sense suggested for the entry word or was of no import. For this reason, Ibn Janà˙, at the entry tkwç ( Judg. 9:49) makes no mention of the on the spot Targ. Aram. hkws but prefers to resort to a comparison tkwç/çrj-πy[s/hkws (p. 709). Likewise at entry ry[b (p. 103), R. Jonah could have adopted the comparison formula as used by Alfàsi, who established the comparison: ta wn[f μkry[b (Gen. 45:17) with the ad loc. Targ. Aram. ˆwkry[b ty wnw[f. Instead, he chose to record a comparison of the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., namely ry[b/hmhb/ry[b. Nonetheless, in the few cases in which the comparison was recorded merely as Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., it would seem that the Targ. Aram. entities were more intelligible, either on account of their extreme frequency of occurrence or due to a traditional interpretation existing for these entry words. The aim of this comparison is quite certain for those instances that closely suit the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (see below) but lack the intermediary element, Bib. Heb.2. The grammarian indeed omits it, apparently on the presumption that the reader himself can locate the Bib. Heb.2 by the Targ. Aram. One comparison of this type, i.e. yhl/yhlç (p. 153), is recorded initially as Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. alone but further on in the entry Alfàsi spells out expressly the Bib. Heb.2 entity that had earlier been passed over: yhl/πy[/yhlç. 5.3.2.5 In formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. For comparisons pertaining to the formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. also, the Aramaic component, here Talm. Aram., is more intelligible. For example, the entry word amylg occurs about 80 times in the Babylonian Talmud; for this reason it can serve to support the
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grammarian’s decision (al-"Ußùl, p. 137) on the sense of ymwlg (Ezek. 27:24) which is a hapax legomenon in the Bible; this is also the case with rdh (an extremely frequent word in the Talmud) versus μyrwdh (Isa. 45:2) (ibid. p. 171). Occasionally it is the context of the word in the Talmud, that proves the sense as determined, e.g. twlypab ("Ußùl, p. 64), which is compared with ˆsynm ˆywhd atlpab (BT Rosh HaShanah, 8a) and likewise trwxb (p. 105). It can happen that the definition of a Talm. Aram. entity appears ad loc. in the Talmud. This was cited by Ibn Janà˙, for example in entry πçn (p. 464): aùdhw πçn, ammy ata, aylyl πçn ,wwh ypçn yrt yça br rma . . . lyawala bhùdm aylyl ata ammy (BT, Berakhot, 3b). Further, in some cases Talm. Aram. is transparent owing to a tradition of exegesis deriving from the school of the Ge"onim. For example, the sense of Talm. Aram. arma (recorded from tbç tksm ˆm rz[yla ùr qrp in "Ußùl, p. 57) is that which accords with R. Sherira Ga"on’s interpretation; and likewise the Talm. Aram. çwg (BT, Bava Mezia 101a) whose meaning is adduced as follows: arp[ ˆwag aryrç br wb çryp ˆkw ("Ußùl, p. 129), and so on. 5.3.2.6 In formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate) In this category no evidence exists, even a priori, that the aim of the comparison is to secure an etymological link between the entry word and its Aramaic translation synonym, for indeed they possess no etymological equivalence. Failing any further express linguistic comparison of a grammatical or semantic nature, we would have no reason to deal with this formula at all. But in its background, one may detect a hidden comparison, adducing a cognate between the Targ. Aram. that is in fact recorded and an additional Bib. Heb. entity that holds the same status as Bib. Heb.1 in the broad formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. For example, in the comparisons rhg/ˆjg‚ hdwmlg/hadyjy, fa/çrj, hç[m/rxwa, ˆwlqx/çwbl, μyqwmx/ ˆwçby ˆybn[, hnq/hyynzam, rwrx/ˆba, twnp/yçyr, etc. (Ibn Janà˙, below, 13.7), the Targ. Aram. element is a cognate of another Bib. Heb. entity, as çrj/çrj, ˆjg/ˆjg, hdyjy/hadyjy, etc. Thus for practical purposes the comparison is three-way: hdyjy/hdwmlg/hadyjy, ˆjg/rhg/ˆjg, etc. The difference between the standard formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. and the present one is merely that one of the two Bib. Heb. entities, Bib. Heb.1 or Bib. Heb.2, is rarer and thus more obscure. In any case, in the instances indicated, the lexicographer/exegete requires of the reader no erudition in Aramaic, for
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the Targ. Aram. adduced in the comparison has a cognate Hebrew counterpart that occurs frequently and whose sense is well known. In certain other comparisons, the Targ. Aram. element that is non-cognate with the Bib. Heb. element is a cognate with a Rab. Heb. entry. Thus the comparisons rçç/ˆmms, zgra/atwbyt, rzmm/ˆyarkwn, and the like can be considered to contain a Rab. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognate) comparison, too: ˆmms/ˆmms, ˆyarkwn/yrkn, hbyt/atwbyt, and so on. This assumption finds corroboration in R. Jonah’s practice when recording several comparisons of this type. Alongside the comparison dga/rsa he also records rsa/rsa: ˆwçll hmwd awhw abwza trsa hb μwgrth rmaw . . . (Exod. 12:22) bwza tdga • (Num. 30:11) rsa hrsaw μyyrb[h (= . . . the Targum renders thereto abwza trsa and this resembles the expression in the language of the Hebrews rsa hrsaw) (Shorashim, p. 11). The second comparison aimes to demonstrate that the sense of rsya Aramaic non-cognate for dga is known from biblical Hebrew itself. In fact, according to this conclusion the formula might be: Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. = Bib. Heb. by this inter-connected comparison the grammarian actualized precisely what I earlier postulated as regards the other comparisons. Similarly the instance of hçrjm/πwç[, where Ibn Janà˙ notes that πçw[ in rabbinic Hebrew (Mishna, Kelim XIII, 8) means such and such according to R. Hai Ga"on proves conclusively that the comparison with Targ. Aram. would have been of no value were it not for its cognate Rab. Heb. bearing a similar familiar connotation. 5.3.2.7 In formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (in Alfàsi’s lexicon only) In the formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (cognate heterophonic entities), the comparison is intended to further clarify the etymology of Bib. Aram., thus determining its meaning. The non-transparency of the Bib. Aram. etymology is due to either mutual switches of radical letters between Heb. and Aram. or to a redundant letter in one of the two compared entities versus the other. Thus a vital comparison arises in entries hdnm (p. 216), af[ (p. 386) rbdg (p. 301), baf (p. 2), ˆyda (p. 34), and the like.4 4
See below, 9.4.2, full lists of Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. comparisons (deliberate).
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To verify that the aforementioned is indeed the aim of this comparison type, the following test can be applied. For the respective Hebrew components of the pairs of entities in this category, with the exception of hdm, no reiteration of the comparison occurs. For example, the comparison ba/bna occurs at bna (p. 122) only, not at the entry word bae. If this comparison were of importance per se, with no connection to the etymological transparency of the entry word, then this comparison ought to have appeared additionally or exclusively at entry ba. It is likely that bna and similarly the Aramaic entities of parallel status in this category are less transparent than their Hebrew counterparts. This is because, in general, Aramaic was less known than Hebrew in the period under discussion and because those words in Aramaic in which, as against Hebrew, an additional letter/consonant is incorporated, by phonetic dissimilation or for rendering the root triliteral (as e.g. baf, that is compared with Heb. bwf, that in Alfàsi’s opinion is a biliteral root, precisely parallel with Aram. fhr v. Heb. ≈wr), are obscure relative to Heb. on account of the additional letter. But the main corroboration of the stand taken here derives from the fact that Alfàsi himself provides a certain parameter enabling us to objectively determine which element of the respective entry pair is the more intelligible. This transpires from a chain of translation synonyms emanating from the sum-total of definitions of co-semic entries, entry for entry. For example, bna is defined by ba, whereas ba, at its own entry (p. 22) is defined by yrp in the framework of the comparison ba/yrp/ba, whereas yrp in its own entry (p. 481), is defined merely by the Arabic translation synonym rmùt. Perhaps if Alfàsi had adopted zero definiens of the “well-known” type such as Ibn Janà˙ uses in his lexicon, he would have left yrp undefined, relying on its being a commonly known entity not needing definition, given its frequent occurrence in the Bible. A clue to this is that the definition of the latter appears merely at the transition point intersecting the secondary entries of rp; there the grammarian says: rmùtll sa rp anlw, implying that Alfàsi is not defining yrp itself but the root from which that entity as well as the verb hrp derive; and this definition is recorded solely for the sake of distinguishing this word from its homonyms: rp 1 (= cattle) and rp 2 (= nullification, cancellation). Thus yrp is very intelligible, ba is less intelligible, and bna least intelligible. A similar gradation, from the obscure to the most lucid is to be found in the category of Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. ljd-ljz-ary. ljz (p. 481) is defined by comparing
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it with Aramaic ljd, whereas ljd itself (at its entry, p. 376) is not compared with ljz (as is the case at entry ljz itself ) but with ary, by the formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (ljd/ary/ljd). On the other hand, ary is nowhere to be found at any likely location in the lexicon: at ry (pp. 69–70) it is lacking, for according to Alfàsi’s grammatical thesis the yod is non-radical in this verb. At ùr as well as at ar (pp. 582–85), it is also excluded. We encounter it coincidentally at the entry hhr (p. 597 hr), indeed not as a definitum (!) but as a unique definiens (!) for hr, as follows: trkùd rqw (Gen. 43:23) waryt la lùtm (Isa. 44:8) whrt law wdjpt la • ˚yhw ˚ya ywh ywa lùtm ladbala πwrj yp hlaùtma Thus there is no further verbalized definition; in other words, ary itself is in no need of any definition, being sufficiently intelligible, presumably on account of its high frequency in the Bible. This entry is thus that of the greatest lucidity, in the graded series of inter-lingual translation synonyms and intra-lingual sense synonyms ljz-ljd-ary. Of less lucidity is the Aramaic ljd and even less so the Hebrew ljz— indeed a rare word. It is plausible that we have here one of the clues for Alfàsi’s system of entry definition in his lexicology: one defines the most obscure entry word by the entity that is one stage more lucid than itself; and the latter in turn is defined by an even more lucid entity and so on until one reaches the most intelligible entry word in the series. But this entire process is conditioned on the type of synonymity existing between the definientes and the definita, whether cognates or non-cognates (in their respective formulae). For our purposes, the given gradation is of significance, because it demonstrates that the relevant comparison is recorded at the location at which it is necessary for the explication of the entry word. The gradation series is especially noticeable in those cases in which the series of translation synonyms consists of more than two entries; but the system is indeed tenable in instances of series comprising only two components, if they pertain to the type discussed earlier, appearing as it does according to formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (if the Arabic translation synonym is appended, the series becomes one containing three units), for example (from obscure to lucid): • rbdg (Aram.; p. 301)—rbzg (Heb. and Aram.; p. 314)—lma[ (Arab. ibid.) • baf (Aram.; p. 2)—bwf (Heb.; p. 3)—dwùg, ryùk (Arab.; ibid.) • af[ (Aram.; p. 386)—≈[(y) (Heb.; p. 421)—hrwçm (Arab.; ibid.)
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The addition of the third unit, the Arabic component, is noteworthy, because owing to the historical and socio-linguistic conditions of that medieval period the language possessing the highest measure of intelligibility of the three languages with which the lexicons are concerned is in fact Arabic, Arabic being the vernacular, the language having a living, unbroken tradition, and therefore used for grammatical and linguistic discussion and for formulating definitions. Hebrew and Aramaic, in contrast, had ceased to be spoken languages, causing many expressions in those languages to lose their intelligibility (see for instance the statements of Ibn Janà˙ in Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq pp. 131 et seq.). The restoration of this intelligibility could be achieved (a) by tradition, of interpretation, rendering, and the like; (b) by internal investigation (parallelism, context, etc.); or (c) by etymological comparison with other more intelligible, languages. It is probable that an entry requiring external comparison has a lower limpidity level than one that does not call for such comparison. In all the aforementioned comparisons then, the Aramaic entries are all less limpid than their Hebrew translation synonyms, for which reason, in each case, the comparison is recorded at the Aramaic entry rather than at the Hebrew one. Had the opposite been the case, had the comparison been recorded at the more limpid entry word and not at the obscure entry, this would have been quite surprising as regards the aim under discussion (albeit not as regards other aims). Moreover, even exceptions to this rule, such as hdm/hdnm, in which a comparison appears at both entries, do not refute the rule, since the comparison appears at the more obscure of the two entry words, at hdnm, as well. It was noted above that a comparison reiterated at the limpid entry is merely a matter of repetitiveness, apparently connected with Alfàsi’s tendency to occasionally practise language comparison for its own sake.5
5 Entries [wrz and lzrb fail to appear in Alfàsi’s lexicon at their predictable locations, despite their being recorded in the context of their Aramaic counterparts [rd and lzrp. [wrz occurs neither between brz and ryzrz (p. 507) nor in the archentry [rz (p. 507). True, in the list of entries appearing in the preface to entries rùùz (p. 502) he notes [wrz immediately following [rz and adduces three quotes Isa. 44:12; Job, 31:22; ibid., 38:15. But as an entity in itself, it does not appear anywhere among the enumerated entries. If this is not a simple aberration of the author or copyist’s omission, there may be reason to cast doubt on the authenticity of these prefaces. lzrb also is missing. in the preface to rb (p. 268) as well as in its predictable place (p. 272). Skoss made no mention of these omissions.
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5.3.2.8 In Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (non-cognate translation synonym) What has been mentioned in the previous paragraph holds for this category (9.4.4) as well. The comparison is used in Aramaic entries solely with the aim of rendering them more limpid; comparisons of this formula are neither encountered nor reiterated in the respective Hebrew entries, e.g. at çy (p. 72); ab (pp. 178–84), hnh (p. 448), lg (p. 321), d[ (p. 372), hp (p. 449), çglyp (p. 459). At yj the comparison was not recorded at the Aram. entry, because at entry ùj also the comparison is a negative one, i.e. a comparison was mentioned merely to be rejected. In Mena˙em’s work, three comparisons pertaining to this formula are encountered; the conclusions related to Alfàsi (above) are applicable also to Mena˙em. 5.3.2.9 In Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. It has already been stated that the nature of the comparison pertaining to this formula in the lexicons of Alfàsi and Mena˙em is an inevitable one, on account of their lexicographical method. However, comparison of this type in Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon, far from being inevitable is deliberate, as are the rest of his comparisons with Aramaic. Analysis of the materials in this category, by the comparisons recorded by R. Jonah, casts considerable light on the problem of frequency/limpidity comparison. As against 13 Bib. Heb. hapax legomena (such as lfb, rwd, qsn, zr) Bib. Aram. entries are fairly frequent (lfb 6 occurrences, rwd 10, qsn 8, zr 9). This reflects a fairly typical state of affairs for entering a comparison of a unique entity with one more frequent than itself. But there are instances where not only the Bib. Heb. is rare but also the Bib. Aram. with which it is compared, e.g. in the pairs lçj/lçj, lbrk/lbrk, sna/sna, rbzg/rbzg, ryg/ryg, ˚rj/˚rj and so on, in which both components of the comparison are hapax legomena. In what way does the comparison aid in clarifying the sense of the entry word? Two solutions to this enigma may be proposed. At times the comparison with Bib. Aram. is not isolated but is associated with a comparison with rabbinic Hebrew, so that through a combination of the two comparisons the sense of the entry word is ascertained; such is the case with sna. A second solution is that the Bib. Aram. entity, despite its infrequent, even unique, occurrence, appears in a biblical context that renders its meaning clear and lucid, much more so than the corresponding biblical context with regard to the Bib. Heb. entry. For example, the sense of the word ˚rjth (Dan. 3:27) (= was burnt) is
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transparent from the context ˆwhmçgb arwn flç al yd ˚la ayrbgl ˆyzj ˚rjth al ˆwhçar r[çw, whereas this is not the case in the corresponding Heb. context of the Bib. Heb. component ˚rj, hymr ˚rjy al ≈wrj rqy μda ˆwhw wdyx (Prov. 12:27). Thus the rarity of an entry word is likely to be but not necessarily a reason for its semantic obscurity. This further gives the grounds for comparisons of the given formula in which the Bib. Heb. entry is even more frequent than the Bib. Aram. For example, πga 7/πg 3; ypal 4/πna 2; μyskn 5/ˆyskn 2; jxn 6 (excluding the words jxnml and jxn)/jxnta 1. These examples demonstrate clearly that a high degree of frequency does not in itself guarantee limpidity, especially if the frequency is of a technical nature, i.e. a reiteration of the same expression, either without any variation or with changes of phraseology so minute as to be of no avail for its limpidity. Such is the case for the Heb. entry jxnl (Ezra 3:8–9) and similar words: the Bib. Aram. counterpart is more limpid, despite its infrequency. Several other comparisons of this type have a different objective, for example hfj 32/hfnj 2, which is recorded for determination of the root. 5.3.2.10 In Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cognate)/ Arab. (cognate for Targ. Aram.) This formula is adopted primarily for Bib. Heb. entries that are terms of realia. As is well-known, the correct identification of the signifiés of such terms had become problematical ever since Hebrew ceased to be a spoken language in the earliest centuries CE and was so until recently with the revival of spoken Hebrew at the end of the nineteenth century. Ibn Janà˙ expended considerable effort to identify the meaning of such terms; he spared neither the time nor the exertion required to locate artisans, and to inspect their professional utensils, convinced as he was that these tools, with the tasks that they achieved, reflected the true picture of realia in biblical times. A good example is his attempt to identify the meaning of the term μyInb" a] ; (p. 18). Ibn Bal'am, likewise, encountered difficulty in elucidating terms of realia; at times he refused to adopt identifications proffered by other scholars even when he had no alternative identification to suggest, deeming it preferable to leave the term unidentified rather than adopt what he considered an unfounded identification. Following are examples for such difficulties: μylha} (Num. 24:6; Fuchs 1893); μysybç (Isa. 3:18; Perez 1981, pp. 27, 218). Given that 22 entries
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pertain to this formula in Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon as against only four such in Alfàsi’s, it seems that Ibn Janà˙ found the present comparison formula an ideal, even sophisticated apparatus for overcoming the aforementioned difficulties. To reach the correct definition for the Bib. Heb. entry, he exploits the non-cognate translation synonym for that entry occurring in the parallel Targum text continuum. This Targ. Aram. (non-cognate) has dual utility. First, it stands as a translation synonym for rendering the Bib. Heb. (which already in Ibn Janà˙’s lifetime was obscure), enjoying such status since the earlier epochs when the Bib. Heb. was limpid, rendering the mutual identity of the two, according to targumic tradition, as good as certain. Second, this Targ. Aram. entry is a cognate to the Arabic entry word, providing further proof for the identification. Now the advantage of adducing the Arabic component is that in the linguistic identification in Arabic the tradition is boosted by an uninterrupted span of that vernacular over many centuries, further enhancing the limpidity of the term.6 This approach is reflected in several choices of expression. An example is laq amk hwskla hyp yùdla a[wll amsa ˆak ambrw . . . (2R 10:22) hjtlmh • twbatla br[la ˆasl yp rfmqlaw ayrfmq l[ μwgrtla The grammarian does not even take the trouble to remark that
ayrfmq and Arab. rfmq are cognate. This is taken for granted. 5.3.2.11 In Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (non-cognate)/ Arab. (cognate with Talm. Aram.) The statement of opinion in the previous formula on the aim of comparison is equally applicable in the present formula. The only difference is that here the Aramaic elucidation of the Bib. Heb. entry is not based on a tradition of Aramaic Targums to the Bible, since the latter offer no corroboration (e.g. when no Arabic cognate exists for the Targ. Aram. or when the Targ. Aram. itself is a cognate for the Bib. Heb. entry) but on the tradition of interpretation to be found in the Talmud. For example, rwçat (Isa. 41:19) is identified in the Talmud with anbyrwç (TB, Rosh HaShanah, 23a). Ibn Janà˙
6 It cannot be stated for certain whether Ibn Janà˙ took into account the possibility, and if so to what extent he postulated such a possibility, that even in the course of an uninterrupted span of a spoken vernacular, fluctuations can be expected to have taken place in the sense of the terms.
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("Ußùl, p. 74) exploits the phonetic similarity of anbyrwç (Talm. Aram.) and ˆybrç (Arab.) for identifying the signifié of the Bib. Heb. Incidentally, if Ibn Janà˙ had been concerned merely to enrich his lexicon with entries defined/identified by Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. for their own sake, whether the Talm. Aram. was transparent or non-transparent, he might have adduced, from the same text source as that of /anbyrwç rwçat (Rosh HaShanah, ibid.), all the remaining nine names for cedar tree types in Hebrew and Aramaic as documented there; whereas in fact he adduced from the aforementioned source only those names for which he could establish no reliable identification on the basis of Targ. Aram. and, side by side, of the Talm. Aram., for which cognate Arabic existed. 5.3.2.12 In Comparisons with Arabic As stated earlier, any ordinary comparison, provided it cannot be proven that it was recorded for its own sake or for any other specific objective, can be assumed to have as its aim the semantic definition of its entry word. To warrant placing such an ordinary comparison outside this category would require solid, well-grounded evidence. For this reason I have set aside the comparisons contained within the special collective lists as well as the grammatical comparisons and allocated for them a separate class, on the basis of their comparison aim. All the remaining comparisons are treated as possessing the principal aim of language comparison. Corroboration for this aim can be obtained from the general pronouncements set out by the Hebrew grammarians in the introductions to their several lexicons (above, 2.1, 2.2, 5.2). In comparisons with Aramaic, proof was available from the comparison formulae themselves; these were found to indicate that comparison is the aim in the great majority of instances. As regards Arabic, this aim can be said to be attributable to the formula, in the case of the formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym)/Arab. (cognate) and for that formula alone. As for other comparisons, the formula cannot be said to demonstrate this aim. However, a process of analogy enables us to deduce the comparison aim for Arabic, from the corresponding comparison aim determinable for Aramaic. The argument runs as follows: in the same way that comparison with Aram. is employed because the entry word under discussion is rare or unique and thus non-limpid, so, likewise, a comparison with Arab. is likely to be employed. Furthermore, in the same way that the Heb./Aram. com-
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parison serves to make up for the lack of limpidity, due to the low frequency of the compared entry, so, likewise and with the same aim, a Heb./Arab. comparison is employed in those cases in which the biblical frequency of occurrence of an entry word is low. A concordance check shows that a good number of entry words incorporated in Hebrew-Arabic comparisons are indeed biblical hapax legomena. 5.3.3 Comparison aimed at the determination of the lack of an etymological connection between homonymic Hebrew roots This aim is a more or less systematic principle for each entry in Part One of Risàla, whereas in Part Three, sec. 1, also, this aim of comparison is occasionally encountered. In the works of the other Heb. grammarians this phenomenon is met with less than in the works of Ibn Quraysh but is indeed present. In the archentry ˆps (p. 344), Alfàsi sets out two Hebrew entries: ˆwps (1 Kings 7:3) and hnyps ( Jon. 1:5). In his semantic etymological discussion of these entries, he initially suggests the possibility that the latter stems from the former, namely that a boat is called hnyps on account of its being hnwps = roofed, decked. But he raises a further possibility, namely that the noun hnyps is not to be derived etymologically from ˆwps and thus also has no semantic connection with that word but is simply a “noun in its own right” (htaùdb μsa) as can be proven from the Arabic word hnyps. This comparison is to be explained as follows: in Arabic the noun hnyps is an independent entry, as regards its etymological liaison, considering that no verb ˆps* in Arabic exists from which it could have been derived. Thus correspondingly, in Heb. also it can be postulated that the noun hnyps is independent, having no etymological connection with ˆps. The object of the comparison, therefore, proves to be the determination of “non-linkage” between these two given Heb. entry words. A similar aim is noticeable in entry μhn (p. 258): in the second part of his discussion, Alfàsi concludes that no connection exists between that word and the root (h)mh; this analysis finds support from comparison with the Arabic root μhn. The phraseology here is very similar to that employed with ˆps (above), i.e. ahsarb hgl μhn zwùgyw, i.e. μhn is an independent root. The comparison jwj/ù˚wùk also, (p. 526) aims at obviating an etymological link between jwj and jj. In this vein, too, we should understand Ibn Janà˙’s explication of hjl sn
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(Deut. 34:7). The latter can be interpreted as deriving from swn in its usual sense of “fleeing” (jrb) or as a metaphorical extension of that sense. Therefore, in order to exclude such a hypothesis, the grammarian compares that entry word with the Arabic sn (= “dry”) ("Ußùl, p. 417). 5.3.4
The aim of comparison: Bible translation
In the special treatises of language comparison, it is to be expected that comparison will be recorded, in the first place, for its own sake, namely with the aim of determining the principle that an affinity exists between the languages discussed, for discussing comparison methodology and with an emphasis on pointing up the scope of similarity or equivalence between those languages, both in the grammatical and in the lexicographical contexts. However, Becker (1984, p. 29) has demonstrated that in Part One (and Two) of the Risàla, compiled by R. Judah ibn Quraysh, a different objective can be discerned, i.e. the elucidation of the difficult words in the Bible. In the work of Ibn Barùn also, being as it is exclusively for language comparison and clearly presenting comparisons “for their own sake,” the other objective of comparison can be discerned as well, albeit with a somewhat different emphasis. “Between the lines” of the remarks appearing in the comparative lexicon within Kitàb alMuwàzana, it can be inferred that Ibn Barùn had intended to provide Bible translators with an apparatus comprising all possible Heb./ Arab. cognate entries (i.e. those he held to be so). He may have held the opinion that the ideal Bible translator, when setting down an Arabic rendering, should strive to translate every biblical expression, according to his capacity, by a cognate Arabic or at least by a homophonic translation synonym even if such is not a cognate. One finds, accordingly that in entry dydy (Muwàzana, p. 59) the grammarian not only discusses the comparison with the Arab. dydw; he remarks, additionally: yna—ròka lxa ˆm ˆak ˆaw—( Job. 40:14) ˚dwa yna μgw μùgrty ˆa ˆsjyw • . . . ˚dwa Ibn Barùn thus explicitly informs us that ˚dwa is not from the root ddy; nevertheless he recommends that the rendering be by a similar homophonic translation synonym—i.e. the Arabic expression ˚dwa (this rendering clearly suiting the context well, in his opinion). Likewise
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at the termination of other entries: after the comparative discussion, it is noticeable that he is especially concerned about the rendering of several phrases or expressions in the Bible. For example, at entry ˆyb (p. 163), aside from noting that μynybh çya (1S. 17:4) pertains to that root, the grammarian takes the trouble to propose that this expression be translated by the cognate . . . ˆynybla-wùd. So, after recording the comparison ˆjb/ˆjm, he elucidates the expression ˆjb ˆba (Isa. 28:16) and finally remarks hnjmla rùgj μùgrtyp. It is probable that Ibn Barùn rejected R. Saadiah Ga"on’s rendition for this expression, i.e. μanx rùgj; further, he states in the context of his explanation that this expression is qdmlab πwr[mla. This being so, it is surprising that he did not propose this very Arabic expression as a rendering for ˆjb ˆba! It is quite likely that his endeavors to render by a cognate wherever possible determined his choice of one of two alternative translation synonyms. Renditions, with subsequent “suggestions” of this type, are to be found further, in entries [gr (Ps. 30:6; p. 89); çab (p. 160); bda, ˆtj, (Exod. 18:1); dw[ (p. 77), etc. The terms employed in such remarks allude clearly to such an objective; these are μùgrtyp (above, ˆjb); μùgrty ˆa ˆsjyw (above, dydy); and in particular: ˆa ygbnyw μùgrty (entry p. qbd, 168) and so on. It goes without saying that the very fact that the discussion often involves full-scale biblical phrases, together with their contexts, constitutes an additional aspect of the efforts exerted to achieve the aforementioned objective. 5.3.5
The comparison for its own sake
In the previous section a definition of the characteristic elements of “comparison for its own sake” was set out. It was noted also, that even in treatises devoted specifically to language comparison, this aim of comparison can be assumed to be present, despite the fact that in certain individual comparisons or in specific sections within treatises, other salient aims of comparison can be noticed. Moreover, in other types of linguistic works, too, examples of comparison for its own sake are encountered here and there. Henceforth guidelines for determining such comparisons are set out. The definition of “comparison for its own sake” will be: any interlingual comparison, that (a) is not inevitable and (b) is not absolutely necessary for the elucidation of the lexical entry under discussion. If the context containing the given entry word gives the sense of the entry word clearly, or alternatively if the sense can be clearly inferred
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by intra-Hebrew material (that is actually adduced by the lexicographer), such as local or remote parallelism, the further adduction of information regarding Arabic or Aramaic is redundant for demonstrating the sense as determined. In other words whenever the comparison of an entry word with a cognate Arabic or Aramaic is adduced even though the meaning can be determined by the abovementioned alternative procedures, it is reasonable to posit that the sole purpose of recording the comparison is to highlight the similarity, the equivalence, or the difference existing between the languages related to the given entry. If the comparison as recorded has no direct relevance for the sense of the entry word under discussion but merely points up some analogous aspect of consequence for linguistic comparative study, with bearing on the given entry, the comparison can definitely be classified as “comparison for its own sake.” We now proceed to enumerate typologically the instances in which comparison is employed for its own sake. 5.3.5.1 Comparison propositions of a general nature Propositions of the type ynayrslaw ybr[law ynarb[la ˚lùd t[mùg dqw (Alfàsi, p. 327, dlg) were designed to posit a generalized comparison of translation synonyms in the three languages Heb./Aram./Arab. Such propositions were recorded for the sake of “pure” comparative science; they do not serve the purposes of specific comparison of an entry word with its parallels, i.e. its translation entries in other languages, because for the latter purposes one encounters, apart from the general propositions, appropriate terms of comparison. Let us inspect, for example, one entry pertaining to this category: ,ynayrslaw ynarb[la ˚lùd t[mùg dqw ydlùg yl[ ( Job 6:15) .ydlg yl[ ytrpt qç (Targ. to Ezek. 23:24) ˆydlg ynayrslabw ydlùg ybr[labw ydlg yl[ ynarb[lap (Alfàsi, p. 327)
Alfàsi first defines the entry word dlg by the cognate Arabic dlùg. Next, he makes a general comparative proposition, that there exists equivalence between the three languages Heb./Aram./Arab. in their use of this entry word—namely, the given entry, sense-wise, is employed similarly in the three languages but subject to the usual morpho-phonemic differences between them. Finally he proceeds to set out the details, adopting, as he does so, the style of comparison customary in ordinary explicit comparisons that contain no comparison phraseology of a generic character. That part of the propo-
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sition that constitutes a “detailed” comparison is designed to ascertain the meaning of the entry word and thus has nothing to do with “comparison for comparison’s sake.” However, the generic reiteration of the comparison is clearly redundant, and this portion of the proposition would seem quite definitely to be nothing but “comparison for comparison’s sake.” 5.3.5.2 Comparisons in the excursuses (Alfàsi and Dunash) Comparisons that occur outside of their natural entry location in the lexicon and that are collated rather in classified lists in several lexical entries possess no intrinsic lexicological objective; they are recorded merely for the corroboration of some general linguistic principle in the area of comparative philology. These comparisons do not aim at substantiating the “semantics” of any one particular entry word, as would be the case in an instance of a comparison having pertinence to a given entry; rather, they are indeed a part of comparative linguistic science. For instance, the Heb./Arab. comparisons πrj/πyrùk, rmj/rmùk, brj/brùk, etc., compared as they were in the entry ljb (+lùkb; Alfàsi, p. 208), were not designed to corroborate or to establish the sense of the entry words rmj, brj, πrj, and it goes without saying that they were not designed to determining the sense of the entry at hand—i.e. ljb. These comparisons were adduced in order to demonstrate the substitution between Hebrew ùj and Arabic ùk, as is clear from the fact that the ad loc. comparison of entry word ljb with its Arabic counterpart lùkb is founded upon this substitution. Of a similar nature are the compendia of comparisons recorded in the following entries in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ: μhz (p. 478), rtk (p. 137), z[l (p. 172), rwp (p. 452), πqt (p. 749), çt (p. 754) as well as in a certain number of the entries appearing in ynxylh (p. 439–45), such as bwt/bwç, rbt/rbç, and so on. In this connection, one comparison, i.e. jçq/jsq, is of special interest. This comparison fails to appear at its appropriate entry in the lexicon but is encountered twice, in the two collative comparison lists, recorded respectively at μhz and çt (p. 754). At the entry itself, the entry word is rendered merely by means of a non-cognate translation synonym ysq (this of course does not constitute a comparison); had the comparison been indispensable for establishing the meaning, it would surely have been more suitably recorded at the location that calls for its appearance, namely at its appropriate entry in the lexicon. Its non-appearance at the “home” entry implies that the
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lexicographer held the comparison to be inessential. It thus follows that the inclusion of such a comparison in the generic compendia implies no intrinsic lexicological aim of comparison but merely serves to provide further evidence regarding the similarity and general affinity existing between the languages subject to comparison. It would furthermore be redundant to state that in cases where comparisons are reiterated in the lexicon, appearing once at their “home” location and once again in some collative list, the record in the list has the status of “comparison for its own sake.” As a matter of fact, the captions of these collative compendia shed considerable light on the objective of the lists. For example, prefatory to the list at entry πqt (p. 749), it is stated: ynayrsla [m ˚rtçy ynarb[la yp ryùtkw. This implies that the aim of the collative list is to corroborate the general relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic and further to explicitly legitimize particular comparisons adopted in his lexicon at various entries. The excursus contained in The Retorts of Dunash against Mena˙em, too (Sáenz-Badillos 1981, pp. 32–33, entry jsm), had in view to prove the tenet that for many Hebrew entry words there exist corresponding Aramaic cognate translation synonyms. Moreover, the excursus at yn[fm (ibid., pp. 88ff.) had as its aim to evidence the fact that Heb./Arab. language comparison is indeed of significance for the correct interpretation of a good number of biblical Hebrew words. 5.3.5.3 Comparisons essentially of linguistic nature and not for exegetical purposes This class comprises several comparison types: (1) grammatical comparisons having no direct import for ascertaining the meaning of the entry word; (2) comparisons of general “semantics” or of “use of language” (these comparisons constitute digressions from the entry discussion or at times serve to clarify several linguistic processes); (3) specific comparisons that are liable, additionally, to point to the determination of the sense but that, considering their contextual location, are plainly aimed at demonstrating some linguistic phenomenon— in other words, “comparisons for their own sake.” Several examples follow: In the area of grammatical comparisons, for example, Alfàsi’s adduction of the comparison of the plural form of rhn in Hebrew with the corresponding form in Aramaic, i.e. twrhn/ayrhn (p. 258) or the comparison of the use of the numeral dja with a following noun
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in the plural, in Hebrew and in Arabic (dja p. 61): Neither of these comparisons have any bearing on the sense of the entry word; they are nothing but “comparisons for comparison’s sake.” An example from the work of Dunash (see Sáenz-Badillos, p. 100): the comparison ˆksm/ˆyksm is recorded merely to demonstrate that the radical letter in Hebrew is samekh, “as it is . . . in Arabic.” In Ibn Janà˙’s works, such comparisons are very frequent; as a matter of fact, comparisons of this type in Riqmah, especially those of the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram., are veritably “comparisons for their own sake.” Instances in point are: the comparisons rb'g“/rb'G“ (Riqmah, p. 241), dj/dj (ibid., p. 275), bdnth/bdnth (ibid., p. 192), lwmta/lwmta (ibid., pp. 154, 257), etc. In "Ußùl, also, there are several comparisons on grammatical topics, that are far from indispensable for determining the meaning of the entry word. Thus the comparison hfj (32 times in the Bible) /ˆyfnj (twice in the Bible) ("Ußùl, p. 238) serves merely to establish whether the root is fj or fnj. Likewise, hw:g/ E hw:gE (p. 127) is recorded simply to prove that hwg is indeed a root in its own right, rather than a reduced form of hwag, as posited by earlier grammarians. In the same way there are classified comparisons ypal/yhwpna (p. 63), rq/ryrq (p. 645) as well as the Heb./Arab. comparisons /ˆzrk ˆzrg (p. 148), ddyh/dyh (p. 170), shyw-sh/hxhx-hx (p. 179; also in Risàlat al-Tanbìh, p. 262), wttwht/th (p. 181), hmj/hmj (p. 233), hdwxmdxm/daxm (p. 390), lgm/lùgnm (p. 405), ˆwyx/hwx (p. 607), twhma-μa/ tahma (p. 55), and others. Examples of comparisons whose sole function is to illuminate a broad language process, found to be active in several languages, with no particular pertinence to the exact sense of the entry word, are as follows: dbz > laydbz/ˆybz > anybz/πrf > πyrf (Alfàsi, entry dbz, p. 474). The comparison in the following pairs of Heb./Arab. synonyms i.e. dd=dç/ydùt=dhn (ibid. p. 370) can likewise only be seen as “comparison for its own sake,” since for the purpose of defining the sense of the Hebrew entry word dd there was no need to adduce a pair of translation synonyms from Arabic. Belonging to the present type are also those specific or general typological comparisons in which a distinct entity or phenomenon in Hebrew is paralleled by “zero” in Arabic. An example of such a comparison is Alfàsi’s record at entry dgn (p. 253) in which he states that from this preposition Hebrew derived the noun dygn, whereas Arabic failed to develop a similar entry from its corresponding preposition: layj, lbaqm. It is, of course, feasible that Alfàsi merely intended
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to provide the student with logical grounds for his having failed to render μydygn (ibid.) with an exactly parallel expression in Arabic, i.e. by a concrete noun in the plural, whereas he found himself forced to render it in a “roundabout” way, namely by a singular abstract maßdar. Whichever way one views it, this comparison belongs to the category “comparison for its own sake,” and to no other. Ibn Janà˙ also records such comparisons. At entry ˆbl ("Ußùl, p. 344) Ibn Janà˙ renders the expression hnbl hnbln (Gen. 11:3) anbl ùdùktn; he states explicitly why he does not translate it anbl ˆbln, i.e. by an expression containing two translation synonyms: his argument is that whereas for the Heb. hnbl there exists an Arabic translation synonym hnbl, the denominative Heb. verb ˆbl has no equivalent Arabic translation synonym to match it. Regarding several specific comparisons, it is quite evident that the aim of the comparison was for its own sake and neither to determine nor to corroborate the sense of the entry word concerned. Such is often the case on account of the circumstances that conduced the comparison. For example, entry word hnyps ("Ußùl p. 491), though hapax legomenon in the Bible, is nevertheless quite limpid, owing to (a) its salient synonymity in the Hebrew Bible text with hyna ( Jon. 1:3–4); (b) its use as a translation synonym for hyna in targumic Aramaic; and (c) its frequent occurrence in Rab. Heb. Ibn Janà˙ himself does not even trouble to remark on any of these three grounds but suffices to simply state: “the word is well known.” Now, despite all, he adds the rider aùxya hybr[ yhw; thus the comparison exhibits the form of “comparison for its own sake.” It also goes without saying that in the case of many entry words of very common biblical occurrence, comparisons with Arabic were established by the Hebrew grammarians. Take for example Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons flp/tlp ("Ußùl, p. 573), [yqr/[yqr (p. 689), ˆma/ˆyma (p. 56), arb/arb (p. 107), [dg/[dg (p. 124), and btkm btk/batk (p. 334, also Riqmah p. 239), among many others. In a number of instances the meaning of an entry word shows up clearly; prima facie, from its manifold biblical contexts. Such words are in no need of comparison with an Aramaic translation synonym to establish their proven sense. Indeed it is possible that if a comparison is recorded, it was adduced merely “for comparison’s sake.” However, another possibility exists, namely that the Hebrew grammarians found it convenient, even suitable, to found the sense by the process of language comparison. If the latter is indeed the
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case, it could be posited that the Hebrew grammarians made language comparison the primary device for determining the sense of biblical entry words, whenever and wherever support from comparison was available. Several exemplary instances, structured on the formulae Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.; Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./ Targ. Aram.; or Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. culled from Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ follow: çr[ (p. 433) appears ten times in the Bible and its meaning is quite salient there from; nevertheless Alfàsi adduced the comparison çr[/hfm/sr[. Aramaic hnd occurs 42 times, ˆ[k 13 times, ˆm 10 times, jlp 10 times, tjn 6 times, rwt 7 times, bwt 8 times, qpn 11 times, lza 7 times, rbg 21 times, yd 335 times, bc 5 times. For all these entry words, the sense shows up clearly from their several contexts, despite which Alfàsi did not fail to compare them with their respective Hebrew translation synonyms, using the Targ. Aram. entries as intermedia, as built on the given formulae. Thus all these comparisons can be viewed as cases of “comparison for its own sake.” Many entry words were rendered by the Hebrew grammarians by both cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms; the two latter sorts of translation synonyms are, in their opinion, synonymous (9.8.1; 13.10.1). It was noted above (4.7; 4.12) that in a large proportion of instances, the cognate is rarer, in contrast with the frequent noncognate, for which reason the cognate is less limpid. It is fair, therefore, to argue that from a purely lexicographical standpoint there was no need to adduce the cognate for definition of the entry word: the non-cognate would have well sufficed. Perhaps the Hebrew grammarians simply wished to maintain propinquity with the source texts serving them for adoption of their renderings/definitions of the several entries under discussion and for this reason also entered the cognate translation synonyms. But it cannot be ruled out that perhaps the grammarians had intended to set down not only the definition of the entry word (by the non-cognate) but also the modus operandi adopted in order to reach such definitions—namely, (1) the etymological equivalence of Hebrew entry word and cognate Arabic translation synonym, (2) the synonymity in meaning of cognate and non-cognate, and (3) the logical result ensuing from the coalescence of (1) and (2)—i.e. the equivalent sense of entry word and non-cognate translation synonym. Whichever position is taken, the aforesaid assumption remains unchanged, namely that the aim of the Hebrew grammarians was to record “comparison for comparison’s sake” at least in those
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instances in which the frequency of the entry word in the Bible was sufficient to provide limpidity. 5.3.5.4 Comparison with the aim of providing an etymological rationale Regarding some comparisons, it is saliently clear that their purpose was not for determining the sense of an entry word but for setting out an etymological background; in these cases the comparison provides a response to the question: Why is the referee of the entry word “called” such and such? This aspect is not identical with the usual “sense, meaning,” for the determination of the latter is something basic; it can be derived and/or deduced from the context(s) in which the entry word occurs, irrespective of etymological comparison. Etymological reasoning, on the other hand, is by definition not restricted to substantiating the meaning of the entry word but is rather aimed at a wider investigation of the etymological sense of the word. A clear sign of this objective is the relatively great frequency of occurrence of the entry word. For example, the word ˆwlj appears 31 times in the Bible and Alfàsi nonetheless records a comparison of that word with Aramaic lylj—indeed built upon the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., although this formula is designed primarily for the determination of meaning rather than for etymological reasons: the comparison (p. 549) runs hljm-ˆwlj/bwbn/lylj. This modus operandi is in fact clearly discernible from the form of Alfàsi’s expression (ibid.) ahjtpw ahpywùgtl: the làm serves to explain the meaning, not to determine it (he had already stated earlier that the meaning of this root is bqùt). What is more, the very word that had been hereby adduced in the status of Bib. Heb.1, this being the entry in need of definition, i.e. ˆwlj, this word itself is used as intermedium in entry ˚rj (p. 585; in comparison ˚rj/ˆwlj/˚rj); this implies that in Alfàsi’s view the given word ˆwlj is common and quite transparent. It is thus probable that the comparison of that word with Aramaic lylj, established at its “home” entry, was meant not as a corroboration of the meaning of ˆwlj but with the aim of etymological reasoning: a “window” is termed ˆwlj because of its being lwlj. This is borne out by the fact that bwbn in Exodus is rendered by the Aramaic Targum lylj. Similar reasoning appears with the comparison bgn/bgn (p. 252): this comparison is superfluous for the determination of meaning, since bgn occurs 110 times in the Bible. Its comparison with Aramaic (with the intermedium brj, according to formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ.) was only adduced on ety-
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mological grounds, this being also evident from Alfàsi’s own words, at the “home” entry (ibid.): hùfpl ahna ˚lùdw . . . amla μd[w çf[law πapùgla ˆm bgn μsa hyl[ [qy zwùgy • aym wbwgn μymh wbrj μwgrtw ynayrslab πapùg yùxtqt In Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon, also, one encounters instances of this comparison type, such as: Aramaic ybx/abx (p. 598), awpsm/hps (p. 488), and ˆyjç/μmj/ˆyjç (p. 714), as well as the Heb./Arab. comparisons ˆg/hnùg (p. 140), gj/ùgj (p. 210), ù≈mj/≈mj (p. 234), hjnm/jnm (p. 381), and jçm/jsm (p. 394). 5.3.6
Adducing comparisons in order to repudiate them
In the polemical work attributed to Dunash b. Labrat, The Retorts of Dunash on R. Sa'adiah, Dunash records comparisons in the name of Sa'adiah Ga"on and then discards them. Examples are the comparisons appearing at entries ˆysj (Retort # 26) and wgrjyw (# 27), etc. Other authors also record, at several entries, comparisons adduced by predecessors and/or contemporaries, comparisons to which they themselves would dissent. Cases in point can be noted: (a) in Mena˙em’s Ma˙beret (ask, p. 107; jlx, p. 149); (b) in Alfàsi’s Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ (dja, p. 62), and so on.
5.4
Synopsis and conclusion
One main objective can be seen to be present, consistently and uniformly, throughout all the works in our study, whether biblical commentaries, lexicons, polemical works, or even those works devoted specifically to language comparison. The majority of comparisons appearing in these treatises are such that the aim of the comparison was substantiation of the meaning of the home entry word. The latter word is, by and large, a word of rare occurrence in the Bible, one that could hardly be explicated by its context or from remote parallelisms. This was the reason for the need felt by the Hebrew grammarians for comparing Hebrew words with Aramaic or Arabic, so long as a translation synonym from one of these languages would assist in the elucidation. Arabic is a language possessing long-standing continuous speech tradition, for which reason it was taken for granted by Heb. grammarians that Arabic entry words were well
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known and limpid. Thus the meaning of a Hebrew entry word that had been forgotten since Hebrew had ceased to be spoken might once again be resuscitated by its cognate in Arabic; and likewise with Aramaic, with the reservation that the latter was not spoken by the Hebrew grammarians in the Arabic speech area in the tenth and eleventh centuries. Comparison with Aramaic, therefore, would be of much less avail for the direct resolution of non-limpid Hebrew entries than would a corresponding comparison with Arabic. Nevertheless, the grammarians resorted to roundabout routes to engage Aramaic for purposes of lexicological support, especially by comparison with the Aramaic in the biblical Targums (as well as by employing comparison with biblical Aramaic and the talmudic dialect). One encounters sophisticated combinations of Hebrew and Aramaic entries, with cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms from the biblical source text as well as from the Targum; these, together, were effectively harnessed for the aim of elucidating the home entry. The most prominent of these combinations is the comparison of Bib. Heb.1 with an Aram. cognate, the latter being itself non-cognate with another Bib. Heb. entry, i.e. Bib. Heb.2 (i.e. the formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram.). This formula, like other complex formulae, is built on the basic, major principle that two entries each of which is identical with a third entry are themselves identical. Thus here, too, the etymological equivalence of the Hebrew entry word (Bib. Heb.1) and the Aramaic entry word (Targ. Aram.) enabled the determination of the meaning of the Bib. Hebrew entry word (Bib. Heb.2). In other comparison combinations, the “unknown quantity” was even the meaning of the Aramaic entry word (in some instances Targ. Aram., in others, Talm. Aram.); its etymological equivalence with an Arabic entry word was decisive for both the Aramaic and the Hebrew entries under discussion. The Hebrew grammarians’ comparisons also comprise several comparisons designed to corroborate the principle of mutual affinity of the three languages subject to study or, alternatively, to establish a rule for the scientific study of Semitic comparative philology, whether in the area of grammar or in that of syntax, the latter objective being termed “comparison for comparison’s sake.” With this aim in mind the following works devoted to language comparison were compiled: the Risàla of Ibn Quraysh, and the Kitàb al-Muwàzana of Ibn Barùn; also, apparently, the lost treatise of Dunash ibn Tamìm and, on a limited scale, the excursuses contained within David b. Abraham
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Alfàsi’s Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ and within Dunash’s Retorts on Mena˙em. Nonetheless, one additionally comes across “comparisons for their own sake” here and there in other treatises and works that were not devoted solely to language comparison. Ibn Barùn exhibits an additional aim in language comparison: he compiles a Heb.-Arab. comparative lexicon for the benefit of the Bible translator. Apparently Ibn Barùn held that an ideal Bible translator should render the biblical text words by an Arabic cognate expression wherever this was feasible. The upshot is that the great majority of the comparisons serve a practical objective, namely the elucidation of the pertinent biblical entry words. In other words, the Hebrew grammarian’s comparative linguistic science was exploited primarily in the service of the lexicographical and philological needs of biblical study. In this matter the Hebrew grammarians resemble those modern lexicologists who attempt to utilize comparative linguistics for this purpose itself, i.e. biblical philology. However, the resemblance is solely in the aspect of aim; furthermore, even within this resemblance, a basic distinction can be noticed between the medieval and the modern scholars: the latter are concerned with ascertaining the primeval meaning of the root as well as the semantic shifts that it underwent, in all its detailed aspects, in the given language itself as well as in other cognate languages. The Hebrew grammarians, in contrast, are interested merely in the particular meaning of the actual entry words within the given language (or in the compared languages). They establish interlingual comparison between two entry words if, and only if, there is a distinct correspondence between the two according to the sense of the entry word(s) in actual practice in the several language strata. For the Bible, with its translations, it would be more appropriate to adopt the expression “corpuses” rather than language strata to denote the entry from which the grammarians cite, this being what is here referred to as translation synonyms. It goes without saying that in modern times, tools for comparison have increased considerably and, moreover, are much more mature professionally. Further elaboration would be appropriate outside of this framework, but let me very briefly allude to certain isolated matters, in a general way: (a) the diachronic approach in linguistics, as a rule; (b) critical research in all spheres of science; (c) the employment of several newly discovered Semitic languages that only recent generations have had cognizance of and that have indeed profited
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comparative scholarship considerably. Only the minority of comparisons of the Hebrew grammarians serves a “purely linguistic” objective (above, 5.3.5). True, the scholarly writings of the Hebrew grammarians are instructive for an evaluation of their respective standpoints on the similarity and/or affinity between the three languages known by them. But, and this deserves emphasis, nowhere in the writings of the Hebrew grammarians can be found, either as an express statement or even as an allusion, any trace of those additional aims posed by modern linguists for comparative linguistics. Examples of such aims are: exposing the historical “identity” of the Semitic languages or reconstructing of the proto-Semitic tongue by a synthesis of the concurrent aspects found in the several Semitic languages—in other words, putting together the totality of Semitic grammatical and lexicological data that are known to be original, i.e. excluding those data that owe their origin to the influence of extraneous non-Semitic languages.7 Indeed, in contrast to the latter, the Hebrew grammarians exhibit no conception of diachronic development in their comparative premises (Téné 1983, §1.3). For them, Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic are merely kindred languages and no more than that. The expression most applicable as representative of their approach is br[la hgl brq ˆm: no intimation exists of a fullscale equivalence and certainly not of identity of the languages subjected to comparison. A further clue to the intentions of the Hebrew grammarians in their practice of language comparison, with the exception of Ibn Barùn, can be obtained from the comparisons they record and, in fact, from their habitual avoidance of comparison activity in the area of grammar. It can be argued insofar as Alfàsi is concerned that, considering that he had never proposed to compile a work on grammar but merely a lexicon, it could not be expected a priori that his treatise would contain comparative grammar as well. In fact, however, his work does comprise a plethora of grammatical materials, so much so that Skoss (introduction to Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, p. 79) expressed his opinion that a thorough collation and arrangement of the materials was indeed a desideratum.8 It is probable that, given the quantity of grammatical discussion, some essays on comparative grammar
7
See, for example, Brockelmann, 1908, § 6; 1910, § 6; Moscati, 1980, § 1.8. We intend to implement this undertaking in a suitable framework, some time in the future PG. 8
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would be encountered; yet paradoxically, only a very meager quantity can be culled.9 The same, a fortiore, applies to Ibn Janà˙, who devoted to biblical Hebrew grammar a treatise of enormous size and exceptional quality, Sefer ha-Riqmah; the disparity, however, between the number of comparisons in this treatise (or, to be more precise, in the portion of the treatise known as Kitàb al-Tanqìh) and the total number of such comparisons appearing in his biblical lexicon Sefer HaShorashim, is indeed very considerable. A clear change of direction in this respect occurs only in the work of Ibn Barùn, this being one of the principal factors affording that grammarian his unique standing, among all the philologists of that time engaged in language comparison. This is not meant to imply that Alfàsi, Ibn Janà˙, and other grammarians lacked the capacity for abstraction required for grammatical comparisons. (It is obvious that the level of abstract analysis in grammatical comparisons is infinitely higher than the corresponding level of abstraction associated with lexical comparisons.)10 Comparisons of this type can be found, at least in limited number in their treatises, too. The inevitable conclusion is that these Hebrew grammarians devoted the cream of their scholarly endeavors to the aim that struck them as being of a concrete and practical nature, namely the explication of biblical entry words by means of language comparison. Their avoidance of recording comparisons for entry words that are etymologically equivalent but of no absolute semantic equivalence is probably due to their finding no value in theoretical linguistic discussions, insofar as these contributed little to their ultimate objective. This assumption could well provide good grounds for the style of the treatise now recognized as the pioneering work on the subject of comparative Semitic philology, namely the Risàla of Ibn Quraysh, i.e. that this work contains only a scant measure of grammatical comparisons, whereas its main contents comprise lexical comparisons only. Here is indeed further confirmation of Becker’s conclusion regarding the aim of the earlier portions of Risàla, which quantitatively constitute the substance of this treatise.
9 In the introduction to Alfàsi’s Language Comparison Theory (below, 9.1), a more or less exhaustive survey of these materials is presented. 10 See Maman, 1998.
CHAPTER SIX
LANGUAGE COMPARISON IN TREATISES TRANSLATED INTO HEBREW
The works dealt with in the present study that were initially compiled in Arabic were, in part, subsequently translated into Hebrew: The two major works of R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙, Kitàb al-Luma' and Kitàb al-"Ußùl (in practice, there are two parts of one large treatise called Kitàb al-Tanqì˙) were translated into Hebrew by R. Judah Ibn Tibbon. The Hebrew names of the two translations are, respectively, Sefer ha-Riqmah and Sefer ha-Shorashim. The minor works of Ibn Janà˙ were translated by several scholars: Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq was translated, as Sefer ha-Hassagah, by Obadiah ha-Sepharadi but has yet to be published.1 The several other translations, too, have also not yet been published.2 The grammatical treatises of R. Judah Ibn Bal'am, were likewise rendered into Hebrew, and the parts that survived have been published (Abramson 1975). The discussion that follows is principally founded on materials in Kitàb al-"Ußùl compared with the Hebrew rendering in Sefer haShorashim. In addition I used materials based on a comparison of Sefer HaHassagah with the original Mustal˙aq, together with the corresponding collation of versions in Ibn Bal'am’s works, original and translation, to check my findings. The issue to be discussed, then, might be formulated as follows: What was the fate of the comparisons in Kitàb al-"Ußùl when converted into Hebrew as Shorashim? In other words, how do the comparisons, relate to each other in the two forms of this work: the original and the Hebrew translation? Prima facie, a translation should reflect only what is contained in the original, no more and no less. In fact, however, this is not the case. There are occasional instances in which Ibn Tibbon adduces the comparison in the original verbatim but omits the Arabic example
1 The translation was edited by the late D. Téné and is now in press. See Bacher’s introduction to Shorashim, p. xxx; Téné, 1972, p. 1386, §4. 2 Téné, ibid. §§14.2; 14.4; 14.5; 56.1; 56.2.
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 139 either totally or partially. Sometimes he turns an implicit comparison into an explicit comparison, and sometimes he is liable to even add “comparisons” of his own solely on the basis of a non-cognate translation synonym (comparison category Ø > explicit comparison, below, 6.2). In yet other cases he fails to express an implicit comparison in the original because of his rendering the Arabic word by a Hebrew word cognate with the entry word (implicit comparison > Ø; below, 13.10). Rather than proceeding to enumerate the various alterations in detail, the motivation for intentional omissions and/or additions in relative to the Arabic source texts should first be ascertained. At first sight, intentional omission would appear to be the most applicable phenomenon. R. Judah Ibn Tibbon declared clearly and explicitly his reasons for translating Ibn Janà˙’s work: “. . . the exiled Jewish People in the Diaspora of France and of Greater Italy have no knowledge of the Arabic language; therefore, these works have become for them like “a sealed book”; their access to these works will be possible only after their having been rendered into the Holy Tongue” (Riqmah, p. 4). Furthermore, in his conclusion to Sefer HaShorashim (p. 550), he states that from the outset he omitted from the translation those occasional Arabic idiomatic phrases that the author had employed in certain places to illustrate some usage he was discussing, because the Jews of these local provinces could not appreciate them and their inclusion would thus be of no value. R. Judah implies that the French Jews, as also the Italian (lit: those of the Land of Edom), do not know Arabic, from which it follows that the language comparisons would be superfluous for them. But this explanation, by itself, falls short of explaining the plethora of changes in Ibn Tibbon’s rendering; for it cannot be said that he systematically and entirely omitted the language comparisons. On the contrary, he often leaves the comparison untouched. What is more, in not a few instances Ibn Tibbon himself includes a comparison where Ibn Janà˙ had not recorded any! How are we to accommodate such an unsystematic approach, one that allows sometimes for omissions and sometimes for additions? Several scholars have drawn attention to this phenomenon but have failed to treat it exhaustively; they have neither explained this matter thoroughly nor added any essential rationale beyond Ibn Tibbon’s own express argumentations. Kokowtzow (1916, Part 3, pp. 204–15) dwelled on the omission of Arabic material in the Hebrew rendering of R. Judah Ibn Bal'am’s grammatical treatises, without, however, taking note of how the language comparisons had
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thereby been especially affected. Kokowtzow (ibid., p. 209) even attributed the omissions to “insufficient care and attention of the translator”; but the example put forward by Kokowtzow to substantiate his case, the entry lglg from the Tajnìs, belongs in fact to a well-defined class of omissions, namely “non-explicit comparison > Ø,” for which other grounds exist. Abramson (1975) in his footnotes made mention of the translator’s omissions in the wider frame, not specifically those omissions of phrases, constituting language comparison. An example of such is entry πrj (p. 41), defined by Ibn Bal'am as atçla, this definition/comparison having been omitted by the translator. Abramson remarks: “In the original there appears an Arabic interpretation of the word.” At entry hrwbd (p. 37, n. 2) Abramson refers the reader to the textual discrepancies between "Ußùl and Shorashim, suggesting tentatively that this “might be an addition in "Ußùl.” In fact, however, this discrepancy represents nothing but an omission in the Shorashim.. Becker, too, (1984, p. 36, n. 20), pointed out some implicit comparisons in the "Ußùl that Ibn Tibbon himself had reverted to explicit comparisons but failed to elaborate on the issue. In contrast, Bacher’s categorical statement (introduction to Shorashim, p. xxxviii): “However, the explication of the Arabic words appearing in Shorashim was entirely omitted by Ibn Tibbon . . .” is exaggerated and untenable.
6.1
Omissions of explicit comparisons
Ibn Tibbon ignores inner Arabic discussions on grammatical or semantic topics, due to these having no direct relevance for the meaning of the Hebrew entry word. For example, Ibn Janà˙ draws a parallel between hydwdg (Ps. 65:11) and hymlt (ibid.) on the basis of an explicit comparison with the Arabic cognate dyadùg. He states, additionally, that the given sense of μydwdg is metaphorical, its fundamental sense being çwmùkw çwdùk (scratches; incisions). This is followed by a lengthy discourse on the inner Arabic morphology of çwmùk and on the metaphorical usages of the Arabic expressions adduced. This inner Arabic discussion was entirely ignored by Ibn Tibbon. Similarly, at dyt[ (p. 555), Ibn Janà˙ renders μydwt[ by ˆad[; he goes on to explain why he adopted that specific Arabic form rather than ˆadt[ (he preferred the form in which assimilation of t to d occurred, this being the form that Arab grammarians
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 141 treated as the normative one). This discussion thus relates to the inner Arabic technicality regarding translation of a word and has virtually no bearing on the interpretation of the form or the substance of the entry word. Ibn Tibbon therefore passed over this in his translation. Moreover, Ibn Tibbon, could well have grounded his decision to omit it on Ibn Janà˙’s own didactic comment: txùkl amnaw yl μzal ryg ˆak ˆaw aùdh lk (I elucidated all this, although I was not under any obligation to do so). Apparently, Ibn Janà˙ was referring to simple Hebrew lexicographical needs. It can also be shown that in those places where Ibn Janà˙ recorded a comparison with Rab. Heb. apart from the comparison with Arabic, Ibn Tibbon felt justified in ignoring the Arabic comparison. “Double comparisons” of this type are to be found in the following entries: zwga (p. 19/p. 12), twrwkbμyrwkb (p. 92/p. 64), ddg-dwg (p. 127/p. 87), lglg-llg (p. 134/p. 92), πrg (p. 146/p. 100), (˚çar-)tld (p. 159/p. 109), tywz (p. 189/p. 128), μtbnzw (p. 198/p. 134), çwbj (p. 210/p. 142), ≈yljy (p. 230/p. 157), ˆnj (p. 237/p. 162), lgrj (p. 258/p. 176), bçj (p. 253/p. 173), rzmm (p. 369/p. 257), rwçm (p. 748/p. 534), hgws (p. 476/p. 334), whqz[yw (p. 516/p. 363), wytwçyf[ (p. 518/p. 365), htmxp (p. 579/p. 407), lytp-ltltp (p. 594/p. 418), [bx (p. 599/p. 422), lylx (p. 609/ p. 429), twlybqm (p. 624/p. 439), ≈pq (p. 640/p. 450), harm (p. 655/p. 462), μysysr (p. 682/p. 482), ttr (p. 690/p. 488), htylç (p. 724/p. 516), hymlt (p. 762/p. 543). Examples of entries from which Ibn Tibbon omitted the larger part of the discussion concerning (a) the definiens and/or (b) the Arabic instances adduced by Ibn Janà˙. In his translation of the entry tjn (p. 429/p. 301) Ibn Tibbon passes over the following paragraph, leaving it untranslated: rùtk aùda hrùgçla tlzna laqyw .hwmnw htdayz ya [rzy am [yr wh . . . lznlaw yp ˆatglla tqpta dqw alkla hrytùkla hlznla ù≈ralaw ahrmùt ya ahlzn .lwznla yp ˆyn[mla ˆyùdh [amtùga Here, we are faced not merely with the oversight of one isolated word or a single phrase; this is an intentional passing-over of a full-length paragraph, a conspicuous and prominent omission. What is even more interesting, this is an omission practice characteristic of Ibn Tibbon’s translation method. For in fact Ibn Janà˙ in this paragraph defines the signifié of lzn, this being a non-cognate translation synonym set in one-to-one correspondence with the entry word, following
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which, he illustrates the inner Arabic usage of this non-cognate. These are the two aspects (each of which involves pure inner Arabic analysis) generally omitted in Ibn Tibbon’s rendering. In the example cited here, the translator also omitted the comparative semantic remark made by Ibn Janà˙. All these elements were considered by Ibn Tibbon non-essential for the Hebrew reader. Omissions and abridgments of this nature are encountered in the rendering of the following entries: [dg (p. 124/p. 85), rçj (p. 255/p. 174), lf (p. 263/ p. 180), jql (p. 357/p. 249), çql (p. 359/p. 250), ddm (p. 364/p. 254), rxm (p. 390/p. 272), ljn (p. 424/p. 297), tjn (p. 429/p. 301), tw[ (p. 514/p. 362), rap-hrap (p. 560/p. 394), axax (p. 621/p. 438), ˆwyx (p. 607/p. 428), [rq (p. 649/p. 457), ˆgr (p. 665/p. 469), ç[r (p. 684/p. 483), rkç (p. 701/p. 496), rwç (p. 711/p. 505), rkç (p. 723/p. 515), llç (p. 724/p. 515), ˆpç (p. 740/p. 529). The comparison type most affected by translation omissions was the implicit comparison category, from which Ibn Tibbon excluded 258 comparisons, no matter whether the Arab. cognate was the sole definiens or a definiens jointly with one or more non-cognate translation synonyms. In each entry of this category Ibn Tibbon, when he did not curtail the translation entirely,3 translated the synonyms that were non-cognate either entirely or partially, while omitting the translation of the cognate synonyms. Here Bacher is mistaken when he states (introduction to Shorashim, p. 39, n. 1) that Ibn Tibbon translated all the definientia, as including the cognate translation synonyms, through one Heb. definiens. This is saliently clear at those entries where Ibn Tibbon introduces the definition with the Heb. rmwlk, this being the rendering for (Arab.) ya (= the word employed in the original for commencing the explication for the cognate, not 3 On occasion, of course, Ibn Tibbon does translate the cognate by a synonym for the entry word, thus fulfilling his translation duty in toto; this however does not prevent the elimination of the implicit comparison that existed for the cognate, for example, . . . ahn[ ùtjbw . . . rwmala ˆzw ,rqjw ˆza (p. 31) that Ibn Tibbbon, in Shorashim (p. 19), renders: . . . μhyl[ rqjw μynyyn[h lqç. For further instances see also dja (p. 33/p. 21), ddwmth (p. 364/p. 254), and jxp (p. 579/p. 407). At times, the translator omitted to translate the definition in its entirety, e.g.: rskb ˆrala yp l[ùgw ˆwrab μçyyw . . . hyp ˆpdy twbat whw hzmhla ("Ußùl, p. 68). Of all this text, Ibn Tibbon here retains merely ˆwrab μçyyw and omits all the rest (Shorashim, p. 47). See similarly [lb (p. 96/ p. 66), ˆpg (p. 143/p. 98), μ[f (p. 265/p. 182) as well as some other entries at which, instead of translating the definition, Ibn Tibbon states simply [wdy (wellknown), e.g., ˚jl (p. 351/p. 244), sm (p. 382/p. 266), and jxm (p. 390/p. 272). R. Nathan b. Je˙iel, too, omitted the Arabic from his quotations from Perush haGe"onim (see Epstein, 1982, p. 13).
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 143 for directly linking the entry word with the non-cognate). Ibn Tibbon retained this word, though he omitted the rendering of the cognate. Examples follow: Original: qlùkla [ymùg ya rçbla [ymùg—rçb (p. 116) Translation: rxwn lk rmwlk— rçb (p. 80) Original: μklùga ˆm ya μklalùg ˆm—μkllgb (p. 135) Translation: μkrwb[b rmwlk— μkllgb (p. 93) Original: ˆyrskt ya ˆymrùgt—ymrgt (p. 145) Translation: yrbçt rmwlk— ymrgt (p. 100)
Likewise at entries πrg (p. 146/p. 100), μhdn (p. 153/p. 106), bnz (p. 198/p. 134), rdj (p. 212/p. 144), and many others. But the omission is evident even when ya does not appear between cognate and non-cognate, e.g.: Original dargla ˆm πnx whw lùgrjla—lgrjh (p. 258) Translation: hbra ˆm ˆym— lgrjh (p. 176)
and especially at those entries where the definition is set up in a way such that the non-cognate precedes the cognate, as: Original: hbq[law r[wla b[xla—rwçtnk bq[h (p. 543) Translation: —wb twl[l hçqh—rwçyml bq[h (p. 382)
and likewise μyçar (p. 658/p. 464) , etc. Ibn Tibbon’s “omission policy” at times even went to the extreme of dispensing entirely with the definiens and merely entering, the remark [wdy (well-known) (this being equivalent to the remark πwr[m used by Ibn Janà˙ himself at some entries), e.g.: Original: [arùd—hywfn [wrzb (p. 203) Translation: [wdy—hywfn [wrzb (p. 138) Original: rmnla—rmn (p. 437) Translation: [wdy—rmn (p. 306)
Likewise the entries ˚ry (p. 297/p. 205), ˆpç (p. 740/p. 529), and ˚jl (p. 351/p. 244) (at the latter entries no cognate translation synonym appears as definiens). This translator’s practice of elimination is adopted even at such entries as ˆxj (p. 244/p. 166), where it is extremely doubtful that the sense of the entry word could reasonably be called [wdy: in this instance, this word appears altogether only 3 times in the Bible and Ibn Janà˙ took the trouble to define it clearly through its cognate equivalent in Arabic. In the translations
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of Ibn Bal'am’s treatises also (Abramson, 1975, p. 109) one encounters [wdy in lieu of the definiens occurring in the Arabic original (e.g.: [wdy . . . awh/hraçala πrj . . . awh). In 28 entries Ibn Tibbon dispensed with the definiens, this being the only translation synonym, indeed a cognate, proposed by Ibn Janà˙; he records no substitute for what he has eliminated and thus leaves the entry word without any definition. The entries are: zwga, ˆwra, ≈ra, rab, qwb, [lb, lxb, rb, hkreb, hnbg, ldgm, ˆpg, brg, yld, baz, bwbz, [wrz, ˚j, ˆxj, ˚ry, syk, hjm, jwlm, ˆwmr, [wbç, [bç, lkç, hqç.4 As far as some of these entries are concerned, it can be argued that the entry words are indeed “well known” and in no need of definition. This, however, cannot be maintained for such rare entry words as qwb, hnbg, brg, and ˆxj. To ascertain the reason for the omission of these four, let us attempt to determine the several possibilities that were open to Ibn Tibbon when faced with the task of translating these and similar definitions. In theory, he could have (a) reverted the implicit comparisons to explicit comparisons or (b) disregarded the cognate translation synonym entirely and ipso facto the implicit comparison (in a similar fashion to that of the above-mentioned instances) or (c) chosen to be meticulously faithful to his original, such that the result would be a tautological definition. To illustrate: in a good many entries in the "Ußùl, no description or definition is given for the referent of the entry word; an Arabic translation appears and nothing more. When Ibn Tibbon set about providing a Hebrew rendering for the given Arabic definiens, he was faced with a dilemma that might be defined as either a technical problem or an essential quandary. If he rendered in accord with the “equation” appearing in the original, namely by the translation synonymity of definitum and definiens, he would find he had arrived back at the entry word itself and was therefore recording a tautological and thus lexicographically worthless definition. For example, in "Ußùl, Ibn Janà˙ defines the entry word hpna: agbbla-hpnahw (p. 59). This definition implies that hpna and agbb are one and the same, because the
4 Entries that for some reason were ignored entirely in Shorashim have been excluded from this list, such as hrf (p. 183), llj (p. 154; the section relating to al wrbd ljy; Num. 30:3), rçb (sense hrwçb, p. 80), twynj (hnj, p. 162), bbl (p. 238). Regarding the omission of entire entries in the Rome MS of Shorashim versus the el-Escorial MS, see Bacher’s introduction to Shorashim, p. 37 and n. 7.
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 145 definition proposed by the author (or by the source from which he had drawn) presupposes identity of the referents designated by these two signifiants, the former being in fact translated by the latter. On the principle of reversibility of an equation, the latter signifiant could likewise be translated by the former. In other words: if hpna equals agbb, then agbb equals hpna. Hence, when Ibn Tibbon set about rendering this definiens, he had, technically, the option of translating such that Ibn Janà˙’s text quote would appear in Hebrew hpnahw hpnah ayh: the first hpna standing for the entry word and the second as the translation word for agbb. If he were to leave this tautological rendering as it stood, he would have achieved nothing; even though he would have fulfilled his duty as translator, for the reader, at any rate, he would certainly have achieved nothing. This very option of tautological definition is indeed adopted by Ibn Tibbon, but not surprisingly, for only on extremely rare occasions. From the viewpoint of the lexicologist, the absurdity of such a formulation is quite obvious. One such instance is entry [qp ("Ußùl, p. 583)/Shorashim (p. 409): Original: rfpla yn[a [qpla yh . . . hdç tw[wqp (2 Kings 4:39) Transl. tw[wqph μh hdç tw[wqp
Further instances: ˆafls . . . ˆwflç (p. 727)/twnflç ˆwflç (p. 518); jtpùù ù jtphw hjytp lkh ˆyn[w . . . (p. 594/p. 418); likewise, at entries rdg (p. 125/p. 86), r[r[ (p. 557/p. 392), rqb (p. 106/p. 73), μae (p. 37), drb (p. 77), tywz (p. 128), dy (p. 188), ≈m (p. 260), y[m (p. 267), hçn (p. 325), awçq (p. 458), yçm (p. 275), μylbç (p. 494), rkç (p. 514). At the following entries, the tautology is somewhat “attenuated” by the fact that, together with the tautological definiens, an additional (non-cognate) definiens is encountered: μtpfjw (p. 221/p. 150), (wyny[w) hmq (p. 630/p. 444), [wn (p. 417/p. 293), πljw (≈yxy) (p. 229/p. 156). Thus we see the employment of two of the three possibilities. The third option, reversion of implicit comparison to explicit comparison, is also fairly frequent; it is adopted in a total of 34 instances (for details, see below 13.11, “Implicit comparisons—cognates in "Ußùl, /explicit comparisons in Shorashim”). An example is in p. 66/p. 45: tarqnh ayh . . . ’wkw h[pa/a[pala yh . . . (Isa. 30:6) πpw[m πrçw h[pa • a[pa ybr[b Ibn Tibbon’s treatment of implicit comparisons leads one to conclude that he omitted the large majority of instances in this category.
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It is worthwhile comparing Ibn Tibbon’s practice with that of Obadiah the Spaniard in his rendering of Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq (Sefer haHassagah) in the isolated instances where Ibn Janà˙ had adopted the choice of the implicit comparison. 6.1.1
Implicit comparisons—cognates in R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙’s Opuscules
All the following comparisons appear in Mustal˙aq; of these one comparison alone appears also in Kitàb al-Taswi"a. • (lly) llwt/lyla (Mustal˙aq, p. 240), πk/πk (ibid., p. 149), jx/jùx = smç (ibid., p. 210), lyla/ˆynf-lylx (ibid., p. 211; Kitàb al-Taswi"a, p. 377), llx/ˆ[ smçla tlaz lùf (Mustal˙aq, p. 213). The translator of Mustal˙aq into Hebrew (as Sefer haHassagah),5 namely Obadiah ha-Sepharadi, in the above sporadic instances of implicit comparison, cognate translation synonym—proceeded according to the same method as that used by Ibn Tibbon in the vast majority of comparisons of this type in "Ußùl, i.e. the omission of the comparison. The student reading Sefer haHassagah could have no inkling of the fact that Ibn Janà˙ employed implicit comparison in these instances. If numerous additional implicit comparisons were encountered in the Mustal˙aq, the Hebrew translation might perhaps have revealed a variety of additional solutions for the problem of comparisons with Arabic, of a similar nature to those attested in the renderings of Ibn Tibbon. Moreover, it is probable that the solution resorted to in Hassagah is, practically, the most “natural” one in the socio-linguistic environment in which the translation was undertaken (i.e. the requirements of the Hebrew reader, the potential options available to the translator, the text materials standing to be translated, etc.). It is therefore not at all surprising that the above-mentioned resolution is indeed the one most frequently employed by Ibn Tibbon in the Shorashim for the category implicit comparison—cognate translation synonym An instance of original text v. translation. (Mustal˙aq v. Hassagah) follows:
5 The relevant material has been checked against MS Rome, Casanatenza 3132 (202,2), a photograph of which is available at the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew MSS at the National and University Library in Jerusalem; the reel number is F 80, P 3350. The page numbers designate the numbering in the MS itself. In F 80 Sefer HaHassagah commences on page 101 (= p. 182).
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 147 Original: lylx hnhw [wnla aùdh ˆmw . . . llx ( Judg. 7:13) ˆynf whw lylx hryμptw (Mustal˙aq, p. 211) Translation: . . . ˆwaç lwq wçwrypw μyrw[ç μjl lylx ˆyyn[hw ˆymh hzmw . . . llx (Hassagah, p. 165, col. ii)
The implicit comparison lylx/lylx in the original has been entirely lost in the translation lylx/ˆwaç lwq. This was also the fate of the comparisons in the rest of the entries, similarly rendered by Obadiah.6 These are anlyla/wntyykbw wntlly, πk/πk (Hassagah, p. 146, col. i), lùfa/lxh hç[n (Hassagah, p. 165, col. ii et seq.). It has been demonstrated, then, that in a minority of cases of implicit comparison: cognate translation synonym, i.e. in about 20 instances, Ibn Tibbon adopts a rendition of the cognate translation synonym, thus reaching a tautological definition. In a total of 34 cases, these constituting a group of notable size, Ibn Tibbon changes the implicit comparison into an explicit one. However, in a clear majority of cases, amounting to 258, he omits entirely the cognate translation synonym as well as the implicit comparison. In fact in certain instances of explicit comparison: cognate translation synonym, too, he practises omission. The latter method at least can be said to faithfully reflect the approach he outlined in the epilogue to his translation of "Ußùl. These data give rise to the following baffling question: if the omission method of cognate translation synonym was adopted in so many instances of implicit comparison—cognate translation synonym, for what reason did the translator leave intact non-cognate Arabic translation synonyms and in some cases even provide these with a semblance of comparison (such as the common comparison terminology)? Bacher discusses those comparisons not omitted by Ibn Tibbon and proposes the following argument: “There still remained several members of the Jewish community in southern France for whom Shorashim was prepared (lit: translated), who had an understanding of the Arabic language and who appreciated its linguistic elegance. For this reason, R. Judah Ibn Tibbon left intact the majority of the materials by which R. Jonah had demonstrated the similarity of Biblical language and Arabic” (introduction to Shorashim, p. 38). However, this argument,
6 In the translation of entry jx (Hassagah, p. 165, col. i) it is probable that the copyist committed an unintentional omission due to homoioteleuton, between l[ and yl[; the text reads: . . . wjwxjxw wtwnblw wtwryhb μç (l[ . . . y)l[ jx μtk wnmmw. Thus the rendering of the word jx in the original has been overlooked.
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apart from its insufficiency, does not mitigate the aforementioned problem. Whichever way one analyzes the issue, the problem remains: If Ibn Tibbon had in mind the interests of those “who had an understanding of Arabic,” why did he not leave intact in Shorashim the Arabic materials pertinent to language comparison (including the inner Arabic discussions)? On the other hand, if what is correct is the admission that “he had omitted the Arabic materials, since the local residents of this country do not understand it and thus the materials would serve no purpose for them” (Shorashim, p. 550), why did he retain a number of comparisons with Arabic and even subjoin several “comparisons” (non-cognate translation synonym) that Ibn Janà˙ never intended to adduce?! An inspection of the “comparisons” (non-cognate translation synonym) initiated by Ibn Tibbon shows that these comprise terms of realia: A classified enumeration of all the instances, according to their semantic fields, follows.
6.2
“Zero” in "Ußùl > “comparison” in Shorashim
Below are recorded all the places in Shorashim where Ibn Tibbon on his own initiative subjoined a gloss ybr[ ˆwçlb (= in the Arabic language) or some similar phrase, though Ibn Janà˙ in "Ußùl 7 had merely rendered the entry word by a non-cognate translation synonym. The list of locations is classified according to the pertinence of the respective entry to one of several semantic fields (all location references in parentheses are to the Shorashim):
7 In his introduction to Shorashim (p. xxxix, n. 4), Bacher made note of a certain number of these subjoined notations; nevertheless, in Index 10 (ibid., pp. 566–67), a good number of appropriate entries have been unintentionally omitted e.g. p. 3716, p. 409, p. 5117, p. 15528, p. 16022, p. 1612, p. 2164,5, p. 22521, p. 2396, p. 2408,10, p. 2417, p. 26026, etc. On the other hand, some references are redundant, e.g., p. 349, p. 6932, p. 15930, p. 21611, etc. Even more surprisingly, Bacher further recorded in his Index certain materials that are in fact nothing but his own “addenda and corrigenda” in Shorashim according to "Ußùl (I am referring to notations/statements that Ibn Tibbon had himself passed over, such as, p. 4011, p. 1171, etc. For this reason, I was not able to rely on Bacher’s Index; I assembled and collated the materials on the basis of a systematic comparison of "Ußùl and Shorashim.
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 149 Semantic Area: Fauna • hpna (Deut. 14:18)/agbb (p. 40); hn[y tb (Lev. 11:16)/μa[n (hnb, p. 68); rmz (Deut. 14:8)/hparz (p. 134); bgj (Lev. 11:22)/bdnùg (p. 142); fmj (Lev. 11:30)/abrj (p. 159); smjt (Lev. 11:16)/πafùk (p. 160); hdysj (Lev. 11:19)/rqx (p. 163); jk (ibid. ib. 30)/ˆwdrj (p. 214); swk (ibid., 17)/μwb (p. 215); ˆtywl (Isa. 27:1)/rhzwùg (p. 242); hafl (Lev. 11:30)/hyaùf[ (p. 245); tmçnt (ibid. 11:18)/ˆyhaç, ;qynadws tmçnt (ibid., 11:30)/≈rba μas (p. 325); rwg[ ( Jer. 8:7)/πafùk (p. 354); πlf[ (ibid., 11:19)/çapùk (p. 391); çybk[ (Isa. 59:5)/bkn[ (p. 392); bwçk[ (Ps. 140:4)/hlytr (p. 392); h[pa (Isa. 30:6)/ˆww[pa (p. 405); srp (Lev. 11:13)/baq[ (p. 413; πwq (1 Kings 10:22)/drq (p. 444); bfq (Deut. 32:24)/πtj (p. 446); zwpq (Isa. 34:15)/çapùk, πafùk 8(p. 451); arwq ( Jer. 17:11)/lùgj (p. 455); har (Deut. 14:13)/jraùg (p. 463); lwlbç (Ps. 58:9)/ˆwzlj (p. 494); πjç/πas (p. 507); ˚lç/ùgmwz (p. 516); tymmç (Prov. 30:28)/πafùk (p. 521: Ibn Tibbon overlooked the additional rendering recorded by Ibn Janà˙, i.e. hwnwns); μynç (Isa. 1:18)/zmrq (p. 734/p. 524); çjt (Num. 4:10)/çrad (p. 542); ynç t[lwt (Exod. 28:10)/zmrq (p. 544). Semantic Area: Flora • byba (Lev. 2:14)/˚yrp (p. 9); μylha (Num. 24:6)/ldnx (p. 15); bwza (Exod. 12:22)/rt[x p. 19); dfa (Gen. 50:10)/ùgsw[ (p. 23); μymwgla (2 Chron. 9:10)/ˆaùgrm; μqb (p. 240); çwab (Isa. 5:2)/ˆawz (p. 55); amg (Exod. 2,3)/ydrb (p. 95); rpg (Gen. 6:14)/raçmç (p. 98); μyadwd (Cant. 7:14)/japl (p. 106); hnblj (Exod. 30:34)/ynbl (p. 277/p. 154); lwrj/πçrj (Append., p. 344); μkrk (Cant. 4:10)/ˆarp[z (p. 234); lmrk (Lev. 23:14)/˚yrp (p. 234); zwl (Gen. 30:37)/rwj (p. 243); fl (Gen. 43:11)/fwlb haç, rbwnx (p. 243); hn[l ( Jer, 9:14)/μql[ (p. 247); μylwlhn (Isa. 7:19)/twbny (p. 289); dprs (Isa. 55:13)/saws (p. 348); tw[wqp (hdç: 2R 4:39)/lùfnj (p. 409); ˆwyqyq ( Jon. 4:6)/[wrùk (p. 447); çwmq (Isa. 34:13)/ù≈yrq (p. 449); jxq (Isa. 28:25)/zynwç (p. 453); tyç (Isa. 5:6)/μwxyq (p. 510); rymç (Isa. 32:13)/˚sj (p. 524); hmqç (Am. 7:14)/zymùg (p. 533); hzrt (Isa. 44:14)/rbwnx (p. 549).
8 In the Arabic original as well as in the Hebrew rendering according to Cod. Vatican, the reading is çapùk; the version πafùk appears only as the Hebrew rendering in Cod. El-Escorial. See the remarks of Neubauer ("Ußùl, p. 640) and Bacher (Shorashim, p. 451).
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Names of Gems and Colors • μda (Exod. 28:17)/rmja twqay (p. 21/p. 13); fhb (Esther 1:7)/fnlb (p. 84/p. 58); jldb (Num. 11:7)/wlwl (p. 118/p. 81): μlhy (Exod. 28:18)/ùgzwryp (p. 176/p. 120); hmlja (ibid., 28:19/ˆamrhb 9(p. 228/ p. 155); qrqry/rpxa (p. 298/p. 205); dkdk (Isa. 54:14)/dnkrk (p. 336/ p. 234 (?)); μçl (Exod. 28:19)/[zùg (p. 359/p. 250); ˚pn (ibid., 28:18)/twqay rwjç (p. 443/p. 311); trjs (Esther 1:6)/aspysp (p. 479/p. 337); ryps (Exod. 28:19)/ahm (p. 492/p. 346); hdfp (ibid. 17)/drmz (p. 570/ p. 400); μynynp (Prov. 20:15)/twqay (p. 575/p. 404); twmar (Ezek. 27:16)/ˆaùgrm (p. 672/p. 474); wbç (Exod. 28:19)/ùgbs (p. 697/p. 493); rymç (Ez. 3:9)/sam (p. 733/p. 524). Names of Items of Clothing and Ornaments • twxljm (Zach 3:4)/llj (p. 230/p. 156); μyxlj (Num. 31:3)/μyzayj (p. 230/p. 156); yrj/hyqbyd (p. 217/p. 147); μyfyrj (Isa. 3:22)/ldanm (p. 247/p. 169); bçj (Exod. 28:8)/ùgçpç (p. 253/p. 173); ˆçj (Exod. 25:7)/hndb (p. 254/p. 174); t[bf (ibid., 28:12)/hqlj (p. 259/p. 177); twptk (Exod. 28:7)/bwyùg (p. 335/p. 233); μyçjl (Isa. 3:20)/ùglamd (p. 352/p. 245); ly[m (Exod. 28:4)/rfmm (p. 385/p. 268); tkrp (Exod. 26:33)/πùgs (p. 587/p. 412); lygytp (Isa. 3:24)/hlalyg (p. 596/p. 420); ≈yx (Exod. 39:30)/hbax[ (p. 608/p. 428); πy[x (Gen. 38:14)/[anq (p. 615/p. 434); sybç (Isa. 3:18)/lyùkalùk (p. 699/p. 494); drç (Exod. 31:10)/yçw (p. 749/p. 535). Names of Personal Washing Requisites and Perfumes • tyr Ob ( Jer. 2:22)/ˆançwa (p. 107/p. 74); rwm (Exod. 30:23)/˚sm (p. 368/p. 256); πfn (Exod. 30:16)/yktsm—qytçm (p. 431/p. 302); πfn/˚rwfsa (ibid.); rtn ( Jer. 2:22)/ˆwrfn—bç—lpf (p. 470/p. 330); ˚wp (2 Kings 9:30)/dmùta (p. 565/p. 397); tljç/ˆdal (Exod. 30:34; μs, p. 485/p. 340); (μçb) hnq/hryrùdla bxq (Exod. 30:23; p. 678/ p. 450); h[yxq/rbn[ (p. 642/p. 453). Names of Sundry Substances • rmje (Exod. 2:3)/rpq (p. 235/p. 160); rwpk (Ps. 147:16)/qmd (p. 330/p. 228); ˆç (1R 10:18)/ùga[ (p. 734/p. 524).
9
In Shorashim, the reading is ˆmhrb; this needs to be emended accordingly.
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 151 Names of Vessels and Utensils • lfrga (Ezra 1:9)/lfs, lyk (p. 78/p. 53); ja ( Jer. 36:22)/ˆwnak (p. 32/ p. 20); hpya (Deut. 25:14)/hbyw (p. 40/p. 25); lBeji (Prov. 23:34)/hyms (p. 207/p. 140); hkj (Isa. 19:8)/hranx (p. 224/p. 152); rwk (Deut. 4:26)/ hfwb (p. 312/p. 216); rwyk/ù≈wj (p. 319/p. 221); bwlk/≈pq (p. 320/ p. 222); sypk (Hab. 2:11)/rùga (p. 329/p. 228); bkrk (Exod. 27:5)/ bùgrç10 (p. 337/p. 234); bhl (1 Sam. 17:7)/ˆans (p. 346/p. 240); has/lyk (2 Kings 4:1; p. 471/p. 331); hrjs (Ps. 91:4)/aqrd (p. 479/p. 337); dx[m/sap (p. 541/p. 380); ˚lp (Prov. 31:19)/lzgm (p. 574/p. 403); slp (Isa. 40:12)/ˆapq (ibid.); bx (Isa. 66:20)/lmjm (p. 597/p. 421); [wx[x (2 Chron. 3:10)/frùk (p. 621/p. 438); (˚)tp;x] (≈ra) (Ezek. 32:6)/hma[ (p. 617/p. 435); fhr (Gen. 30:38)/ù≈wj (p. 669/p. 471); trçm (2 Sam. 13:19)/ˆùgaf (p. 752/p. 537). Names of Musical Instruments • lylj (Isa. 5:12)/yan (p. 224/p. 153); bgw[ (Ps. 150:4)/ratyq (p. 502/ p. 353); μyxlx (ibid. ib. 5)/ˆytqpxm (p. 609/p. 429). Names of Illnesses • hpkn (BT Pesachim, 112b)/[wrxm (p. 329/p. 228); μyrwjf (Deut. 28:27)/rysawb (p. 262/p. 179); tlby (Lev. 22:22)/lylawùt (lwlaùt) (p. 273/p. 187); tply (ibid.)/abwq (p. 284/p. 196). Names of Zodiacal Signs • hmyk ( Job 9:9)/ayyrwùt (p. 319/p. 221); lysk (ibid.)/lyhs (p. 327/ p. 226). Miscellaneous Words • rj'a' (Gen. 15:1)/μùt (p. 35/p. 22); tyrja (Eccles. 7:8)/rùka (ibid.); yai (Isa. 11:11)/hryzùg (p. 37/p. 24); qna (Ezek. 24:17)/qyhç (p. 59/ p. 40); lb/al, am (p. 93/p. 64); tçbd/μans (p. 152/p. 105); ywjfm (Gen. 21:16)/hwlg (p. 262/p. 179); ˆwwy (Ps. 69:3)/bljf (p. 279/ p. 192); [yxy/ˆçwr (p. 291/p. 201); alh ( Job 4:6)/ala (alh) (p. 347/ p. 241); çfl (Gen. 4:22)/lqyx (p. 352/p. 245); twndgm (Gen. 24:53)/
10 In these entries another comparison occurs; this comparison, however, has no relevance here, because in the original text of Ibn Janà˙ it appears explicitly by a term spelling out dialectological differences in Arabic despite the absence of the word ybr[ itself.
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πyarf (p. 362/p. 253); lbn (Prov. 36:32)/fjna, ˆwh (p. 402/p. 281); çjn/rùgz (p. 428/p. 300); hx,[; (Lev. 3:9)/≈[x[ (p. 541/p. 380); h[x/gùxgùx11 (p. 615/p. 434); tyjypx (Exod. 16:31)/πyafq (p. 617/ p. 436); gçgç (Isa. 17:11)/[s[s12 (p. 754/p. 539); lwkça (Cant. 7:9)/dwqn[ (p. 720/p. 512); hmx (Cant. 4:1)/baqn (p. 612/p. 431); ˆwmra ( Jer. 30:18)/rxq (p. 672/p. 474); twpç (rqb-; 2S 17:29)/abl (p. 738/ p. 527). At one specific entry, rçç, which also pertains to the semantic area of colors, Ibn Janà˙ considered it sufficient to define by the Targ. Aram. non-cognate translation synonym of the entry word, i.e. ˆmms, whereas Ibn Tibbon further subjoined an Arabic non-cognate definiens, namely rypùgnz (p. 693/p. 490). For the above-mentioned additional comparisons of Ibn Tibbon several explanations can be proposed: (1) Ibn Tibbon desired in these instances to adhere faithfully to the original text, for on the one hand an exclusion of material would certainly do an injustice to the original, whereas on the other hand a straightforward translation would create tautology. It is tenable to suppose that the translator was thus forced to retain the Arabic word occurring in the original and serving as an “inevitable” definiens. The dilemma facing Ibn Tibbon is a general problem faced by any scholar proposing to translate a bilingual lexicon into a unilingual lexicon written in the same language as that of the entry words of the original, bilingual, lexicon. The production of any such translation would necessarily be hampered by the same problem as that faced by Ibn Tibbon. (2) With regard to a restricted sector of words, it may be plausible to posit that considering that these are terms of realia, they were well known to the ( Jewish) readers or speakers of medieval Provençal, French, Spanish, or Italian, referred to by Ibn Tibbon as twlg ynb μwda ≈ra lwbg lkbw tprxb rça hzh ljh (the exiled Jewish people in the diaspora of France and of Greater Italy [lit: Edom]). It is well known that certain Arabic terms—those for fragrant spices, for gems and charms, for musical instruments—as well as nomenclature in the
11 In the Hebrew edition of Shorashim, there appears in this entry a fairly extensive insertion; no note of such was made by Bacher nor by Neubauer. 12 At entry gyç (p. 717/p. 510), Ibn Tibbon, additionally, subjoins an extensive note.
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 153 area of astronomy penetrated these languages in the Middle Ages due to the contact with Arabic culture, whether the mundane culture of voyagers and merchants or the humanitarian culture of scientific literature (alchemy, medicine, philosophy, mathematics, etc.) A certain proportion of these Arabic words corresponds to Arabic or “foreign words” (la'az glosses) encountered in R. David Qim˙i’s Sefer Shorashim. Qim˙i’s la'az glosses fit Provençal well, this being also the language intended by Ibn Tibbon in his la'az glosses. It remains an open question what provoked Qim˙i to provide the Arabic name for sundry concepts in his lexicon.13 At any rate, several words in the aforementioned listings denoted by Ibn Tibbon as Arabic words are recorded by Qim˙i as la'az glosses, e.g. rwm/çùùwqçwm; ynç t[lwtw μynç/zymrq; fmwj/abrj (see editors’ notes). It follows that these words were indeed loan words in Provençal. Elsewhere Qim˙i adduces the word as Arabic, however, his phraseology implies that the word was intelligible to non-Arabic speakers, e.g. μkrk/ˆarp[z; rmz/hparwz; μylha/ldnx. As for such words as jwk/ˆwdrj; srp/baq[; fhb/fnlb; hdfp/drmz, etc., it cannot be ascertained whether Qim˙i intended to imply that the words were borrowed into Provençal or merely that they were Arabic words intelligible to Provençal speakers. It is thus very plausible that the given words, entered alike by R. Judah ibn Tibbon and by R. David Qim˙i in the body of their Hebrew texts, were known to speakers of Provençal, owing to the intercultural contact mentioned earlier. If it is permissible to suppose that words well known to Provençal speakers might very likely have been intelligible to the residents of the neighboring country further north, i.e. to French speakers, we would have available an additional parameter for proposing a resolution of the present issue. P. Guiraud (1971, pp. 9–23), in his work on foreign words in French, enumerates some 270 Arabic words that had permeated into French between 1100 and 1850 C.E.; two-thirds of these had already been absorbed by the sixteenth century. Guiraud
13 The entire issue of the Arabic words adduced by Qim˙i in his lexicon as well as how they relate to la'az glosses is in need of analysis. Be this as it may, one can clearly isolate a group of words for which Qim˙i records the Arabic word, together with its la'az translation: it is quite evident therefrom that such a word was not borrowed into Provençal; it is even very doubtful that the word was comprehensible to Provençal speakers. Some instances in point: rwg[/πafùk/anwdnwra; tymmç/πafùk/nwra; alwd ;bwza/rt[x/ynygyrywa; μçl/[zùg/wxpwf; fwlb/fwlbhaç/≈fnlg, etc.
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classifies these words according to the several time spans of their penetration into French or, to be more precise, according to the several dating of the French literary documents within which the words are attested. (It must be taken into account that a certain time elapses, during which a loan word is absorbed into the spoken language only, before its total integration in written documents of the language.) Subsequently, he arranges the words in accordance with their several semantic fields. A large segment of them pertain to terms of realia, bearing considerable affinity with the semantic areas listed above. I attempted to ascertain on the basis of Guiraud’s list, whether any words in my listing were documented in the French of the twelfth century. For this investigation I further made use of lists recorded by T.E. Hope (1971), who had examined French loan words in Italian, and vice versa, in the twelfth to nineteenth centuries; taking into account that some Arabic words had “migrated” to French via Italian. I also checked out the lists of H. Lammens (1890), although it seems, prima facie, that Guiraud would have entered in his work all materials that Lammens had already collated. The fact is, however, that Guiraud does not refer to Lammens but merely states as a broad generalization (p. 5) that lexicographers show no unanimity of opinion on the question of the number of loan words on which his collection is structured; he thus warns that the compendium compiled by him is far from exhaustive. It is not surprising that Guiraud’s list shows a correspondence with Ibn Tibbon’s in isolated entries only, as e.g., agbb ( papegai for hpna); ˆarp[z (safran for μkrk); ksm (musc for rwm) in the eleventh-thirteenth centuries; and ratyq (guitare; for bgw[), fourteenth cent. An inspection of Lammens’ lists reveals correspondence in the following entries, too: hma[n (ema for hn[y tb; p. 58); hparz (girafe for rmz; p. 127: according to Guiraud, the word penetrated French in the fifteenth century from Italian; it is likely that Italian had absorbed it somewhat earlier; indeed, according to Hope, vol. I, p. 40, the word is already attested in Italian at the close of the thirteenth century); rqx (sacre for hdysj—according to Guiraud in the fourteenth century but according to Lammens, p. 210, the word itself is a loan word from Latin, from which it would seem that Guiraud’s documentation is somewhat late); twbkn[ (alancabuth for çybk[, p. 4); zymrq (cramoisi for ynç t[lwt, p. 19); ldnx (sandal, Santal for μylha, p. 213); ˆaùgrm (almargen for μymwgla, p. 18): ydrb (alvarde for amg, p. 21); raçmç (cimterre for rpg, p. 88; see also
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 155 Hope, p. 34); ˆyhaç (sahin for tmçnt; see introduction, p. 34, n. 1); fwlb haç (only Ballote for f lO ; Lammens, p. 261); lùfnj (alhandal; for hdç tw[wqp, p. 259); lydnm (mandille for μyfyrj, p. 284); ˆwrfn (natron for rtn, p. 180; Guiraud remarks that this word was adopted as late as the seventeenth cent.; however, he states that the source of the word is in Latin and it was therefore probably in use in early French); dmùta (bismuth for ˚wp, p. 52); aqrd (Targ. for hrjs, p. 236); πyafq (kadif or kataif for tyjypx). Thus clear evidence exists for a sizeable list of Arabic words that were imported into French in a period fairly close to that of R. Judah ibn Tibbon; this rationalizes the above-mentioned phenomenon wherein Ibn Tibbon leaves untouched, Arabic words within his Hebrew, translated text: this could be justified by the “Edomite” reader possessing a certain knowledge of Arabic, acquired by his European vernacular. It is not an improbable assumption that many other words appearing in Ibn Tibbon’s list were incorporated into European languages in the twelfth century despite the absence of any literary documentation. Indeed, Ibn Tibbon’s list might itself constitute an element filling out the picture. Ibn Tibbon himself, twice in entry πfn (p. 302), uses the phrase ybr[bw z[lb, by which he would imply that the given Arabic translation synonyms ykfxm (mastic) and krfxa (storax; Ben-Yehudah, p. 3638, n. 3) were in use at that time, both in Arabic and in European languages. Neither of these words appears in any of the lists of Lammens, Giraud or Hope.14 Less frequently, Ibn Tibbon further appended a la'az translation (apart from the Arabic term) to aid readers whose vernacular was a Rumanian language. This might reflect the shortcomings of the translator vis-à-vis the specific term or the category to which it pertained, namely realia. Alternatively, he may have had a suspicion that in each of these instances, the Arabic term was not sufficiently intelligible, or was even incomprehensible, to the reader, on the assumption 14 In principle, one might postulate that Ibn Tibbon had taken these expressions from some Latin translation of the Bible. Apart from such a conjecture finding no corroboration in Ibn Tibbon’s system of translation, offers no resolution but instead raises the following questions: Why is it that in this category alone of all the categories he retains the Arabic la'az terms? What benefit would accrue from an Arabic term for a medieval reader with no knowledge of Arabic, unless the term had been absorbed in Latin vernaculars of the twelfth century?
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that the student’s knowledge of Arabic was restricted to the words that had been borrowed into European Languages.15 In the entry arwq (p. 455) to the Arabic translation synonym lùgj, Ibn Tibbon appended the la'az term zydrp,.16 For the term μymwgla (p. 240), side by side with the Arabic translation synonym ˆaùgrm, Ibn Tibbon subjoined the la'az larwq (bois de corail ); likewise at lça (p. 48), in addition to Arabic lùta he subjoined zyrmf. In a limited number of entries, Ibn Tibbon recorded the Arabic translation synonym for the respective entry, following which, he subjoined, on his own initiative, some Hebrew synonym or definition for the referent: ˚smw rts awhw πùgsla ybr[ ˆwçlb, tkrph (Shorashim, p. 412), in contradistinction to simply πùgsla tkrph in the Arabic original ("Ußùl, p. 587). Likewise, at πy[x (p. 434), after recording the translation synonym [anq, as in the original (p. 615), Ibn Tibbon glossed the following definition: μhynp μyçnh wb ˆypf[mç πwf[ (a wrap with which women cover their faces). Other instances of such are to be found at sybç (p. 494), ywjfm (p. 179), μyrwjf (ibid.), hmyk (p. 221), lysk (p. 226), bx (p. 421), hmx (p. 431). Similar to the entries discussed here, zero in "Ußùl/“comparison” in Shorashim, is a group “implicit comparison in "Ußùl/explicit comparison in Shorashim.” It would be feasible to check, for each entry in this category, whether a reason can be noted for the retention of the comparison in the body of the Hebrew rendering. There are, however, good grounds to postulate that Ibn Tibbon treated these as real comparisons, rather than simply as translation synonyms, this not being the case for those entries that lacked all basis for etymological comparison. Be this as it may, for illustration of the principle discussed here, I simply adduced the category “zero” in "Ußùl/“explicit comparison” in Shorashim, considering that this latter type quite satisfactorily typifies the problematic of Ibn Tibbon’s methodology in dealing with Arabic translation synonyms.
15 Enumeration of the subjoined la'az glosses appears in Bacher’s Shorashim, index 11, p. 567; however Bacher overlooked the Arabic words that Ibn Tibbon had retained, on account of their having been borrowed into Latin languages. 16 Ben-Yehudah, at the relevant entry (pp. 6137ff.) remarks that the Septuagint, ad loc. ( Jer. 17:11) rendered arwq “perdix,” and he further states that this word appears in French also, as perdix, and in English, as “partridge.”
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 157 6.3
Aram./Arab. comparisons in Shorashim
The comparison formula Bib. Heb./Aram. (non-cognate)/Arabic (cognate with Aram.) contains a comparison of an entry of targumic or talmudic Aramaic with a cognate Arabic translation synonym. For example, in the three-way comparison h[wxqm/lymza/lymza (p. 642/ p. 453), is a sub-comparison Aram./Arab., i.e. lymza/lymza. This is the only category containing regular etymological comparisons between Aramaic and Arabic without adducing a Hebrew cognate translation synonym. I have presented these etymological sub-comparisons for separate discussion, to determine how Ibn Tibbon treated them in the Shorashim. Of the total of 24 comparisons, only four are explicit comparisons, and one of these was omitted by Ibn Tibbon. The rest are implicit comparisons. Ibn Tibbon disregarded most of them (13 of the 20), whereas the remainder he reverted to explicit comparisons. In this respect, his method is exactly the same as that used by him for Heb./Arab. comparisons. The comparisons, classified into four types: 1. Explicit comparisons in both Kitàb al-"Ußùl and Shorashim: • lymza/lymza ([xq: p. 642/p. 453); anybrwç/ˆybrç (rça: p. 74/ p. 51); açrp/açrap (ˆbrd: p. 163/p. 112). 2. Explicit comparison in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim: • rfmq/rfmq (jtl: p. 360/p. 250) 3. Implicit comparisons in "Ußùl/explicit comparison in Shorashim: • amfwb/μfb (hla, p. 47/p. 30); jwlm/jalm (lrj, p. 248/p. 169); syqrn/sùgrn (p. 257/p. 176); rp[/rpgm (rpa, p. 66/p. 45); akwryp/˚yrp (p. 338/p. 234; lqx, p. 619/p. 436); atrx[m/hrx[m (p. 567/p. 398). 4. Implicit comparisons in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim: • fwlb/fwlb (ˆwla, p. 51/p. 33); swwf/swwaf (ykt, p. 761/p. 543); arpwf/rpùf (tljç, p. 714/p. 506); aykrwk/ykrk (sws, p. 477/ p. 335); grwm/ùgrwm (≈wrj, p. 250/p. 171); ls/hls (p. 154/ p. 106); atpwqs/hpksa (ˆtpm, p. 595/p. 419; b[, p. 497/p. 350); jlp/jlp (rd[, p. 507/p. 357); jmwr/jmr (ˆwdyk, p. 318/p. 220); agaç/ùgas (rhdt, p. 153/p. 106); qwç/qws (≈wj, p. 216/p. 147); flç/flst (bjr, p. 668/p. 471).
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158 6.3.1
Ibn Tibbon’s omissions of comparisons with Aramaic
Ibn Tibbon only rarely disregards Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons with Aramaic in the "Ußùl. One example is at entry qry (p. 298), in which Ibn Janà˙ compares the Hebrew entry word qry (Exod. 10:15) with its own Aramaic rendering qwry; however, Ibn Tibbon in the Shorashim omitted this comparison (see qry, p. 205). This may well have been because the translator had already recorded the word qwry as a Hebrew word, mentioning the definiens hrùxùk adduced by Ibn Janà˙, for which reason, he thought it unnecessary to record the Aramaic form as well. He similarly omitted the Heb./Aram. comparison rqy/rqy (p. 295/p. 204). Generally he left the comparisons with Aramaic untouched, probably presuming that the student “from the Edomite land” was sufficiently versed in Aramaic by virtue of his study of the Talmud as well as his browsing in the Aramaic biblical Targums. This was likewise the practice of Ge"onim and early exegetes in their use of the Aramaic materials. (Rashi, for instance in his commentary at Gen. 12:20, s.v. wjlçyw; 14:14, s.v. qryw; 37:3, s.v. μynqz-ˆb; 37:7, s.v. μymla μymlam, etc., merely remarks wmwgrtk without elucidating the Aramaic rendering; elsewhere (e.g. Gen. 6:14), he simply states ymra ˆwçl, and so on.
6.4
Ibn Tibbon retention of comparisons in "Ußùl
I have shown that as far as Aramaic was concerned, Ibn Tibbon was in no quandary: he retained the material verbatim and even adduced further Aramaic material that had no textual basis in the Arabic original. As for the Heb./Arab. implicit comparison category, he reverted in many instances to explicit comparisons, whether constrained by his duty as translator or because in each instance he regarded the case as one of real, explicit comparison. As for the Heb./Arab. explicit comparisons contained in "Ußùl, it cannot be said that Ibn Tibbon made a habit of either omission or retention. Rather, he used a variety of practical solutions: (i) retaining the discussion in full; (ii) condensing it; (iii) discarding it entirely. For instance, at entry za (p. 19), he retains the inner Arabic grammatical analysis of ùda and ùdnm; likewise, at qlb (p. 67), he preserves the example itself, together with the Arabic usages of the Arabic cognate
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 159 translation synonym qlb. At hyla (p. 30) and at rwnk (p. 225), he even preserves the inner Arabic dialectological discussion. Ibn Tibbon may retain the Arabic explicit comparison even in cases where Ibn Janà˙ adduced support from Rab. Heb. (twhma, p. 37; dlg, p. 93; jjz, p. 129; glp, p. 402; hwçq, p. 459) as well as when, apart from the cognate, a non-cognate translation synonym appears for a Bib. Heb. entry word (as ˚na/˚na (p. 39), although he had already rendered by lydb). Even in instances where prima facie the entry word is “well known,” being a frequent word in the Bible, Ibn Tibbon often did not fail to adduce the comparison appearing in the original (e.g.: ˆg, p. 96; ˆtj, p. 175; μy, p. 196, (where Ibn Janà˙ states definitively πwr[m, [well] known; rwnk, p. 225; btk, p. 232; hjnm, p. 266; çjn, p. 330; hnyps p. 345 [Ibn Janà˙: πwr[m]; rfp, p. 400; glp, p. 402; flp, p. 403; [yqr, p. 487). In contrast, cases in which comparisons with an Arabic cognate translation synonym were discarded have been noted, when the cognate was a unique definiens and in these cases the translator suggested no substitute for what he had omitted. Certain comparisons can be shown to highlight Ibn Tibbon’s method in retaining intact explicit comparisons, as in his source. I shall cite one example for a noncognate translation synonym comparison (A) and one for a cognate comparison (B): A. The entry word ryda (p. 22) is rendered by Ibn Janà˙ as ˆyzrk; ˆyzrk itself is phonetically similar to its Hebrew cognate ˆzrg. Ibn Tibbon alluded to this comparison, for he retains ˆyzrk, considering that in this case the Arabic might be instructive, even for a reader unfamiliar with Arabic, by virtue of its corroboration of the tenability of his explanation for the Bib. Heb. entry. B. At rks (p. 482/p. 338), Ibn Janà˙ records two comparisons: rks/rks and rks/rgs. Ibn Tibbon discards the first one and retains the second. One might have expected him to retain specifically the comparison that was of particular interest (namely, the one containing the switch k/ùg), rather than a comparison lacking any letter switch. But it seems likely that his choice was based on the following logic, if that Heb./Aram. fluctuation g-k‚ exists for a pair of inner Hebrew entries, it enables the rendering of the Arabic entry word by the alternative Hebrew entry word, as, in our instance, rùgs/rgs. The logical consequence is that the comparison rks/rùgs can itself be translated into the inner Hebrew comparison rks/rgs. Indeed, this letter fluctuation is applicable to Hebrew, too, as is evident from Ibn
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Janà˙’s own words, expanded as they are to some extent, by Ibn Tibbon.
6.5
Ibn Tibbon’s method of adducing Arabic materials in comparisons and in inner-Arabic specimens
When Ibn Tibbon sets out Arabic materials for the purpose of comparison with the Hebrew entry word he generally leaves it untouched, and where the relevant cognate is embedded in an Arabic expression, he tends to cite the Arabic expression in full.17 There are, however, instances in which Ibn Tibbon translates several elements of the expression, aside of course from the cognate concerned, that can be read as an Arabic word (precisely as in "Ußùl) but that could also be interpreted as an Arabicized Hebrew word. This format of “editing” the material in the body of the running Hebrew text is liable to mislead readers who might mistakenly suppose that they see a Hebrew expression rather than an Arabic one; or they might be misled into thinking that a Hebrew language practice exists equivalent to that customary in Arabic. For example, in the expression ˆya tbg ˆya ya an[ tlpa ("Ußùl, lpa, p. 64), Ibn Tibbon’s rendering is as follows: trtsn rmwlk wnmm tlpa hna :μyrmwaw. The words ˆya and an[ are rendered by hna and wnmm, whereas the word tlpa is quote probably Arabicized Hebrew, in that the reader (of Shorashim, p. 44) may well interpret it as Hebrew on account of its occurrence in the midst of a Hebrew sequence. There are cases in which Ibn Tibbon translates the Arabic expression adduced for illustration in its entirety, though he proceeds immediately to elucidate it by a Hebrew paraphrase. For example, at entry rja (p. 35/p. 22), Ibn Janà˙’s text reads: ynjqt dwbk rjaw (Ps. 73:24) arw ˆm ˆjnw br[la lwqt hm yl[ aùdh ˚l dçla. Ibn Tibbon renders the Arabic illustration as follows: br[h μyrmwaç hml hmwd hz yrwjam wnjna ˚trz[ and he further adduces independently a reasoned argument for the given example, as if he had retained the Arabic phrase verbatim and was still awaiting its Hebrew rendering and elucidation, as follows: ˚l μyrzw[ wnjna ,rmwlk.
17 For example, μynwp rça μwqmh rmwlk μhhwùgw hmhm br[ ˆwçlb μhynp tmgm ùyp hyhyw wyla (amg, p. 95); . . . πakça ˆma lkl br[h ˆyrwqç wmk (çrj, p. 172).
language comparison in treatises translated into hebrew 161 At πrj (p. 170) Ibn Tibbon translates the Arabic example in full, offering no explanation of his own: çahw çmçh hrj :μrmam wtwa μyrzwgw ,wpa hrj ynwlp :br[h myrmwa ˆkw • .μmwj qzjyçk • (in the original: smçla tymj :lwq ˆm hl μhqaqtça amna πnala ymj lwùgr :br[la lwqw ahrj dtça ùda ,ranlaw ("Ußùl, p. 249)) Likewise, at entry rb[ (p. 500/p. 352), Ibn Janà˙ states: yl[ aùdh ˆwkyp ˆm rygb ù adk lùgaùùw ˆm hdayzb ù aùdk lùga ˆmùù br[la lam[tsa laùtm which is rendered by Ibn Tibbon as follows: μyrmwaç br[h ghnmk hz hyhy ˆm ytlbm ù ˚kw ˚k ynpùù μyrmwaw ù ˚kw ˚k ynpmùù. It is worth noting that the expression ˚kw ˚k ynp (corresponding to adk lùga) is artificial Hebrew, for this phrase is never used without ˆm.
6.6
Summary
To sum up, a lexicon that is essentially similar to the bilingual type of lexicon (in our case Hebrew-Arabic), when undergoing a translation into the language of its entry words generates very specific problems. Sometimes the rendering for the definiens is nothing but a reiteration of the definitum itself, so that a tautological definition is arrived at, a definition valueless for a lexicologist. Owing to the constraints of this problem, Ibn Tibbon was impelled to adopt several alternative solutions as for example, the omission of definitions and/or of comparisons or, vice versa, the reversion of ordinary translations into comparisons. This issue has important repercussions vis-à-vis the fixation of the text form of the original work. For establishing the text of the original work ("Ußùl), no reliance should be placed on the readings of Ibn Tibbon the translator; any claim that the readings in the Hebrew rendering are of greater “authenticity,” having been “overlooked by copyists,” must be ruled out. It is far more probable that all the comparisons, whether those that are beyond all doubt real comparisons, or those that may well be regarded as such that constitute additions in Shorashim, were indeed merely Ibn Tibbon’s original creation, whereas all the textual omissions of such are Ibn Tibbon’s intentional omissions; for the purpose of language comparisons the original text is indeed that in "Ußùl.
CHAPTER SEVEN
RAV SA'ADIAH GA"ON
R. Sa'adiah Ga"on is, in the opinion of R. Abraham ibn Ezra (Moznayim, p. I), to be assigned a place at the head of the list of “the elders of the Hebrew language”;1 it is conventionally held that said “list” is in chronological order. Poznanski (1926, p. 237) was of the opinion that R. Sa'adiah was the first to compile specific works on the subject of Hebrew linguistics. Others thought that the Karaites anteceded R. Sa'adiah in the production of literature on grammar (see Munk, 1851, p. 4; Hirschfeld 1926, pp. 7–8; n. 1). At any rate, as far as can be ascertained, R. Sa'adiah did not compile any work devoted specifically to language comparison. Nonetheless, in R. Sa'adiah’s “general” treatises on grammar, lexicon, and biblical exegesis are embedded comparisons of many Hebrew entry words with Aramaic and with Arabic. These comparisons can be graded into three levels according to their explicity: (1) Absolutely explicit comparisons; (2) implicit comparisons; and (3) translation of a Hebrew word by its Arabic cognate translation synonym, in the framework of R. Sa'adiah’s Arabic Bible translation. The limitations fixed for the present study are such that discussion of types (1) and (2) only (i.e. explicit and implicit comparisons) is required to the extent that these are encountered in this grammarian’s works and in his lexicon. But owing to the meager quantity of material appearing in these two works and considering the important rating of R. Sa'adiah’s translation, which served as a source text for scholars in subsequent times, our attention will be focused on the third level, too, namely his elucidations of his biblical translation. The material embedded in the translation text itself, on which no remark or annotation was made by R. Sa'adiah, warrants a separate study. Here these materials are resorted to merely for determining its essential value and status vis-à-vis the material pertaining to the first two classes or as a possible basis for explicit comparisons proposed by scholars who came after R. Sa'adiah Ga"on. 1
In Ibn Ezra’s own words: çdwqh ˆwçl ynqz.
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Grammatical comparisons
Comparative Hebrew-Arabic conjugation chart
The First Hebrew Table of Conjugation (Skoss 1942; Goldenberg 1979; Dotan 1997, pp. 338–95), being as it is a synopsis of the chapter on conjugation of R. Sa'adiah’s Sefer Zahot, is in effect a comparative Hebrew-Arabic conjugation chart (Téné 1983, p. 240; Dotan 1993, p. 55). The comparison method in this table is basically structural. It is clear that the choice of the Arabic verb [ms as a counterpart for the conjugated forms of the parallel Hebrew verb [mç is not an arbitrary one. The two verbs are cognates, and this choice in itself is sufficient evidence for us to determine the intention of the comparisons. Indeed, R. Sa'adiah speaks expressly of language comparison when he states: ˚tml[ br[la hgl ypw ,˚ytrkzh ˚yt[mçh ˚lwqk ˚trbka (Skoss, ibid., p. 192). Moreover, in his introduction to the table he poses the argument that the patterns that he is about to discuss are suitable for all tongues of which he has knowledge (aùdh ˆynawqw
[ymùg yp lb fqp ˆwynarb[la hgl yp lm[tst amna syl hd[awqw zùgla ahanpr[ ytla taglla, Skoss, ibid, p. 174).2 “All tongues” was clearly intended to include Aramaic as well, and this being the case, the table, potentially at least, implies the comparison of at least three languages. R. Sa'adiah does not adopt a comparison term for each and every item in the table; nonetheless, comparison is a systematic element in the table. This consistency is especially noticeable from a remark made in the margins of the table concerning a “negative” comparison: yntl[p/ynytyç[. R. Sa'adiah determines that the Hebrew verb form (in Ezek. 29:3) that incorporates the subject and object pronoun for the first person singular is illogical and for this reason should not be included in the table (lajm hmlk μhdn[ ahnap; Skoss, ib., p. 190), despite the fact that the equivalent Arabic form is considered by the Arab grammarians, fit for linguistic analogy.3
2 This and similar expressions have led Dotan (1993, p. 54; 1997, pp. 105–10) to infer that Sa'adiah not only established comparative philology but also thought in terms of general linguistics. 3 Discussion on the respective contrast between these two forms in Hebrew v. in Arabic came into the limelight for the first time in the Retort of Dunash on R. Sa'adiah Ga"on (Schroeter, 1866, retort 102). It was on this that Bacher (Nitzanei, 1894, p. 58 and n. 2; p. 64, n. 3) placed reliance for his deduction that R. Sa'adiah made a general habit of “grammatical” comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic. The original
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R. Sa'adiah sets up structural grammatical comparisons in his commentary to his Bible translation, too. I shall herewith enumerate these (the grammatical terminology in current use is adopted here, though Sa'adiah himself used other classifications and terms): The Hebrew hif 'il conjugation as well as its Arabic counterpart fa''ala may be used in a “declarative”4 sense,5 e.g. ≈yly (Prov. 3:34) “he proclaimed that so and so was ≈l (scoffer) or was in the position of ≈l; wqydxhw (Deut. 21:1) [the judges] shall determine that he [= the accused] is qydx. Likewise in Arabic: μlùf [= determined/ declared] that so and so was μlaùf, and so on” (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Prov. 3:34).6 ˆh and hnh before the Hebrew imperfect verbal forms have an equivalent function to that of sin prefixing imperfect forms in Arabic: h[yba hnh/ywras (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr, Prov. 1:23; Qàfi˙, 1976, p. 35). Comparison of sentence syntax and of general logic A complete idea in a sentence cannot be established if one bypasses a fundamental element within the sentence, even when the parallel sentence arrived at after the omission seems structurally correct. R. Sa'adiah demonstrates this axiom, with two pairs of sentences, one Hebrew, one Arabic. The Hebrew pair is jqy hylwtbb hça awhw, in contrast with the condensed sentence hv;ai awhw; he parallels these with the Arabic pair hlla ala hala al as against hala al. In Hebrew and Arabic, the apocopation distorts the meaning of the complete sentence (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Prov. 18:13).7 excerpt from R. Sa'adiah’s kutub al-lughah that treats these forms was first published by Harkavy (1898, p. 90). Yellin (1945, p. 34) used the latter as his basis, whereas Skoss (1942) published the above-quoted passage in the larger frame of the fragments of hyyfnh r[ç. Skoss himself discussed these verb forms again (1955, p. 57), this being the one and only language comparison noted by him in his concluding summary as a sign of the influence of Arabic grammar on R. Sa'adiah’s work. 4 For this term, cf Gesenius, p. 144, § 53, sec. 2. 5 The concept binyan (conjugation) was unknown to Sa'adiah, as has been demonstrated by Irene Garbell. See Goldenberg, 1979, p. 87. 6 ˚lùd [ymùgb ˆwdyry . . . ˆalp lwq bùdkw ˆalp batk rwwzw ˆalp μlùf br[la lwqk whw ˆymlaùfla hlznm analp lzn μkajla ˆa; See Maman 1992a, pp. 33–34, for a broader discussion. 7 To a different category belong the sweeping comparisons of the features of one language versus those of another—of the wealth of their vocabularies and expressions, their mannerisms, and the like. R. Sa'adiah resorts to such comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic through ideological and socio-linguistic settings. Harkavy (1900, pp. 85–86) adduces a passage from R. Sa'adiah’s commentary to Exodus, on the words hk-d[ (Exod. 7:16); in this comment, he states that the Hebrew expression hk-d[ has six synonyms including that phrase: ht[ d[, ˆd[, ˆya d[, ˆyda, and d[
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Hebrew Aramaic grammatical comparisons
The word μlnm ( Job 15:29) was interpreted by R. Sa'adiah as an expanded form (hmùkpm) of the word μL;mi, with the addition of a nun. This mode of expansion, he states to be comparable with the expansion noted in the Aramaic form ˆyfnj as against ˆyfj (attention was drawn to this comparison by Bacher, 1894, ynxn, p. 61, n. 3).8 • tlht ( Jer. 49:25) and tljn (Ps. 16:6) are modeled on Aramaic (Bacher, ibid., p. 60 and n. 3).9
7.2
Hebrew/Arabic stylistic comparisons
Neither in Hebrew nor in Arabic may one ascribe to the deity the concept of hjkç (= forgetting, etc.); in other words, it is improper to combine any form of the verb jkç with one or other of the names of God. However, it is allowable in both languages to combine a negated form of the verb rkz with God’s name, as: wylgr μwdh rkz alw wpa μwyb (Lam. 2:1). Mevasser HaLevi raised an objection against R. Sa'adiah on this matter (Zucker, 1955, pp. 26, 79). 7.3.1 Lexical comparisons of Hebrew/Arabic cognates I recorded only a few instances of comparisons of this nature: hylb fsw yp hna ya ,hfrw yp ˆalp sanla ˆwlwqy .ynfrwy . . . ynfry (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Job 16:11). The phrase/term sanla ˆwlwqy, together with the example illustrating Arabic usage, i.e. hfrw yp ˆalp, determine the explicitness of the comparison At Prov. 18:16 R. Sa'adiah renders byjry by bjry, adding the remark: djaw yn[m yl[ br[la hgl yp h[slaw bjrlaw. wyçk[. In Arabic, maintains R. Sa'adiah, there exists only a single translation synonym for all six, this being anh. This proves that Hebrew is a richer language than Arabic and thus a “preferable” one. R. Sa'adiah’s passage continues as follows: ˆa ˆùft alp ùypw ,br[la hgl yp hdjaw hùfpl *ˆya ˚lùdkw .μalkla lk yp ynarb[la ˆm [swa ybr[la awh ˆkyh hnçmla hgl yp [baslaw . . . hpya . . . hna . . . ˆa; . . . hya ,ya :ùz aùxya ùynarb[la. All these words are rendered by R. Sa'adiah by the single Arabic word ˆya. * This is the correct reading. Harkavy maintained the reading ˆa, his Hebrew rendering being: . . . hlm dw[ axmt ˆkw. 8 It would be of interest to ascertain, if feasible, whether R. Sa'adiah parsed the form μL;mi as a declined form from ll,m,, i.e. with 3rd pl. possessive pronoun suffix or, rather, as from lme by reduction (Goldenberg, 1974, p. 200), i.e. from the root llm or hlm. See Maman 1992a, p. 32. 9 On other grammatical comparisons with Arabic see Dotan (1993), pp. 54–60.
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At Job 37:15, he renders ˆn[ by hnan[ and notes: ymst br[la ˆan[la bajsla (Ecker, 1962, p. 215). One comparison is discernible by tauto-etymological reasoning (above, 3.2): sdqla yp μhl ˆak μyywlla ˆa yl[ anldy tynymçh l[ hlwq . . . ˆajla hynamùt (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Ps. 6:1). 7.3.2
Hebrew/Arabic semantic comparisons
This category of comparisons is more widespread than the previous one. Sa'adiah compares lyg with its Arabic translation synonym, brf. Both these words connote “ecstasy of joy” as well as “an intense feeling of sadness.” This very instance was adduced by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ in his lexicon ("Ußùl, p. 128) and was subsequently recorded by Ibn Barùn (Muwàzana, p. 24) as an example of the category termed “semantic concord” (ùfpllab al yn[mlab hb qaptala aùg brùx).10 Neither of the latter two grammarians made reference to Sa'adiah (i.e. his introduction to Psalms, ed. R. Yosef Qàfi˙, p. 46). The expression blw blb, in the sense of “being two-faced, hypocritical,” is compared by R. Sa'adiah with the Arabic expressions: ˆyyblq, ˆyyhùgw, ˆyynasl. (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Ps. 12:3). Sa'adiah recorded further semantic comparisons in the commentary to his translation at Isa. 63:7 (Derenbourg, p. 143) as well as at Ps. 80:3, Prov. 15:32, and Job 9:4, and 24:20. 7.3.3
Hebrew/Aramaic etymological comparisons
In his commentary to his Bible translation Sa'adiah states very frequently that the entry word under discussion should be elucidated according to the Aramaic Targum, e.g. at Ps. 89:9 and 139:17: μwgrtla hgl ˆmw; Prov. 31:2: μwgrtla hglb, etc. Ecker (1962, p. 10 and § 1 passim) recorded a long list of words from the Book of Job, that were rendered by Sa'adiah according to their connection with their Aramaic parallels. Below I list the Heb./Aram. comparisons adduced from the commentaries of Sa'adiah to his Tafsìr to the Books of Isaiah, Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and Daniel as well as from his treatise Kitàb al-Sab'ìn LafΩa al-Mufrada.
10
See Téné, 1983, n. 84.
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Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. ˆwy[bt/a[by (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Isa. 21:12); twjml/(tjmw) (ibid., Prov. 31:3); hd[m/ad[hm (ibid. 25:2); abx/abxy (ibid. Dan. 10:1); çwdq/çydq (ibid. Dan. 8:13); twbrb/atwbr (ibid., Prov. 29:2;16); μ[wrt/[[rm (ibid., introduction to Tr. Ps., ed Qàfi˙, p. 46; and Prov. 11,15); μmwtça/μmwtça (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Isa. 63:5). Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ˚[lb/(˚[wlb) (Prov. 23:2); ˚mjra/(μjr) (Ps. 18:2). Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram.
hytafafw (Isa. 14:23)/ afafw (Sab'ìn LafΩa, p. 34); ymwlgb (Ezek. 27:24)/amylg (ibid.). Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. yrb/ˆb/rb (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr, to Prov. 31:2); ˆwzj/harm/ˆwzj (ibid. Dan. 8:13); ˆysj/çry/ˆysj (ibid., Ps. 89:9); wgrjyw/hmya/. . . tgrj (ibid., Ps, 18:46); wnymfn/μwmts/ˆynwmf (ibid. Job 18:3); ask/jbz/atskn (ibid., Ps. 81:4); ˆyklm-˚lmyw/twx[/ˆyklm (ibid., Prov. 31:3); tjn/drwh/tjna (ibid., Ps. 65:11); htmxp/[rq/μyxp (Sab'ìn LafΩa, p. 37). Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.)
μypkw/μy[ls/(aypk) (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Job 30, 6); lfUy/[sn/(lfn) (ibid. 41:1); (twm)yçy/tkçy/(yçn) (ibid., Ps. 55:16); glp/hljn/(glp) (ibid. 65:10); hd[/rs/(ad[) (ibid. Job 28:8); ˚y[r-y[r/(ˆwxr)/(aw[r) (ibid., Ps. 139:2); tml¨ç/i μt/(μylç) (ibid. 91:8). Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.
td/μhytdw-td (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr Dan. 7:25); lçjw/μylçjnh (ibid. 2:40) Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
ˆynmz/μym[p/ˆynmz (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr Dan. 7:25); yhwdj/hzj/aydj (ibid. 2:32); atçrbn/twrn/ataçrbn (ibid. 5:5; 12); rbsyw/ytllp/tyrbs (ibid. 7:25); rw[k/≈wmk/(rw[) (ibid. 2:35); [[rm/≈wxr/([[rm) (ibid. 2:40); hpyqtw/hqzj/(hpyqt) (ibid. 3:7); yntmya/arwn, μwya/(yntmya) (ibid. 7:7). Bib. Aram./Rab. Heb. azwrkw/zyrkhl (Sab'ìn LafΩa, p. 18); qyzn/μyqyzn (ibid.); ayngs/ˆgs (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr Dan. 3:27).
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Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Arab. rT'yIw/wrT'a/' rùttnt (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr Job 37:1). All of the above are a part of the explicit language comparisons of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on. The Heb./Arab. comparisons are in the main structural, in the areas of grammar and semantics, whereas the comparisons with Aram. are in the areas of lexicon and of etymology. These comparisons are established according to the prominent themes highlighted earlier (3.6.2; 3.6.3; 3.6.4, etc.) The number of explicit comparisons encountered in the works of R. Sa'adiah is certainly not insignificant when one takes into account that the Kutub al-lugha as well as the commentaries to Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr have survived only partially. As a matter of principle, comparison is practised by R. Sa'adiah as a tool for grasping the lexicon and the grammar of Hebrew. It can be surmised that he held no ideological reservations regarding language comparison, nor did he stipulate any precondition as a sine qua non for this practice, as did Mena˙em, Dunash, and others (see above, 2.1). For it is reasonably likely that if this were the case, it would have expressed itself somewhere among the surviving recorded comparisons. What is more, R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ (Riqmah, p. 17 and elsewhere) as well as Ibn Bal'am have recourse to R. Sa'adiah in their sanctioning of comparisons with Arabic; had they come across any reservation in his writings, it is fair to assume they would not have refrained from relating to it. To sum up the data as culled from R. Sa'adiah: in the Heb./Arab. explicit comparisons, I encountered 4 lexical comparisons of cognates, 6 semantic comparisons, and 3 grammatical comparisons; in the Heb./Aram. explicit comparisons, I recorded 3 grammatical comparisons and 41 lexicological comparisons of cognates. Despite these data, the lack of sufficient information leaves us in a state of indeterminacy as regards several significant elements that would serve to complete the panorama of R. Sa'adiah’s language comparison system. On the theory of letter/sound substitutions of Heb. v. Arabic and v. Aramaic, no express mention by R. Sa'adiah has survived.11 Nevertheless, it might not be thought farfetched, if
11 If a deduction regarding Heb.-Arab. substitutions may be drawn from letter substitutions within Hebrew, the following intra-Hebrew fluctuations are recognized by R. Sa'adiah: a/h (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Isa. 63; ibid., Prov. 10:3); k/q (Sab'ìn LafΩa, Allony 1958, p. 25); l/n (Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Isa. 21:15); n/l (ibid., Ps. 58:7); p/b
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one attributed to him the cognizance of at least those substitutions that were reckoned with by Hebrew grammarians in general (including Dunash, who was R Sa'adiah’s disciple and from whom he may well have gained the knowledge of this theory), such as the Heb./Arab. substitutions: g/ùg; z/ùd; j/ùk; ç/ùt, etc. (above, 2.4.1). Moreover, it is fair to impute to him the notion that semantic equivalence was a prerequisite for comparison (above, 2.6). For instance, in the Egron, p. 274, he renders blj by ˆbl and not by bylj. 7.3.4
Implicit comparisons
Implicit comparisons are encountered in the Egron (Alloni, 1969, Goldenberg, 1973–74, Dotan, 1981). Implicit comparisons of the type discussed above (ch. 4), are noticeable mainly in the lexicons. The Egron, although a lexicon of a unique category, belonging as it does to the proto-lexicographical stage “has the basic shaping, embryonically at least for subsequent lexicographic work” (Téné, 1972, p. 549). Thus, in so far as what concerns potential comparisons embodied in cognate synonym translations appearing in the lexicons, the status of the Egron for Sa'adiah, is parallel to that of the Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ for Alfàsi, or that of the Kitàb al-"Ußùl for Ibn Janà˙.12 It goes without saying that the Egron was not specifically intended for language comparison as such. Indeed, one can even discern that in Egron the scope of language comparisons is more restricted than that in the commentary of Sa'adiah to his biblical translation, perhaps owing to the condensed structure of the former’s entry. Take for example the entry word ask. In the Egron (p. 242) Sa'adiah renders it in Arabic by ajùxa with nothing else added. However, for the same entry word at Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr at Ps. 81:4 he added a reasoning embodying a comparison with Aramaic: atskn jbz μwgrt ˆal hyjùx yl[ askn trspw. Thus R. Sa'adiah discusses briefly in one location and elaborates in
(ibid. 112:9); ç/x (ibid. 71:4). Heb./Aram. fluctuations are implied: a/h; x/z (ibid. Dan. 3:14). 12 Abramson (1954) has demonstrated that the “lexicon of the Mishna (the socalled "AlfàΩ al-Mishna) that Allony (1953) had attributed to Sa'adiah (on the basis of its title) is in fact not Sa'adiah’s at all.” Abramson’s reasoning seems valid as regards the fragment published by Allony (1954) too. That fragment does not even bear the name of any known author and it was merely by a process of analogy with the aforementioned fragmentary work (1953) that Allony attributed to Sa'adiah.
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another. Could it be that he chose to be brief in the Egron because he relied on the amplification adopted in his Bible commentary? In fact, a trace of the reasoning (recorded in Ps., ibid.) can be detected underlying the rendering hyjùx. There are, however, also instances in which R. Sa'adiah in his Tafsìr rendered by a cognate, whereas in the Egron he recorded only a non-cognate. For example, the entry word μga in his Tafsìr is rendered by the cognate hmùga and/or μaùga eight times (for their enumeration, see Allony, HaEgron, p. 179; cf. also, ibid., p. 54, n. 207), whereas in the Egron itself, this word was rendered merely by the non-cognate ùgylùk; this can have no explanation other than that the grammarian had unintentionally overlooked the comparison. As noted above (4.0), it can happen that a translator adopts an unsophisticated rendering, without conscious intention of language comparison, and this can be so even in a case where a rendering by a cognate is used. This contingency is, of course, applicable vis-à-vis the implicit comparisons occurring in the Egron, too. 7.3.4.1
List of implicit comparisons in the Egron
Bib. Heb./Arab. • ˆga/hnaùga (p. 180); ˚rymah/˚rmay (p. 195); rb/hyrb (Dotan 1981, pp. 173, 187); μymwrb/hmwrbm (ibid., pp. 173, 188); abg/bùg (ibid., pp. 175, 190); hnybg ˆbg/ˆbùg (ibid., pp. 175, 193); hrwbg/hywrbùg (ibid.); çybg/sbùg (twqay ˆm; ib., p. 175); rwg/rwùg (ibid., p. 177); μywzm/dwaùdm (p. 289); afh/hyfùk (p. 217); bfj/baftja (p. 218); ˚yj/˚nj (p. 221); dlj/dlùk (p. 225); hdl/hdalw (p. 264); μyrtym/ratwa (p. 317); hmk/μk (p. 237); ˆwmk/ˆwmk (p. 238); sk/ysrk (p. 242); jsk/jwskm (p. 243); πk/πk (p. 246); trpkw/rypqt (p. 248); bwrk/bwrk (p. 250); hrk/yrk (p. 251); wçrk/çrk (p. 253); μrk/μrk (p. 254); μy[rk/ˆy[ark (p. 255); btk/batk (p. 257); πtk/πtk (p. 258); al/al (p. 261); aybl/wbl (p. 262); fbl/fblt (ibid.) hn
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(p. 311); grwm/ùgrwm (p. 311); jçm/jsm (p. 314); lçm/lùtm (p. 315); an/yn (p. 318); aybn/ybn (p. 319); rdn/rùdn (p. 325); μhn/μyhn (p. 326); rhn/rhn (ibid.); whnyw/yhtna (ibid.); dn/dyan (p. 323); [n/[yan (p. 337); hljn/hljn (p. 329); rjn/dùkn (p. 330); tvjn/sajn (ibid.); ryn/ryn (p. 333); hlmn lmn/hlmn (p. 335); rmn/rmn (p. 336); l[n/l[n (p. 337); μ[n/hm[n (p. 338); μqn/hmqn (p. 342); (h)çn/hyysn (p. 344); hmçn/hmsn (p. 345); rçn/rsn (p. 346); rtn/ˆwrfn (p. 348); μlws/μls (p. 358); tws/hwsk (p. 359); ˆwls/als (p. 371); twrmsm/rymasm (p. 373); hns/ans (p. 375); ss/sws (ibid.); (d[s)/d[s (p. 376); hç/haç (p. 357); hr[ç/hr[ç (p. 378). Bib. Heb./Arab. with letter transposition • bgn/bwng (p. 322) Rab. Heb./Arab. • ˆysga/≈aùga (p. 180); sbg“/sbùg (Dotan 1981, p. 175); hqn/hqan (p. 342); rgn"/raùgn (p. 323); lyjn/ljn (p. 331); fpn/fpn (p. 339); rçn/ rùttnm (p. 346); hkws/hkaç (p. 359); πys/πys (p. 364). Aram./Arab. • dylg/dylùg (Dotan 1981, p. 176); ˆmk/ˆwmk (p. 237); lkm/laykm (p. 295); tyl/˛syl (p. 272); jsn/hùksn (p. 336); yçn/ˆaysn (p. 344); dgs/dùgs (p. 353). Following are comparisons with Aramaic that, according to our method, we treat as explicit comparisons: Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. • lza/(lza) (p. 183); ˆpk/(ˆpk) (p. 247). Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • çrj/açrj (Dotan 1981, p. 179). Non-cognate translation into Aramaic, of the relevant entry word • (tlkt) ymwlg/ˆyzgzg (Dotan 1981, p. 176); rwf/rds (ibid., pp. 181, 204). Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb. • [a/≈[ (p. 170); alrb/μhç (Dotan 1981, p. 173); (rf)q/rçq (ibid., pp. 185, 208); rhf/rhx (ibid., pp. 181, 204); rwf/rh (ibid.); ldq/πr[ (ibid., pp. 183, 207)
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chapter seven Translation by cognates
Many scholars have noted that Sa'adiah in his Tafsìr used Arabic words phonetically similar to the Hebrew words in the original text (I call these “cognate translation synonyms.” This fact was noted by Ibn Janà˙ himself, shortly after Sa'adiah’s time (see Riqmah, p. 17 a.e.), and modern scholars are of the same opinion, e.g. D. Haneberg, 1840, p. 360, S. Munk, 1858, pp. 55–57, S. Baron, 1900, pp. 7–9, S. Galliner, 1903, p. 11, J.Z. Lauterbach, 1903, p. 14, E. Eisen (Eitan), 1934, pp. 5–7, H. Malter, 1942, p. 145, Wechter, 1947, p. 376, B. Klar, 1954, p. 216, R. Ecker, 1962 passim, A. Goldenberg, 1974, p. 201, and M. Perez, 1978, p. 412, n. 19, p. 413. These scholars also opine that rendering a Hebrew word with a cognate reflects language comparison, a question not yet exhaustively discussed. Nor do I intend, even, to deal with it fully in the present study. I intend merely to touch upon certain crucial aspects. Two main difficulties stand in the way of a clear resolution for this issue: (1) The credibility of the text form of Sa'adiah’s Bible translations; Epstein, 1915 (= 1982, p. 35, §66) remarked about these translations: “they are not always authentic textually.” (2) It is problematical to prove successfully that rendering by a cognate indeed implies language comparison. It was M. Zucker (1959, pp. 284ff.) and Y. Razhabi (1964) who set about grappling with problem (1). They maintain that the Geniza fragments of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr corroborate J. Derenbourg’s text version, whereas the Yemenite manuscripts are very close to the text version penned by R. Sa'adiah. Regarding problem (2), it seems doubtful, whether it can be indisputably settled for each and every instance in which a cognate is adopted in R. Sa'adiah’s rendering. Nevertheless, one can locate several groups of Arabic words concerning which it can be quite confidently asserted that a conscious aim of language comparison was present. A group of Arabic words exists whose meaning is not precisely equivalent to the meaning of the Hebrew word in the original: the translator, in all likelihood approximated their sense to that of the Hebrew original to enable them to be used to render the original Hebrew. It is out of the question that these words were excogitated by an unsophisticated translator, as can be well exemplified by the fact that Ibn Bal'am in his commentary to the Bible criticizes
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R. Sa'adiah Ga"on regarding this phenomenon, as follows. R. Sa'adiah had rendered wlç (Num. 11:31) by ywls. Ibn Bal'am (Fuchs, 1893, p. v) declares he does not know what the referent of ywls is. Thus in his opinion the use of this word is artificial.13 Modern scholars have remarked on this phenomenon, too. For example, Wechter (1947, p. 376, n. 22) remarks that R. Sa'adiah rendered the word hrb[, by the Arabic word hrb[, even though the meaning of the Hebrew word being “anger,” the meaning of the Arabic word (according to Qur"àn, Sùra 12, verse 111, and R.P.A. Dozy II, 91) is “warning,” “caution,” “example.” It is indeed an open question whether we know today all the applications and nuances of the Arabic vocabulary,14 in particular, all the senses of the Arabic words adopted by R. Sa'adiah. At any rate, the testimonies of the closely contemporary scholars are trustworthy. Another prominent category is a collection of artificial Arabic words adopted by Sa'adiah in his translation. The following are instances pertaining to this category. Ibn Janà˙ ("Ußùl, p. 344) renders the expression μynbl hnbln (Gen. 11:3) by anbl ùdùktn remarking that he could find no documentation for use in Arabic (lit.: by the Arabs) of the denominative verb from the noun hnbl. This might have been a disguised criticism of Sa'adiah’s translation of that verse as ˆbln anbl. In any case, Ibn Janà˙’s evidence is enough for us to conclude decisively that Sa'adiah’s use of the Arabic verb ˆbl is indeed artificial. Ibn Barùn (Muwàzana, p. 79, entry z[) criticizes Sa'adiah for rendering hynz[ (Lev. 11:13) by aqn[; he notes that amongst the Arabs themselves, use of the word (= aqn[) was restricted to the language of parables, the word signifying no concrete entity.15 R. Abraham ibn Ezra (in his commentary to Lev. 11:13) also censured Sa'adiah on this point (see Wechter, 1964, p. 7 and n. 68). Modern scholars have made further note of this phenomenon in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr.16
13 There exists, however, a reverse example; Ibn Bal'am initially rejected R. Sa'adiah’s translation but subsequently ascertained the grounds for Sa'adiah’s rendering. See Ibn Bal'am’s comment on the word hpwsb (Num. 21:4) in: Fuchs (ibid., pp. viii–ix); see also: Poznanski (1916, p. 452), who records Ibn Bal'am’s annotations to R. Sa'adiah’s translation of the words wknjyw (1R. 8:63) and μt[n (Isa. 9:18). 14 See the use of the Arabic word hmda for rendering biblical Hebrew hmda in Alfàsi’s works (above, 4.7 and n. 53) and, in contrast, Ibn Barùn’s opinion. 15 For an interesting discussion of a comparable problem regarding the use of the word qwna in the works of Arabian writers, see: Kopff, 1976, pp. 125–32. 16 In Karaite writings, this practice is quite frequent. For instance, see Birnbaum
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Derenbourg (1896) referred to Sa'adiah’s rendering πynx for πynx at Isa. 62:3, stating: “the word πynx is not used in Arabic in this sense, rather, the word used is πyxn.” Further, on Sa'adiah’s rendering of μysmh (ibid. 64:1) by smhla, he recorded the following remark: “Sa'adiah mimicked the word μysmh as smhla, this word being unsuitable here as in Arabic.” P.K. Kokowtzow (1916, p. 57, n. 1) observed that the verb μqs used in Sa'adiah’s translation as equivalent to the Hebrew root slp is not documented in the major Arabic lexicons and for this reason he surmised that this word is a loan from Syriac. Razhabi (1964, pp. 245, 248–50) discusses, in particular, a clearly defined type of artificial words and expressions, namely Hebraisms; he proceeds to illustrate the phenomenon by means of a lengthy list of words and phrases of this kind, among them μymlç yjbz/jyabùd hmals; ˆtj (Isa. 61:10)/ˆtùk; ˆwzpjy (Ps. 104:7)/zpjna; bwrk (Exod. 25:9)/bwrk. Blau (1965, pp. 162ff.) adduced a collection of words from Judeo-Arabic that he opines to be Hebraisms, e.g. bqn, rùdn, ùghn, (in the sense of llyq “curse”), etc. These words are employed in Sa'adiah’s translation also as renderings for their Hebrew counterparts. Blau (1984) summed up the phenomenon in the following words: “One of the characteristic features of the translation [of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on to the Bible] is the artificial use of Arabic words from the root parallel with that of the Hebrew original word, even if the linguistic use of such is not conventional in Arabic, or even is entirely non-existent therein.”17 (1942), p. xxxiii, as well as R.M. Bland (1966), p. x and n. 41, p. 30 n. 125, p. 307 n. 35, p. 312 n. 100 and p. 309 n. 57. But artificial usages have been located in writings of non-Karaites, too. Eppenstein (1900–1901, p. 240 n. 2) remarks that the rendering of the glossator of the MS Rouen ("Ußùl, p. 366, n. 93) for the word lhm (Isa. 1:22) by the Arabic word lhm is an artificial one. Becker (1984) notes, regarding Ibn Quraysh’s rendering hmdy/ymdty and similar cases (C1, p. 118), that the Arabic lexicons record no usage of a verbal form from root ymd in this sense: one finds solely the form hymùd (image, idol); he further remarks regarding the rendering lwjm/lwjm (C1, p. 233) that no Arabic lexicographical documentation can be found for lwjm in the sense of “musical instrument.” Becker (1980) had already recorded a similar remark on Ibn Barùn’s rendering twllw[/talal[. 17 Certain remarks appearing in Sa'adiah’s commentary to his Bible translation, on the other hand, allude to a certain wariness in the use of artificial coinages. One example: he renders the word hnçdy (Ps. 20:4) by ahqrjy amb ahyp rmay, remarking in his commentary that he had refrained from adopting a literal rendering ahdmry (from damr), since the use of that (denominative) verb does not exist in Arabic. Likewise, regarding twpylam (ibid. 144:13), R. Sa'adiah rendered it by πwla and noted: qlft l[aptla yp br[la hgl dùga μl amlw . . . πla ˆm twpylam πrxtyw hqtça μlw hlajb htkrt ˚lùd. He thereby implies that he did not coin the artificial
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The same applies to Aramaisms: Derenbourg (1893) remarked, on Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr μynxrj/ˆaxrp (Num. 6:4), that “Targum Onkelos renders ˆynwxrp.” In the Arabic dictionaries, the word registered is daxrp; thus the word ˆaxrp must be treated as an Aramaism.18 Additional examples were adduced by Razhabi (1964, p. 246). In conclusion, it may be stated that the Arabic words encountered in Sa'adiah Ga"on’s Bible translation (also in the translations of other scholars) showing artificiality, whether in content or in form, can be readily assumed to have been especially adapted to the original words in the Hebrew source text; such forms were created consciously and intentionally: they bear an unambiguous implication of language comparison. Outside Aramaisms, also, the influence of targumic Aramaic on Sa'adiah’s translation can be discerned.19 This is noticeable in the following areas: In the area of terms for realia (Heb./Aram. (non cognate)/Arab. (cognate with Aram.); above, 3.7, 5.3.2.10), as: hlah/amfwb/hmfbla (Gen. 35:4); wy[yw/hytypwrgmw/hpraùgmw (Exod. 27:3); ˆwmr[w/bwld/bld (Gen. 30:37); tply/ˆzzj/zazj (Lev. 21:20); ryxjh/ytrkw/ùtarkla (Nu. 11:5); rbkm/adrs/adrs (Exod. 27:4); lmrkw/ˆkwrypw/akyrpw (Lev. 23:14); μydymx/ˆyryç/ˆyraws (Gen. 24:22); μyr T O h/anypç/ˆynapç (Lev. 1:14). In the area of halakhic tradition and religion, such as: rdh ≈[ yrp /ˆygwrta/ùgrta (Lev. 23:40); rac/arymj/rymùk (Exod. 12:15); twksh gj /aylfmd agj/lùfmla ùgj (Deut. 16:13); ˚tbçl/˚tnykçl/˚tnyksl (Exod. 15:17). In instances where alternative renderings are available for R. Sa'adiah, at several occurrences of a given entry word, as: lça [fyw/abxn bxnw /abxn bxnw (Gen. 21:33). Here, he could have rendered, for example, alùta bxn or alùta srg or even hrùgç srg (if he had not felt the
verb hplwm in order to match the translation to the source text (as e.g., was done by Alfàsi). See further his remark on his own rendering hrzm (Prov. 1:17) by fwsbm. 18 A distinction must, of course, be drawn between an Aramaism that occurred in Arabic at a period earlier than that of Sa'adiah, such as tark < ytrk (Fränkel, p. 144), hùgrta < grta (ibid., p. 139), and ˆapwf < anpwf (= rendering for lwbm), this latter being already encountered in Qur"àn (Sura 7, v. 133) being an Aramaism that appeared in the framework of Judeo-Arabic. 19 As for R. Sa'adiah’s regard for the Aramaic Targum, in general, see Emunot veDe"ot, essay II, end of ch. 9, Galliner (1903) p. 10, n. 1, with bibliography ad loc.; see also Zucker, 1959, p. 266, n. 109.
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need to identify the referent of lça). Elsewhere, he rendered [fyw by srg, although the Aramaic Targum adopts bxn (Gen. 2:8). Another example: jwçl/halxl/ylxyl (Gen. 24:63). As a rule, he translates the verb ylx by -l a[d. The word blj≤ he renders in one case abrùt (Exod. 29:22) and in another (ˆhybljmw; Gen. 4:4) ahnams; in each case the rendering is modeled on Targum Onkelos, who rendered in the first case abrt and in the second ˆwhynymçmw. In his rendering for gj twksh‚ too (Deut. 16:11, enumerated above), he could have rendered dy[ rather than ùgj (lùfmla in fact has the appearance of an Aramaism). In places in which an alternative rendering might be feasible, namely a rendering divorced from the influence of the Aramaic Targum—as, for example, twjpçw/ˆhmaw/amaw (Gen. 12:16)—he might have rendered: yrawùg; ≈wpn/rdbtn/rùdbtn (Gen. 11:4): he might have rendered qrpt or the like. In the case of rqç yrbdb/ ˆymgtpb ˆylfb/hlfab rwma (Exod. 5:9), he chose not to render bùdk. Similarly, instead of the following renderings: hçyal/hl[bl/ahl[b (Gen. 3:6), rwbhw / abwgw / bùg (ibid. 37:24), hmynp / hawwg / ynawwùgla ( Lev. 10:8), ˆyy/armj/armùk (Gen. 19:32), rhb/arwfb/rwf yp (Lev. 25:1), wytwçarm/ yhwdsya/hdswwtm (Gen. 28:11), ˆwlj/twwk/hwk (Gen. 8:6), ≈wjb/hqwçb/ qwsla yp (Gen. 9:22), and (wtntk . . .) wfçpyw/wjlçaw/ahwùkls (Gen. 37:27); the translator might have rendered respectively: ahùgwz, ryb, ylòkad, barç or ùdybn, lbùg yp, hsar tjt, ˚abç, arb, w[zn, etc., but chose otherwise; his use of a cognate with the Aramaic entry word in each case would appear to be the fruit of an intentional choice. An comparison of Sa'adiah’s translation of the Pentateuch with the original Hebrew text and with Targum Onqelos reveals a total of 136 entry words (roots, not occurrences) (this, according to the version of Dérenbourg; according to the Tàj version, the total is 143 entry words) that Sa'adiah rendered by a word cognate with the Aramaic version. This statistic cannot be considered a fluke, as shown above. Another group of words for which language comparison may be almost certainly presumed is the type known as “basic vocabulary items” (examples were enumerated above, 4.10). In the setting of Sa'adiah Ga"on’s translation, one can detect additional matters on the aspect of comparison motivation from an observation of the relation existing between Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr and the Egron. Specialists who have made a close examination of the two works of R. Sa'adiah, have concluded that the two works possess a close-set
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nexus. The first to assert this was Harkavy (1898, p. 89, § II). Allony (1969) checked out thoroughly the entries in the Egron appearing also in R. Sa'adiah’s translation and stated his conclusion (ibid., p. 54) concurs with this stand: “As a rule, Sa'adiah’s rendering in his Egron is identical with his rendering in his Bible translation, nonetheless, absolute consistency cannot be found [in this matter]” (Téné, 1972, p. 548). This being the situation, it can be posited that R. Sa'adiah himself viewed” his Bible translation as a base for a bilingual Heb.Arab. lexicon. This alone would indicate that renderings by cognates are to be seen as implicit comparisons. A further intimation that Sa'adiah had a conscious objective in cognates can be derived from his remarks on those entries he rendered otherwise than by cognates, although, prima facie, such renderings would have been appropriate. In his comment to Ps. 6:7 he states: llbla whw hyadtba lb hspn ysamtla dry μl hnal ara[tsm hsma tl[ùgw. It can be deduced from such a statement that his standpoint is such, that the straightforward rendering for hsma is ysamt (and not specifically ˆabwùd, etc.): thus translation by a cognate is a matter requiring no explanation. In contrast, justification is required for a non-literal (non-peshat) rendering, in our case, a non-cognate synonym. In his translation of Ps. 8:10, he remarks: [ymùg ynaùtla ≈rah lkb tl[ùgw hxaùk ù≈ra la yla hprxa tnkp μymç qwspla yp syl ùda μla[la. As a matter of fact, at the first occurrence of the phrase ˚mç ryda hm ≈rah lkb (ibid., verse 1), he rendered ≈ra by ù≈ra, for the Hebrew word ≈ra stands in complementary parallelism with ˚dwh hnt rça, μymçh (μymçh l[ ibid.) Justification statements of this kind for renderings by non-cognates, where a rendering specifically by a cognate might have been expected, also occur, further in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr at Isa. 18:7; Ps. 21,13; Job 1:12,14,17; 4:8; 7:3; 9:4; 15:2,13, and 16:10.20
20 However, it should be emphasized that the incentive that stimulated an absolutely systematic practice of rendering by a cognate, which characterized several other translators, Karaites in particular, such a measure of religiosity is not to be discerned in R. Sa'adiah’s renderings—witness the following entry words rendered by other translators, each according to his own method, by Arabic cognates, whereas R. Sa'adiah translated them by non-cognates: hglpn (Gen. 10:25)/tùglpna (R. Judah ibn Quraysh and others) but R. Sa'adiah: tmsqna; yçwl (ibid. 18:6)/yùtl (Ibn Quraysh and Alfàsi) but R. Sa'adiah: hynùg[a; πl[ttw (ibid. 38:14)/tplgt but R. Sa'adiah: tfgt; ˆwdxrt (Ps. 68:17)/ˆwdxrt (Ibn Quraysh and Ibn Barùn) but R. Sa'adiah: ˆw[qwtt; μymhltmk (Prov. 18:8)/whl (Alfàsi) but R. Sa'adiah: jazm; hlhltmk (ibid. 26:18)/yhaltm (Alfàsi), but R. Sa'adiah: jzam.
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It is not surprising, therefore, that many scholars continue to relate to the practice, in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr, of rendering by a cognate, as a genuine language comparison. Be that as it may, even we restricted the scope of R. Sa'adiah’s language comparisons to those explicit comparisons encountered in his grammatical treatises and in his Bible translation commentaries, we would still obtain a clear enough picture of his comparison theory. It can be stated conclusively, then, that in the sphere of language comparison, too, R. Sa'adiah Ga"on was μyrbdmh çar (the primary spokesman).
7.4 7.4.1
Nomenclature and comparative terms
The nomenclature for the languages
The name used for Arabic: br[la hgl (Isa. 63:7 a.e.); Nomenclature for Arabic-speaking people: br[la ( Job 9:4 and elswhere); μwqla (ibid. 24:20); sanla (ibid. 16:11); The names used for Hebrew: lyarsa ynb hgl (Introduction to tr./commentary to Psalms, ed. Qàfi˙, p. 46)); ynarb[la (Isa. 63:7); Nomenclature for Hebrew-speaking people: ˆwynarb[la (Skoss, 1942, p. 190). Names for Aramaic: ynayrsla ( Job 15:29); μwgrtla hgl (used also for biblical Aramaic; Prov. 31:2 a.e.); μwgrt ˆwçl (Dan. 10:1); ˆyynadskla hgl (ibid. 7:1); (ˆyytmlk) ˆytyyfbn (ibid. 3:8). Names for books/works in Aramaic: laynd (Ps. 2:9). 7.4.2
The comparison terminology
In Heb./Arab. comparisons: sanla ˆwlwqy ( Job 16:11); μwqla lwqk ( Job 24:20); br[la ˆwlm[tsy amk . . . ˆwynarb[la ˆwlm[tsy (Ps. 12:3); br[la ymst amkw ( Job 9:4); br[la hgl yp (Ps. 2:1; ed. Qàfi˙, p. 46); ˚lùdk ynarb[la ypw . . . (Isa 63:7); . . . ˚lùd qlft br[la hgl (Ps. 144:13; Zucker 1955, pp. 26, 79); . . . lwqt amk (Ps. 80:13); . . . . lwqk whw (Prov. 3:34); ˚lùd yl[ wjlfxy μl ˆynarb[la ˆap . . . (Skoss 1942, p. 190); ynarb[la yp hmaqm (Prov. 1:23). In Heb./Aram. comparisons: . . . ynayrsla yp wI mùkpy dq ( Job 15:29); μwgrtla hgl ˆm (at entries: ˚[wlb, ˚mjra; ˆysj, wgrjyw, ˚y[r-y[r; ˆwy[bt, hd[m, twbrb, twjml); hmùgrt yhp (at tyrkta); μwgrt (whp) (entries ˆynmz, atçrbn, rbsyw, hpyqtw, yntmyaw alyjd); μwgrt ˆal (at yhwdj; rw[(k));
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μwgrt hnal (at [[rm, askb); μwgrtla hglb wh (at yrb); μwgrt whw (in three-way comparisons Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: tjn, μypkw, lfwy, twmyçy, glp, hd[, tmwlçw, ˆwzj, μwmts, ˆyklm). μwgrt ˆwçl ˆm (at abx); “zero” term (at entries: ygwlgb, td; lçjw; azwrkw, qyzn, awngs, [r, [wry, rtyw, hytafafw). In Aram./Arab. comparisons: hqlft amk . . . qlft al br[la hgl ˆyynadskla hgl (Dan. 7:1); μwgrtla hgl yp zaùg am yl[ . . . (ibid. 7:15).
CHAPTER EIGHT
R. JUDAH IBN QURAYSH (IN REMARK DUNASH B. TAMÌM)1
R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s treatise the Risàla, which to the best of my knowledge was the first work to be devoted to language comparison of Hebrew/Arabic/Aramaic, has been fairly recently published in a high-quality edition (Becker, 1984) containing the Arabic original side by side with a Hebrew rendition by the editor. Becker, in addition, wrote a detailed introduction to the Risàla (pp. 1–111) in which he discussed a plethora of issues regarding Ibn Quraysh, concerning the treatise itself, the manuscripts of the work, its earlier editions, its linguistic theory, as its theory-cum-method of language comparison as reflected in the treatise, and the status of Ibn Quraysh as compared with other contemporary scholars and with those who succeeded him.2 On several topics having a bearing on the present study, I have commented on R. Judah ibn Quraysh’s theory and, at times, on the conclusions reached by Becker. For such materials and remarks, see above, 2.1, 2.3.4, 2.4.1.1, 2.6.1, 2.6.3.3, 5.1.1, 5.3.3, as well as footnotes to pp. 34–35, 50, 65, 81 and 82; see also below the introduction to the Table of Comparisons (at the end of this work). On the position held by R. Judah ibn Quraysh among his contemporaries, especially in relation to Sa'adiah Ga"on, I would merely add here: the view of Bacher (1894, Nitzanei, p. 65)3 and others,4 as well as that of Becker himself 5 (ibid., p. 77), that the special
1 Regarding Dunash ibn Tamìm very little is known. P. Wechter (1964, notes 32, 33) recorded all bibliographical information available on the lifetime of that grammarian, on his treatise on language comparison and on the writers who had quoted him and the surviving fragments of his work. 2 For further insights into Ibn Quraysh’s method, see Téné (1983, § 4.2.3). 3 As Bacher (ibid.) states: “Ibn Quraysh was the first to pave the way of systematic comparison of Semitic languages.” 4 Among them Wechter (1964), p. 130 and n. 34. 5 Becker (ibid.) writes: “Ibn Quraysh’s individual innovation is his systematic comparison of words and of grammar, in the three languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic, all in the one specific treatise, treating of this subject and of no other.”
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character of Ibn Quraysh lies in his having compiled a treatise focused specifically on methodical comparison of Hebrew with Aramaic and with Arabic, rather than attributing to him the status of being an absolute initiator of work in this area (see Becker, ibid., p. 73: “He was the pioneer in the comparison of Semitic Languages.” Indeed, we have seen in Chapter Seven that explicit language comparison is incorporated on a quite a considerable scale in Sa'adiah’s works; thus whether Ibn Quraysh knew of R. Sa'adiah’s writings or did not (as Becker opines, ibid.), the position of precedence in language comparison must indeed be granted to R. Sa'adiah Ga"on.6
6 As noted earlier, R. Abraham ibn Ezra (Moznayim, I) places R. Sa'adyah Ga"on as first and foremost in the list of “the Elders of the Hebrew Language.” But Becker opines that “the order in this List is chronological.” See also Téné, 1983, §0.2 and p. 239), who describes the language comparisons of the Sa'adiah’s predecessors as giving the impression of being in “a fairly developed stage of a process, not at its outset.” With regard to R. Judah ibn Quraysh, Téné maintains (ibid.) that his statements “do not give the impression of being amateurish in this topic.” This can be illustrated in one specific aspect. Ibn Quraysh (A 93) adduced the comparison μyt[rt/r[ç/a[rt/ay[rt (Ezra 7:24) in the name of some scholar, whom he leaves anonymous and rejects it. It can with fair certainty be deduced therefrom that Ibn Quraysh was familiar with the comparison theme Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. as one used by his predecessors; it was not Ibn Quraysh who innovated this theme.
CHAPTER NINE
DAVID B. ABRAHAM ALFÀSI’S COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY
In the second half of the tenth century, Alfàsi composed a lexicon for biblical language entitled Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, (literally Treasury of Words).1 The entries set out and discussed in this lexicon pertain to biblical Hebrew and biblical Aramaic, whereas the language of the definitions and the running text is by and large Arabic.2 Jàmi' al"AlfàΩ, was not composed with the intention of producing a treatise on the specific topic of comparative linguistics.3 The main aim and purpose of the Jàmi' lexicon is to serve as a biblical lexicon; but just as this lexicon reflects a certain image of Bible exegesis and of biblical Hebrew grammar, so, likewise, does it incorporate considerable material pertaining to the comparison of Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic; and though, indeed, these data are of sporadic occurrence in sundry entries throughout the lexicon, their underlying principles can indeed be synthesized into a unified thesis. In what follows I attempt to present the characteristic features of this thesis.
9.1 Alfàsi’s theory of language comparisons As stated above, Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, was not compiled with comparative linguistics in mind. Thus, a priori, one should not expect to find therein any organized running discussion on this subject; indeed no uninterrupted discussion’s text of this type is to be found in the treatise. However, the customary practice of a lexicon, i.e. the use of interlingual comparisons for lexicographical purposes, provides us with the means to obtain some picture of the comparison theory
1
Published by S.L. Skoss. See Bibliographical Abbreviations, Skoss (1936–45). This dialect pertains to the stratum of Arabic known as Middle Arabic. 3 Examples of the exegetical character of the lexicon can be found at entries ≈ra (p. 154), ywg (p. 311); disputation with interpretations of others is at bha (p. 37), bwza (p. 53), ˆbg (p. 294), wmh (p. 446), çdj (p. 525), dly (p. 151). 2
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embedded in the structure of the Jàmi' lexicon. In other words, since the lexicon sets out the applied aspect of comparative linguistics, it follows that this “applied science” was founded on some “pure science,” that guided the compiler: it is this pure scientific theory that we wish to discover from deep below the “revealed” application. It must be borne in mind that one cannot discern in each and every specific lexical comparison something of significance, something uniquely instructive regarding one specific characteristic of the general comparison theory. One encounters very many comparisons all based on a single theoretical principle: however, I deemed it necessary to collect every single detail in the lexicon that has or might have relevance to the issue under discussion. I make it a principle to analyze, elucidate, define, and determine whatever instructive piece of information might be available from it for the elucidation of Alfàsi’s method of language comparison. The inevitable outcome is that for the present study I propose to identify and determine the full scope of lexical comparisons recorded by Alfàsi. A priori, we do not feel obliged to deal with the grammatical comparisons, however, restricting the scope to the lexicographical materials alone is likely to create a distorted view of the comparison theory/method. These data by themselves may lead the reader to conclude that with regard to the comparison issue Alfàsi fails to depart from the framework of specific comparisons, i.e. local and “primitive” language comparisons. The impression received would be that Alfàsi possesses no wider or more expansive approach on the issue, an approach of a comprehensive and abstract nature. For this very reason, I have first set out samples of the grammatical comparisons incorporated by Alfàsi in his lexicon, whether the comparisons appear explicitly or allusively. Grammatical comparisons are naturally likely to reflect a larger measure of abstraction than comparisons of separate defined lexical entities; for in grammatical comparisons one is comparing a phenomenon permeating very many word forms as well as the length and breadth of morphological categories, whereas in lexicological comparison, each instance sets up a contrast solely between isolated entry words. 9.1.1 Comparisons of verbal conjugations At entry ˚br, (p. 362) Alfàsi analyzes the form ˚bdn appearing in biblical Aramaic; he parses it as a form modeled on the participial verb form of the Hebrew nif 'al conjugation. This can be clearly inferred
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from the fact that he compares ˚bdn with the Hebrew forms ltpn and rhmn—is clearly a comparison of the formation of the Hebrew conjugation with that of the Aramaic one. Agreed, one cannot be sure whether Alfàsi held (i) that this “isolated” form possessing a nif 'al structure (as he would put it) evidences that this structure was a standard one in biblical Aramaic, although in fact it is not to be further encountered in the Aramaic text corpus appearing in the Bible on account of the restricted scope of that corpus or (ii) that the grammatical “categories” of the two languages had a great measure of affinity. For our purposes, it makes no difference; it is important to note the upshot, i.e. that an attempt is made here to set up a comparison of grammatical categories. In one instance it would appear that Alfàsi compares the conjugation used in Hebrew with the corresponding one used in Arabic in the case of the translation synonyms ytyn[n/tbùga: In Hebrew, the conjugation is nif 'al, whereas in Arabic, it is "af 'ala. The corresponding Arabic cognate in conjugation, "infa'ala, would in this case be inapplicable (entry hb, p. 198). In discussing the entry ˆmz (p. 490), Alfàsi compares several forms of the hitpa''el conjugation, i.e. forms in which the first radical is a sibilant, the issue being the assimilation of the tav of the conjugation as well as its metathesis with the initial radical. In contrast to modern grammarians, Alfàsi makes no mention of such terms; neither does he explain the phenomenon: It is, however, crystal clear that he has the aforesaid grammatical phenomenon in mind, since he adduces from the three languages Heb./Aram./Arab., side by side, the forms: ˆwtnmdzh/[rdzm, ùgwdzm; qdfxn/gbfxm. 9.1.2 Comparison of verbal tenses This type of comparison pertains to the area of the conjugation of the verb in the qal conjugation in Hebrew and in Aramaic. At entry [d(y) (p. 393), Alfàsi compares the 3rd person masculine singular form (perfect) and masculine singular participial form of the qal in Hebrew and in Aramaic. The resulting comparison pattern produced the pairs: [d"y:/[d"y;“ [dE óy4/[d"y.: The impression is that the motive for the comparison is the morpho-semantic ambiguity of the form [d"y:.
4
This contextually must be the correct vocalization, although in MSS A and B,
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The latter form, in Hebrew denotes the 3rd. pers. sing in the perfect tense, whereas in Aramaic the same form denotes the masc. sing. participle. A similar comparison is made for the root rma (entry rma, p. 118). It is thus evident that Alfàsi thinks in terms of the comparison of grammatical categories, even if such comparison is reflected only in particular instances (πlaùkm ynayrslab hglla hùdh wjnw ynarb[la wjnl, as Alfàsi states at entry [d[y] ibid.). 9.1.3 Comparison of various forms of the nominal type Regarding certain Hebrew nominal entries, Alfàsi remarks that their use is encountered equally as singular forms and as plural forms, in contrast with their corresponding Arabic translation synonyms, whose use is as singular forms only: An example is qjrm—μyqjrm, as opposed to Arabic d[b, which has no plural in that language (ybr[lab ryùtkt hl syl—entry qjr, p. 606). So, likewise, rqç—μyrqç as opposed to Arabic lfab, which is used in the singular only (ibid., p. 705), and so ˆwbrj—μynwbrj compared with μwms (p. 583), and htçp—μytçp compared with ˆatk (p. 488).5 Regarding the translation synonyms μyxlj—μyntm/ˆywqj (entry ≈lj, p. 555), he remarks that these possess no singular form at all. At the entry bl (p. 146), he remarks that this noun appears sometimes in the feminine form hbl, in contrast to the translation synonym in Arabic, for which only the masculine form blq is used. 9.1.4 Comparison of morphological traits At entries bl (p. 146) and hap (p. 444), Alfàsi draws attention to the fact that Hebrew derives denominative verbs from several nouns,
according to Skoss, this form is vocalized [d"y.“ Skoss suggested no correction in the body of the text, nor did he propose an emendation in his apparatus. 5 On the other hand, Alfàsi’s statement, at entry rhx p. 502, i.e.rhùfla μyrhx lk yn[m dyzy al amm hyp μymlaw dwylaw, could be construed in one of two ways: If we assume that this grammatical comment regarding the fact that the morpheme μyI ' of the dual in the word μyrhx is non-functional semantically and is an intra-Hebrew one, possibly originating from an inspection of the Hebrew word itself in comparison with the potential singular form, then this remark has no pertinence for interlingual grammatical comparisons; if, however, we postulate that the aforementioned note is made vis-à-vis a comparison of the Hebrew form μyrhx with the parallel Arabic translation synonym rhùf which is a singular form, then this is indeed another instance pertaining to the topic discussed here.
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in contrast to Arabic, which fails to do so for the equivalent nouns.6 To express the same idea Arabic finds it necessary to employ a suitable verb form adjoining the noun form in each case. To illustrate, he adduces the verbs ha;p]hi, bBel,i bNEzI, r[es,i these deriving from the nouns hap, bl, etc. whereas Arabic has translation synonyms for the nominals only, as blq, hhùg, but does not build verbs there-from. Thus the rendering for the verb haph, e.g., is tahùgla yp ddb. Likewise, he compares the forms μylbh (Eccles. 1:2), wlbhyw (2 Kings 17:15), and wlbht ( Job 27:12) with Arabic abh, from which no verb is derived: The word wlbht, e.g., is thus to be translated abhlab wmlktt. Furthermore, instances where Alfàsi remarks that nominalization from a particle/conjunctive is practised in Hebrew whereas in Arabic this does not occur for the corresponding translation synonym of the given particle—e.g., the noun dygn“, which in Alfàsi’s opinion is derived from dg laydbz/ˆybz > anybz/πrf > πyrf.
9.2 Comparisons in areas of syntax and style The parts that follow present comparative syntax and style as recorded by Alfàsi at several entries: • The Hebrew expression an is liable to be reiterated within the same sentence, e.g. ˆj ytaxm an μa an la (Gen. 33:10), whereas in Arabic the equivalent cannot be repeated.
6 In Alfàsi’s words: tùdùka laqyp hdayzb ala ybr[lab πrxty ˆa zwùgy al ynytbbl yblqb . . . He does not use a term exactly equivalent to “denominative”; however this
concept is implicit in his words. 7 In the text (ibid.) the word laqy has apparently fallen between the words alp and hlayj yçmy. Its restoration enables a lucid construing of our text. In Arabic one phrases it ywtsmla qyrfla yp ˚lsy (in the righteous path) but one does not say hlbaqm wa hlayj yçmy being the literal rendering of h Ojwkn ˚lwh, as one does in Hebrew.
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• In Arabic, the “hail” interjection ay appears directly before the name of the person addressed or prior to the equivalent personal pronoun, whereas in Hebrew, no corresponding mark of the vocative exists (and this can occasionally be the cause of syntactical ambiguity) (e.g. rjb, p. 207). • At entry dja (p. 61) Alfàsi discusses the expression wynbm dja (Lev. 13:2), as follows: dja br[la hglb laqy ˆa ≈at[y μmla hdayzlp hynb ˆm dja ,ˆaybxla ˆm. He wishes to say that the syntactical phrase, structured on a combination of (a) the numeral dja (one) with (b) the preposition ˆm and (c) a nominal in plural in a defined state, as used in Hebrew, is disallowed in Arabic. In other words, with a plural noun Arabic does not tolerate the combination dja with ˆm followed by the definite article la. • The accusative mark ta is paralleled in Arabic by a technical, translational entry, namely aya; however, it is not possible to automatically render every ta by aya. Alfàsi does not enumerate the syntactical conditions required for the use of aya but simply remarks: ˚lùd b[xl aùdk ayaw aùdk aya ybr[lab lwqy ˆasna aùg wl (entry an, p. 246). • The combination tab hzm-ya (Gen. 16:8) cannot be rendered into Arabic unless the particle (ˆ)mi is placed before yae, since in Arabic one says: . . . adk ˆya ˆm (entry ya, p. 73). In sum, there is a non-correspondence of word order for this expression in Hebrew/Arabic. To sum up, the aforementioned comparisons demonstrate that Alfàsi paid attention to structural phenomena, too. True, no full-scale, systematic comparison of a full paradigm of any noun or verb is encountered in his works, i.e. a Hebrew/Arabic or Hebrew/Aramaic comparison, whether for persons or tenses or for the respective patterns or for equivalent conjugations. It is even uncertain whether this philologist indeed conceived of such concepts. Nevertheless, one should not underestimate the significance of these local structural comparisons, reflecting as they do a distinct level of abstraction and extension from specific comparisons of an isolated entry word with its translation synonym to generic comparisons.
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Alfàsi’s comparative philology and, to be more precise, the element in his theory that treats of etymological comparison of the three Semitic languages he knew, Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic,9 is clearly founded on a certain theory of letter substitutions. The term “letter substitutions” well suits Alfàsi’s conception of comparison theory as well as the terminology that he himself adopts (see below). No basis can be noted in his discussion for the idea of “sound shifts,” a concept current in diachronic and comparative linguistics. The letter switches listed below stem from express statements by Alfàsi encountered in the lexicon in various occurrences10 or indirectly from explicit comparisons of translation synonyms. For example, the three-way comparison dlg/dlg/dlùg (p. 327) demonstrates (a) the mutual equivalence of the letters l and d for this comparison entry in the three languages as well as (b) the switch g/ùg occurring between Hebrew and Aramaic on the one hand and Arabic on the other. The list also incorporates letter substitutions common to other comparison theories, whether these precede Alfàsi or are subsequent to him, as well as several substitutions that are at variance with modern linguistic science. 9.3.1 Alfàsi’s express statements regarding letter substitutions Hebrew—Aramaic • z/d: This switch appears in the separate, compounded substitution list, at entry ynxylh (p. 442). • x/f: Concerning this switch, he states (ibid.): ydxlab ldbny tyfla af[ byth lùtm (Dan. 2:14) hx[ yùxtqy. • ç/t: he states: ryùtk ynayrslabw . . . wytlab (ˆyçla) ldbntw and exemplifies with bwçy (Lev. 13:16)/bwty (Dan. 4:31); rç[ (1S 17: 25) art[u/(Targum Jonathan, ibid.) (ibid., p. 445).
8
See Téné (1983) notes 68–69 and above, 2.4. The expression ahanml[ ytla tagl ùtalùtla recurs several times in his lexicon (see below, 9.11.1.1). 10 See enumeration below. See also Skoss (1936–45) at entries ynxylh (pp. 439–45) regarding Heb.—Aram. letter substitutions and at entries ljb (p. 208), lz (p. 488), z[l (p. 172), fb[ (p. 362), etc., regarding Heb.—Arab. letter switches. 9
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Hebrew—Arabic • z/ùd: laùdlab yzla lydbtb lùd lz anlw (entry lz, p. 488) • j/ùk: This switch is encountered in several entries in the lexicon, as follows: hybr[la hgl yp aùklab tyjla balqna ˆm: jrm/ù˚rm (p. 232); (a)rj/arùk (p. 582); ypecj i }/ypçùk (p. 569). • [/g: This switch is attested, too, passim, in the lexicon: anl μyg μy[b lùtm ˆyglab ùgrky ˆy[ ynarb[la yp ryùtk (z[l, p. 172); ˆy[ ˆygla μaqm (μg[, p. 369). • [/ùk: This switch is attested in one solitary instance in the lexicon, i.e. ybr[la hgl brq ˆm fabùk fb[ anlw (fb[, p. 362). This is indeed a surprising supposition, for the switch cannot be considered regular even in the frame of Alfàsi’s own system. However, considering that he maintains an intra-Hebrew switch of [ and j (see tjba, p. 24; ynxylh, p. 442, 444; bgj p. 520), the rationale is increased for the switch [/ùk; for if one juxtaposes the [/j to the switch j/ùk, one arrives at the substitution [/ùk. The logical implication that can be derived from those letters, concerning which Alfàsi states explicitly that they can be mutually switched, is twofold: (1) The remaining letters constituting the majority, are interlingually equal or identical phonetically and consequently etymologically, e.g. d/d/d; l/l/l; m/m/m, etc. Regarding such switches of identical sound entities, no express statement is encountered; these can be deduced solely from explicit comparisons of identical entry words possessing phonetic/phonological and etymological equivalence. (2) Letters that are phonetically different interlingually, so long as he refrained from an express statement of their interchangeability, are in Alfàsi’s opinion indeed non-interchangeable. For example, the switch x/[/ùx is nowhere mentioned in Alfàsi’s lexicon. It is certainly to be wondered: if he takes the trouble to reiterate, time and again, the commonplace substitutions, surely a substitution of infrequent appearance (in Alfàsi’s own comparisons) should be noted at least once! The consequence is that the cognizance of this three-way switch cannot be attributed to Alfàsi.11 The essence of the substitution is that Alfàsi sets out no logical grounds for the switches of the heterophonic letters, such as x/f and
11
See below, 9.4.12, on the comparison [a/≈[.
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j/ùk. In other words, he does not provide a justification for the given switches. It would seem that his decision as to the fixation of one or other of the switches was based on contemporaneous linguistic use. For instance, the fact that the two entry words a[ra and aqra are employed with semantic equivalence in Aramaic serves as basis for his fixation of [/q as an intra Aramaic letter substitution. But Alfàsi nowhere concerns himself with the issue of whether the two given heterophonic consonants were perhaps once homophonic. It cannot be doubted that if he had thought that the two interchangeable letters once possessed some phonetic or “etymological” affinity, he would have been explicit about it. In any case, it would be a mistake to attribute to him anything pertaining to diachronic links, a notion that he nowhere expressed. 9.3.2 A listing of the interchangeable letters The following list is based on express statements of Alfàsi (above, 9.3.1) as well as on explicit comparisons of entry words pertaining to two or three of the languages concerned. In three-way comparisons Heb./Aram./Arab. • g/g/ùg (dlg, p. 327); z/z/ùd ([˚]kz, p. 485); j/j/ùk (rmj, p. 561); x/x/ùf (wqa, p. 143); ç/s/ç (jlç, p. 673); ç/s/t (tya, p. 79); t/ùt/t (hnt, p. 740). In Hebrew/Arabic comparisons • g/ùk (çwg/çùkw, p. 313); g/g (μgr, p. 592); z/ùd (lz, p. 488); j/ùk (ljb, p. 208); [/ùk (fb[, p. 362); [/g (z[l, p. 172); x/ùx (≈br, p. 590); ç/ç (dyç; ryg, p. 320); ç/ùt indirectly, by comparison hnt/ynùt (p. 740) and by equivalence of hnç/hnt. In Hebrew/Aramaic comparisons • g/k (≈mwg, p. 331); z/d (bhz/bhd, p. 442); x/f (ynxylh, p. 442); ç/t (ibid., p. 445). Apart from the above-mentioned letter switches, certain special substitutions, derivable from the implicit comparisons recorded by Alfàsi, are attested. Heb./Arab. switches • d/ùx: This switch can be inferred from the implicit comparison of
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Hebrew dd[ and Arabic dùx[.12 This would also seem compatible with Alfàsi’s system of letter substitution. Examination of the above list shows that, primarily on the basis of phonetic similarity the distinct majority of interchangeable letters are of the kind that exists between the members of each pair, whereas the etymological equivalence required by modern comparative linguistics is not afforded the same measure of weight. In Alfàsi’s theory, the ç/ç switch is a legitimate, standard, and normative one and it is actualized not only in the given instance but also in the comparisons znf[ç/zwnfaç (p. 692), açç/çwç (p. 710), ççj/çyçj (p. 595), and çwg/çùkw (p. 313). He does not treat this substitution as exceptional vis-à-vis the ç/s switch, as modern linguists would. Likewise, are the switch g/g in μgr/μgr (p. 592) and g/ùk in çwg/çùkw (p. 313), based as they are on their phonetic similarity (the difference between g and ùk being in the voiced/non-voiced contrast of the sounds only). It goes without saying that all the rest of the “switches” of the type m/m/m in which the sounds are identical are based on the same principle. No wonder, then, that Alfàsi set up dd[ and dùx[ as translation synonyms • k/k: The same applies to the consonant pair k and ùk met with in the comparisons of the translation synonyms ˆks/ˆùks and ˚d/ùˆdùkd (pp. 379–80). In entry ˚d (ibid.) Skoss remarks that the diacritical point on the ùk of ù˚dùkd might be redundant and that in fact the verb in question is a different one, i.e. Kd. The comparison would thus be k/k, which would be correct according to present day linguistics, too. Behind Skoss’ remark can be discerned an attempt to idealize the comparison theory of Alfàsi; however, the fact remains that Alfàsi set up comparisons for consonants on a pure phonetic basis that nowadays would not be treated as etymological at all. What is more, the rendering ù˚dùkd is to be found not only in Jefet b. 'Ali at the locations noted by Skoss himself (p. 258) but even by the antecedents of Alfàsi, i.e. Salmon b. Yeru˙im and even (once) by R. Sa'adiah Ga"on.13
12 See my listing of doubtful comparisons. The rendering of dd[ by dùx[ is quite frequent in Karaite writings and, likewise, in R. Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr. See Index of words in Qàfi˙ (1966, p. 336, col. Iii). See also Epstein (1982, p. 62). 13 See below, 9.12.1.3.6.
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A Hebrew/Aramaic switch At entry snk (p. 114), where Alfàsi implicitly compares this entry word with Aramaic çnk, there is an implication of the switch s/ç.14 9.3.3 The conditions for substitutions For identical letters, Alfàsi set no limit on the extent of their “switch” application in entry comparison of the three languages. However, in the adoption of switches between non-identical letters, he does set a criterion, this being inferable from the following: At entry μyrrj ( Jer. 17:6) Alfàsi adduces the Jonathan Targum rendering dlw ald; but he immediately rejects it, on the grounds that TJ equated μyrrj with yryr[, on which basis it is so rendered. However, it is not because the j/[ switch is unacceptable to Alfàsi that he rules out the TJ derivation; on the contrary, he includes this substitution in the lengthy register of substitutions at ynxylh (pp. 439–45). Rather he rejects it on ideological grounds, saying: ˚lùd yla hrwrùxla t[pd amw, meaning: “The adoption of this substitution is not necessary.” The question then arises: When does one operate the given rules of substitution? The answer: When this is inevitable—namely, when the entry word has no other feasible explanation, either contextually or as it stands, except on the basis of letter substitution. 9.3.4 Summing up letter substitution If one compares Alfàsi’s chart of letter switches to what are now considered conventional sound shifts in comparative Semitic linguistics, one finds that Alfàsi presents several additions on the one hand and some deficiencies on the other—notably, the switch x/[/ùx. Significant also is his failure to set any comparing vocalic entities in the three languages.
14
The feasibility of each and every Hebrew letter being interchangeable with the letter following it in the alphabet order, as attested in Ms Z at entry çwrb (p. 272), has no basis whatsoever in any verbatim statement of Alfàsi’s. Considering the extensive reiterations of letter switches adduced by Alfàsi in his lexicon, it is surprising that such a remark, if authentic, is nowhere encountered! The notion seems to have been adduced from the later system of Ibn Barùn (see below, ch. 15).
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9.3.5 Comparison of vowels in compared Heb./Aram./Arab. entries The comparison of entry words pertaining to the three given languages adopts, as a basis, the consonantal frame of the compared words (this notwithstanding the grammatical approach current before Óayyùj—i.e. that of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, R. Judah ibn Quraysh and Alfàsi—and, after Óayyùj, as held by R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ and R. Isaac ibn Barùn). However, no account is taken of the interchanges of vowels, not to speak of the vowel shifts noticeable in these entry words. Even in the isolated instances of apparent comparison of the respective vowels in the compared Heb./Aram. entries,15 the matter is not one of comparing of homo-semic entry words but of contrasting hetero-semic entries, these being highlighted merely to obviate misunderstanding in homonymic Heb./Aram. entries (e.g. Heb. [d"y: designates the perfect, whereas Aram. [d"y: denotes the present). Greater account is taken of the morphological patterns of the entry words than of their vowels (except perhaps that allusion is made to the external equivalence of the qamatz in Heb./Aram., also of the pata˙). Nevertheless, nowhere is either a systematic comparison of the vocalic system or even a partial description of it as such to be found although a partial, comparative description is recorded for the consonantal complex; nor, indeed, is any norm set for vowel substitutions. Furthermore, Alfàsi provides no comparison whatsoever between the vowels in Hebrew or Aramaic and those in Arabic. 9.3.6 Root theory and Alfàsi’s comparison theory Alfàsi’s theory of the root is identical with that current before the time of Óayyùj—i.e. it lacked any notion of the triliterality of the root for those verbs subsequently termed [ù [ (geminates) and verbs having a “weak” letter as radical. This theory had an effect on the comparison of entry words pertaining to “weak pattern” roots in all the three Semitic languages, even in those instances in which the root was not considered “weak” in one or other of the languages (e.g. the primae-n, which is treated as a “weak” pattern in Hebrew and in Aramaic, whereas it is treated as a “regular” pattern in Arabic) (see above, 2.5). As noted above (2.6), the Hebrew grammarians set
15
See the introduction to Alfàsi’s comparison theory.
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up comparisons for entry words that are a reality in language, and only for such, not for roots, these being an abstraction. Nonetheless, it can be proven that Alfàsi was cognizant of the concept “root.” This is evident from the fact that he compares not only entry words bearing correspondence in all their letters—i.e. including their affixes— but also translation synonyms, even when such pertain to different parts of speech. For instance, he compares a noun with a verb—e.g. the Hebrew verb hnk with the Aramaic substantive tnk (ˆwhtwnk) and with the Arabic substantive hynk (p. 113); he also compares the Hebrew verb μxp with the Arabic noun μyxpa (p. 475), etc. Even more conclusive for the manner in which Alfàsi conceives of the root are the comparisons he records for entry words with mutual metathesis of consonants, such as rpxyw ( Judg. 7:3)/πrxnaw (p. 524). Alfàsi’s conception of the root as latently reflected in certain specific comparisons is demonstrated as follows: At entry πla (p. 106) Alfàsi makes the following remark on the root of the entry words πwla ( Jer. 3:4) and πlat (Prov. 22:25): 35:11) ≈ra twmhbm wnplm hlwql . . . hylxa hglla hdh yp πlala sylw • ˆwnpyla hanhl alw (Targ. Num. 22:30) anpyla πlm ynayrsla ypw ( Job .16(Targ. Jer. 6:29) ˆwhyplm
The result is that the a of πla is not a “radical” letter, as evident from the fact that forms exist in Hebrew and in Aramaic in which this a does not appear. In this particular case, indeed, the root is the same for both Hebrew and Aramaic. But there are other cases where this root theory induced Alfàsi to treat as equivalent two roots that Óayyùj had held to be entirely separate. Several examples are herewith recorded: 16 In the introduction to Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, (p. lviii, n. 77), Skoss notes that he was unable to identify the correct source reference for this citation. He states that Prof. Ginzburg had supposed this to be some textual variant for the sentence appearing in BT, Óullin, 115b: ˆl [mçmq al hanhb lba hlykab ylym ynh (= the above-mentioned applies to “eating” only; regarding other, general beneficial use, no implication exists). Apart from the fact that this more or less wreaks havoc with the Talmudic text and that, furthermore, it is quite far-fetched to attribute to Alfàsi, Karaite that he was, a Talmudic citation (see below, 9.12.1.2.2), the above proves to be irrelevant, for in this case the correct source for this phrasing has actually been located verbatim (Sperber’s text reads: ˆwnwpyla) at “Tosefta” to Jonathan Targum at Jer. 6:29. True, this quote could not have been discovered from Aramaic lexicons and, even more, could not have been located by the Bible text word it was used to render, for indeed the whole phrase is nothing but a Targum Tosefta (a free addition to the Targum rather than a literal rendering); in fact I have come across it by a scanning of the TJ text itself.
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• Alfàsi records a comparison of Aramaic rwsa with Hebrew rwcm (rsa, p. 129); this comparison lends color to the implication that the root for these two words is simply s (= c) + r. • At jg (p. 316) he compares jg(n) with j(w)g (abrq jygm), and at dg (p. 301) he compares (dw)dg with ˆyymd ˆydg(n); at ùj (p. 501) he contrasts the Hebrew root yj with the Aramaic root j (ˆytm ajm) although no difference of meaning exists between them ynarb[la yl[ lyld ynayrsla sylw ; at ùz (p. 469) he compares (b[r-) hzm with the Aramaic hzml. • Likewise, he sets up a Heb./Arab. comparison for the following pairs of roots: rg(n)/rùg (p. 343); jp(n)-j(w)p/ù˚pn (jp, p. 455); d[(y)/d[w (p. 373); d(t)[/dd[ (ibid.); bx(y)/bxn (p. 496); (l)lç-lç(n)/ls (p. 671); (≈)xj/yxj (p. 573). • For certain roots, it appears prima facie that he maintains a comparison on the basis of mutual metathesis of their letters—e.g. çay/sya (p. 157); πjy/ypj (p. 50)—the implication being that the y is part of the Hebrew root. But it is salient that Alfàsi does not consider the letter y in the Hebrew roots a radical, for, as can be seen, çay is adduced by him in the frame of the entries constituting the arch-root ça. Moreover, had he thought that the y was part of the root, he could quite easily have set a comparison of çay/say, whereas in fact he recorded no such comparison of these roots. One may wonder, in all the above examples, why Alfàsi in the Arabic component of the comparison made no remark on the letter additional to the root and/or its status, i.e. indicating whether it is a radical or not. However, it seems possible to deduce his opinion on this matter from one isolated statement: At entry μhn (p. 258) he proposes two etymological and semantic options: (a) the entry word might be construed as stemming from hmh, in which case the stem/root is biliteral, i.e. mh; or (b) it stems from μhn, in which case the root is triliteral. Option (b), as he would have it, relies on Arabic—namely, on the translation synonym μhn. The clear implication is that in Arabic the root is triliteral: The status of first-n verbs in Arabic is non-identical with their status in Hebrew. The paradox is that verbs pertaining prima facie to the same pattern, and equivalent in all their component letters in some of their occurrences are defined differently as to their root. What is alluded to at μhn—this indeed gaining corroboration from his silence with regard to other verb patterns—lends support to the conclusion that Alfàsi was of the opinion that on the topic of root theory analogy should not be made between Arabic and Hebrew.
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9.4.1 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. inevitable comparisons exhibiting some deliberate aspect The impression that for inevitable comparisons of formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. Alfàsi did not consciously intend to record comparison but merely to enter each entry at its correct location is indeed convincing, especially in those instances in which the comparison term is “zero.” In such cases, there is no salient proof that the lexicographer indicated the Aramaic origin of the entry word, recorded in immediate proximity to the given Hebrew entry. This leaves room for the feasible decision to exclude the given entries from the listing of compared entry words. However, in a distinct number of instances, amounting to 35 in all and constituting 20 percent of the total number of entries of this type, a certain dimension of deliberateness can be discerned with regard to language comparison. This is sufficient to rule out the likelihood that no comparison was actually made and even the assumption that an involuntary comparison was created merely on account of technical “editing” arrangements in the lexicon. Thus the state of affairs pertaining to the 35 instances is probably the same for the group as a whole, and it is probably just a matter of coincidence that the dimension of volition did not surface in the rest of the instances. The extent of volition can be discerned when Alfàsi subjoins a remark of some sort with regard to his presentation of the two entries, the Hebrew and the Aramaic, in immediate proximity to each other. A more specific comment is encountered at drf (p. 22) and at dgs (p. 306), in which he adopts an unambiguous and general phrasing concerning the equivalence of Hebrew and Aramaic at these entries (ynayrslaw ybr[law ynarb[la . . . tagl talùtla hyp t[mtùga dqw). However, there are occasions where the intention aspect is alluded to not by the term of comparison but by an additional statement of comparison; in other words, apart from the inevitable comparison, Alfàsi remarks on an additional feature of equivalence between the two entry words being compared this equivalence being either grammatical or semantic in nature. For example, having recorded a comparison of yna with hna (p. 121), he notes that the accent in the Hebrew word yna is at times, on the penultima, whereas at others it is on the ultima. In Aramaic, in contrast, no such distinction exists: the entry word hna
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is always stressed on the ultima, whether in context or in pause. At the entry ˆmz (p. 490), apart from the juxtaposition ˆmz/ˆmz, he notes a grammatical phenomenon appearing in both Hebrew and Aramaic: the partial phonetic assimilation of the t of the hiΔpa''el conjugation with the initial radical as well as their metathesis (though are not spelled out explicitly, his illustrations indicate clearly that this is indeed what is meant): ˆwtnmdzh (Dan. 2:9)/qdfxn (Gen. 44:16), etc. Grammatical remarks are also encountered at the following entries: hyra (p. 151), ça (p. 156), ˆwd (p. 391), hwh (p. 427), rmz (p. 491), πsk (p.120), ˚lm (p. 212), μ[ (p. 403), hzm (entry ùz, p. 469), çna (p. 124), rma (p. 118), μh (p. 445), [d(y) (p. 393), hla (p. 96), hla (p. 97), [bxa (p. 141), [bra (p. 148), μlj (p. 553), lk (p. 103), μç (p. 679), and çby (p. 38). An example of the subjoining of a semantic comment is to be found at ˆy[ (p. 390); Alfàsi remarks here that this word is employed, additionally, in the sense of “mercy” in Hebrew and in Aramaic, as shown by wyary la ùh ˆy[ hnh (behold, the mercy of the Lord is upon those who fear him) (Ps. 33:18)/twh μhhla ˆy[w (and the mercy of their God was) (Ezra 5:5). By way of contrast, at entry rb (p. 271), he subjoins a remark concerning two word phrases, constructed on the given entry word, appearing jointly in Hebrew and in Aramaic—i.e.: μyhla ynb/ˆyhla-rb, in the sense of “angels.” In other instances the “volition feature” can be discerned on account of Alfàsi’s creation of an etymological link between the Hebrew and the Aramaic entry words, aside from their lexicographical juxtaposition. This can be noted at bg/μybg (p. 290), dg (p. 300), μçg (p. 353), ˆra (p. 153), bhd (p. 172), lbrk (p. 129), rwsa (p. 129), and lya (p. 76). The upshot of this matter is as follows: In each of the above comparisons, in which the set-up of their entry words appears on the surface inevitable, Alfàsi appends some datum or other indicating the deliberate nature of the comparison. The comparison πqt/πqt is especially enlightening in this connection. At the outset, no verbal indication of comparison appears; there is simply an editorial juxtaposition of the two entries. Subsequently, however, he adduces a “cumulative” list of comparisons, concerning which he states: ynayrsla [m ˚rtçy ynarb[la yp ryùtkw. It stands to reason, that the list of comparisons occurring directly following the above statement intends to imply an inclusion within the “cumulative” list of that very preceding comparison, i.e. πqt/πqt. This comparison indeed served as a “stimulus,” generating the list that follows. If this were not the case, the list would prove to be disjoined from any logical
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context. Indeed, this is precisely Alfàsi’s practice in his other excursuses—namely, to append a list of comparisons to the comparison that “happened” to come first in the discussion of the given entry. Another example is çt (p. 754): by dint of the Heb./Arab. comparison çt(n)/çtn he adds Heb./Aram. comparisons. It can thus be confidently concluded that a Heb./Aram. comparison set up by the zero term is indeed a comparison. 9.4.1.1 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. inevitable comparisons Below are listed the Hebrew and Aramaic biblical entry words for which comparison was recorded by dint of the fact that each entry pair was adduced in the frame of one arch-entry: ˆlya/(μy)lya ,(68) rja/rja ,(494) ˆz/ˆz(a) ,(53,488) lza/lz(a) (28) ˆba/ˆba • ,(91) la/hla ,(89) lka/lka ,(79) ytya/μtya ,(78) yntmya/ hmya ,(76) ,(118) rma/rma ,(434) ˆymah/ˆmyh ,(113) hma/hma ,(97,99) hla/hla rsa/rsa ,(128) rsa/rsa ,(124) çna/çwna ,(123) sna/sna ,(121), hna/yna ˆmgra ,(148) [bra/[bra ,(141) [bxa/[bxa ,(129) rwçm/rwsa ,(ibid.) πça/πça ,(156) ça/ça ,(152) ˚ra/˚ra ,(151) ayra/ayra ,(150) ˆwgra/ atryb/hryb ,(ibid.) ta/twa ,(ibid.) ata/ata ,(168) ta/(masc.) ta ,(162) rb/rb (271) (son) rb/rb ,(264) h[qb/h[qb ,(248) a[b/(y)[b ,(220) bg/bg ,(290) bg/bg ,(276) 2˚rb/˚rb ,(274) 1˚rb/˚rb (ibid.) (field) rbzg/rbzg ,(310) hwg/hwg ,(309) wg/wg ,(301) rdg/dg ,(295) rbg/rbg ,(ibid.) πg/πg(a) ,(332) rmg/rmg ,(322) (y)lg/(y)lg ,(320) ryg/ryg ,(315) rzg/rzg ,(314) /hrbd ,(367) (leading) rbd/rbd ,(353) μçg/μçg ,(346) μrg/μrg ,(340) (383) qld/qld ,(377) yd/yd ,(374) rwd/rwd ,(372) bhd/hbhdm ,(365) hrbd ,(425) rdh/rdh ,(417) ah/ah ,(412) td/td ,(400) qd/qd ,(391) ˆd(n)/ˆd(n) ,(494) ˆwz/(w)z ,(476) dwz/d(w)z ,(448) ˆh/ˆh ,(445) wmh/μh ,(427) hwh/hwh ,(ibid.) ˆmz/ˆmz ,(490) ˆmz/ˆmz ,(485) ˚z/˚z ,(487) [wz/[(w)z (480) wyz/wz hwj/hwj ,(521) dj/dj ,(514) lbj/lbh ,(501) πqz/πqz ,(491) rmz/rmz ˆsj/ˆsj ,(561) rmj/rmj ,(558) amj/hmj ,(553) μlj/μlj ,(137 rtk) jbf/jbf ,(599) μtj/μtj (556 çlj) lçj/lçj ,(585) μfrj/μfrj ,(568) lb(y)/lb(y) ,(22) drf/drf ,(ibid.) (counsel) μ[f/μ[f ,(17) μ[f/μ[f ,(6) ,(65) dqy/dqy ,(418) bh(y)/bh(y) ,(393) [d(y)/[d(y) ,(38) çby/çby ,(228) πsk/πsk ,(113) tnk/(h)nk ,(103) lk/lk ,(688) ˆç(y)/ˆç(y) ,(70) jry/jry ,(190) hm/hm ,(163) aylyl/hlyl ,(129) hlbrk/lbrk ,(129) rwk/rk ,(120) (l)lm/(l)lm ,(196) (a)jm/(h)jm ,(197) (a)jm/(a)jm ,(469) (h)z(m)/(h)z(m) (advise =) ˚lm/˚lm ,(212) ˚lm/˚lm ,(211) jlm/jlm ,(137 rtk ,208) ,(250) aybn/(ay)bn ,(216) (a)nm/(h)nm ,(215) (h)nm/(h)nm ,(214) ˆm/ˆm ,(213) /lf(n) ,(598) tj(n)/tjn) ,(259) arwhn/rhn ,(258) rhn/rhn ,(357) ddn/(d) d(n) çqn/çqn ,(347) qs(n)/qs(n) ,(313) jsn/js(n) ,(21) rf(n)/rf(n) ,(13) lf(n) ˆgs/ˆgs ,(306) dgs/dgs ,(304) lbs/lbs ,(172 rta ;751) rt(n)/rt(n) ,(290) /(h)d[ ,(346) rps/rps ,(345) (count =) rps/rps ,(ibid.) rgs/rgs ,(307) μ[/μ[ ,(400) aml[/μlw[ ,(390) ˆy[/ˆy[ ,(398) (l)l[/(l)l[ ,(371) (h)d[ ,(421) bx[/bx[ ,(418) yp[/ap[ ,(412) πn[/πn[ ,(410) (y)n[/(y)n[ ,(403)
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/bç[ ,(429) hwr[/(hw)r[ ,(430) br[/br[ ,(429) r[/r[ ,(426) rq[/rq[ srp/srp ,(457) hjp/hjp ,(440) qyt[/qyt[ ,(437) tç[/tç[ ,(415) bç[ dx/dx ,(63 tpy ;490) (h)tp/(h)tp ,(488) rçp/rçp ,(485) çrp/çrp ,(483) ,(535) lbq/1lbq ,(524) rpx/rwpx ,(512) μlx/μlx ,(511) jlx/jlx ,(500) ,(565) txq/≈q ,(549) rfq/rfq ,(548) lfq/lfq ,(ibid.) lbq/2lbq /(h)mr ,(600) zr/zr ,(588) wbr/awbr ,(579) fçq/fçq ,(577) ≈rq/≈rq /rbç ,(644) bybç/bybç ,(ibid.) ˆn[r/ˆn[r ,(618) ([)[r/([)[r ,(612) (a)mr ,(331) μ(y)ç/μ(y)ç ,(749 πqt) dhç/dhç ,(305) (ay)gç/(ay)gç ,(304) rbs ,(679) μç/μç ,(674) flç/flç ,(672) (mistake) wlç/wlç ,(669) ˆkç/ˆkç ,(707) (y)rç/(y)rç ,(699) rpç/rpç ,(686) çmç/çmç ,(680) (μ)mç/(μ)mç .(749) πqt/πqt ,(748) ˆqt/ˆqt ,(ibid.) çrç/çrç ,(708) qrç/qrç
The total number of comparisons in the above category is 182. For the majority, the Bib. Heb. appears first, followed by the Bib. Aram.; but in a few cases the order is the opposite, e.g.: ˆyrtçm hyxrj yrfqw (Dan. 5:6)/twrfq twrxj (Ezek. 46:22) (entry rfq, p. 549) ; likewise zr/zr (p. 600). The great majority of the comparisons are purely lexical, however, a lexical comparison can be seen in the background of some grammatical comparisons. An example is yna/hna (p. 121), in which the discussion relates mainly to the issue of the placement of the stress, which is non-fixed in the Hebrew entry word, in contrast with the Aramaic one. This is however, a secondary comparison, since it implicitly incorporates a lexical, etymological and semantic comparison. This is the case with [d(y)/[d(y) (p. 393) as well as rwpx/rpx (p. 524). The prominent term employed in comparisons of this type, is ynayrslabw (below, 9.11.2.2). This term would seem colorless, with no import apart from serving to signal the student to be aware that the forthcoming citations are not Hebrew but Aramaic. Nevertheless on the occasions when this term digresses beyond its normal function of interposing between the Hebrew and Aramaic entry words and adopts the additional function of comparing of a grammatical topic of relevance to the given entries or of being semantic in nature, then ynayrslab transpires to be specifically a comparison term—as is exemplified in the comparisons appended to the following entries: yna/hna (p. 121), hyra/hyra (p. 151), ˆd(n)/ˆ(y)d (p. 391), ˆmz/ˆmz (p. 490), hzh/hzh (p. 427), πsk/πsk (p. 120), ˚lm/˚lm (p. 212). At these entries, and others, the grammatical similarity or difference is proof that a real comparison is intended, given that the term ynayrslabw does not in itself prima facie indicate comparison specifically. As a matter of fact, other terms even more unambiguous than ynayrslabw,
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are available for indicating contrastive comparison, such as yp ama ynayrsla (below, 9.11.2.9). The point is that frequently used terms tend to tolerate a reduction of their word components, so that a “reduced” term is quite likely to reflect a concept of wider meaning. Apart from the aforementioned term, other comparison terms are employed including the zero term (below, 9.11.2.11). Occasionally, Alfàsi forgets to open some specific Aramaic entry, the result being that a potential comparison is missing—e.g. *ry[z/ry[z (see entry ry[z, p. 499), where he clearly overlooked the Bib. Aram. ary[z (Dan. 7:8; below, 9.4.5). 9.4.2 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. comparisons in excursus Four comparisons (included in the above-mentioned list), entered at their appropriate locations in the lexicon, are reiterated in the frame of an independent excursus (πqt pp. 749–50). Two of these, (h)[b/(a)[b and qs(n)/qs(n) pertain, jointly, to the comparison formula Bib. Heb./ Bib. Aram.; whereas two others, lfq/jxr/lfq; ydhç/twd[/atwdhç, belong to a different formula, i.e. Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (below, 9.4.9). This subgroup is set apart from the rest of the main listing, because Alfàsi discusses these entry words in a frame created for this specific purpose, the “comparison aim” for this subgroup being of a different kind. List of deliberate comparisons in formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. • bae/bna (p. 122), rbzg/rbzg (p. 301), bhz/bhd (ynxylh, p. 442), ljz/ ljd (p. 481), bwf/baf (p. 2), ≈[(y)/f[(y) (ynxylh p. 442), bt(y)/bç(y) (p. 722), hdm/hdnm (dm, p. 189; hdnm, p. 216), rç[/rt[ (ynxylh, p. 445), b(w)ç/b(w)t· (ibid.) rbç/rbt (ibid.) μynç/(ˆ)yrt (p. 752), r[ç/r[t (ibid.). 9.4.3 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (cognates according to Alfàsi?) When he compares entry words using this formula, Alfàsi does not seem to imply comparison of a specifically etymological nature; the context allows for the possibility that he means to compare the semantic aspect only. For example, at [wrza/[rda it is feasible that he intends to highlight the equivalence of merely the metaphorical sense (power, force) that they share in common. Several of the pairs appearing in this group present more than one feature marking the distinctive
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component of the pair. E.g., the distinction between za and ˆyda, apart from the letter switch z/d, is marked by a morphological difference, too—namely, the suffix ˆyI , which is an augmentation in A the Aramaic word vis-à-vis the Hebrew one. Had Alfàsi viewed the two words as cognate, he would have made reference to their distinctive features. Indeed, the terms employed with these comparisons are merely generic, of the type: ynarb[la yp . . . lùtm whw or simply lùtm. However, these are very similar to entry words compared on the previously enumerated formula (Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. deliberate) regarding the interchanging letters d/z, ç/t, these being the very same letters stated to be interchangeable in entry words of the previous category and regarding the apparent augmentation, i.e. the additional n (see πa > πna) or the apparent reduction (πna > πa). It is therefore feasible that Alfàsi intended to record etymological comparison. Considering the dubiety as to a clear conclusion, the relevant examples are separated and treated as an independent category.17 The comparisons comprised in this category are: za/ˆyda(b) (p. 34), [wrz/[rda (pp. 36, 407), πa/πna (p. 123), çy/ytya (ytya, p. 79), lzrb/lzrp (p. 482). 9.4.4 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. non-cognate translation synonym On this formula, Alfàsi presents a Bib. Heb. in contrast with a noncognate Bib. Aramaic translation synonym. From a practical standpoint, this is not a real comparison, considering that what is referred to is a non-cognate lacking further any semantic equivalence with its Hebrew “counterpart.” Nevertheless, as shown above (5.3.2.6), even non-cognate “comparisons” have some significance. Entry words bearing comparison in this category are available biblically in juxtaposition, in one solitary instance only—namely, in the instance of d[lg/atwdhç rgy (Gen. 31:47) (This comparison incorporates two pairs of entry words: lg/rgy; d[/wdhç). The remaining cases are such that their respective components appear in remote parallelism, in similar passage contexts. Alfàsi himself initiates a discussion about them. The potential resource serving as stock for such comparisons on this formula is as expansive as the stock of biblical
17 Further on, we shall see that instances exist of Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (noncognate), too.
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Aramaic words itself, when corresponding cognate translation synonyms in biblical Hebrew are unavailable. As a matter of fact, however, Alfàsi draws on this stock for comparison purposes in only seven entries: a(w)b/(l)[ (l[, p. 398), lg/rgy (rgy, p. 39), hnh/wla (wla, p. 103), (h)yj/(hy)j (p. 510), d[(lg)/atwdhç (rgy, p. 39, rwp, p. 452), hp/μp (p. 466), çglp/hnjl (p. 160). Quite surprising is the comparison (h)yj/(hy)j, according to which the y, which by current concepts is the medial radical, is indeed radical in Hebrew but not in Aramaic. Alfàsi provides the following corroboration for this: ynarb[la yl[ lyld ynayrsla sylw (Aramaic cannot serve as proof for Hebrew). The upshot is that Alfàsi is not of the opinion that the two roots, the Heb. (h)yj and the Aram. h(y)j, are identical! 9.4.5 Concluding summary of the Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. category In comparisons pertaining to the type Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (with its several aforementioned subtypes) Alfàsi falls short of an exhaustive record of all the potential comparisons i.e. all those that modern scholars set up for comparison. An inspection of the quantity of comparisons recorded by Alfàsi, as against the total quantity of same entered in the Aramaic lexicon of Baumgartner, in the etymological section of each entry, shows that Alfàsi recorded for comparison only about one-half of the total possible—i.e. 208 out of a possible 435. Moreover, 18 of the comparisons he recorded would be unacceptable to modern linguistic theory, for several reasons: (1) because of their grammatical approach (e.g. rwsa/rwçm, the root of both being, in Alfàsi’s opinion, merely rù s; ytya/μtya; [b[r] hzm/, [anwta]) hzm (2) on account of the historical connection of the entry words with other languages beyond the scope of Alfàsi’s knowledge, as for example, Old Persian (in the instance rbdh, derived by Alfàsi from the root and the sense of twrbd, meaning “leadership, office”); (3) on account of a specific exegetical or linguistic attitude (as in the case of hbhdm/bhd). The great majority of the comparisons that were left unrealized, totaling some 170 potential comparisons, can only be explained on the assumption of the absence of some entry (generally the Aramaic one) that had escaped Alfàsi’s mind when he compiled his lexicon. In a good many instances, this may have occurred because of the infrequent appearance of the entry word in the Bible, e.g. rhz, q[z, dyt[, çpr, fpç, etc. A corroboration of the assump-
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tion that these omissions were due to oversight can be seen in Alfàsi at times overlooking even the Hebrew entry.18 For example, he overlooked wnjna, ˆwT]çn, hfj, ltk, μynzam, hnydm, ˆwy[r. On occasion he even discusses an Aramaic entry word without noting that the very same entry is in use in Hebrew, too, as in the cases of lfb, ˆm;, μçr. The assumption gains further support from those instances in which Alfàsi compares the Bib. Heb. with the Targ. Aram. (cognate)19 without remarking on its use also in Bib. Aram.—e.g.: ry[z, hdj/hzj μgtp, zmr, çgr dja/zja/dja for had he been aware at the time that a corresponding Aramaic entry word existed, he would most likely have adduced it as well, thus expanding the scope of the comparison and thereby producing a case of the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (9.4.13). The characteristic of the group of Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. instances left unrecorded, then is that they pertain to the category of inevitable comparisons, i.e. the Hebrew and Aramaic entry words are in each case equi-radical objectively and equi-phonetic, so the very fact that they are juxtaposed spontaneously produces a comparison.20 The fact is, simply, that one of the two component entry words failed to appear in the lexicon, thus preventing the actual recording of the comparison. The situation is different in the comparison category made up of entries that show equivalent etymology but are hetero-phonic. There are several grounds for that comparisons in this category having been omitted: 18
The statistics are as follows: approximately 40 percent of the Aramaic entries were overlooked, whereas he omitted only 4 percent of the Hebrew potential entries. These data are derived from an inspection of all the entries in letters g and p in Koehler-Baumgartner’s lexicon (excluding proper names), as collated with the corresponding inventory for those two letters in Alfàsi’s lexicon. It is noteworthy that in the area of proper names, about 50 percent are missing! Despite these data, it should not be inferred that Alfàsi’s lexicon was, so to speak, not designed for biblical Aramaic: He does incorporate about 60 percent of the biblical Aram. material. What is more, in a good many roots he adduces only an Aramaic entry (without recording a Hebrew one!). Moreover, in the introduction to his lexicon, he makes explicit note of his intention to include the Aramaic biblical materials andxq ˆjnw)
hgl ˆm arz[w laynd yp am arqmla ùfapla aws taglla ryas ˆm aùdh anbatk yp jrçn .(ynadskla Skoss was remarkably imprecise in that he failed to indicate that the dictionary also encompassed biblical Aramaic (see its present title [Skoss 1936–45], in bibliographic listings, although in his “introduction” (p. ix) he terms it “the comprehensive dictionary of the Bible.” 19 As, for instance, on formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., below, 9.4.9. 20 This category, of course, does not purport to include entries that lack mutual semantic equivalence, such as jxn/jxn.
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• Alfàsi may fail to record a separate entry that Baumgartner does include, e.g. ˆwtna/μta. Alfàsi probably considered that the comparison implied in the framework of the comparison ta'/ta to be sufficient. • Certain entry words are adduced by Alfàsi, each at its appropriate location according to his lexicographical system; however, he admits to no “cross connection” between several similar words for purposes of comparison. Either he was unaware of their etymological affinity or he simply disregarded it. Examples are rzp-rzb, ˆb/rb, /bz[ wllkç/llk, afm/axm, rfn/rxn, r[/rx; [ra/≈ra, qra/≈ra, rdb/ ajm/≈jm, ≈rj/≈lj, rwf/rwx, axyç/axy, bzyç, for several pairs pertaining to this type, Alfàsi does set up a translational comparison but not an etymological one: e.g. [l[/[lx, hnd/hz, ˆ[k/t[, [a/≈[. • At times, Alfàsi refrains from creating a comparison in instances such where it would be necessary to posit the phenomenon of consonantal metathesis (although in Heb./Arab. comparisons this category is considered legitimate), e.g. hbkra/˚rb, [rt/r[ç. • For some potential comparison pairs Alfàsi recorded no comparison, because he did not recognize any semantic equivalence, between the two elements—e.g. rta/rça, rda/μyrda, çab/çab, hwf/hwf. • However, there are also several instances where the omission was due to oversight, as is evident from the fact that the Aramaic entry is not to be found at its appropriate location(s) in the lexicon, examples being jbd, hfnj, ty, bdk, asrk, ˆam, rm[}, fyq, wre. A prominent pair in this category is the pair ˆgçrp/ˆgçtp, which, at first sight would seem to have been compared by Alfàsi, although by an intraHeb. comparison and not interlingually. The instance he adduces for ˆgçrp is from Hebrew, but he fails to state that this word is an Aramaic one, too. • In some isolated instances, it remains unclear whether Alfàsi recorded a comparison or not: on the one hand, he employs no comparison term and adduces no citation from Aramaic; on the other, he opens the discussion with a generic sentence that could be applied at one’s discretion to biblical Aramaic also. For example, at entry rqy he states: hylxa hyp dwyla rqy lkw; likewise, at entry awh he states: ùtynatll ayhi lkw rykùdtll aWh lk; and at μ[ he notes . . . [m hnm ù≈aptsmla μ[ lk. It is probable that the particle lk used at the opening of each generic statement—if it can be assumed not to be a meaningless expression—includes the Aramaic Bible text, too, all the more so when he expounds further on the generic expression, applying it to the whole biblical corpus as he puts it:
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ˆarqla yp—as e.g., at entry ˆyb (p. 219)—or alternatively in instances in which no quotation appears from either Hebrew or Aramaic in following to the general statement, as at entry jwjyn. 9.4.6 Bib. Aram./Rab. Heb. In only one instance does Alfàsi set up a comparison of a rabbinic Hebrew entry with a biblical Aramaic cognate: hrts hnd htybw (Ezra 5:12) hz yrbd ta rtws hz ˆwlwqy hnçmla ypw ynayrsla hgl ˆm yhw hùxqn (see BT, Shabbat, 30 a; rts, p. 358). 9.4.7 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. Following is a list of the entry words based on this formula: /j(g)n ,(301) dg(n)/(dn)dg ,(299) dg/dg ,(219) ˆyb/ˆyb ,(106) πl(a)/πl(a) • ,(583) grj/grj ,(340) π(w)g/π(w)g ,(μç) μlg/μlg ,(327) dlg/dlg ,(316) j(w)g /(t)rm ,(191) lhm/lhm ,(153) yhlç/(h)hl ,(20) çpf/çpf ,(18) ˆ[f/ˆ[f .(740) hwt/hwt ,(659) rzç/rzç ,(238) jtm/jtm ,(230) (tw)rm
9.4.8 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonym) I have attempted (above, 5.3.2.6) to show that “comparisons” based on this formula are liable to include latent cognate translation synonym comparisons, too. In principle, the stock of comparisons in this category is extremely large. Its extent equals that of the totality of entities of the potential bilingual lexicon founded on biblical Hebrew and on translation synonyms, culled from the (biblical) Aramaic translations (at least those that were known to Alfàsi, see below, 9.12.1.2.1). For every Bib. Heb. entry spontaneously calls for its Targ. Aram. counterpart, to be recorded adjacent to it. The question is: For what reason did the grammarian resort to only a small percentage of that stock? It may possibly be suggested that since as a rule he did not commit himself a priori to undertake systematic comparison for each and every entry word; it is unreasonable to expect, that the entire stock should have been recorded. But see above, 5.3.2.6) Following is a list of comparisons, pertaining to this category: srh ,(99 yk) akh/hnh ,(351) lqt/çrg ,(48 rwa) yny[ lglg wzyj/hrwam • /≈yrj ,(454 srh) çmç/srj ,(527) rb/≈wj ,(144 wqa) axyd/rmz ,(454) brj/
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9.4.9 The list of comparisons on formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. ,(62) dj/dja/dj ,(345 rg ,32) arga/rkç/hrwga ,(22) ba/yrp/ba • /wl/wla ,(99) hla/hnyq/(h)la ,(71) ˆwfa/rtym/ˆwfa ,(61) dja/zja/dja ayrwa/swba/hwra ,(115) ˆma/çrj/ˆma ,(173) πla/ˆyksh/πl(a) ,(102) wla ˆkb/za/ˆkb ,(158) rça/˚pç/rça ,(405 ˚rd) 21jra/˚rd/jra ,(24 swba) /[xb ,(191 db) ≈wb/μytçp ,çç ,db/≈wb ,(251) ry[b/hmhb/ry[b ,(225) lka/rmg ,(331) axmwk/tjp/≈mwg ,(328) çlg/jrq/çlg ,(258) [xb/ttp /f[m ,ˆfq/r[z ,(434) (h)nh/[xb/ˆyh ,(369) rwgd/rmj/rgd ,(332) rmg/ bwj/μça ,ˆw[ ,afj/b(w)j ,(153 ùb jpsn) rwz/rws/r(w)z ,(137 rtk ,499) ry[z ,(540) yj/an/yj ,(192 db) arfwj/hfm/rfj ,(526) fwj/lytp/fwj ,(512) adsj/hprj/dsj ,(552) ˆyfwljl/twtymxl/flj ,(549) llj/bbn/(l)lj lflf/[gn/lflf ,(585) akrj/ˆwlj/˚rj ,(568) atnsja/hljn/ˆsj ,(567) /wqa/l[y ,(37 bby ,18) bby/h[wrt/bb(y) ,(23) aprf/hl[/πrf ,(13 lf) ,(123) apyk/[ls/πk ,(111) rmk/ˆhk/rmk ,(110) ˆmk/bra/ˆmk ,(60) al[y ,(153) yhltça/πy[/(h)hl ,(137) rtk/ljy/rtk ,(125) anpk/b[r/ˆpk /tsm ,(219) rsm/ˆm/rsm ,(538 j) ajm/hkh/hjm ,(187) algm/çmrj/lgm rjs/bbs/rjs ,(310) rhs/jry/rhs ,(252) bgn/brj/bgn ,(220) tsm/ydù /afj/jrs ,(355) brs/hrm/brs ,(326 yks) yktsa/πyqçh/tksh ,(315) d[/μrf/al d[ ,(365) arwby[/lka/rwb[ ,(358) awts/πrj/wts ,(354) jrs /(μ)μ[ ,(387) rf[/rws/rf[ ,(371) hd[/çwm ,rws ,rb[/(h)d[ ,(22 μrf) al ˆdp/hdç/ˆdp ,(434) qr[/swn/qr[ ,(433) sr[/hfm/çr[ ,(403) am[/hhk ,(483) jrpd/πnk/jrp ,(475) μxp/[rq/μxp ,(468) qnp/gn[/qnp ,(448) μgtp ,(487) jçp/πsç/jçp ,(487 çyp) ç(w)p/hrp/ç(w)p ,(485) qrp/[çy/qrp /ryx ,(500) hdx/μmç/(h)dx ,(498) tbx/μyjqlm/tbx ,(490) μgtp/rbd/ /ry[ç/rypx ,(525) arpx/rqb/rpx ,(511) jlx/[qb/jlx ,(508) ryx/dy /h[yxq ,(564) ≈pq/rtn/≈pq ,(527) ≈yx/rypns/≈yx ,(337 ry[ç ,525) rypx
21 At entry jra, defined here as Targ. Aram. for ˚rd on the basis of the citation adduced by Alfàsi: ˆyd hytjraw/fpçm wykrd lk yk (Deut. 32:4), Skoss in contra distinction records an independent reference for Aramaic jra, namely, from the Aramaic biblical text of Daniel (4:30). The comparison is thus interpreted as one of Bib. Heb. with Bib. Aram. and not with Targ. Aram., probably because Skoss saw the Targ. Onkelos reading anyd hytjraw. This construction, however, carries no weight, for it is evident from the context as well as from the comparison formula that, had there been any need to adduce Bib. Aram., the comparison would be with Targ. Aram. and the appropriate location for referring to it would have been at entry jra (p. 150) as a Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (inevitable cognate translation synonym). In fact, at that entry, he fails to record it, apparently due to oversight; moreover, whenever he adduces Bib. Aram. together with Targ. Aram., he subjoins it to Targ. Aram., rather than adducing it in its stead.
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/μar ,(578) atrq/ry[/trq ,(577) lwsrq/[rk/lsrq ,(568) at[yxq/hdyq /μhn/çgr ,(591) azgr/hmj/zgr ,(589) [br/≈br/[br ,(144 wqa) μyr/ˆçyd bfr/jl/bfr ,(606) açjyr/çmr/çjr ,(604) μjr/bha/μjr ,(594) çgr /μynba/rbçm ,(633) atytr/d[r/ttr ,(ibid.) atytr/d[r/ffr ,(607) ,(369 rds) ards/rwf/hrdç ,(582 brj ;652) 22dç/dx/dç ,(648) arbtm ,(666 ryç) ˆyryç/jj/twryç ,(314) yjs/≈jr/hjç ,(658) arwç/hmwj/rwç ,(159 ùb jpsn) brç/brj/brç ,(696) (h)pç/ˆjf/(h)pç ,(673) jlç/fyçph/jlç .(219 rsm) atrsm/trbjm/trçm ,(356) twqyrs/h[r/qrç The sum-total of comparisons in this category is 99. 9.4.9.1 List of comparisons Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. appearing in the excursus (πqt pp. 740–50) Ten comparisons based on this formula appear as a separate list recorded for the purpose of demonstrating the special affinity between Hebrew and Aramaic. Eight of these had already been recorded in the Lexicon at their predictable locations; see in previous list: dça, ˆpk, tsm, (h)dx, rf[, qr[, jfç, (h)pç. These are reiterated in the aforementioned excursus. However, two comparisons are entirely new: hsk/gj/ask; lfq/jxr/lfq. They do not appear at their regular lexicon entries. hsk appears at that entry (p. 117), but with no comparison with Aramaic, whereas lfq is recorded, at its entry, with a comparison based on the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (cognate translation synonym inevitable). This list is placed under a separate head, distinct from the previous one, because it appears separately in the lexicon itself, but especially because the aim of the comparison in the comparisons
22 Skoss remarks that Onqelos, Targum Jonathan, and Peshitta render dx by yrfys (or, in Jonathan, yrfyx; see brj p. 583). This remark probably indicates that Skoss could not comprehend the rendering adopted by Alfàsi for dx, a rendering
that appears twice, at separate locations, in the lexicon. Indeed, in Onqelos to the Pentateuch and in T. Jonathan to Earlier Prophets (according to Sperber and Rieder to Pseudo Jonathan to the Pentateuch), I noted, as a rendering for dx, nothing other than rfs (with var. lect. rfx) and certainly not dç. (The occurrence in juxtaposition of dx/ydç at 1 Sam. 20:20, text/T. Jonathan, is irrelevant: ydç is there a rendering for hrwa). It would seem that Alfàsi mistakenly switched the renderings of the two expressions ˆkçmh ydx (Exod. 26:13) and ˆkçmh ˚ry (Exod. 40:22), for at the latter expression, Onqelos indeed rendered ankçmd adç. But the possibility remains that Alfàsi possessed a version, one that failed to reach us, in which adç indeed appeared as a rendering for dx, this version itself perhaps being the outcome of a subconscious analogy/parallel, stemming from the rendering of ˚ry (ytkry is also rendered adç; see Meturgeman, entry adç, p. 150 b).
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comprising it is different from that of the previously listed category (above, 5.3.2.1). 9.4.10 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Aram. This formula is employed in two instances only: . . . arhn rhn μwgrtw (Targ. Exod. 8:1) ayrhn . . . ynayrslabw ( Jer. 2:18) rhn • (Dan. 7:10; p. 258) qpnw dgn rwn-yd rhn hlùtmw
ayrhn is apparently adduced for the sake of “grammatical” comparison of plural forms in the respective Hebrew and Aramaic of this entry. Since this form is cited from Targumic Aramaic, the additional phrase arhn rhn μwgrtw would seem redundant, both lexically and from the standpoint of comparison. Regarding the reference from biblical Aramaic, its significance is not merely in its documentation in the literary corpus, taken up for inspection in Alfàsi’s lexicon, but also on account of the sense of that word in Daniel, ibid.—a sense more metaphorical than that of the earlier occurrences—namely, rwn yd rhn. (In biblical Aramaic, the “basic” sense of rhn is attested solely as a place name, i.e. hrhn-rb[ (Ezra 4:10). Nonetheless, Alfàsi fails to record this name in the current entry.) • arb yd hatdb . . . laynd yp laqw hatd açd μwgrt (Dan. 4:12; açd, p. 411) Alfàsi fails to state clearly, whether the comparison recorded is etymological. It is feasible that that was his implication, for he is well cognizant of the Heb./Aram. substitution ç/t; indeed, he discusses it elsewhere (ynxylh, p. 445). Nevertheless, it is possible that he had in mind merely a translational comparison and no more. 9.4.11 List of comparisons based on formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.
ljd ,(282) twb/ˆyl/t(w)b ,(186) açyb/[r/çab ,(118) rma/çbk/rma • /hqdx/wkz ,(424) μdh/jtn/μdh ,(381) rkd/lya/rkd ,(376) ljd/ary/ ,(589) ≈rj/ˆtm/≈rj ,(577) πyxj/z[/πxj ,(522) ydj/hzj/ydj ,(485) atwkz /axyç ,(ibid.) arpwf/tljç/rpf ,(20) arpwf/ˆrwpx/rpf ,(9) ywf/ylx/twf qpn ,477) qpn/axy/qp(n), (69 tja) tjn/dry/tj(n) ,(700) ayxyç/trk /qbç ,(605) ≈jr/jfb/≈jr ,(498) [bx/sbk/[bx ,(470) sp/πk/sp ,(285 /byth ,(725) rydt/dymt/rydt ,(687) çmç/trç/çmç ,(647) qbç/bz[ .(752) rwt/rp/rwt ,(727) hwt/drj/hwt ,(456) byta/hn[
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9.4.11.1 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (cognate)/Targ. Aram. Three comparisons are recorded on this formula: ta/twa/ta (p. 169); b(w)t/bwç/bwt (p. 722); rbt/rbç/rbt (p. 724). These comparisons are structured on the lines of the previous formula, except that in the present one the three comparisons here under discussion—Bib. Heb., Bib. Aram. (and perforce Targ. Aram.)—are synonym entries. The first of the three is even an inevitable comparison, the other two are founded on the rule of substitution v—(Heb.)/t (Aram.), a rule explicitly dealt with by Alfàsi in his list of interchangeable letters (ynxylh, p. 445). Note further that the entry words taken up here for comparison are compared in that referenced location also, as demonstration for the rule of substitution. It remains an open question what caused him, for the present comparisons, at their respective entries, to adopt the formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (cognate)/Targ. Aram., rather than the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram., which would have seemed more natural. The only explanation is that in the entry context, Alfàsi clearly focused his attention on the meaning of the entry word—i.e. his aim was to prove explicitly that the sense he had set down for the entry word had good corroboration. In the special excursuses, on the other hand, his aim was to emphasize the etymological equivalence of the two entry words juxtaposed for comparison. The point is that the present formula, Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., is geared principally for comparison of Bib. Aram. and Bib. Heb. which are non-equivalent etymologically, i.e. non-cognate. But for the fact that Alfàsi himself made plain elsewhere that he recognizes, for the entries here discussed, their etymological equivalence, it could never have been independently concluded that his opinion was indeed such. 9.4.12 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) In this formula no distinction is made between comparisons of cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms, because in Alfàsi’s eyes none of the entries in this group possessed equivalence in etymology. However, an asterisk will mark each of the pairs that modern linguistics determines to be mutually etymologically equivalent. It it is clear that Alfàsi was not aware of this etymological equivalence for these pairs: (1) The formula he employs for their comparison is the usual one, for the comparison of non-cognate translation synonym pairs; (2) for several of these pairs, the cognizance of etym. equivalence
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would necessitate a familiarity with disguised phonological/morphological interchanges, which are relatively complex. Had Alfàsi had these interchanges in mind, he would have made express mention of them. For example, the interchange x (Heb.)/x (Aram.) is not explicitly remarked upon anywhere in Alfàsi’s treatise. Moreover, in one pair, additional letter shifts are encountered. For instance, in the case of [a/≈[, apart from the [/x switch, a further interchange operates—namely, the [ (of ≈[) with the a; this can be expressed ≈[/[[ > [a. Likewise, there are two additional variations, regarding the pair ad:-taOz, apart from the basic switch, i.e. z/d: (1) the variation of ˙olem (in taz) with/qameß (in ad:); (2) the non-appearance of t in the Aramaic form Øad:/its appearance in the Hebrew taz. Similarly with the comparison ˆ[k/ht[: the assimilation of n plus the addition of the h in Hebrew hT;[' versus the affixed k at the head of ˆ[+k in Aramaic ˆ[k; (3) the location of the entry in the lexicon, which serves to identify the root from which Alfàsi derives the word, thus “automatically” revealing the comparison type he intended to employ. For example, the entry word ˆ[k appears in letter k (after entry πsk and before entry s[k, pp. 120–21), the implication being that the word’s root is ˆ-[-k; since this entry word does not appear again under root ˆ[ (pp. 407–10), it cannot be argued that it was “accidentally” adduced under ˆ[k and that in practice he held the letter k to be an affix/prefix.23 Given, further, that at ht[ (p. 439) no comparison with Aramaic is adduced, it is obvious that Alfàsi conceived of no equivalence of etymology between ˆ[k and ht[. List of entries recorded on this formula: • *[a/≈[/([a) (p. 129); μrb/˚a (p. 277); rtb/rja (p. 283); llg/tyzg (p. 325); *ad/taz (p. 358); *rkd/rkz (p. 381); *hnd/hz (p. 392); atd/açd (p. 413); rwf/rh (p. 9); *ˆ[k, tn[k/ht[ (p. 121); ˆm/ym (p. 215); *[l[/[lx (p. 401); jlp/db[ (p. 463); *lqt/lqç (p. 748).
9.4.13 Formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. The Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Aram. component of this comparison is inevitable. The latter component is apparently subjoined, because the sense of 23 In several cases Alfàsi records an entry twice in his lexicon: once according to its root and a second time, according to the initial letter of the entry word, this to facilitate use of the lexicon, especially by readers not very expert in either grammar or Semitic philology.
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Bib. Heb.1 is insufficiently limpid and therefore requires a synonym. List of entries pertaining to this category: / rymg/ rmg ,(295) rbg/ çya/ rbg/ rbg ,(488 ;53) lza/ ˚lh/ lza/ lz( a) • /yd ,(367) rbd/ghn/rbd/rbd ,(346) μrg/μx[/μrg/μrg ,(332) rymg/llk /rwj ,(526) hwj/dygh/hwj/hwj ,(521) dj/dja/dj/dj ,(377) yd/rça/yd ,(208) llm/rbd/llm/(l)lm ,(12) lf/llx/llf/(l)lf ,(528) rwj/ˆbl/rwj db[/db[ /hç[/db[ ,(598) tjn/dry/tjn/tj(n) ,(213) ˚lm/≈[y/˚lm/˚lm /hwç ,(303) 24bç/ˆqz/bç/bç ,(63 tpy ,490) ytp/bjr/htp/(h)tp ,(361) .(668) jkç/axm/jkç/jkç ,(654) hwç/μyç/hwç
The comparison db[/hç[ (and others like it) belongs to this category, even though its Bib. Aram. component appears fourth and not second; moreover its Bib. Heb.1 is not explicitly mentioned. Possibly the lexicographer had in mind db[ (Eccles. 9, 1), the only Hebrew biblical occurrence in the sense of hç[m (= do, make)25 At any rate it cannot be maintained that the db[ in general connotes the existence of the same root in Aramaic, for in such cases the practice is to introduce the discussion with the phrase ynayrs anlw. 9.4.14 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. in the excursus The comparison dhç/dhç/twd[/atwdhç is absent at its predictable location in the lexicon; it does appear in the excursus πqt (p. 749). The comparison aim being of a different nature from the previously adduced comparisons, it is here treated separately. Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) Two comparisons are attested on this formula: dwr[/dr[/arp/(dr[) (p. 432); fçq/fçq/qdx/(fçq) (p. 579). Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Aram. In this formula one encounters a single comparison: /atçynk/çnk snk/hd[ (p. 114). This comparison is again classified separately from
24 Either here or in formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram., Alfàsi, due to an oversight, omitted to record in the lexicon Bib. Aram. çgr and made mention only of its Targ. Aram. documentation: see çgr/μhn/çgr (p. 594). He likewise overlooked Bib. Aram. μgtp, noting merely its Targ. Aram. occurrence (p. 490)—and omission made good by MS G. See also, above, concluding summary of Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. 25 See Even Shoshan, Concordance, at the given entry.
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the others, not on account of the differing order of its constituent elements but because the Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. element in the comparison is not inevitable, given the switch s (Heb.)/ç (Aram.). In fact, çnk appears independently (for editorial reasons or to aid those insufficiently versed in grammar), as a separate entry (p. 116), but with no comparison. To justify this comparison, Alfàsi, was obliged to provide, from the start, proof of etymological equivalence between snk and çnk by means of the intermediate Targ. Aram. hd[. One is thus compelled to set down the comparison snk/çnk as a cognate one; for the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. is ultimately structured on the etymological equivalence of Bib. Heb.1 and the Targ. Aram. of Bib. Heb.2 9.4.15 Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (cognate) On only one occasion, did Alfàsi compare a Hebrew biblical entry word with one from talmudic Aramaic: ykh/ykh (k, p. 99). This is in no way surprising. The Karaite affiliation of Alfàsi is quite clearly reflected in the meager quantity of material he records from Rab. Heb. in general and from the Talmud in particular.26 9.4.16 Rejected comparisons There are cases where Alfàsi begs to differ with his predecessors on a matter of exegesis; sometimes he expressly identifies opponents by name, at other times he does not. Similarly, he occasionally records differences of opinion on grammar or on other topics. The matter concerning us here is the Heb./Aram. comparisons of which he expressly disapproves. From a practical standpoint, his disagreement with the Aramaic translator is tantamount to saying: “This Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. comparison is, in my view, inapt.” For example, at entry trz (p. 508), Alfàsi states: (Exod. 2:5) htma ta jlçtw hlwq yp μùgrtmla rgh swlqnwa flg dqw • alw [wrz lùtm hma l[ùg hna djawla ah[arùd tdm yn[y ,htma ty tfyçwaw
26 See above, 3.6.13, and below, 13.7, on R. Jonah ibn Janà˙. A full enumeration of all citations from Rab. Heb. adduced by Alfàsi appears in Netzer (1983, pp. 84–124). Given the sparsity of Alfàsi’s rabbinic citations, it is surprising that Skoss and Ginzburg viewed it as quite natural to attribute a Talmudic citation to Alfàsi. See above, p. 194 note 16.
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. . . hma lùtm ypr wh yùdla htma rsp hna ynaùtlaw ,anjrç amk ˚lùd zwùgy .hglla yp zwùgy al aùdhw çwgdmla
Here he is implicitly rejecting the comparison Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. hma/hma (however, this does not mean that he refrains from the comparison hma/hma elsewhere). Further cases of such rejected comparison are: hwg/hgh (wg, p. 309); lp,T (proper name)/lpt (p. 746); also the Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cog. translation synonym) comparison μyjyr/ ˆyfwçm ( jyrb, p. 273). He likewise rejects a Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. comparison that would necessitate the letter switch s/ç: jps (= jpç)/db[ç (p. 343) as well as a comparison founded on letter metathesis: sk[ (= s[k)/zgr (p. 394). For semantic Heb./Aram. comparisons see below, 9.5.4.
9.5 Explicit comparisons: Hebrew/Arabic 9.5.1 h[wmsm yl[/k Téné (1983, p. 258) has shown clearly that the term h[wmsm yl[/k applies to comparisons with Arabic. Here I shall merely add a few remarks on how this technical term relates to other terms and on the precise sense of the term.27 It is possible that this term possesses a certain distinctive aspect not found in other comparison terms, in that it signifies a relatively greater measure of phonetic affinity of the Hebrew translation synonym with its Arabic counterpart. Nonetheless, the term does not additionally incorporate a correspondence of vowels of the two translation synonyms, as is evident from the fact that for the translation synonym pairs gzm/ùgazm, μlnm/μhlanm aybl/wbl, tpz/tpz, ççj/çyçj, and so on, equivalence of vocalic entities is partly or entirely lacking. Nor could it be posited that h[wmsm yl[/k denotes a greater measure of morphological correspondence between the translation
27
For certain comparisons, the copyists of Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ employed the term
h[wmsm yl[ in lieu of another term used by Alfàsi himself. For example, for the comparison μhn/μhn, the term Alfàsi used was ybr[lab laqy amk but in MS X Yg the term appearing is h[wmsm yl[ (p. 258). Conversely, in the instance ˆ[f/ˆ[f (p. 18), Alfàsi established the comparison with the term h[wmsm yl[, whereas MS K in copying same, altered the term to ybr[la hgl brq ˆm. (Appendix II, p. 160); likewise at comparison rwk/rwk (ibid.). Note that at entry hbqu/hbq (p. 535), MS Y rendered the phrase h[wmsm yl[ in the original text, into Hebrew, as w[mçmk ybr[.
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synonyms, because as can be seen, in the comparison μg[/μtga, there is no equivalence, either in the conjugation or in gemination. Moreover, in the comparison πk/πk the second consonant is geminated in Arabic in the absolute state but not so in Hebrew. Thus the element of equivalence signified by h[wmsm yl[/k must be restricted to the consonantal skeleton of the translation synonyms. The most that may be stated is that, according to Alfàsi’s conception, h[wmsm yl[/k is best applicable to translation synonym comparisons involving no letter substitution—i.e. translation synonyms that possess the greatest measure of phonetic equivalence. Indeed, a collation of the Heb./Arab. list of comparisons fully bears out this conception.28 What difference can be discerned between h[wmsm in its use as a comparison term and in its use in areas other than language comparison?29 Let us examine the following extract: At entry ya (p. 72), Alfàsi states: ˆmw lyw[la ˆm yrbla tlpy hlla ˆa ( Job. 22:30) yqn ya flmy hlùtmw • lywla ˆm hxalùk hyp ù≈rgla ˆap yrbla lyw tlpy h[wmsm ˆak ˆaw hdçla .˚ypk rbb flmnw laq amk What is the difference between the interpretation of the given combination (yqn ya flmy) appearing after yrbla lyw tlpy h[wmsm and that appearing earlier, i.e. as a direct continuation of the lemma of the verse? The interpretation given after h[wmsm is a literal rendering or a literal elucidation for the given combination. It matches the word order of the Hebrew, rigidly and punctiliously, word for word, with no exegetical additions. Thus the term h[wmsm yl[/k, when applied to a word combination signifies “a literal rendering of the given combination,” and when applied to a single word, it denotes “a literal rendering for that single word, geared to its basic meaning.” Thence can be derived the subtle implication of h[wmsm in the area of language comparison. Just as the term is meant to apply to the individual components of the combination, original versus translation, word for word, as above, so it is in language comparison. For the individual word, h[wmsm focuses on the individual components of the words estab28 It would be of interest to establish whether the term h[wmsm yl[ might have been eligible for use in comparisons with Aramaic; at any rate, no such phrasing as ynayrslab h[wmsm yl[* has as yet been encountered. 29 I am grateful to Prof. Z. Ben-Hayyim, for kindly drawing my attention to Alfàsi’s broader usage of h[wmsm.
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lished for comparison, consonant for consonant, constituting phonetic (= etymological) correspondence. One instance exists in which h[wmsm yl[ is used for a similar but non-identical, purpose. When Alfàsi discusses the combination μyrwça-tb (Ezek. 27:6), he proposes (entry bf, p. 5) two possible ways of analysis: viewing the combination (1) as a prepositional phrase combination—namely, μyrwçat + ùb (this, in the name of one of his predecessors); (2) as a construct state combination μyrwça + tb (in accordance with traditional biblical vocalization and word division). The second analysis is connoted by him: h[wmsm yl[, its signification here being apparently an interpretation founded on the text as traditionally uttered or as based on “the plain sense of the scriptural text,” without any adjustment, whether by a switch of vowels or by a morphological or any other alteration. It thus seems that h[wmsm yl[, in its various applications, corroborates the sense attributed to it, in the context of language comparison. As regards the links existing between the several comparison terms with their respective aims, no unique purposive feature can be found for this term. In this respect, h[wmsm yl[ is similar in nature to the other comparison terms. 9.5.2 Cognate Heb./Arab. comparisons Téné (1983, pp. 274–81) recorded a full list of the entry words that Alfàsi explicitly compared with Arabic. To complete that list, the following comparisons should be included: ja/ù˚a; dja/djaw; (dja/dja); wla/wla; dg/dùg; μlh/μlh; gj/ùgj; πçj/πçùk; tj/ùtj, tpl/ltp; ˚lm/˚lm; ˆm/ˆm; rhn/rhn; (h[wmsm yl[); ˆy[/ˆy[; μxp/μxp; dyç/dyç. It should be noted that Téné incorporated in his list a number of comparisons that derive not from the body of the text of Jàmi' al"AlfàΩ but from variant readings stemming from copyists and secondary “editors” who abridged the work. Considering that it cannot be said with certainty that the latter comparisons were penned by David b. Abraham Alfàsi, they are set apart from the ordinary comparisons and allocated a separate subsection in the present study (below, 9.10).
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9.5.3 Explicit Heb./Arab. comparisons, non-cognate translation synonym Definition: Explicit comparisons of non-cognates = explicit comparison of translation synonyms showing no etymological equivalence, the two translation synonyms merely possessing the same semantic content. In his lexicon, Alfàsi sets up five Hebrew/Arabic comparisons of the above type: hjna/dyhnt (djy, p. 48); htjm/hrmùgm (tj, p. 598); (h)[pç/ùgawpa, ùgawma, bkawm, rafq (p. 699); hrpç/hnsj (ibid.); htpt/hywah (tp, p. 490). I shall elaborate on two of these instances: (1) In the context of çpn, Alfàsi delineates the referent twjnayh (dejection, sighing) (similar to spnt, a word discussed there, on account of its affinity with çpn) and sums up, as follows: hjna tyrb[bw dhnt ybr[lab amsyw. Now, the two entry words hjna and dhnt have nothing in common except for their equivalence of signifié: the pretext for their mutual comparison is not a common feature of phonetics or etymology. In fact, it is indicated here that the two entry words stand merely as translation synonyms and no more than that. (2) The second example, in contrast, contains an allusion to semantic comparison or to comparison of proper name structure in Hebrew v. Arabic but fails to be explicit on the matter. It reads: ybr[lab hnsj yhw (Exod. 1:15) hrpç tdlymla tymsa hnmw . . . rpç • .(p. 699)
It would seem that the mere translation synonymity of the two entry words in the respective languages provides no basis for language comparison theory. Even for lexicographical purposes, there is no real need for the grammarian to specify, in each and every entry, “In Arabic one denotes it ‘so and so’ ” or “it is called ‘so and so’.” The lexicographer needs to record merely the translation word itself and no more. It is no wonder, then, that the grammarian recorded a veritable minimum of comparisons of the above-mentioned type, although the potential stock of such is vast, comprising as it does the entire range of lexicon entries whose translation synonyms are non-etymological. In this category, it would be out of the question to posit the documentation of a comparison, even an implicit comparison, were it not for the term ybr[lab. In fact, even with the employment of this term, the comparison is tenuous and virtually worthless.
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9.5.4 Semantic comparisons Alfàsi also records non-cognate translation synonym comparisons “flavored” with an additional characteristic feature pertaining to semantics. For example, at entry jlç (p. 672) he states: dqw . . . (Gen. 32:4) μykalm bq[y jlçyw lùtm lasra yùxtqt hjylç hgl • qalfalaw lasrala ˆyb sylw (Gen. 45:22) wyja ta jlçyw qalfa ˆwkt br[la hgl yp dy[b yç The “technical” comparison of the translation synonyms jlç/lsra, qlfa would have been insignificant but for the semantic comment accompanying it. The gist is: Although Arabic does employ two distinct (hetero-radical) verbs, to match the two referees of jlç, “sending” and “releasing,” these two referents are very close in meaning and possess several common semantic features. In fact, they are so close that in Hebrew two separate roots are not required as they are in Arabic; one root suffices for both referees. We have here a real comparison. It could be justifiably stated that this comparison touches on the crucial issue of interlingual comparison of the interrelationship of signifiants and signifiés within a given semantic field. Another example: Alfàsi compares the non-cognate translation synonyms qna/qhç with regard to some semantic topic as follows: br[la hgl yp qyhçla ˆak ˆaw swbjmla hqhç (Ps. 102:21) rysa tqna • ù˚raxw dhntm lkl ynarb[la ahlm[tsy ryùtkw ˆawyjla ˆm hryg ˆwd rymjll .(p. 123)
Here, too, the comparison pertains to the reference areas of the two translation synonyms: qhç is used specifically in the sense of “the braying of the ass,” whereas its non-cognate counterpart, qna, has a wider range of meaning. It may well be that the comparison of the semantic field of qna as against qhç was taken up merely to account for the fact that in the Arabic translations of the Bible available to Alfàsi the rendering he found for rysa tqna was swbjmla hqhç. Had this not been the case, he could have rendered the word tqna with a word that raised no problems of incomplete semantic correspondence—a word such as dhnt, which in fact he subsequently adduced.30 Be that as it may, the significance of these comparisons lies in the semantic remarks that accompany them, rather than in the
30
See below, 9.12.1.3.12. Indeed, R. Sa'adiah Ga"on renders tqna by qyhç.
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determination of their respective entry words as translation synonyms The semantic topics constituting subject matter for comparison to which Alfàsi applied Hebrew versus Aramaic and/or Arabic are multifarious. They generally deal with the measure of correspondence existing for one or more signifiants of the three languages with their respective signifiés, or with the measure of correspondence of the semantic relationship present in several signifiants in the given languages. Only in a few instances did Alfàsi relate to the comparison of equivalent sectors within the semantic fields of these respective languages. The extracts pertaining to these issues follow: • Full scale correspondence of signifiants and their signifiés.: • Semantic equivalence of two pairs of synonyms: dç = dd/dhn = ydùt (dd, p. 370) In both Hebrew and Arabic the meaning of all these synonyms, the intra-linguistic syns. as well as the translation synonyms is “the breasts of a woman, whether of a virgin or of a married woman” (the semantic differentiation of the two states as maintained by certain exegetes, is here rejected). The equivalence here resides in both languages employing two signifiants for one and the same signifié. • Semantic equivalence of signifiant and its own signifié, in Hebrew and in Arabic: trz/rbç (p. 508): trz and rbç share a semantic corresponding feature, by virtue of the fact that each refers to the signifié that equals “a unit of measure,” and not “a part of the body” (used for measuring, etc.). The implication intended by Alfàsi is something like this: “Granted the current meaning of each is ‘a measure,’ it is likely that this sense developed, by metonymy, from the original sense—i.e. “a limb of the body”—and took its place in the language.” • Semantic equivalence of adverbs derived from a Hebrew noun and an Arabic noun; equivalence of the sense correlation of a noun with an adverb, in the two languages (dam, p. 183): • dam/dùg (= noun, in the sense “determined effort, earnestness, resoluteness”); dam dam/adùg adùg (= adv.) • d Oam] (noun)/dam (adv.)//dùg (noun)/adùg (adv.); i.e. the noun dam and the adverb dam possess the same mutual semantic relationship as do the Arabic dùg and adùg • Semantic equivalence of a pair of verbs v. a pair of nouns derived therefrom, with their respective semantic correlation: çm/jrb.
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• çm and jrb are two verbs possessing equivalent meanings. In the opinion of Alfàsi, the noun pair çma/hjrabla were developed from them: The latter, too, are tr. syns—thus pinpointing an equivalence in the semantic relation between çm/çma and jrb/hjrabla. • Partial correspondence of signifiants and their signifiés. • Partial correspondence between two similar forms of the same word: A comparison of the Heb. pair wdjy-djy with the Arab. pair a[ymùg [ymùg shows that (a) in Hebrew the two forms are identical in sense; each of the pair may be used equally for dual or for plural; (b) in Arabic in contrast a[ymùg is employed for the dual, but [ymùg for the plural (djy, p. 47). • Correspondence of reference areas but not of the total number of signifiants: jlç/lsra, qlfa (see above). • Partial correspondence of reference areas: I. qna/qhç (see above); II. blj/μjç (p. 551); III. hma/[arùd (trz, p. 508).
In II, blj is used in the broader, generative sense, incorporating “the physical organs [of the animal] or the fat enclosing it, the tail, the innards and the protrusion of the liver,” whereas in Arabic, μjç denotes some of same but not all. In III, in contrast, the opposite is the case. The sense of Arabic [arùd is broader and includes (a) “limb of the body” as well as (b) the metonymical sense of “a measure equal to the length of the said bodily limb,” whereas the meaning of hma in Hebrew is more restricted and relates only to the “measure of the length of the arm.” • Heb./Aram. semantic comparison: Similarity in the form of semantic liaison of two pairs of homonyms: • rmz i (animal)—rmz ii (music, melody)/axyd (Targ. Aram. for rmz i), hxyd ( joy) (wqa, p. 144). • Comparison of sectors of semantic fields • Heb./Aram./Arab.: At entry μrf (p. 22), Alfàsi remarks that the particles ,μrf, μrfb, μdq, ynpl ,μynpl and al d[ are all used in the sense of “before”; these are paralleled in Arabic by the translation synonyms lbq, μdq, and μl d[b and in Aramaic, by al d[. He does not make it clear whether a specific sense exists for each one of these temporal particles
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and if so, what it is. It further remains unstated how these expressions relate to one another, according to the scope of their meaning, and which of the expressions is a matching counterpart to which, in the respective languages. Alfàsi merely states that μrf would seem to match most suitably μl d[b in Arabic and al d[ in Aramaic. Thus he records a comparison, in the three languages, of a small sector of the semantic field defined as “the relative time sequence of events.” This cannot be regarded as a description of a semantic field in modern terms; moreover, there is no concept/term reflecting the cognizance of the notion semantic field. But it cannot be doubted that this is something beyond an ordinary comparison of a pair or two pairs of translation synonyms in the several languages; it is indeed an incipient stage in the development of the concept. At entry wqa (p. 143), Alfàsi records seven names of fauna. He remarks that three of them—lya/lya/lya; ybx/ybf/ybùx; rwmjy/rwmjy/ rwmjy—are “identical” in Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic, i.e. cognate. Two names have “partial equivalence” in Hebrew/Aramaic. In Hebrew, for each of the two, there are two synonyms, for which only one translation synonym exists in Aramaic, and this latter is cognate with one of the two Heb. synonyms [ls-l[y-wqa/al[y, μar-ˆçyd/ amyr. The remaining two names have merely a non-cognate in both Aramaic and Arabic: wat/albrwt, rmz/axyd/hparz. At ˆdn (p. 255). Alfàsi enumerates the names for the concept “gift” in Hebrew, in contrast with the Arabic and Aramaic names but without defining their precise meanings and without setting them in mutual opposition: In Hebrew the names are yç, rkça, hjnm, ˆtm, ttm, hnta, ˆnta, hdn, ˆdn, djç, hjwra, taçm, hrk; in Arabic (plural forms) ayadh, πyafl, πrf, l[ùg, πjt, talx, tabh, ayazùg, lyfrb; in Aramaic ˆntm ,hjnm, rqy, hbzbn, ˆyjjyn. • Heb./Arab. At ≈jç (p. 661), Alfàsi compares the names for “lion” in Hebrew and in Arabic: In Hebrew the names are yra, hyra, rypk, ljç, ≈jç, çyl, aybl as well as the feminine haybl; in Arabic, the names are dsa, μagrùx, [bs, rbzh, wbl, ùtyl, and the feminine hwbl.
The last two items in each list are cognates: çyl/ùtyl; haybl/wbl; moreover, the one and only feminine nominal adduced matches the last cognate in the list of the several nouns: haybl/hwbl.
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Thus with the above-mentioned reservations, these comparative lists can be viewed as a foundation for the subsequent concept “semantic fields.” While his main aim was to set out the elements that were equivalent in the three languages under discussion (or in two of the three), one perceives that Alfàsi did not ignore the aspects of nonequivalence between them. This is especially noticeable at entry wqa (p. 143). As for the areas represented in the lists, it is of significance that two of the large-scale groupings—wqa and ≈jç—pertain to the area fauna, and the other groupings come near to the area of realia. 9.5.5 Implicit comparison > explicit comparison The group treated next comprises entry words that at their respective entries, are adduced by Alfàsi merely in the form of implicit comparisons, whereas in other lexical contexts, in particular in the excursuses lists encountered here and there in the Lexicon,31 they are presented in the form of explicit comparisons. For example, the comparison flm/falm is established at its entry in the lexicon (p. 212) merely as an implicit comparison: ˆblmb flmb μtn[fw ( Jer. 43:9) falmla yp, whereas at entry çt(n) (p. 754), flm is recorded in a list of Hebrew words that are ybr[la hgl brq ˆm, i.e. “which bear phonetic and semantic affinity with Arabic translation synonyms” Likewise the comparison ln/lan, at its entry (ln, p. 273; ˚tlnk, Isa. 33,1) appears as no more than an implicit comparison. However, at another occurrence of the same root, i.e. at the word μlnm ( Job 15:29), recorded in letter m (although the mem is non-radical, p. 217), this root is compared with Arabic in the form of an explicit comparison (h[wmsm yl[); and likewise the comparison is recorded explicitly in a list at entry çt(n). Occasionally one can even encounter an entry word for which no comparison is given ad loc., whereas in the body of collocated lists, it shows up as an explicit comparison. The entry word jçq is ad loc. defined merely by a non-cognate translation synonym—namely, ysq—whereas in the lists embodied in entries μhz (p. 478) and çt(n) (p. 754) the same word is adduced in the form of an explicit comparison cognate jçq/jsq. What is more, some entry words are entirely absent from their “predictable” locations in
31
At entries ljb (p. 208), μhz (p. 478), z[l (p. 172), çt(n) (p. 754).
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the lexicon and appear only in the excursuses, such as byn/bwn (see μhz and çt(n) ibid.) Following is a list of entry words of this category (32 comparisons in all):32 arb/(a)rb ;(çt ,122) ˚na/˚na ;(çt ,106) πwla/πwla ;(ljb) ,(58) ù˚a/ja • ,512) abùk/bj ;(μhz ,353) μsùg/μçg ;(çt ,271) rb/rb ;(çt ,μhz ,270) ;(ljb ,587) πyrùk/πrj ;(çtw ljb ,583) brùk/brj ;(çt ,550)/lj/lj ;(ljb lan/ln ;(çt ,212) falm/flm ;(çt ,159) μjl/μjl 33;(çt ,134) batk/btk /çpn ;(μhz ,çt) bwn/byn ;(μhz ,çt ,220) raçnm/rwçm ;(çt ,217 μlnm ,273) ;(μhz ,çt ,384) qz[/qz[ ;(320 ryg ,309) dyç/dyç 34;(48 djy ,285) spn ,433) hmr[/hmr[ ;(z[l ,369 μg[ ,403) μg/μ[ ;(μhz ,çt ,386) sf[/çf[ ,612) ˚mr/˚mr ;(çt ,μhz ,579) jsq/jçq ;(çt ,498) rbx/rbx ;(çt ,μhz ;(çt ,667) bks/bkç ;(çt ,632) μsr/μçr ;(çt ,624) dxr/dxr ;(çt ,μhz (çt ,689) hns/hnç ;(çt ,μhz ;673) ù˚ls/jlç ;(çt ,673) jals /jlç 9.5.6 Comparisons founded on a tauto-etymological rationale (Exod. 28:17) tqrbw hdfp μda rhawùgla ù≈[b tymsa ˚lùd lkç ˆmw • (p. 277) ah[mlw ahqyrbl (Exod. 29:14) tafj ˆabrqla amsy hyfùkla bbs ˆbrq tafj anlw (p. 533) hmj smçla amst ˚lùd ˆmw . . . yblq ymj (Ps. 39:4) ybrqb ybl μj (p. 557–58) ahwmjl . . . tamamjla hbçt ahnal . . . (Isa. 17:8) μynmj tasynktla amst ˚lùd ˆmw (ibid.) μhlm[ ˆal bçj ùgabdla amsy ˚lùd ˆmw . . . basj yùxtqy bçj anlw (p. 593) basjb (p. 17) μym[fm hm[fala amst ˚lùd ˆmw . . . qawùd yùxtqt μ[f hùfpl sbkt ahnal çbk ahamsp . . . sbk (2 Chron. 9:18) . . . çbkw hlwqw (p. 86) hmyaqla [fq ùtalùtla ˆyyrjbla wymsa ˚lùd lkç ˆmw . . . jlmlab (Lev. 2:13) jlmt jlmb
32 In parentheses will be noted: (1) the page number in the lexicon on which the implicit comparison appears; (2) a reference to its appearance as an explicit comparison. In cases where the latter reference is in one of the excursuses, the page number will not be repeated for each subsequent entry. For references of the relevant excursuses, see preceding footnote. 33 This entry item holds good as presented on the assumption that the adduction of the verse tma btkb μwçrh ta (Dan. 10:21) has this comparison—btk/batk— in mind; if, however, the verse was cited for the purpose of μwçr, the entry item/comparison btk/batk should be excluded from this category and μwçr/μsr should be entered. The possibility exists, however, that the verse was cited with both comparisons in mind. 34 On this entry word, see the subsection on tauto-etymological rationale, below.
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(p. 211) amyad jlamla amla yp μhnal μyjlm djy) ahnm rxjny am [pdy yùdla spntla hl[l çpn ahams ynaùtlaw (p. 48 ayùxla μsab amst hla yhw ùgrs hlk . . . (Exod. 27:28) . . . rnE (p. 291) rwnlaw awhla μysn yla ahtùgajl hmçn μsa ahyl[ [qwa ùtlaùtlaw (p. 49 djy) . . . wdy rty ˆm rt hùfplla saw . . . (Lev. 11:21) ≈rah l[ ˆhb rtnl (p. 295) yçmy wh aùda ù≈rala yl[ rtwtla 35yn[ml ( Job 6:9) μwhtmw ylpsla rwmgla yp lyqw . . . ù≈bar (Exod. 23:5) waçm tjt ≈bOr (Deut. 33:13) tjt txbOr ù≈brk ahyl[ hlwmjm ù≈ralaw ù≈rala tjt hùxbar yh haymla ˆal (p. 590) lmjll hbadla (ibid.) [bç rab ry[h μç ˆk l[ (Gen. 26:33) . . . μsa h[bç anlw w[bçn μç yk h[wbç ˆm yh sylw ùga[n [bsla bbsb ˚lùdk tymsw (p. 646) μwq μhwk (ibid. 21:31) twnbrqla ù≈[b yms ˚lùd ˆmw . . . μlas (Gen. 33:18) μlç bq[y abyw (p. 676) bnùd yl[ al hmals yl[ baùgt ahnal (Exod. 24:5) μymlç ˜s ahnal ˚ç ùga[la amsy ˚lùd ˆmw . . . ˜s (Exod. 21:24) ˜ç tjt ˜ç (p. 687) lypla In one instance a comparison is set up by h[wmsm yl[, but a tautoetymological rationale follows, too. This proves that these two methods of comparison overlap (πtk, p. 136). An instance of especial interest, falling “on the borderline” between implicit comparison and comparison founded on tauto-etymological rationale, is the following: rçb lk μd (Lev. 13:14), μkmd ta ˚aw (Gen. 9:5), yqyqj μd hlk (p. 386). It is probable that in the deep structure of this definition lies a tautological interlingual definition: μd (blood) equals μd. The word yqyqj (really, literally) is indicative of this, for which reason this comparison takes on the appearance of an explicit comparison, if it be not indeed such!
35 If indeed yn[ml is used as a “rationale” term, in the same sense as lç,B,] which is quite plausible.
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9.6.1 Generic explicit comparisons In four comparisons, Alfàsi adopts double terminology: the term is used (1) in standard comparisons, e.g. ynayrslabw, ybr[labw and the like (below, 9.11), interposing between the two entry words set for comparison; and (2) in a generic comparison formula (below, 9.11.1.1). Two of these comparisons are structured on formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Arab.: drf/drf/drf (p. 22) and dgs/dgs/dùgs (p. 306), and a further two on the formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Arab.: dlg/dlg/dlùg (p. 327) and hnt/hnt/ynùt (p. 740). 9.6.2 Explicit comparisons in the excursuses At wqa (p. 143) are recorded the following three-way comparisons: lya/lya/lya, rwmjy/rwmjy/rwmjy, ybx/ybf/ybùx. There is also an allusion to two further three-way comparisons: l[y/l[y/l[w, μar/μar/μyr, if we adduce the data of comparison at entries l[y (p. 60), μar (p. 585) and ˆçyd (p. 379).36 The Aramaic element in these comparisons is from Targ. Aram. 9.6.3 Explicit comparisons of individual items The following comparisons are recorded with their standard terms and with no generic formula appended. Each of the comparisons appears at its appropriate entry location in the lexicon. Nine comparisons are structured on the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Arab.: (299) dùg/dg rmj ,(490) ˆamz/ˆmz/ˆmz ,(417) ah/ah/ah ,(320) ryùg/ryg/ryg/dg ,(561) ;(390) ˆy[/ˆy[/ˆy[ ,(258) rhn/rhn/rhn ,(214) ˆm/ˆm/ˆm ,(190) rmùk/rmj/ am/hm/hm Three comparisons are built on the formula Bib. Heb. (Bib. Heb.)/Targ. Aram./Arab.: • wla/wla (wl)/wla (p. 102), μxp/μxp ([rq)/μxp (p. 475), jlç/jlç (fyçph)/ù˚ls (p. 673, μhz, p. 478, πqt, p. 749, çt, p. 754). The last of these is an implicit comparison at its entry and explicit in the excursuses. 36 l[y (p. 60) is rendered l[w by the intermediary al[y-wqa; and μar (p. 585) ˆdkrk; so is rendered ˆçyd (p. 379) which is also compared with Aram. amyr and with Heb. μyr.
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One triad belongs in this context but remains unrecorded at its predictable lexicon location, i.e. dhs, p. 310; in the comparative excursuses, too, it is entered merely in the form of two separate pair units: At πqt (p. 749) the Heb. Aram. constituent is recorded as a comparison, whereas at çt (p. 754), the Heb. Arab. constituent is separately recorded. If we combine the two elements of comparison, a three-way comparison dhç/dhç/dhç is produced, on the formula Bib. Heb./Aram./Arab.37 In the case of two other comparisons, the explicit comparison with Arabic stems from a tauto-etymological rationale: jlm/jlm/jlm (p. 211) and çmç/çmç/smç (p. 686). 9.6.4 Explicit comparison Heb./Aram./implicit comparison Arab. In the listing of three-way comparisons that follows, the comparison with Arabic is of the category implicit comparison. Sub-classification of this comparison element follows the lines of classification set out for implicit comparisons, above, 4.7ff. 9.6.4.1 Explicit comparison Heb./Aram./implicit comparison Arab. + Arabic synonym rb/rb/rb ;(168) aùg + ata/ata/ata ;(106) μl[ ,πr[+πla/πla/πla • [(w)z ;(309) fsw + wùg/wg/wg ;(301) jrùg ,[fq + dùg/(d)dg/(d)dg ;(271) arjx + ymj/(a)mj (h)μj ;(485) ypx + ykùd/(h)kz/(˚)kz ;(497) [zùg ,qlq + [z[z/[wz/ ˆç(y) ;(79 ytya) dùgw+sya/ytya/çy ;(38) 38pg + sby/çby/çby ;(558) fùks + yd[/(h)d[/(h)d[ ;(272 rta) rùdb + rùtn/rt(n)/rt(n) ;(688) μwn + ˆs(w)/ˆç(y) .(565) yùxq/(≈)xq/(≈)xq ;(511) jùgn + jlx/jlx/jlx ;(371) laz + The Aramaic element in this category derives from Bib. Aram., with the exception of the first comparison (πla), whose derivation is Targ. Aram.
37 In fact, Bib. Heb./Aram. in this comparison points to the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. See above, 9.4.13. 38 In this comparison, the Aramaic entry word is not expressly stated nor is any unambiguous comparison term adduced. But given that the statement of the definendum is formulated by the generic phrasing hlk tçbyw tçbyw çby hgl, it is fair to assume that the Bib. Aram. atçby is also included (Gen. 2:10). Regarding the comparison term itself, it may well be that the term ynarb[la that immediately follows (dwyla μaqm wywla ynarb[la hyp lm[tsy dqw) is intended to rule out the Heb. or Aram. practice (as held by Alfàsi but not borne out in language usage as we know it), and thus the comparison proves to be even more explicit. Concerning the term ynarb[la, see below, 9.11.2.5.
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9.6.4.2 Explicit comparison Heb./Aram./reiterated implicit comparison Arab. ,(219) ˆyb/ˆyb/ˆyb ,(141) [bxa/[bxa/[bxa ,(61) ùdùka/dja (zja)/dja • /rkz ,(400) qd/(q)qd/(q)qd ,(353) μsùg/μçg/μçg ,(274) ˚rb/˚rb/˚rb ,(113) ynk/tn:k/(h)nk ,(103) lk/lk/lk ,(65) dqy/dqy/dqy ,(381) rkùd/rkd /μlw[ ,(398) l[/(l)l[/(l)l[ ,(212) ˚lm/˚lm/˚lm ,(129) rk/rwk/rk /(aw)br ,(548) ltq/lfq/lfq ,(535) lbq/lbq/lbq ,(400) μla[/μl[ /rbç ,(612) ymr/(a)mr/(h)mr ,(607) bfr/bfr/bfr ,(588) hwbr/wbr .(674) fls/flç/flç ,(669) ˆks/ˆkç/ˆkç ,(648) rbùt/rbt The Aramaic element in this category derives from Bib. Aram., with the exception of the first and third comparisons (ˆyb ,dja) whose source is Targ. Aram. 9.6.4.3 Explicit comparison Heb./Aram./implicit comparison Arab., solitary record /hla/hwla ,(96) ylwah/la/hla(h), (345 rg) hrùga/arga/hrg-hrwga • /ˆwgra/ˆwgra ,(124) ˆasna/çna/çwna ,(113) hma/(h)ma/(h)ma ,(97) hala /wmh/μh ,(290) bùg/bg/bg ,(191 db) ù≈ayb/≈wb (db)/≈wb ,(150) ˆawùgra /μlj ,(526) fyùk/fwj (lytp)/fwj ,(36 ;407) [arùd/[rd/[wrz ,(445) μh /hlyl ,(60) l[w/l[y (wqa)/l[y ,(599) μtùk/μtj/μtj ,(553) μlj/μlj (hw)r[ ,(358) atç/wts/πrj/wts ,(751) rùtn/rt(n)/rt(n) ,(163) lyl/aylyl /ryx ,(488) rsp/rçp/rçp ,(487) ù˚sp/jçp/jçp ,(429) hwr[/hwr[/ /rwç ,(148) [bra/[bra/[bra ,(535) lbq/lbq/lbq ,(508) ryx/ryx (dy) ,(679) μsa/μç/μç ,(666) raws/ryç (jwj)/hryç ,(658) rws/rwç (hmwj) .(707) bars/brç/brç The Aramaic element in this group derives from Bib. Aram., with the exception of comparisons ≈wb, fwj, l[y, wts, jçp, ryx, rwç, hryç, whose source is Targ. Aram. 9.6.5 Doubtful trilingual comparisons 39 In the case of the three comparisons lgm/lgm/lùgnm (p. 187), ≈pq/≈pq/zpq (p. 564), trq/trq/hyrq (p. 578), it cannot be said with certainty
39
In several instances, the reader may receive an initial impression of a three-way comparison, but on careful inspection it becomes clear that what he is viewing is simply two separate, independent comparisons, one Heb./Aram. and one Heb./Arab. or Aram./Arab. For example, at rpç (p. 699) there are two comparisons: rpç/rpç and hrpç/hnsj; at jm (p. 197), what appears to be a three-way comparison is not such but rather two separate comparisons: (a)jm/(a)jm (Heb./Aram.), followed by
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that Alfàsi intended to incorporate the Arabic entry word in the comparison, as well. The uncertainty derives from the fact that the radical consonants are not fully equivalent/identical or from some peculiarity in the formations of the Heb. and Arab. words. ≈pq and zpq differ with respect to the x (Heb.)/z (Arab.) interchange and it stands to reason that this would be expressly indicated. True, in the listing of intra-Hebrew letter switches (ynxylh pp. 439–45) Alfàsi mentions the x/z switch, but nowhere does he expressly state that the said switch can apply to the interlingual Heb./Arab. comparison(s). Although such an analogy might be postulated on the basis of the intra-Hebrew letter switch x/z and by the adduction and application of certain data emerging from Alfàsi’s comparison theory, such an assumption remains doubtful. The same argument applies to lgm/lùgnm: Had Alfàsi intended to relate consciously to the omission of the n in Heb. or to its “redundancy” in Arabic, the comparison would be of a definite nature. This applies also to the morphological difference between trq and hyrq. 9.6.6 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate)/Arab. (cognate translation synonym) In Alfàsi’s lexicon, four comparisons based on this formula are attested: ≈rj/μwlf/μlùf (p. 587), awlf/[wqr/[qr (p. 14), tljç/arpwf/rapùfa (p. 661), πsç/jçp/ù˚sp (p. 690). In all four comparisons, it is patently clear that the comparison of the Aram./Arab. translation synonyms was intended to make the Aramaic entry word more limpid and, in turn, to elucidate more plainly the Hebrew entry word for which the Targ. Aram. stands as translation synonym.40 In the first of the above comparisons, two explicit comparisons appear, whereas in the remaining comparisons, the Heb./Aram. element is an explicit comparison but the Aram./Arab. element is an implicit comparison.
(a)jm/ajm (Aram./Arab.). This is evident because the matter at issue is two different senses of the root (a)jm. Similarly, at jm (p. 196), there are two distinct comparisons: (h)jm/wjm (erase) and (h)jm/(a)jm (wipe, dry). 40 See also, above, 5.3.2.10.
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9.7 Cognate Aram./Arab. comparisons 9.7.1 Explicit comparisons In certain entries, Alfàsi compares a Bib. Aram. entry word with its Arabic definiens. An example is hla awh ˜m'w . . . (Dan. 3:15) yp hlùtmw ydk laq ˜m ybr[la (p. 214). Such comparisons are essentially no different from Heb./Arab. comparisons, except that, as noted above, the source of the Aram. entry word is the Bible. In contrast, no independent Targ. Aram./Arab. comparisons have been encountered; they are always linked up with some Bib. Heb. entity. An enumeration of the Aram./Arab. comparisons follows: ,(p. 214) ˆm/ˆm ,(p. 9) ywaf/tw:f ,(p. 532) fwj/fwj41 ,(p. 353) μsùg/μçg • .(p. 466) μp/μpu ,(p. 457) raùkp/rjp ,(p. 288) jxn/jxn
9.7.2 Implicit comparisons ,(215) lfb/lfb ,(282) tab/t(w)b ,(197) rùdb/rdb ,(169) ˆwta/ˆwta • ,(153) hbkr/hbkra ,(577) ù≈rq/≈rq ,(511) ylx/(y)lx ,(285) hqpn/hqpn .(736) ùtlùt/tlt ,(712) (ˆy)ts/(ˆy)tç ,(692) h[as/h[ç ,(631) 42μsr/μçr The comparison (a)jm (Dan. 4:32)/wjm (p. 197), as it stands, is an implicit comparison, but considering that it was adduced to suggest an alternative interpretation (i.e. for (a)jm/brùx), it is probably founded on etymological equivalence, for which reason it approximates more to being an explicit comparison.
9.8 Full listing of Heb./Arab. implicit comparisons 9.8.1 Implicit comparison Bib. Heb./Arab. cognate + non-cognate translation synonym ;(90) jalp ,raka/rka ;(34) ù≈ra ,hmda/hmda ;(23) πlt ,dab/dba • /ˆmça ;(134) hmlùf ,hmhd ,lpa/lpa ;(434 ˆmyh) qqj ,tbùt ,ˆma/ˆma
41 At its relevant entry, this is an implicit comparison but in the excursus contained in μhz it is an explicit comparison, where, however, its Aramaic identity is not indicated. 42 This, however, at çt (p. 754), appears to be an explicit comparison.
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,lblb/(l)lb ;(215) skn ,jfb/jfb ;(206) db ,rùdb/rzb; (162) μùkùx ,ˆyms ,[dùg/[dg ;(295) hmùx[ ,hrwbùg/hrwbg ;(254) bys ,r[ba/r[b ;(229) ttçt ;(312) brg ,raùg/rwg ;(309) fsw ,wùg/wg ;(304) fyaj ,radùg/rdg ;(304) rsk /lkyh ;(373) [ùgw ,ywad/ywd ;(346) ˚j ,drùg/drg ;(342) ˆkas ,rwaùgm/rg ,μgz/μ[z ;(481) fsb ,ljz/ljz ;(480) ˆkr ,hywaz/tywz ;(434) rxq ,lkyh aynd ,dlùk/dlj ;(530) dj ,zwj/hzj ;(513) ˚d ,fbùk/fbj ;(499) fùks ;(563) ùfj ,ˆj/ˆj ;(560) rmùk ,ù≈mj/≈mj ;(554) arft ,πlùk/πlj ;(552) ;(586) πpùg ,qç ,μrùk/μrj ;(585) fùk ,frùk/frj ;(582) wmj ,rj/(w)rj /rhf ;(7) μtaùk ,[baf/t[bf ;(6) smg ,lbf/lbf ;(599) [fq ,μtùk/μtj ,frw/fr(y) ;(279 çb ;38) πpùg ,μby/çby ;(12) adn ,lf/lf ;(8) πùfn ,rhf /hwsk ;(688 ˆç ;74) μwn ,ˆsw/ˆçy ;(71) ù≈ùkp ,krw/˚ry ;(607) klh ,[qw ,ùgwm/g(w)m ;(158) lwz ,zwl/z(w)l ;(148) hbwf ,hnbl/hnbl ;(118) afg ,hwsk ,ùgrm ,k[m/˚[m ;(218) bwùd ,ysm/(s)sm ;(196) ˆyms ,lybn ,ù˚m/jm ;(186) ùg[z ,(254 dn ,366 ùd) rp ,lwùg ,dwn/dwn ;(343) yrùg ;bùdùg ,rùg/rg(n) ;(222) srm ,lys ,jùxn/jxn ;(280) dl ,μ[n/μ[n ;(270) [ùxawtm ,-rwskm ,-ykan/hkn ;(341) [fq ,ù≈rq ,πws/(h)ps ;(572) [lq ,rqn/rq(n) ;(287) 43μd ,dydx ;(406) lpstm ,qymg/qm[ ;(396) d[x ,[pr ,wl[/(h)l[ ;(358) ˆwx ,rts/rts /rt[ (435) ˆp[ ,ùt[/ç[ ;(431) hmlùf ,aç[/ç[ ;(428) πçk ,yr[/(h)r[ ,lùf/(l)lx ;(484) rsk ,qrp/qrp ;(467) πlt ,ynp/(h)np ;(441) ˆaùkd ,hrt[ ,μwq/(μw)q ;(538) lbqtsa ,μdqt/μdq ;(514) çf[ ,amx/(a)mx ;(510) apyp /(h)nq ;(557) fbr ,πlt ,fmq/fmq ;(227) [ùxwm ,μaqm/μwqm ;(555) wl[ ;(569) [yrs ,ryxq/rxq ;(566) [fq ,≈q/(≈)xq ;(228 hnqm) bsk ,ynq /bhr ;(591) qlq ,zùgr/zgr ;(583) rùfn ,yar/har ;(577) [fq ,ù≈rq/≈rq ,ù≈r/(≈)xr ;(608) ˆdkrk ,μyr/μyr ;(603) ˆwjaf ,ajr/μyj'r ;(597) [zp ,bhr da[a ,ynùt/(h)nç ;(639) rùftna ,πwç/πaç ;(627) lzh ,qr/(q)qr ;(623) qd .(456 μth) ynp ;(737) lmk ,μt/(μ)mt ;(562) [xq ,r[q/r[q(ç) ;(688) 9.8.2 Implicit comparisons reiterated twice or more /lya ;(74) ˆya (ˆm)/ˆya(m) ;(68) rùka/rja ;(31) μaùga/μga ;(21) ba/ba • /h[pa ;(113) hnama/hnwma ;(105) πla/πla ;(87 lka)/lka ;(77) lya ;(184) ryb/rab ;(158) ssa/(ç)ça ;(150) zra/zra ;(471 [p ;136) a[pa /(h)lb ;(ibid.) hrkb/hrkb ;(225) rkb/rwkb ;(223) akb/ykb ;(203) ≈wb/≈wb hùxyb/hxyb ;(246) rçb/rçb ;(233) [lb/[lb ;(229) ylb/(l)lb ;(228) ylb
43 In fact, jùxntsa, in the rendering, does not really stand for jxn but for zy: ydgb l[ μjxn zyw (Isa. 63:3)/μhmdw μhdydx jùxntsy lysy. However, the semantic latent affinity of jùxntsa with jxn as well as their mutual proximity in the wording, makes
it very likely that Alfàsi intended to compare the two.
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;(272) drb/drb ;(270) rb/rb ;(265) raqb/rqb ;(264) [yqb/h[qb ;(256) lylùg/lg ;(323) wlùg/(h)lg ;(314) zwùg/z(w)g ;(306) hhùg/hhg-hg ;(276) hkrb/hkrb ;(375) yjd/hjd ;(370) ddwt/dd ;(348) çyrùg/çrg ;(345) rartùga/hrg ;(324) Appendix 495) ynz/(h)nz ;(487) rkùd/ˆwrkz ;(485) rkùd/rkz ;(483) ˆwtyz/tyz dj/dj ;(507) [rz/[rz ;(506) wrùd/(h)rz ;(505) rrùd/r(w)z ;(p. 153 ,b ;(535) yj/yj ;(534) μfùk/μfj ;(538) bfùk/bfj ;(154 ùb Appendix ,522) /ˆxj ;(565) qnùk/qnj ;(564) fnj/fnj ;(561) smùk/çmj ;(544) μykj/μkj ;(15) amf/amf ;(10) ˆjf/ˆjf ;(599) ˆtùk/ˆtj ;(589) ùtrj/çrj ;(577) ˆxj μjwt/μjy ;(48) dyjw/dyjy ;(44) μwy/μwy ;(40) dy/dy ;(157 ça ;35) sya/ça(y) /bx(y) ;(373) d[w/d[(y) ;(53) lwlw/(l)ly ;(151) dlw/dl(y) ;(50) ypj/πjy ;(50) ywk/(y)wk ;(75) rtw/rty ;(630) ùtrw/çr(y) ;(538) dqw/dq(y) ;(496) bxn /çrk ;(113) ynk/(h)nk ;(86 bzka 93) bùdk/bzk ;(106) lyk/l(w)k ;(90) wl/wl ;(154) bhl/bhl ;(153) whl/(hl)hl ;(149) sbl/çbl ;(131) çrk /(d)dm ;(178) ˆasl/ˆwçl ;(176) fql/fql ;(159) (war) μjl/μjl ;(156) y[m/y[m ;(209) alm/alm ;(202) rfm/rfm ;(237) twm/t(w)m ;(188) dm sm/(ç)çm ;(229) rm/(r)rm ;(223) yn[m/hn[m ;(223) hyn[m/tyn[m ;(221) ;(275) μwn/μ(w)n ;(258) qhn/qhn ;(250) ybn/(a)bn ;(236) lùtm/lçm ;(234) /jp(n) ;(280) l[n/l[n ;(267) rfn/rfn ;(266) rùkn/rhn ;(263) hljn/hljn ;(294 ;292) asn/(μy)çn-(h)çn ;(289) yqn/yqn ;(498) bxn/bx(n) ;(455) ù˚pn ;(ibid.) rsn/rçn ;(696) πwç/πç(n) ;(293) μysn ,hmsn/hmçn ;(671) ls/lç(n) /lg[ ;(344) qps/qps ;(305) ùgys/g(w)s ;(303) kabç/˚bs ;(302) bbs/(b)bs l[ ;(381) z[/(z)z[ ;(376) rd[m-rd[/rd[m-rd[ ;(371) dy[w/d[ ;(368) lùg[ ;(415) rç[/ˆwrç[ ;(410) yn[/(h)n[ ;(402) hql[(m)/hqwl[ ;(396) yl[/(y) /ç[ ;(430) brg/br[ ;(425) bq[/bq[ ;(ibid.) μùf[/μx[ ;(422) μùf[/μx[ ;(455) ù˚pn/j(w)p ;(447) ydp/hdp ;(446) ùgp/gp ;(373) d[/d(t)[ ;(435) hyç[ /çrp ;(485) trp/çrp ;(484) [rp/[rp ;(472) l[p/l[p ;(456) ùdùkp/djp /[bx ;(496) bxn/(h/a)bx ;(491) ltp/ltp ;(490) jtp/jtp ;(485) srap /ry[x ;(528) qyùx/q(w)x ;(513) μwx/μ(w)x ;(500) dyx/d(w)x ;(498) gbx sdq/çdq ;(538) μdq/μdq ;(530) hrarx/(rw)rx ;(530) rùx/(r)rx ;(520) rygx ;(579) aùtq/açq ;(576) ˆrq/ˆrq ;(ibid.) [lq/[lq ;(553) ylq/(h)lq ;(540) -lùgr/ylgr-lgr ;(589) [br/[br ;(585) sar/çar ;(584) yarm/harm-yar ;(599) jawr/jwr ;(ibid.) jwr/jwr ;(598) ywr/hwr ;(593) μùgr/μgr ;(592) lùgar bkr/bkr ;(602) hjyar/j(y)r ;(604) hmjr/μymjr-μjr ;(603) μjr/μjr ;(618) d[r/d[r ;(616) y[r/(h)[r ;(614) çr/(s)sr ;(613) hnamr/ˆwmr ;(609) /[wbç ;(643) ybs/(h)bç ;(639) ps/πaç ;(638) las/laç ;(628) μqr/μqr kwç/˚(w)ç ;(654) yws/hwç ;(651) ydùt/dç ;(648) tbs/tbç ;(646) [wbsa rjs/rjç ;(661) qjs/qjç ;(658) ˆasws/ˆçwç ;(657) qws/qwç ;(322) ;(668) lkùt/lkç ;(317) jyç/jyç ;(664) ryfst/(bwj-) rfç ,rfçm ;(ibid.) /çlç ;(676) μls/μlç ;(672) ylas/wlç ;(671) ls/(l)lç ;(669) rks/rkç [ms/[mç ;(683) hynamùt/hnmç ;(681) ams/μymç ;(680) μùt/μç ;(677) ùtlùt
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kps/˚pç ;(696) pwç/(y)pç ;(ibid.) r[ç/r[ç ;(340) r[ç/r[ç ;(ibid.) ;(354) frç/frç ;(704) lqùt/lqç ;(703) yqs/(h)qç ;(ibid.) lps/lpç ;(698) .(745) hjapt/jwpt ;(720) μawt/μat-μwat ;(355) krç/˚rç 9.8.3 Implicit comparisons of single occurrence
ˆùda/ˆza ;(42) wa/wa ;(34) ymda/μda ;(ibid.) ˆyùgaùga/twnga ;(31) zwùg/zwga • ;(64) hzaja/hzja ;(63) ùdùka/dja ;(60) djaw/dja ;(ibid.) rzym/rwza ;(54) /jrpa ;(119) anh/hnh-hna ;(113) hma/hma ;(112) μa/μa ;(94) yla/la /μça ;(161) lùta/lça ;(154) ù≈ra/≈ra ;(150) zwra/μyzra ;(139) ù˚rp tyb/tyb ;(215) ˆfb/ˆfb ;(200) hmyhb/hmhb ;(79) yta/hta ;(ibid.) μùta ydùg/ydg ;(246) yrçb/rçb ;(244 ,241) ynb/(h)nb ;(225) rkawb/μyrwkb ;(220) hnpùg/ˆpg ;(333) ˆanùg/ˆg ;(331) lmùg/lmg ;(313) zùg/zg ;(312) wrùg/rwg ;(301) ;(ibid.) rbd/hrwbd ;(361) bd/bd ;(354) ssùg/ççg ;(345) brùga/brg ;(340) /baz ;(417) ja/jah ;(402) ùgrd/hgrdm ;(390) [md/[md ;(408) swd/ç(w)d jzjz/jz ;(478) bhùd/bhz ;(ibid.) jbùd/jbz ;(475) babùd/bwbz ;(470) baùd ;(536) ˆawyj/hyj ;(534) πfùk/πfj ;(501) ˆqùd/ˆqz ;(496) bnùd/bnz ;(481) /twynj ;(561) rmj/rmj ;(559) wmj/μj ;(555) ≈lùk/≈lj ;(552) dlùk/dlj /zwrj ;(581) (hy)rj/(hy)rj ;(ibid.) rpj/rpj ;(571) ˆpj/ˆpj ;(564) ayanj (559) μj(y) ;(591) trj/trj ;(586) μrj/μrj ;(ibid.) fyrùk/frj ;(584) zrùk ;(72) sya/çy ;(it is a repeated implicit comparison μùùjy but in) sbk/çbk ;(84) rbka/rybk ;(85) lbk/lbk ;(75) μyty/μwty ;(75) dtw/dty ;(ibid.) ˆwmk/ˆmk ;(110) μk/hmk ;(108) blk/blk ;(91) sak/swk ;(86) /hnwbl ;(143) al/al ;(131) [ark/[rk ;(130) μrk/μrk ;(125) rpk/rpk hyam/ham ;(163) ùtyl/çyl ;(157) jwl/jwl ;(ibid.) anbl/hnbl ;(149) ˆabl ;(225) ≈m/(h)xm ;(217) [nm/[nm ;(204) am/μym ;(194) ùgrwm/grwm ;(184) /[b(n) ;(251) jbn/jbn ;(238) ytm/ytm ;(236) lùtm/lçm ;(235) jsm/jçm sajn/tçjn ;(266) sjnt/çjn ;(402) rdn/rd(n) ;(343) yrùg/rg(n) ;(249) [bn (635) ysn/(h)ç(n) ;(292) ysna/hçn ;(556) μqtna/μq(n) ;(275) rmn/rmn ;(ibid.) ;(329) hlsm/hlls ;(308) rwgas/rgs ;(ibid.) (forget) ysn/(h)ç(n) ;(debt) ;(222) ˆy[m/ˆy[m ;(376) sd[/çd[ ;(369) hlùg[/hlg[ ;(334) ramsm/rms(m) bn[/bn[ ;(410) hyn[m/tyn[m-hn[m-hnw[ ;(406) rmg/rm[ ;(400) μalg/μl[ barg/brw[ ;(431) brg/hbr[ ;(426) brq[/brq[ ;(426) rqa[/rq[ ;(411) ;(454) ù˚p/jp ;(477) qpw/q(w)p ;(452) lwp/lwp ;(439) dyt[/dwt[ ;(ibid.) ;(477) dqpa/dqp ;(463) jlp/jlp ;(458) syfp/çyfp ;(457) μjp/μjp ;(502) bhxa/bhx ;(483) frp/frp ;(ibid.) ù˚rp/jrpa ;(482) swdrp/sdrp ;(507) arjx/rjx ;(530 ,504) hrwx/hrwx ;(503) jax/jwx ;(ibid.) lhx/lhx ;(531) ù˚rx/jrx ;(530) hrùx/hrx ;(ibid.) [lùx/[lx ;(512) tamlùf/twmlx ;(549) πfq/πfq ;(556) μyaq/μ(w)q(y) ;(538) jdq/jdq ;(536) rbq/rbq /brq ;(575) hbarq/(hbyrq)-bwrq ;(574) ˆabrq/ˆbrq ;(558) ytnqa/(h)nq
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;(ibid.) ybr/(h)br ;(588) abr/tybrm-tybrt ;(578) çq/çq ;(ibid.) brq /qr(wt) ;(600) hjar/jwr ;(599) jyr/jwr ;(48 djy) jwr/jwr ;(596) adr/dydr ;(603) hbjr/ bwjr ;?(273 jyrb)- hyjyr ( bkarm)/ μyjyr ;(626) qywrt /ˆsr ;(613) ˆr/ˆr ;(612) jmr/jmr ;(608) hjyar/jyr ;(605) ù≈jr/≈jr jbs/jbç ;(633) μtr/μtr ;(625) πyxr/hpxr ;(623) yùxr/(h)xr ;(614) ˆsr ;(ibid.) μwùt/μwç ;(656) fws/fwç ;(304) [bç/[bç ;(303) hkbç/hkbç ;(644) /rfç ;(664) πfç/πfç ;(663) jfs/jfç ;(658) rwùt/rwç ;(657) qas/qwç /hbj ;(720) ˆyt/hnat ;(712) ltç/ltç ;(672) ùglùt/glç ;(ibid.) rfys ;(733) lt/lt ;(731) syt/çyt ;(730) tjt/tjt ;(724) ˆbt/ˆbt ;(721) twbat .(741) ˆynt/ˆynt ;(735) μlt/μlt
9.9 Uncertain comparisons In the listing that follows, Hebrew entry words are set out about which one cannot be certain of Alfàsi’s intention to compare them with Arabic. This uncertainty exists, both regarding comparisons that these days are considered authentic (but cannot be definitely attributed to Alfàsi), as well as comparisons that these days are unacceptable (though they match Alfàsi’s method of language comparison). The uncertainty emanates (a) from the non-coincidental fact that Alfàsi in each instance refrains from expressing any clear statement of comparison and (b) from the fact that these uncertain comparisons, in contrast with standard implicit comparisons, comprise several phenomena that call for an express reference, and their absence casts doubt on the grammarian’s intention to record a comparison. Cases in point are instances in which (1) the comparison implies letter metathesis, such as tpk/πtk, fqn/fnq, μx[/ù≈mg, hwx/yxw, etc.; (2) there is an interchange/substitution of letters: b/p (as ç[rp/twgrb, qçp/(qçb; g/k (as tyrpg/tyrbk, çydg/(sydk; l/r (as hnmla/hlmra); m/n (as ˆçd/hmwsd), etc. and especially, (3) there is an assumption of unusual interchanges of letters: b/m ([bq/[mq); d/ùx (as rdj/arùxùk, dd[/(dùx[; g/g (as μylg/lwg); [/ùk (μx[/μxùk); or (4) the comparison would necessitate that one or other of the potentially compared entries contains an additional letter absent from the other entry, such as ˆa/ˆya, πa/πna, ryzj/ryznùk, ˚j/knj, çymlj/swbmlj, πf/lpf, ask/ysrk, etc. The doubt is even greater in those uncertain instances necessitating several such switches simultaneously, such as: g/b + p/b in the pair tyrpg/tyrbk; p/b + [/g + ç/t in the comparison ç[rp/twgrb; l/r + n/l in hnmla/hlmra; x/ùx and metathesis in the comparison
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μx[/ù≈mg; x/ùx + an extra n in the Arabic + reduplication of the radix in the Hebrew, in ≈pxp/ù≈pn; x/ùx + q/k in the comparison qjx/jùx. In sum, the common feature of all those instances is that their etymological equivalence is not sufficiently limpid and requires to be openly asserted, whereas in the comparisons that would be unacceptable today, no etymological equivalence can be objectively determined, merely a phonetic similarity (e.g. dd[/dùx[).44 A list of the uncertain comparisons follows: (132) πna πa ,(119) ˆya/ˆa ,(108) ˆa/μa ,(104) 45hlmra/hnmla ,(52) ùdnyj/za • ,(216) μfb/ˆfb ,(200) μahb/ˆhb ,(165) hyras/hrça ,(159) 46ˆks/˚kç-˚ça lwg/μylg ,(302) sydk/çydg ,(282) qtp/qtb ,(281) hnba/tb ,(220) rab/ryb (-≈ra) ,(485) ùgaùgz/tykwkz ,(411) hmwsd/ˆçd 47,(340) tyrbk/tyrpg ,(324) ,(551) bljm/hnblj ,(544) knj/˚j ,(531) ryznùk/ryzj ,(523) arùxùk/rdj ,(125) rpgtsa/rpk ,(117) ysrk/ask ,(19) lpf/πf ,(553) swbmlj/çymlj /≈p(n) ,(254) hmgn/hnygn ,(187) ˆkm/ˆgm ,(185) [wbny/[wbm ,(126) πtk/tpk rfn/rtn ,(548) fnq/fq(n) ,(290) fqn/dqn ,(535) bqùt/bq(n) ,(475) ù≈pn yng/hn[ 48,(399) lylay[/twl[ ,(374) dùx[/dd[ ,(367 g[) hnùg[/gw[m ,(295) 44 It could hardly be posited, for these and similar instances, that Alfàsi held that the one-to-one correspondence of two letters out of three (in those patterns now termed “strong verb patterns”) in the respective Hebrew/Arabic entry words suffices for establishing an etymological comparison. This can be illustrated by the following example. The entry word jçq is rendered by Alfàsi, at its own entry, as ysq, i.e. by a translation synonym corresponding to the Heb. entry as regards two consecutive letters çq/sq but differing in their third letter, j/y; in the comparison lists embodied in entries μhz and çt, however, he does indeed adduce the comparison jçq/jsq in the comparison context. Now had Alfàsi believed that the translation synonyms jçq/ysq that he had already adduced at entry jçq was indeed mutually cognate, he would certainly have adduced them as etymological explicit comparisons in the aforesaid lists as well, and he would have had no need to resort to a pair of translation synonyms showing correspondence in all three of their letters. 45 Subsequently in this entry, Alfàsi makes note of the intra-Hebrew interchange l/r in the pair ˆwmra-ˆwmla; but he makes no mention, of the word hnmla. Moreover there are two distinct interchanges here, l/r and n/l, both being interlingual switches. 46 Could Alfàsi have meant to imply that the n in Arabic ˆks is not part of the root? Nowhere does he treat the Arabic root in the same manner as the Hebrew one as regards the weak letters, which are sometimes lacking! 47 Two interchanges underlie this comparison. The intra-Hebrew p/b switch he discussed at entry πg (p. 340), whereas the Heb./Aram. g/k switch he discussed at ≈mwg. But ad loc., he said nothing about letter switches and, furthermore, he expressed no Heb./Arab. comparison. 48 Skoss remarks that at this entry several MSS present the text version lylaw[, Skoss himself conjectures the reading lylay[, which is very likely correct: Alfàsi immediately afterwards interprets the entry word by dalwa tawùd; it seems quite probable that lylaw[, identical as it is in sense with dalwa tawùd, is indeed to be derived etymologically from hlya[-lw[.
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,(ibid.) ù≈mg/μx[ ,(423) μxùk/μx[ ,(421) ≈[x[/hx[ ,(419) rpg/rp[ ;(409) /ç[rp ,(475) ù≈pn/≈pxp ,(474) ù≈p/hxp ,(471) qçb/qçp ,(463) tlp/flp ,(536) [mq/[bq ,(506) ˚jùx/qjx ,(506) jùxaw/jx ,(503) yxw/hwx ,(484) twgrb ,(580) swq/tçq ,(577) ù≈rq/≈rq = srq ,(563) dpnq/dpq 49,(560) ≈q/ssq ,(708) hlsls/trçrç ,(356) rqç/qrç ,(333) hynwns/tymmç ,(663) fns/hfç .(524) rpùf/ˆrpx ,(382) zn[/z[ ,(709) sds/tyççi
9.10 The comparisons as reflected in the texts of the copyists and compendia editors of Alfàsi’s lexicon Among the variant readings appearing in his edition of Alfàsi’s lexicon, Skoss records textual readings culled from several copyists and compendia compilers of Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ. The variants that concern us here are those, which have bearing on language comparison. I have collocated these variants under the heading “Uncertain Comparisons” because one cannot be sure they were in fact penned by Alfàsi himself. Several of these data seem to contradict Alfàsi’s comparison system, leading to the suspicion that these comparisons (or the specific formulae of comparison by which they have been transmitted), rather than emanating from Alfàsi himself, may merely be the product of the transmitters of his work. 9.10.1 Comparisons by h[wmsm yl[ 258) μhn/μhn ,(X 176) ql/(q)ql ,(Abs 154) ùghl/ghl ,(F129) rk/rk • ,329) μls/μls ,(X 328) als/ˆwls ,(Abs, G, Z 324) ˆùks/ˆks ,(X Yg Z 353) dyrç/dyrç ,(Z Abs, X 344) lps/lps ,(Abs, X, Z w[mçmk ybr[ /tpr ,(A, B, Abs, Ha I 535) hbq/hbq ,(Abs 434) qr[/qr[ ,(Abs, X, (G, Hb, X, 622) tpr These are 12 comparisons in all, of which 2 appear in Alfàsi’s text under a different term: qr[, μhn. 49 At that entry, he states that samekh interchanges with sadhe as an intra-Hebrew switch. On these grounds, ssq is equivalent with ≈xq; yet he does not expressly established the Heb./Arab. comparison sq/≈q. By our classification system, however, were the definitum ≈xq and the definiens ≈q, we would be required to reckon this as an implicit comparison. Can it be claimed that once the grammarian had recorded an intra-Hebrew comparison ≈xq-ssq, as though he had made the same Heb./Arab. comparison? Otherwise, might it not be more fair to Alfàsi to expect that he would have recorded such a comparison expressly and unambiguously?
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9.10.2 Alfàsi: implicit comparisons > copyists: explicit comparisons ibid. and 383) πld/πld ,(K 201 and Appendix II, 160) qhb/qhb • Z, 154) ùghl/ghl ,(App. ibid. 129) rk/rk ,(E 584) zrùk/zwrj ,(App. [bn/[b(n) ,(App. ibid. ,192) rhm/rhm ,(X, Z 191 ùra) lhm/lhm ,(Abs ,323) ˆyks/ˆykç-μykç ,(App. ibid. ,219) ˆyksm/ˆksm ,(App. ibid. ,249) ss ,(Abs, X, Z ,329) μls/μls ,(Abs, G, Z ,324) ˆùks/ˆks ,(App. ibid. Z 353) dyrç/dyrç ,(Abs, X, Z 344) lps/lps ,(App. ibid. ,336) sws/ /lx(n) ,(App. ibid., 425) dq[/dq[ ,(App. ibid. ,425) bq[/bq[ ,(Abs, X) hjar/tjr ,(A, B, Abs, Ha, I 535) hbq/hbq ,(App. ibid. ,510) lxnt .(App ibid. ,731) syt/çyt ,(App. ibid. ,621) spr/çpr ,(G 606 9.10.3 Alfàsi: no comparison > copyists: explicit comparison
ˆmk/ˆmk ,(App. ibid. 176) bhùd/bhd ,(K 340, App. ibid. 160) πùg/pg • ùra) ˆwn/ˆwn ,(App. ibid. ,258) 50lhn/lhn ,(X 176) ql/(q)ql ,(X 110) trq/trq ,hyrq ,(G 394) sk[/sk[ ,(X 328) als/ˆwls ,(Abs, X ,275 (G, Hb, I, X, 622) tpr/tpr ,((G 576) ùra) 9.10.4 Alfàsi: no comparison > copyists: implicit comparison
/hrypx ,(A, B, Abs, Y, 225) yxm/(y)xm ,(Abs, X ,217) hrwanm/rwnm • (I 654) yws/ywç ,(Ha 525 rpx) hrypùf 9.10.5 Alfàsi: entry lacking > copyists: implicit comparison (Abs, X 322) rdnms/rdms • 9.10.6 Alfàsi: entry lacking > copyists: explicit comparison (160 Appendix II K) rprp/rprp •
50 In this instance, MS K presents a novel turn of meaning in relation to what Alfàsi himself had remarked in the original work. At the appropriate entry, Alfàsi recorded the sense qwsw ˆarys . . . μhryys, i.e. in the sense of gwhyn (= guiding, leading), whereas MS K compared/defined the entry word as lhn i.e. in the sense of “quenching the thirst of.”
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In this section, the comparison terms are surveyed and classified by the scope of comparison51 to which they apply. These fields can be categorized as follows: (a) Comparison of entry words in two of the languages or in all three (b) Comparison of entry words according to how they pertain to generic comparisons or specific comparisons (c) The unique nature of each and every term and the comparison formulae to which it is suitably applied; in other words, whether a regularity exists in the use of a given term, say, with regard to its appearance in certain comparison categories only,52 etc. 9.11.1 Heb./Aram./Arab. comparison The comparison expressions employed are modeled from (a) an Arabic verb denoting “concurrence” ([mùg) or “unison” (qapta); (b) the term tagl ùtalùt, signifying the three languages treated, i.e. Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic; (c) the names for these languages (this component may be omitted and incorporated instead in the general term tagl ùtalùt) (d) words/particles linking the aforesaid terms. Thus these technical phrases, which include the components as enumerated, are the most lucid and unambiguous expressions of the mutual equivalence of the three languages at a given lexicographical entry. Indeed, these terms deserved to be adduced as terms of introduction or terms of conclusion for all the three-way comparisons of the pattern Heb./Aram./ Arab.; but in fact they are encountered in only five instances as follows:
51 In assembling these data—in deciding whether to list the terminologies or the comparisons themselves, I made no use of the indices in Skoss (1936–45). The reasons are as follows: (a) they fail to exhaust the materials; (b) one of the terms I employ for comparison is zero term, an entity that essentially could not have been entered in those indices; (c) in certain matters, those indices can mislead the student (see, e.g. below, 9.12.1.2.1); (d) they are not arranged in accordance with my methodology. 52 Certain terms might superficially appear to be comparison terms but on careful inspection prove to be merely general modes of expression. They serve only to direct the reader’s attention to some matter; an example is ynayrsla yp in the context ùtynatl yhp ynayrsla yp ad lkw (entry ad, p. 358).
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9.11.1.1 All-embracing technical expressions used in explicit trilingual comparisons (p. 327 ,dlg) ynayrslaw ybr[law ynarb[la ˚lùd t[mùg dqw •
ybr[law ynarb[la yn[a ahnml[ ytla tagl ùtalùtla hyp t[mtùga dqw (p. 22 drf) ynayrslaw (p. 306 dgs) ybr[law ynayrslaw ynarb[la hgl hùfplla hùrh t[mùg dqw (p. 740 hnt) ynayrslaw ynarb[law ybr[la tagl ùtalùtla ˚lùd yp qpta dqw (p. 144 wqa) ynayrslaw ybr[law ynarb[lab ahamsa qptt ytla hùtlùtla ama For the remaining three-way comparisons of the languages Heb./ Aram./Arab. pertaining to this type, the expressions occurring are those regularly employed for bilingual comparisons—in other words, those employed in independent Heb./Aram., or Heb./Arab. comparisons or in Aram./Arab. comparisons. For example, at the comparison μxp/μxp/μxp (p. 475), (1) the standard comparison expression for Heb./Aram. comparison is unaccompanied by a comparison with Arab. i.e. μùgrtmla laq ˚lùd ˆmw and (2) the standard comparison term for Heb./Arab. comparison is unaccompanied by a comparison with Aram., i.e. ybr[labw. Thus these expressions, per se, possess no special aspect indicative of their use for trilingual comparisons. It also goes without saying that when those comparisons at which the Arabic entry word is adduced and compared merely in the “implicit comparison” status, in other words with zero term comparison, they certainly have no such unique property. These latter usages are thus recorded only under the category bilingual comparison terms; the expressions listed above (at the beginning of the present paragraph) are only the comparison phrases that have application specifically for trilingual comparison. 9.11.1.2 All-embracing expressions in bilingual explicit comparisons
ybr[la yp qpta amk ybr[law ynayrsla yn[a ˆytglla yp tqpta dqw • (p. 532 fj) . . . ynarb[law (p. 288 jxn) ybr[la ˆm ynayrsla hgl brq ˆm (p. 722 bt) . . . lm[t ynayrslaw ynarb[la yp hgllaw hùfplla hùdhw (p. 251 dy[b) . . . μwgrt ynayrsla ypw . . . ynarb[la ˆytglla hyp tkrtça dqw (p. 137 rtk) . . . ynayrsla hgl [m hkrtçm yh (p. 749 πqt) ynayrsla [m ˚rtçy ynarb[la yp ryùtkw The latter two expressions each incorporate extensive lists of comparisons and not just a single comparison. What has been stated with regard to the all-embracing comparison expressions used in the three
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languages is equally applicable to the group of comparison expressions embracing two languages only. These broader expressions could have been entered to preface each and every bilingual Heb./Aram. and/or Aram./Arab. comparison; but if they had been, this would have constituted an artificial and to a great extent superfluous repetitiveness, because these wider expressions do not render the specific terms redundant (see below). 9.11.2 The Hebrew/Aramaic comparative terms 9.11.2.1 laynd (Daniel) The following expressions are structured on the name laynd and relate to specific entry words pertaining to biblical Aramaic as encountered in the Book of Daniel: (p. 367 rbd) hglla hùdh laynd yp lm[tsy dqw • (p. 411) laynd yp laqw
although in this instance, a comparison with Targ. Aram., too (expressed by the term μwgrt), subsequently occurs: .(p. 526 hwj) laynd yp ynayrslab hlùtmw •
9.11.2.2 ynayrsla To designate biblical Aramaic, Alfàsi recognizes the term ynadskla (entry μra, p. 153 and introduction to Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, p. 3) as well as the term μwgrtla hgl (9.11.2.4). In the routine of the lexicographic work, he is accustomed to adopt the designation ynayrs specifically, this indeed being the term that is applied regularly in contrastive opposition to the “parallel” terms ynarb[la (see llg, p. 325; rwp, p. 452) and ybr[la. In principle, this term is distinct from the term μwgrt, used by Alfàsi to denote the Aramaic Targum to the Bible (or the targumic dialect of Aramaic). This distinction is especially notable in those formulae that bracket together Bib. Aram. and Targ. Aram. The comparison with Bib. Aram. is set up using the term ynayrs, the comparison with Targ. Aram. using μwgrt and the like. This differentiation is, by and large, kept consistently; however, here and there one encounters a sporadic use of the term μwgrt and of course of μwgrtla hgl (lza, p. 53) as a name designating the Aramaic language in toto, thus also including biblical Aramaic. The term ynayrs is the nucleus of the series of comparison terms that follows.
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The various expanded forms of this term come about by the incorporation of one or other (or even all) of the following additional elements (some of these additions are of course interchangeable): (a) definiteness + the appending of the particle affixes b, yp, ˆm before the definite article, as in ynayrslab, etc.; (b) the nominal hgl inserted between the components of that prepositional phrase, as in hglb ynayrsla, etc.; (c) the verbs laq or yms in their various forms, passive or 3rd person neutral as in lyq, lwqy, yms, ymsy, etc.; (d) the verb ˆm ùgrùk; (e) lùtm, ˚lùdk, or lkç ˆm ˚lùd. These terms are as follows:
anh/hnh :ynayrsla hgl ˆm ùgrùky ;(168) ta :ynayrsla ˆm ahùgyrùktw • .(99 ùr) ;(347) qs(n) ,(353) μçg :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. :ynayrsla ˆm • ;(522) ydj ,(498) [bx :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ;(230) twrm/hrm ,(340) πg :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. :(521 ry[b) ˆ[f :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. dj ,(488) lz ,(310) hwg Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. :ynayrsla hgl ˆm • :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(358) rts :Bib. Aram./Rab. Heb. ;(521) (583) grj ,(327) μlg (271) rb :ynayrsla lwqy yùdk ;(124) çna :aùxya ynayrsla lwqy dqw • (78 hmya) yntmya :ynayrslab lyq hglla hùdh ˆmw • :ynayrsla yp lyq ˚lùd ˆmw ;(152) hkra :ynayrslab lyq hlkç ˆmw • (113 ˆk) ˆwhtwnk ,(374 rwd) hyrwdm ,(301) wdg (229 lb) lbyh :ynayrslab lyq hnmw • hùdh ˆmw ;(310) rhs :ynayrslab ymsa ;(68) rja :ymsy ynayrslabw • (77 lya) ˆlya :ynayrsla ymsy hglla ;(275) hkrb ,(97) hla (97) hla (89) lka :ynayrsla hgl yp/b • (102) wla :Bib Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(113) twma ,(53) lza :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. :ynayrsla yp/b hlùtmw • ,(417) ah ,(412) td ,(314) rbzg ,(290) bg ,(271) (son) rb ,(123) sna (advise) ˚lm ,(211) jlm ,(190) hm ,(22) drf ,(494) ˆ(w)zm ,(470) (h)z(m) μlx ,(418) ap[ ,(304) lbs ,(313) js(n) ,(290) çqn ,(216) (h)nm ,(213) (535) lbq ,(512) :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ;(301) dg :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • (53) lza ,(213) ˚lm ;(173) πl(a) (ˆyla) hla ,(97) hla ,(99) lza :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. :ynayrsla yp/b • ˆwgra ,(141) [bxa ,(ibid.) rsa ,(128) rsa ,(124) çwna ,(121) yna ,(91) ,(274) ˚rb ,(271) rb ,(220) hryb ,(169) ata ,(156) ça ,(151) hyra ,(150)
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hwh ,(400) (q)qd ,(377) yd ,(346) μrg ,(332) rmg ,(320) ryg ,(295) rbg lbj ,(501) πqz ,(497) [z ,(491) rmz ,(490) ˆmz ,(485) (w)kz ,(427) μ[f ,(6) jbf ,(568) ˆsj ,(561) rmj ,(558) hmj ,(553) (x2) μlj ,(514) ,(163) hlyl ,(120) πsk ,(688) ˆç(y) ,(70) jry ,(418) bh(y) ,(393) [d(y) ,(17) lf(n) ,(258) rhn ,(258) ˆd(n) ,(214) ˆm ,(212) ˚lm ,(196) (h)jm ,(197) (a)jm ,(403) μ[ ,(400) μlw[ ,(398) (l)l[ ,(390) ˆy[ ,(346) rps ,(313) js(n) ,(13) ,(430) br[ ,(ibid.) (hw)r[ ,(429) r[ ,(426) rq[ ,(421) bx[ ,(410) (y)n[ ,(579) fçq ,(548) lfq ,(524) rwpx ,(483) srp ,(457) hjp ,(437) tç[ ,(304) rbç ,(644) bybç ,(ibid.) ˆn[r ,(618) ([)[r ,(612) (h)mr ,(588) (aw)br ,(686) çmç ,(679) μçe ,(674) flç ,(669) ˆkç ,(331) μyç ,(305) aygç (748) ˆqt ,(707) (y)rç ,(699) rpç ynxylh) rt[/rç[ ,(122) bna/ba :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram (inevitable) • (ibid.) bwt/bwç ,(ibid.) rbt/rbç ,(445 d[lg/atwdhç rgy ,(79) çy/ytya :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram (non cognate) • (466) hp/μp ,(452 ,39) ;(238) jtm ,(106) πla :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram/Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram ,(258) rhn ,(12) (l)lf ,(377) yd ,(346) μrg ,(332) rmg ,(295) rbg (654) hwç ,(579) fçq ,(432) dwr[ 9.11.2.3 ynayrsla + μgrt/μwgrt (p. 99) yla :μwgrt yùdla ynayrsla ˆm • (p. 328) çlg :μùgrty yùdla ynayrsla ˆm (p. 62) dj(a) :μùgrty ˆal ynayrsla hgl ˆm ala wh sylw (p. 37) bby :μwgrt ˆm ynayrs hnkl (p. 561) rmj :ynayrsla μùgrty amk (p. 252) bgn :μwgrtw ynayrslab (p. 331) ≈mwg :ynayrslab μùgrty ˚ld ˆmw (p. 219) rsm :μwgrt ynayrsla ˆm All the above expressions appear in comparisons of the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.; they are instructive, in that they pinpoint a clearly defined divergence of usage: μwgrt and μgrt (and its variants) are employed for comparisons with targumic Aramaic, whereas ynayrs stands as a hyper-term denoting the Aramaic language with all its various types, notably the biblical but also the post-biblical.
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9.11.2.4 μwgrt/μùgrt The nucleus of the following series of expressions is the substantive μwgrt or the Arabic verb μùgrt. This nuclear term expands into several slightly differing expressions in the same way that ynayrs can expand. The term (in its various “shades”) is employed, as stated ealier, for comparisons of Bib. Heb. and Targ. Aram., whether the comparison consists of one Bib. Heb. only, together with a Targ. Aram. or comprises additional components—i.e. an additional Bib. Heb. or Bib. Aram. component. Heb. ;(14) [wqr/awlf ,(527) rb/≈wj Bib. Heb.:/Targ. Aram. :μwgrtw • :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb. ;(153) (h) hl :(cognates) Targ. Aram./Bib ,(434 ˆyh) wnyhtw ,(2 X ,332) rmg ,(225) ˆkb ,(158) dça ,(71) ˆwfa ,(538 yj) hyjm ,(192 db) rfj ,(526) fwj ,(512) bwj ,(2 X ;499) r[z ,(187) lgm ,(750 πqt) hsk ,(110) ˆmk ,(23) πrf ,(13) lflf ,(585) ˚rj çr[ ,(371) (h)d[ ,(22 μrf) al d[ ,(365) rwb[ ,(353) brs ,(315) rjs ,(498) tbx ,(ibid.) jçp ,(487) ç(w)p ,(485) qrp ,(468) qnp ,(434) qr[ ,(433) ,(577) srq ,(525) rypx ,(527) ≈yx ,(511) jlx ,(508) ryx ,(500) (h)dx ffr ,(607) bfr ,(606) çjr ,(604) μjr ,(594) çgr ,(591) zgr ,(578) trq ,(749 πqt) dhç ,(309) hrdç ,(652) dç ,(648) rbç ,(673) ttr ,(ibid.) (696) πç ,(673) jlç ,(666) ryç ,(658) rwç And another 9 times in the list at the entry πqt: ,(169) ta ,(3 X ;118) rma :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • ≈rj ,(522) (y)dj ,(485) ˚z ,(381) rkd ,(376) lyjd ,(282) tb ,(186) çab ,(687) çmç ,(647) qbç ,(498) [bx ,(470) sp ,(477) qp(n) ,(2 X ,20) rpf ,(589) (752) rwt ,(727) hwj ,(725) rydt ,(722) b(w)t ,(700) ayxç (413) atd ,(381) rkd ,(277) μrb :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) • rmg ,(488) lz(a) :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • ,(114) snk ,(528) rwj ,(526) hnj ,(521) dj ,(377) yd ,(346) μrg ,(332) ,(303) bç ,(668) jkç ,(654) hwç ,(63) (y)tp(y) ,(598) tj(n) ,(208) (l)lm (749 πqt) dhç Bib.Heb./Bib.Heb./Targ.;(285) qpn :Bib.Aram./Bib.Heb./Targ. Aram.:μwgrtwhw • ,(283) rtb ,(129) [a :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ;(490) μgtp (358) wts :Aram. Bib. Heb./Bib. ;(748) lqt ,(463) jlp ,(401) [l[ ,(214) ˆm ,(9) rwf ,(392) hnd ,(358) ad (579) fçq ,(432) dwr[ :Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(577) πxj ,(568) ˆsj :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. :μwgrt ˆm • (605) ≈jr ,(69) tj(n) ,(9) twf ,(115) ˆma ,(63–61) (seize) dja :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. •
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,(123) πk ,(187) bb(y) ,(567) dsj ,(137 rtk) r[z ,(945) hrg ,(32) hrwga ;371) (h)d[ ,(354) jrs ,(326) tks ,(220)-tsm ,(153) (h)hl ,(125) ˆpk (314) (h)jç ,(582 brj) dç ,(483) jrp ,(2 X And in the excursus in πqt (749): (568) ˆsj ,(12) (l)lf ,(367) rbd :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • (498) ˆdp :μwgrt yùdkw • .(490) (y)tp :μwgrt hnal ;(524) rpx ,(403) (a)m[ ;(456) byt(h) :μwgrt ˆal • ,(512) bwj ,(ibid.) rmz ,(ibid.) rmz ,(ibid.) ˆçyd (144) wqa :(a)hmwgrtw • Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(468) qnp ,(312) ˚lm ,(552) flj Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognates) ,(659) rzç :hmwgrt aùdkw • Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (137) rtb :μwgrt ˆm qtçm whw • Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (121) ˆ[k :ynarb[lab . . . μwgrt whw • :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. :μwgrtla hgl ˆm • (53) lza Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. and μgrtmla hyp lwq(y)/laq (yùdk/˚lùd ˆm)w ,(191) db ,(24 swba) hwra ,(48) rwa Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(540) yj ,(379) ˆçyd ,(258) [xb ry[ç) rypx ,(475) μxp ,(58 ja) db[/hç[ ,(18) ˆ[f ,(587) amlwf/≈rj .(270) μwr/˚wnt ,(640) hwxa rtwm/traçm ,(589) [br ,(337 (273 jyrb) ˆyfwçm/μyjyr :μùgrtmla lwq whw • :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cognate) :(hyp) laq (p) μùgrtmlaw • .(690) jçp/≈pç ,(568) ,h[yxq (454) srh ,(661) arpwf/tljç ,(277) qrb :ˆyrt dj l[/hnç :hlwqb μùgrtmla . . . • .(164 rça) [wrkça/rwçat ˚lùd ˆmw ;(219) rçm (III) rmk) :μùgrty yùdkw ;(153 Appendix II) r(w)z :μùgrty • μlwk ,(549) (l)lj ,(369) rgd ,(158) dça ,(22) ba :μùgrt(y) Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ;(60) l[y :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. μùgrtmla hmùgrtw • .(424) μdh Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. μùgrtmla μùgrty ˚lùdkw -rtlaw ,(317) jg :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. μùgrtmla ymsy ˚lùd ˆmw • .(337) dç/ry[ç :hams μwg .(356) qrs :layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwy laq amk • (p. 299) dg/dg :hnçmla hgl ˆm • It seems likely that hnçmla, as one of Alfàsi’s technical terms could cover both talmudic literature and the Midrashim, including their Aramaic components, since the expression adg is to be found in this wider corpus. Such an assumption does not overly stretch the plain sense of hnçmla. But if we assume that Alfàsi does treat the cited
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expression abf adg as an entity in itself, as pertaining to hnçmla, then the inevitable consequence would seem to be that the term hnçmla is meant to denote the targumic Aramaic; for, (as far as can be deduced from the lexicons) the given expression is encountered only in the Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. 30:11) and nowhere else. 9.11.2.5 ynarb[la yp The term ynarb[la yp occurs in several of Alfàsi’s discussions in an unconnected manner, i.e. in the absence of any complementary contrastive expression of the kind ynayrsla yp ama or ybr[la ypw. Prima facie, one could claim that such a complement can be “reconstructed” on a contextual base, and thus could assume that ynarb[la yp was never used simply in a neutral status, without intending to exclude some linguistic practice in Aramaic or Arabic. If that were the case, wherever the phrase appeared, it would have to be treated as an elliptical expression and so, automatically, as a term of comparison of Hebrew with Aramaic (or with Arabic). However, this assumption can be conclusively refuted. At entry çby, for instance, Alfàsi writes: dwyla μaqm wywla ynarb[la hyp lm[tsy dqw .πapùgw sby hlk . . . çby hgl çybwh rça lùtm ( Josh. 2:10). Here it cannot be maintained that ynarb[la is adduced in oppositional contrast with ynayrsla yp or with ybr[la yp; because the very same grammatical rule laid down for Hebrew (dwyla μaqm wywla) applies equally in Arabic and in Aramaic. The upshot is that ynarb[la yp can indeed appear in a general, nontechnical sense. A further example: The very grammatical formula mentioned earlier (dwyla . . . lm[tsy dqw) is stated to apply to the verb [gy (p. 38) although no comparison, either explicit or implied is set up at that entry. The indisputable outcome is that the term ynarb[la yp is non-technical, not a specific comparison expression. For this reason, I did not exhaustively collocate every occurrence of ynarb[la yp: I recorded only those occurrences in whose vicinity an unambiguous comparison must be determined by virtue of the linguistic materials adduced. In fact, at all these locations one would clearly discern the comparison even setting aside the term ynarb[la yp. However, considering that the expression in the given context allows for the sense that was initially presumed—i.e. the sense of a comparison term—it is assigned the status of a term of comparison. Below is the inventory of its occurrence, as defined:
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(1) ynarb[labw: Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.: rbdg/rbzg (p. 301) (2) ynarb[lab . . . hgl ˜m: baf (p. 2) (3) ynarb[lab hlùtmw: rta (p. 172) (4) whw/-b lùtm/ynarb[la yp: Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.: ˆyda/za (p. 34), wlaw/hnhw (p. 103), hnjl/çglp (p. 160), lzrp/lzrb (p. 482); in Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: llg (p. 325) (5) ynarb[lab ˚lwqk: in Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.: [rd/[wrz (p. 407); in Heb./Arab.: dja (p. 61) (6) ynarb[lab hlwqp ˚aùdw: in Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: çab (p. 186) (7) ynarb[la yp hlwq ryùfn: in Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.: πna/πa (8) ynarb[la yp lm[tsy dqw: çby (p. 38). Here there is no specific citation from biblical Aramaic; but having employed, the generic phrasing tçbyw çby ˆwçl lk, at the opening of the entry, it would seem that Bib. Aram. is also to be included. 9.11.2.6 ˜ynwbrla ˜wmsy ˚lùd ˜mw: çpf (p. 20). It is quite likely that here, too, talmudic Aramaic is referred to, but this cannot be stated definitively. 9.11.2.7 . . . μaqm yhw: ll[/aby (p. 398); ˆba . . . yùgy . . .ù≈w[w (p. 28) 9.11.2.8 qaqtça ˜m: μçg (ˆya, p. 153) The latter three expressions stand on the borderline of the zero term. Indeed, only their essence intimates that these are comparison terms; as they stand, they possess no property applicable to language comparison. 9.11.2.9 Contrastive terms
ynayrsla (yp/-b) amaw: This expression is employed in entry word comparisons Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. when the two components share something in common lexicologically but each exhibits some distinctive aspect, such as a vocalization difference, e.g. rma (p. 118), μh/wmh (p. 445), lk (p. 103), ˆm (p. 214).
ynarb[la yl[ lyld ynayrsla sylw: This expression is used to determine the root of two hetero-lingual words that are apparently similar to each other: (hy)h/(h)yj (p. 510). ynarb[la wjnl πlaùkm ynayrslab hglla hùdh wjnw: [dy (p. 393).
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9.11.2.10 Terms for rejected comparisons (in Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.) (508) trz :hlwq yp μùgrtmla rgh swlqnwa flg dqw • (309) wg : . . . hl[ùgw μùgrtmla flg dqw (746) lpt :μùgrtmla lwqk sylw (273 jyrb) ˆyfwçm/μyjyr :hglla yp byrg ˆa yrm[l . . . μùgrtmla lwq whw (343) jpç :dy[b whw . . . laq μùgrtmlaw (581 rj) yryr[/rrj :μùgrtmla laq am zwùgy alw (394) sk[ . . . ˆm hl[ùg μùgrtmlaw (219) ˆyb . . . μùgrtmla ˆùf dqw 9.11.2.11 Instances of zero term In formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. πça ,(128) πsa ,(79) μtya/ytya ,(494) ˆz(a) ,(340) πg(a) ,(28) ˆba • hbhdm ,(365) hrbd ,(322) (y)lg ,(315) rzg ,(290) bg ,(264) h[qb ,(162) μfrj ,(137 rtk) hwj ,(480) wyz ,(476) d(w)z ,(425) rdh ,(383) qld ,(372) ,(208 ,137 rtk ) ( l ) lm ,(129) lbrk ,(65) dqy ,(599) μtj ,(585) ,(307) ˆgs ,(751) rt(n) ,(21) rf(n) ,(598) tj(n) ,(357) dd(n) ,(250) (ay)bn ,(440) qyt[ ,(415) bç[ ,(412) πn[ ,(ibid.) rpws ,(345) rps ,(ibid.) rgs rfq ,(535) lbq ,(511) jlx ,(500) dx ,(490) (y)tp ,(488) rçp ,(485) çrp ,(672) wlç ,(749 πqt) dhç ,(600) zr ,(577) ≈rq ,(565) ≈q ,(549) (749) πqt ,(708) çrç ,(707) qrç ,(680) (μ)mç In formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (191) lhm/lhm Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (405 ˚rd) jra Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(749 πqt) dhç ,(114) çnk ,(490 ,63) ytp ,(598) tj(n) ,(208) (l)lm • (303) b(y)ç In instances in which data of grammatical (or other) nature is recorded data that might be construed as nothing other than a Heb./Aram. comparison, as in . . . laùdlab ldbnt yazla (ynxylh, p. 442); also: ljz (p. 481), hdm/hdnm (pp. 189, 216), ≈[y/f[y (ynxylh, p. 442; af[, p. 386), (ˆy)rt/μynç (p. 752), [rt/r[ç (p. 752) or, in cases of Aram./Arab. as: rjp/raùkp: aùklab ajla lydbtb (p. 457)
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It happens occasionally that a grammatical proposition is lacking that would serve to posit an abstract principle for the issue under comparison. In such case, Alfàsi may adduce an additional instance of the same type as in the following example, which demonstrates clearly that the grammarian’s intention was to apply the formula lydbtb ˆyglab ˆy[la, namely, to set up an explicit comparison: • hm[rh rwb[b μgr μ[r anlw (1 Sam. 1:6) wjwr μy[b lùtm (Isa. 51:15) .(p. 618) μ[r) hjayr μygb
lùtm The use of this term is broader than that of a term restricted specifically to language comparison; in this respect, it is equivalent to zero term. Nonetheless, those comparisons for which lùtm was employed have been collocated, considering that though it approximates to zero, it is not identical with it. The comparisons are: [rda/[wrz (p. 36), ˆmyh (p. 434), ˆh (p. 448), lçj (p. 594), (h)d[ (p. 371). The two comparisons (h)[b/a[b and q(l)s occurring in the comparison list at entry πqt (p. 750) seem prima facie to be compared by lùtm, but on close inspection the comparisons set up are in fact sustained by the incorporative comparison expression with which the list commences.
˜wlwqyw An elliptical expression, occurring where the text content shows that the term stands for ynayrsla yp/hnçmla hgl yp/dwmltla yp ˆwlwqyw and such like. It appears in comparisons Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. such as: ykhd at[da (BT Nedarim 22b)/ykh (yk, p. 99).
˜wmsy Its use is similar to that of the previous term, in Heb./Aram./Arab. comparisons: dbz (p. 474).
laqy: in Heb./Arab. comparison, such as lpa (p. 134) .amsy: çql (p. 176). ˚lwqk: ynlp (p. 464); [rq (p. 577). Zero term is in use consistently, for obvious reasons, in comparisons of the types (a) implicit comparison Heb./Arab. and (b) explicit comparison Heb./Arab. by virtue of tauto-etymological rationale.
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9.11.3 Terms for comparison with Arabic In explicit comparisons with Arabic, the terms most frequently employed are those structured on the nuclear terms ybr[ or hybr[ with the insertion of several alternative linking particles as well as phraseologies expanding on that nucleus. Similar phrases are adopted in explicit comparisons with Aramaic (see above). An enumeration of these expressions follows: 9.11.3.1 ;(799) hnsj/hrpç ,(577) [rq :hybr[lab whw (622) qpr :hybr[ yhw • ;(490) hywah/htp(t) ,(217) hrnm ,(351) zwj ,(490) ˆmz ,(327) dlg :ybr[lab(w) ;(for Aram./Arab. Comparison 2x ;214) ˆm ,(403) μwrd :ybr[la yp/-b hlùtmw hùfpl (yhw) ;(576) μrq :hybr[ ahna zwùgy ;(320) ryg :ybr[lab ˚lùdkw ;(272) rkn hgl yh ;(710) açç ,(628) [qr ,(524) rpx ,(302) abs :hybr[ (172) z[l :br[la hgl yp . . .
lùtm ;(561) rmj ,(532) fj :ybr[la hgl ˆm ;(438) μlh :br[la hglbw • . . . ynarb[lab ;(506) brz : ù≈jm ybr[ wh ;(475) lxp : aws ybr[la laqy (amk) ;(475) μxp ,(299) dg :laqy ybr[labw ,(569) πçj : . . . ybr[labw zwùgyw ;(102) wla :br[la lwqt amk ;(258) μhn ,(390) ˆy[ :ybr[la yp/-b (190) hm :ybr[lab laqy znf[ç ,(344) ˆps :ybr[lab amst amk/w ;(474) dbz :br[la ˆwmsy amkw • (692)
dyg :wmsy yùdla br[la hgl ˆm hna zwùgy ;(569) πçj :br[la wmsy ydkw • (319) (287) bxn :ybr[ μsa wh ;(48 djy) hjna :ybr[lab amsyw • (598 tj) htjm :l ybr[lab μsalaw • ,(526) jwj ,(488) (l)lz ,(294) hnbg ,(272) μrb :ybr[la hgl brq ˆm • 39 comparisons (754) çt( n) ;(434) qr[ ,(754) çt( n) ,(397) [d( y) ,lbj ,brz ,μhz ,dlg ,πyg ,dyg ,hnbg ,μrb ,arb ,rb ˚na ,πwla :including ,bxn ,rwçm ,byn ,μlnm ,flm ,b[l ,μjl ,bjk ,ljk ,ˆymy ,brj ,l(w)j ,fj ,μçr ,dxr ,˚mr ,jçq ,rbx ,lxp ,qr[ ,hmr[ ,çyf[ ,qz[ ,çd[ ,abs .jlç ,jlç ,bkç ,dhç This term applies also to comparisons that are non-cognate in the view of modern linguistics: (313) çkw/çwg ;(362) fbk/fb[ • çb[ :ybr[la brq ˆm ;(645) lbç : . . . hglla ˆm brqt . . . hòfpl • (518) gj :hglla μyrqtl ;(365)
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including all the other (478) μhz :ybr[lab hbçt (hbyrg) hòfpl • .comparisons there (439) μt[ ;hybr[la hglla yl[ ynbm whw •
rafq ,bkawm ,ùgawma ,ùgawpa/(h)([pç :ybr[lab hb qylt hùfplb ùgrky • (699) for a grammatical comparison, that follows ybr[la yp [qy dqw • the lexical comparison (490) ˆmz :Heb./Aram./Ar. (9.5.1) see above h[wmsm yl[ • ,rtwj ,(a)bj ,ja ,(208) ljb :hybr[la hgl yp a[lab tyjla balqna ˆm • jrm ,πçj ,πrj ,brj ,rj Terms that do not contain ybr[ There are instances in which the explicit comparison can be recognized from the text content, despite the fact that not one of the aforementioned terms actually appears ;(ibid.) μ[r ,μm[ ,μy[b ,(172) z[l :˜yglab ùgrky ˜y[ ynarb[la yp ryùtk • qyrf ˜m ;(369) μg[ :˜ygla μaqm ˜y[ ;(488) lz :laùdlab yzla lydbtb (174) ltp/tpl :swk[la 9.11.3.2 Terms used for semantic comparisons
[qy μsa whw ;(370 dx) yl[ [qt yh a[ymùg ˆytùfpllaw ybr[la yp amkw • (508 trz) . . . ybr[lab alw . . . ynarb[lab laqy zwùgy alw . . . yl[ al . . . yla lkw . . . hpltùkm ùfapla ynarb[ll ;(id.) . . . yl[ [qt . . . hùfpl hltmw yl[ bkry jlxyp ;(23–22 μrf) ahb qylt hùfplb ùgrkt ahnm hdjaw .(ibid. for; Heb./Aram. Comparison) μwgrtw (ibid.) . . . hùfpl Terms used to denote semantic affinity (672 jlç) br[la hgl yp dy[b yç . . . . . . ˆyb sylw • .(144 wqa in a Heb./Aram. comparison) yn[mla yp byrq wh . . . hmwgrtw • Terms used to denote (merely) partial equivalence + partial contrast
laqy . . . br[la hglb amaw ;(508 trz) . . . laqy zwùgyp ybr[lab amaw . . . • (47 djy) . . . (551 blj) ybr[lab amsy al am ahnm ˆak ˆaw . . . ynarb[lab amsw • (ibid.) . . . ahymsy ynarb[lab ˆak aùda anmzly sylp •
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ahlm[tsy ryùtkw . . . ˆm hryg ˆwd . . . l br[la hgl yp . . . ˆak ˆaw • hdayzb ala br[la hglb . . . ryspt jxy alw (123 qna) . . . l ynarb[la (420 lbh) . . . μalk Terms for comparison: plus in one language, as against minus in the other (61 dja) br[la hgl yp lwqy ˆa ≈at[y • (253 dgn) ybr[lab anl μty μl ˆak ˆaw • (417 ah) br[la rxtùky amk • 9.11.3.3 Comparison terms in copies and late compendia of Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ These expressions, as a rule, match the array of terms used by Alfàsi himself, especially with regard to comparisons with Arabic. The sporadic exceptions to this systematic correspondence are instructive: they may well serve as a philological parameter for evaluating which comparison materials were penned by Alfàsi himself and which were appended at later periods. The expressions ynayrslabw (lhm, XZ 191), ynayrsla yp hlùtmw (μgtp, 2x G 490), μwgrt ˆm (trq, hyrq G 576), ynayrs hnkl (πç, I 696) appearing in the addenda to these MSS, frequently appear in Alfàsi’s own writing; they can be viewed simply as an imitation of the array of terms employed widely in the original work. Even in those cases where the comparison itself was recorded by Alfàsi (i.e. it does not refer to a comparison that was “reconstructed” or “filled in” by a late copyist) but the comparison term was changed by the copyist, it is manifest that the “new” expression is one also in common use by Alfàsi in other contexts. Following are exemplary instances: At dç(l) (p. 652) Alfàsi used the term μwgrtw, i.e. ankçm ydç l[ ˆkçmh ydx l[ μwgrtw; in Ms I, however, the expression is μwgrt ˜m hnkl ynarb[la yp ryùfn hl sylw. This alteration is thus not excessive. But in the case of the expressions μwgrtla ˆm qtçy (ˆwn/ˆwn, p. 275, Ab5, X), ynayrsla hqyrf yl[ (sm, p. 218, Abs), and especially ynadskla (μyç, p. 331, X–Z), these cannot be traced in Alfàsi’s own writing. It is thus quite clear that the comparisons adduced under these terms and expressions are nothing but glosses/additions by the copyists and/or compilers. In the array of terms for comparison with Arabic there is hardly any innovation vis-à-vis the terms in general use by Alfàsi. One exception is w[mçmk ybr[ appearing in the comparison μlsu/μls (Z, p. 329). Nevertheless, since it can be shown that these MSS made sporadic alterations and coined comparisons and terms in the area of language comparison with Aramaic, one may have good reason to
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suspect that they did indeed interpolate comparison material, although without creating new terms, in the area of comparison with Arabic. Enumeration of the expressions follows: ybr[: μhn (Yg 258), ghl (Z 154), dyrç (Z 353) hybr[ hùfpl: tjr/hjar (G 606) ybr[la hglb: sk[/sk[ ( G 394) hybr[ ahna hbçalaw: ˆmk/ˆmk (X 110) w[mçmk ybr[: μls (Z 329) ybr[la hgl brq ˜m: at the commencement of a lengthy list of comparisons, in Appendix II of MS K (p. 160). The following list contains only comparisons culled from the above-mentioned list that fail to appear (a) as explicit comparisons at their appropriate entries in the lexicon or (b) in special lists collocated by Alfàsi: /ˆksm, rhm/rhm, rk/rk, drf/drf ,(E) zrùk/zrj, πld/πld, qhb/qhb • dq[/dq[e, bq[/bq[;, sws/ss, ˆyks/ˆykç-μykç, lxnt/lx(n), lhn/lhn, ˆyksm .spr/yçpr, rprp/rprp,
h[wmsm yl[ • rk/rk (F, p. 129), rwk/rwk (K Appendix II, p. 160), ghl/ghl (Abs, p. 154), (q)ql/ql (X, p. 136), ˆks/ˆùks (Abs, G, Z, p. 324), ˆwlsi/als (X, p. 328), μlsu/μls (Abs X, 329), lpse/lps (Abs, X, Z, p. 344), dyrç/dyrç (Abs X, p. 353), hbqe/hbq (A, B, Abs, Ha, I, p. 535), qr [O /qr[ (Abs, p. 434), μhn/μhn (X Yg, p. 258), tpr/tpr (G, Hb, X, p. 622). Abs and X record a maximal number of occurrences of this term, each using h[wmsm yl[ 7 times. Three of the instances are common to both MSS, but Alfàsi himself adopted a different comparison term—for instance, at qr[b/qr[, where Alfàsi set up the comparison by the expression ybr[la hgl brq ˆm. Zero term • rwnm/hrwanm (Abs, p. 217), hyxmtla ˆm . . . ≈m (A, B, Abs, Y 225), rdms/rdnms (Abs Z, p. 332), hrypx/hrypùf (Ha, p. 524).
9.12 The sources used by David b. Abraham Alfàsi Delineation of the topic When proceeding to deal with the issue of Alfàsi’s sources, it is of the essence, to take good note well, of the heterogeneous facets of
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the issue: the scholastic sources for the languages he discusses, the linguistic usages adopted in his literary style and the language materials and tools that serviced him in building up the lexicon, with all its variegated contents. Sources of several defined types are excluded from the present study and will therefore not be discussed here. This applies especially to Alfàsi’s sources on topics of grammar as recorded in his lexicon, since the issue of grammatical comparisons falls outside the scope of this project. Neither will the nature of the Arabic dialect employed by Alfàsi nor its sources be dealt with.53 It goes without saying that Alfàsi’s own language of dissertation is exclusively Arabic, with some very isolated and exceptional cases in which he employs Hebrew.54 On the other hand, there are in the magnum opus contexts in which Arabic, side by side with Hebrew and Aramaic, plays a role in the linguistic setup. I refer to the Arabic inventory of words adduced for the definition of Hebrew and Aramaic entry words or for rendering the numerous sections of biblical verses recorded for illustration purposes as well as the vast thesaurus of Arabic vocabulary resorted to for explicit Heb./Arab. or Aram./Arab. comparisons. Attention will be subsequently devoted to the source of all these language materials, as well as of the comparisons per se, insofar as this issue can be suitably treated. 9.12.1 Alfàsi’s sources for the languages dealt with 9.12.1.1 Hebrew The Hebrew dialect treated by Alfàsi, and generally presented in the context of the definienda, is biblical Hebrew, his lexicon being devoted specifically to biblical Hebrew; the citations from post-biblical Hebrew55 are adduced merely for corroboration of the meanings determined for the entry words. There are only a few instances in which a rabbinical Hebrew entry word itself becomes the object of discussion.56 In isolated cases, Hebrew serves as a definiens for an Aramaic entry word 53 This important subject which also has a bearing on other issues—e.g. the language of “culture” at a given epoch, the knowledge of languages, etc.—is worthy of examination in an independent framework. 54 See, for example, entry db (p. 193); also Skoss, introduction, p. 52, where Alfàsi prefers to adopt Hebrew, this being a precautionary measure, for his criticism of and severe defamatory essay on the Muslims. 55 See Netzer (1983, pp. 84–124). 56 See formula Bib. Aram./Rab. Heb. (above, 9.4.6).
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under discussion or as a cognate translation synonym for it—for instance, when the word çbk is adduced as a definiens-rendering of the Aramaic entry word rma (p. 118), with no Arabic word in the vicinity. 9.12.1.2 Aramaic The Aramaic entry words appearing in Alfàsi’s lexicon as definienda/ definita are all from the Bible, because biblical Aramaic constitutes the essential component of the vocabulary treated by him. A certain number of biblical Aramaic entry words are employed in language comparison Heb./Aram. as cognate or non-cognate translation synonyns for the Hebrew entry word. 9.12.1.2.1 Targumic Aramaic Additional Aramaic materials incorporated by Alfàsi in his linguistic discussions have their origin in the Jewish Bible Targums, i.e. Onqelos, Pseudo-Jonathan, the Palestinian Targum to the Pentateuch, and Targum Jonathan to the Prophets. Can it be said that in addition to the above Alfàsi incorporated, Aramaic materials from the Targum/s to the Ketuvim and to Chronicles? To put it in another way: did Alfàsi know of an Aramaic Targum to Hagiographa and to Chronicles? According to the index in the edition of Skoss (p. 84), which reflects solely the references as determined by Skoss himself for Alfàsi’s citations in the body of the lexicon (in the apparatus), it seems at first glance that Alfàsi did in fact adduce citations from a Targum to Ketuvim. However, on inspecting each citation individually, against the background of the lexicon itself and not with reference to the index, it becomes apparent that this is not the case. For example, as the index intimates, Alfàsi records two citations from the Targum to Psalms: the renderings for Ps. 19:8 and 76:4 (vol. 1, pp. 13, 317 and vol. 2, pp. 40, 749). The very meagerness of occurrences should, in itself, arouse our suspicion. For the statistics show that the two instances in which it is supposed that Alfàsi quotes from the Psalms Targum stand in contrast to a total of approximately 500 words/portions of verses recorded by Alfàsi from Psalms, some of them being verses to which he has need to resort two or more times.57 If we were to collate these figures with the almost equal number of quotes from Genesis, a stark numerical disproportion becomes apparent.
57
See the index cited, p. 60 col. b, p. 66, col. a.
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Whereas the Aramaic Targum to Genesis is recorded in about 60 citations, the Targum to Psalms is cited in only two instances!58 This could hardly be attributable to the supposed greater quantity of linguistic difficulties present in Genesis as against those existing in the Book of Psalms! In actuality, it was an unwitting error on the part of the editor that created such an impression: the Bible cum “Targum” reference Ps. 19:8 is linked by the editor to a single Hebrew word twd[, adduced by Alfàsi (this Hebrew word cannot be definitely identified as an unambiguous verse portion i.e. “quotation”) as well as, to its Aramaic translation synonym atwdhs.59 This Hebrew word is very common in the Pentateuch; its Targum rendering in Onkelos is also frequent. If Skoss had been more precise in his references, he would have avoided entering a reference to Psalms. Had Alfàsi had in mind some biblical phrase with its actual Targum rendering, rather than merely a Hebrew word “as such,” with its translation synonym, probably would have been a word occurrence in the Pentateuch, rather than in Psalms. The situation is similar regarding the second citation. In the discussion on the root jg (p. 317), Alfàsi adduces the Aramaic expression brjla laùgr μùgrtmla ymsy ˚lùd ˆmw abrq yjygm) (abrq yjygm as one adopted by the Aramaic Targum in general, without having in mind any one specific citation. Skoss chose to adduce, for this expression, a reference from “the Targum” to Psalms, specifically, Ps. 76:4, whereas in fact, he could well have provided a reference to it from the Pentateuch (for instance, Exod. 17:8: μjlyw/abrq jgaw). It is almost a matter of certainty that the Psalms Aramaic Targum was completely unknown to Alfàsi, just as it was unknown to many other Jewish scholars almost contemporaneous with Alfàsi, as has been demonstrated by Weiss.60 The conclusion with regard to the Psalms Targum holds true for the Aramaic Targum of Job, Proverbs, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Chronicles. From Targum to Proverbs, he apparently adduces only a single citation,61 7:20. In fact, Skoss himself (ch. 2, p. 750), in his apparatus, merely enters a cross-reference
58
See index (ibid.) pp. 21–26; p. 81. See Alfàsi, vol. 2, p. 749, line 40; apparatus to this line. 60 See Weiss (1979), ch. 2 and especially, p. 41, n. 1, pp. 57–58 and n. 109; even more specifically: pp. 67–69 and notes 174–78. 61 See Skoss, index, p. 84. 59
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note regarding the phrase ask gj μwgrtw, referring the reader to the Targum at Prov. 7:20 (ady[d amwylw), not implying that that phrase itself is cited from the Proverbs Targum. He likewise attributes the expression ayrhn twrhn, recorded by Alfàsi (p. 258) to the Targum to Job, 28:11; but Skoss himself marks (via the + sign) that this rendering is attested further at other locations, presumably meaning locations outside the book of Job. Considering that this word does not appear in a context in which its identification with the Job reference is so to speak inevitable, it is far preferable to reference it to some other biblical book. In the same way the reference for the phrase atçqb jtm (p. 238), “Targum Lam. 2:4,” is quite arbitrary; supposedly, it would constitute the single adduction of the Lamentations “Targum”! Such is the case, too, regarding the reference to Eccles. 2:25 entered by Skoss for rb ≈wj μwgrtw (entry ≈wj, p. 527) as well as the index reference to 2 Chron. 20:33.62 To sum up, Skoss’s implicit determination that Alfàsi cited the Aramaic Targum to Ketuvim and to Chronicles has no basis. It is far more likely that no copy of an Aramaic Targum to those biblical books was within Alfàsi’s reach. His source texts for targumic Aramaic comprise the Pentateuch Targums, including “Pseudo Jonathan,” the Palestinian Targum,63 the Targum to the Prophets—and no more. The Aramaic materials recorded from targumic Aramaic, whether as cognate or as non-cognate translation synonyms, are enumerated above (9.4.7–9.4.14). 9.12.1.2.2 Talmudic Aramaic Talmudic Aramaic is very sparsely recorded in Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, (see above, 9.4.15). It is not surprising that the use made by a Karaite of such a specifically rabbinic work as the Talmud is far more restricted than its use, by rabbinic philologists such as Ibn Janà˙ and others. 9.12.1.3 Alfàsi’s text sources for Arabic I referred earlier to the Arabic employed in lexicographical definitions of Hebrew or Aramaic entry words. Of special concern to us are
62
See vol. 2, p. 750, apparatus to line 50. This Targum is cited as renderings for Gen. 30:1 (Alfàsi vol. 1, p. 299, line 36); Deut. 15:17 (ibid., p. 361, line 31); Deut. 28:50 (ibid., p. 577, line 199). 63
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(1) those Arabic entry words standing as translation synonyms (cognate or non-cognate), these being the substance of the definitions and (2) the renderings for biblical verses or sections of verses. The question requiring clarification is (a) whether these definitions were created and initiated by Alfàsi himself—i.e. it was he himself who initiated the translation synonyms for the Hebrew and Aramaic entries or (b) whether these were culled from the Arabic translations and commentaries to the Bible, current in his lifetime. This question can be only partially resolved: Alfàsi does not stipulate in a consistent manner who his mentor was according a particular theory or a particular rendering; nor does he intimate whether he is recording it as his own opinion or that of another: Even on those rare occasions where he attributes some statement to others, the attribution is to an anonymous authority.64 It is only in exceptional instances that Alfàsi indicates the name of the scholar holding the opinion adduced by him, this being invariably R. Sa'adiah Ga"on. This has been taken note of by Pinsker and by others.65 What is more, the Karaite translations and commentaries to the Bible, that antecede Alfàsi— those extant before the second half of the tenth century66—have mostly been lost; these include the commentaries and translations of B. Nahawendi, Daniel Qumisi and J. Qirqisani, as well as the major portion of the translation and commentary by Salmon b. Yeru˙im.67 At any rate, one can state confidently that Alfàsi made use of translations and commentaries produced by his predecessors, this fact being obvious from his numerous citations, even though he failed to indicate their respective sources. Despite the considerable quantity of quotations from other scholars and works, these are but a tiny minority of the total number of 64
See, for example, Skoss (1936–45), index, p. 120, col. b et seq., entry μwq and its sub-entries, ibid., such as μwq laq ,wl[ùg μwqw, and the like. On the phenomenon that the medieval student had no interest in knowing the originator of an opinion but was satisfied with knowing the opinion itself, giving rise to the recording of citations with no indication of their sources, see Birnbaum (1942–43), p. xxiv, bibliography, ibid., n. 68: Goldziher, Studien über Tanchum Jeruschalmi (Leipzig, 1870), p. 3. 65 Pinsker (1860), pp. fkq, 108; Poznanski (1971), p. 148. 66 On the epoch of Alfàsi and on his scholarly activity, see Poznanski (1971), p. 147 and n. 4; the opinions of Pinsker and Neubauer are adduced, in ibid. See also R. M. Bland (1966) with bibliography; Z. Ankori (1959), p. 206, note at p. 66; p. 69. These brief passages constitute all that Ankori wrote regarding Alfàsi! See especially Skoss (introduction), pp. 35ff. 67 See Bland (1966), introduction, p. 8.
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comments, opinions and definitions that, as set down, purport to be “originals.” It cannot be doubted that a very considerable percentage of these are in fact Alfàsi’s innovations, encompassing not only those instances where Alfàsi puts forward his own express opinion in stated contrast to that of another scholar, but also in many places where no indication is given of the originator of the notion. But the precise scope of the original portion—i.e. of Alfàsi’s own production cannot at present be determined. This is due in particular to the fact that medieval scholars by and large were not in the habit of specifying their sources. And again it should be noted that “potential” source texts in the form of translations and commentaries to the Bible had largely perished without trace. However, from the surviving fragments of translations produced before Alfàsi’s time—namely, those of Sa'adiah and of Salmon b. Yeru˙im—it can be ascertained with fair probability in which entries, contexts, etc., Alfàsi followed in the footsteps of those earlier renderings or, at least, whether the renderings adduced in his lexicon were documented in the works of his antecedents. Investigation of this issue was not limited to research for the topic of the present study. It was checked out whether a given comparison of a Hebrew entry word and its Arabic cognate recorded by Alfàsi had already been established by the earlier writers or could be said to have been founded on renderings of those scholars. In addition, the question of the extent to which Alfàsi relied on the earlier scholars has been investigated in the widest context. Analysis of this issue has, therefore, been undertaken by means of two clearly defined samples: First, all the entries from Psalms, for each of which Alfàsi adduces an Arabic cognate have been checked out, and these amount to a total of 141 entry words. Second, all those entries from Psalms encompassed by Ps. ch. 42, 72 only, which were elucidated by Alfàsi in his lexicon by non-cognate translation synonyms, have been checked out, amounting to a total of 86. Alfàsi’s renderings for these entries, 227 in all, were checked against the corresponding renderings of his antecedents—in this case, Sa'adiah’s and Salmon b. Yeru˙im’s translation to Psalms.68
68 The Salmon translations are all from Psalms because approximately two-thirds of the text of Salmon’s translation of Psalms is extant. MSS details are as follows:
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Alfàsi’s affinity with Judah b. Quraysh, has been discussed by Becker (1984, pp. 74–77). The first sample reflects a full-scale investigation of the comparison materials included in Alfàsi’s work (no matter whether the comparisons are explicit or implicit): it strives to determine whether the cognate (and not the comparison itself ) could objectively be identified in the antecedent translations. It should be borne in mind that whereas these translations are far from enjoying the status of lexicons, and were certainly not comparative lexicons, they nonetheless could easily have constituted an infrastructure for comparisons or, as it were, a source for Alfàsi’s comparison records. The second sample provides merely something of a “double check,” a ratification of the findings of the first. The second sample does not ascertain the specific source for each comparison, since, for noncognate translation synonyms the issue is one of comparison only if and when Alfàsi expressly says so by unambiguous comparison terminology. The second sample merely checks out the feasibility that Alfàsi, for his definitions and renderings of the entry words under discussion,69 adopted expressions and phraseologies attested in antecedent Bible translations into Arabic. These samples are, to a great extent, random in nature. The text choice, at least in the case of the second sample, was arbitrary: From Ps. 1–89, in MS Firkowitch I 1555, microfilm reel 10584 in the Institute for Microfilmed Hebrew MSS, at the HUNL in Jerusalem. Of these, Ps. 42–72 were edited by L. Marwick (1956), who used MS Firkowitch II 1345. (A collation of the material in ed. Marwick with MS, I 1555 reveals no textual differences between the two.) Further, Sa'adiah’s entire translation of Psalms has survived in its entirety, in the following editions: Margulies (1884), the translation of Ps. 1–20; Lehmann (1901) of Ps. 21–41; Hofmann (1891) of Ps. 42–49, etc.; Baron (1900) of Ps. 50–72; Galliner (1903) of Ps. 73–89; Eisen (1934) of Ps. 90–106; Lauterbach (1903) of Ps. 107–24; and Schreier (1904) of Ps. 124–50, as well as R. Yosef Qàfi˙’s edition (1966) of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr of the whole Book of Psalms and the complete translation of Yaphet b. Ali, ed. Bargès (1861), although later than Alfàsi (but see below). Within the scope of the sample investigation are some instances in which Alfàsi, instead of adducing a specific verse from Psalms, adduces a general proposition (of the type h[yùx hyrq lk). This means to say that wherever the entry word under discussion happens to occur in the Bible, its rendering is “such and such.” Though Alfàsi fails in these cases to record an express quote from Psalms, they have been treated as if he intended to refer to the Psalms verse. 69 Clearly, it would be worth checking whether we must rule out the likelihood that Alfàsi drew on the ancient Midrashim to the Bible when recording his commentary and renderings. The linguistic criterion is here unavailable. Such an investigation would be of interest primarily in the context of linguistics, rather than in that of text substance but the two contexts are to a great extent intertwined.
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the range of Psalms 1–89, this being the text range surviving from Salmon b. Yeru˙im’s translation of that Book, the section Ps. 42–72 has been selected. This choice was inevitable, since, of all the Karaite translations, Salmon’s was the sole survivor, and Ps. 42–72 is itself the portion that has principally survived out of his total translation of the Bible. Nevertheless, the compulsory element relates only to the restricted range of the text, not to the nature of the materials selected for the sample. There was no reason to aspire to exhaust the sources in their entirety or to investigate the total range of what could be examined in the context of writings of Alfàsi’s antecedents. The aim was simply to demonstrate, with the aid of the samples, that Alfàsi cannot be said to have practised in a vacuum, nor was he an absolute innovator. A sample of 227 entries would seem a fairly reasonable number on which to base a conclusive resolution of this issue. Before enumerating the findings and summarizing them synoptically, a number of typical instances that are of special interest will be presented. In his elucidation of the word μtya (Ps. 19:14), Alfàsi states: ùdynyj yl[ wflsy al wlaq μwqp .μtya za yb wlçmy la yp sanla πltùka dqw • al laq ù≈[bw . . . dwy hyp syl hks wh yùdla ta ˆal yçmy al aùdhw . . . μhtksb ˜tya ˆm μhtbalxb laq rùkaw . . . (Deut. 33:21) atyw ˆm μhnayta dn[ yl[ wflsy . . . yç sylp aùdhw hdjw μt;w hdjw yae l[ùgw hmlkla μsq rùkaw . . . (Num. 24:21) (Dan. 3:12) ˆyrbwg ytya ˆm μhdwùgw dn[ yn[a μhtysya dn[ rspy ˆa brqalaw .(p. 79 ytya) . . .
We thus have here no fewer than five alternative linguistic interpretations and analyses for this word. It is notable that the first interpretation to be rejected, μhtksb, is the rendering of Salmon b. Yeru˙im. The second interpretation, μhnayta, is encountered as that of Yefet b. Ali,70 in his commentary but not in his translation.71 The interpretation preferred by Alfàsi, however, corresponds with the rendering as reflected in Yefet’s translation, arousing the conjecture, that Alfàsi and Yefet b. Ali might both have drawn their interpretation(s) from the same earlier source, one that remains unknown to us.
70 On the expediency of making a collation with Yefet b. Ali, who postdated Alfàsi, see below (9.12.1.3.1). 71 See Bargès (1861), p. 34, n. 21.
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His parsing of the form ˆwny, in the verse wmç ˆwny çmç ynpl (Ps. 72:17), as a verb derived from the noun ˆyn (ˆn, p. 275), with the meaning: “May he have great-grandchildren and offspring for all generations,” is based on Sa'adiah’s rendering lstny and on Salmon’s construing of that biblical verse. The analysis of the verb hnmsrky (Ps. 80:14) as a contamination of the substantive srk as well as, possibly, of the denominative verb srk that evolved from that noun, with the particle ˆm, in the sense hnmm wsrk almy (ahnm hçrk alm) (p. 131), is to be found already in Salmon’s commentary (and, somewhat later, in Yefet’s commentary).72 Alfàsi’s rendering of çy (p. 72) as sya is not his own innovation: this is documented by Salmon (Ps. 58:12; 7:4) and later in Yefet’s commentary. Moreover, Alfàsi was not the one who initiated the parsing of lwlbç (Ps. 58:9) as a grafting of the subordinate letter ç onto the adjective lwlb (lwlbm yç), (p. 645): this analysis appears already in Salmon’s work. Alfàsi occasionally adduces two different but “synonymous” renderings for certain entry words in his lexicon. For example, for twnygn, he has two renderings: ˆajla and tamgn (in the captions of Psalms 4, 6, 54, and 76) (ˆgn p. 254); for πws (Ps. 73:19; p. 341) he records both πas and ù≈rqna; for μaer“ (Ps. 52:22; 29:15; p. 608) he records both μyr and ˆdkrk. It is tempting to speculate that these doublets constitute nothing but a combination of the respective renderings of Sa'adiah and Salmon for the same entry word. Inevitably one gets the impression that Alfàsi is chiefly a transmitter, rather than an author, of an intra-Karaite exegetical tradition. The remarkable correspondence in the above instances, as well as in many others, of Alfàsi’s rendering with that of his antecedents is not to be viewed as a “stylistic” imitation, the truth is that Alfàsi simply adopted their several renderings and exegetical comments, embedding them in his lexicon. 9.12.1.3.1 A comparison of Alfàsi’s biblical renderings with those of Yefet b. Ali The Bible translation of Yefet b. Ali as well as his commentary to the Bible, the greater portion of which are to date still in manuscript 72
See Maman (2000a), p. 270.
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form, are presumed by scholars to have been written later than the works of Alfàsi, probably very shortly after. Thus on such a presumption these cannot be treated as potential source materials for Alfàsi. Nevertheless, since this work is generally considered to be an eclectic commentary,73 it stands to reason that it reflects (Karaite) sources that Alfàsi might well have resorted to. This premise, however, should be posited with the greatest caution; for the opposite is just as likely to be true—that Alfàsi himself was Yefet’s source for his commentary.74 The upshot is: wherever equivalence is encountered between Alfàsi and Yefet in the rendering of a biblical word, it is feasible that both grammarians drew on a common source that preceded both of them. At the same time the possibility remains that the rendering originated with Alfàsi and Yefet adopted it. Given that these two possibilities are equally likely, it would seem, prima facie, that an examination of Yefet’s works yields no prospect of determining the identity of Alfàsi’s sources, unless Yefet expressly identified the author of his citation and this author is known also to have anteceded Alfàsi. Notwithstanding the first possibility, several findings will be adduced that can be inferred from a comparison of Alfàsi’s renderings of several Bible verses with those verses as interpreted by Yefet in his commentary.75 When all is said and done, a decisive inference can be made only by a comparison with Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr and Salmon’s translation.76
73
See Ben-Shammai (1978). This possibility might even obtain some corroboration from the fact that it was Yefet’s son who set down a compendium of Alfàsi’s lexicon, and it is not at all unlikely he did so in the lifetime of his father. 75 Yefet would probably have preferred to use systematic and unbroken translations of and commentaries to the Bible, verse by verse in “biblical order,” rather than resorting to a biblical lexicon. But clearly, it is not impossible that the grammarian might seek at times to ascertain, with the aid of the lexicon the rendering for some isolated Heb. word. 76 But it should be borne in mind that interpolations have very likely penetrated into Salmon’s translation in the course of its transmission. This is clearly evidenced through the following phenomenon: several words occurring in the commentary as glosses have crept into the main text of the translation, creating thereby an apparent contradiction between the translation as we have received it and the translation that Salmon himself relates to in the context of the commentary. For an illustration of this point, see the comments below on wgsp (Ps. 48:14) and htmxp (Ps. 60:4). This phenomenon is especially noticeable in the rendering and elucidation of the verse: whwrxny ˆm tmaw dsj (Ps. 61:8): in the translation he adduces ˆm/lkw, whereas in the commentary he remarks that he finds such a rendering unaccept74
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9.12.1.3.2 Entries in which Alfàsi’s renderings are not his own, these being recorded already in the works of Sa'adiah and Salmon (also, subsequently, of Yefet) (54 cognates):77 ,11) lpa/lpa ,(106 ;55:14) 79πyla ,πwla/πla 78,(77 ;42:5) lya/lya • [dùg/[dg ,(Alfàsi adduces from Amos 8:5, 270 ;65:14) rb/rb ,(134 ;2 hnwrùgy/whwrygy ,(342 ;61:5) rwaùg/rg ,(304 ;62:4) radùg/rdg ,(304 ;75:11) lkyh ,(411 ;36:9) hmwsd ,μsd/ˆçd ,(373 ;41:4) 80awd/ywd ,(344 ;63:11) πrj ,(557 ;39:4) ymj/μj ;(522 ;57:5) (h) daj/(h)dj ,(434 ;68:30) lkyh/ /rty ,(50 ;51:7) μjw/μjy ,(48 ;25:16) dyjw/dyjy ,(208 ljb ;74:17) πyrùk/ ,(159 ;23:7 ;24:8) 81hmjlm/hmjlm ,(154 ;29:7) byhl/hbhl ,(75 ;11:2) rtw 4:19, 221 ;22:15) a[m/y[m ,(196 ;69:29) wjm/hjm ,(186 ;46:7) ùgwm/gwm Gen. ;65:2) rùdn/rdn ,(236 ;49:13) lùtm/lçm ,(225 ;75:9) ≈m/hxm ,( Jer rts ,(289 ;73:13 ;26:6) aqn/ˆwyqn ,(263 ;78:55) hljn/hljn ,(402 rd 28:20; ˆwydp ,(381 ;68:35) z[/z[ ,(374 ;etc 20:9) dùx[/dd[ ,(358 ;32:7) rts/
able and he would prefer to derive ˆm' from the Aramaic aynm (“vessels”). Is it possible that the renderings attributed to him were not in fact adduced by him but in general represent some canonical, “received” translation version into which he refrains from introducing any alterations, with the rare exception of such deviations as are incorporated in the context of his commentary. This matter requires further investigation. 77 In those instances in which there is disparity among the four translators, numerous alternative possibilities of mutual non-consonance exist. The renderings could reflect two, three or four opinions; and combinations of opinions, can be switched around and subdivided: When there are two opinions, it may be that the first opinion is held by three and the second by only one; or the opinions may be equally divided. When there are three opinions, the combinations are more complex. The sum-total of possible permutations is thirteen. There seems no reason to classify the translators according to their renderings, whether representing equivalence or disparity, the main reason being that Yefet’s opinion/rendering is adduced merely for certain instances, largely when Salmon’s rendering is unavailable and even then only as a supplementary datum. Furthermore (and this is the primary argumentation), we are here concerned more with ascertaining the extent to which Alfàsi fell back on his antecedents and conversely how much he was an independent lexicologist in his own right, rather than with a comparison and classification of the methods of renderings, of the translators as a whole. 78 In parentheses appears, first, the verse ref. from Psalms, which constitutes the source for the entry word and then the page number of the relevant entry in Alfàsi’s lexicon. 79 Alfàsi records the word as ypyla; likewise Sa'adiah (according to Baron, 1900). But according to Qàfi˙ (1966), the correct reading in Sa'adiah is ypwla, precisely as Yefet enters it. Salmon records it as yml[m but it is possible that ypwla, recorded before yml[m, is meant to be not the Hebrew entry word but the Arabic one in which case he records two Arabic translation entries. At any rate, the text of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr is certain whereas that of Alfàsi here is not original. 80 Here Yefet translates: μqs/ywd. 81 The rendering brj is also attested; but all the translators, in one verse or another, record μjl, too.
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chapter nine /brq ,(536 ;5:10) rbq/rbq ,(475 ;60:4 82μxp/μxp ,(447 ;49:9) adp) ù≈jr /≈jr ,(598 ;65:11) ywr/hwr ,(591 ;4:5) zùgr/zgr ,(575 ,73:28) brq 614 ;32:9) ˆsr/ˆsr ,(511 jlx ;45:5) bkr/bkr ,(Lev. 1:9, 605 ;26:6) yùxr/hxr ,(616 ;78:71) y[r/h[r ,(618 ;48:7) hd[r /hd[r ,( Job 41:5, wdh/jbç ,(628 ;45:15) μqr/μqr ,(623 ;74:14) ù≈ùxr/≈xr ,(623 ;40:14) rkç ,(661 ,30:36 ;18:43) qjs/qjç ,(658 ;45,1) ˆsws/ˆçwç ,(644 ;65:8) ;55:21 ,htmals ywd :tpy) hymlasm/wymwlç ,(Lev. 10:9, 669 ;69:13) rksm/ ˚ps/˚pç ;(687 ;35:16) ˆs/ˆç ,(Prov. 25:18; 689 ;45:6) ˆwnsm/ˆwnç ,(675 .(741 ;74:13) ˆynt/ˆynt ,(712 ;1:3) 83lwtçm/lwtç .(698 ;79:3)
For practical purposes, there is no need to resort to Yefet’s testimony. Nonetheless, it has been presented to demonstrate the continuity of the respective dependence of later scholars on the works and opinions of their predecessors. The focus here is on the equivalence or disparity of philologists and translators in their rendering not of a verse as a whole, but of the single word; for there are cases in which the translators represent lexical unanimity (i.e. unanimity on each biblical word) but differ in aspects of syntax, style, or exegesis of the text, and the latter issues being irrelevant to the present survey. The general picture that emerges is as follows: there is generally much more consonance among the three Karaite translators (the later ones clearly taking after the earlier) than there is between each of these and Sa'adiah Ga"on. Furthermore, their renderings are far more atomistic and literal than those of R. Sa'adiah. 9.12.1.3.3 Entries for which Alfàsi’s rendering is already recorded in Sa'adiah’s writings (and subsequently by Yefet) (30 cognates): ;144:11) taplwm ;πwla ,πala ryxt/twpylam ,(31 ;114:8) μaùga/μga • ;102:27) ylb/hlb ,(150 ;92:13) zra/zra ,(124 ;103:15) ˆasna/çwna ,(105 /qrb ,(272 ;141:8) drb/drb ,(264; Isa. 63:14, ;104:8) h[qb/h[qb ,(228 ;(Isa. 49:22 ,577 ;129:7) ˆùxj/ˆxj ,(538 ;10:9) πfùk/πfj ,(277 ;144:6) qrb ;149:8) lbk/lbk ,(25 ;146:9) μyty/μwty ;(538 ;102:4) dqwtsm ,dqwm/dqwm ysamt/(s)sm ,(202 ;147:8) rfm/rfm ,(531 zwj ;107:30) zwjam/zwjm ,(85 /qwp ,(275 ;121:4) μwn/μwn ,(Lev. 8:12, 235 ;89:21) jsm/jçm ,(218 ;58:9) ,(Deut 22:6; 482 ;84:4) ù˚rp/jrpa (454 ;71:3) ù˚p/jp ,(477 ;146:9) qpw
82 However, Qàfi˙ (1966), in the body of the text, has aht[rx. At any rate in other MSS of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr the reading is [dx. For our purposes, this is already attested in Salmon’s work. 83 Qàfi˙ (1966) records this reading from MS a (Munich Cod.) only and in this loc. alone and, nota bene, in juxtaposition with the word swrgm; in the other Psalms passages, however, i.e. 92, 14; 128:3, Sa'adiah renders by srg only, whereas Yefet renders ltç.
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/lfq ,(555 ;17:7) μwaq(t)m/μmwqtm ,( Judg. 9:36, 510 ;121:5) lùf/lx 5:12; 578 ;73:14) çq/çq ,(569 ;89:46) rxq/rxq (548, 139:19) ltq ;120:4) μtr/μtr ,(Alfàsi: Zach 8:5, 603 ;144:14) hbjr/bwjr ,(Exod. (698 ,147:6) lps/lpç ,(644 ;117:1) jbs/jbç ,(633
The list encompasses those chapters of Psalms for which Salmon’s rendition has not survived; thus Yefet’s translation is here very significant, in that it is quite possible that Salmon’s translations may be reflected by Yefet and thus could be reconstructed from Yefet’s renditions. 9.12.1.3.4 Entries rendered by Alfàsi by a cognate attested in Sa'adiah but in which both Alfàsi and Sa'adiah differ from Salmon’s rendition (as non-cognate)84 (7 entries): ,yqn/yqn ,(344 ;75:9) bx ,bòn/rg(n) ,(59 ja ;35:21) 85ynmt ,yùkat/jah • 87 lxp ,qrp/qrp ,(381 ;24:8) 86 ywq ,zyz[/zwz[ ,(289 ,24:4) πyùfn ,yrb ,ysj(t) ,πwç(t)/πaç ,(612 ,78:9) (swq+) amr jlst ,ymr/hmr ,(484 ,7:4) (639 ;57:4 ;56:2,3 ;119:131) μql
9.12.1.3.5 Entries in which Alfàsi’s rendering is identical with that of Sa'adiah but differs from that of Yefet (Salmon’s rendition is not extant),88 (2 entries): (589 ;139:3) [ybrt ,ù≈br/[br ;(375 ;118:13) [pd ,wjd/hjd •
9.12.1.3.6 Entries in which Alfàsi combines Sa'adiah’s tafsir with Salmon’s translation (cognate + non-cognate translation synonym) when the two renderings are distinct (8 entries): ;(379 ;38:9 ;74:21) ù˚dùkdm ,(and Galliner ;w ,m ,k Qàfih MSS) πy[ùx/˚d • tamgn ,ˆajla/tnygn ;(74 ;78:65) ˆsw ,μyan/ˆçy ,(38 ;74:15) 89πpùg ,sby/çby 84 At hmr Yefet’s rendering equals that of Alfàsi and of Sa'adiah; at yqn his rendering differs from all three; at rty, the rendering equals that of Salmon. 85 The rendering immediately following the slash (right to left) is that of Alfàsi and Sa'adiah; the one following it is that of Salmon and Yefet. 86 But see also above z[, rendered by z[ by Salmon as well. 87 But Salmon in his commentary subjoins qrp, too. 88 The rendering immediately following the slash is that of Alfàsi and Sa'adiah; the one following is of Yefet. 89 The rendering immediately following the slash is that of Sa'adiah; the one folowing is of Salmon. Alfàsi, of course, records both renderings. In two instances (çby ,rjç), Yefet’s rendering equals that of Sa'adiah; in four instances (ˆçy, ˚d, πws, μar), his rendering equals that of Salmon; in one instance (tnygn), it equals that of Alfàsi; in one instance (≈q), Yefet records an independent rendering that differs from all the others.
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chapter nine :Yefet ;aùxqna ,lùga/≈q ;(341 ;73:19) ù≈rqna ,πas/πws ,(254 ;4 ,6 ,54 ,76) rjs ,rùgp/rjç ,(608 ;29:15 ;22:22) ˆdkrk μyr/μar ,(565 ;39:5) dj 90 (661 ,22:1)
9.12.1.3.7 Entries in which Alfàsi’s rendering is identical with that of Salmon and of Yefet but differs from Sa'adiah’s (8 entries):91 ;7:4 ;58:12) sya ,dwùgwm-Ø/çy ,(499 38:14 ;7:12) 92μgz ,fùks-μad/μ[z • dwnt-dan ,ˆztja/dwn ,(131 ;80:14) 93ahnm hçrk alm ,ù≈rq/hnmsrky ,(72 ,(431 ;31:11) 94ùt[ ,swst/çç[ ,(254 54 ,356 ùd ,Gen. 4:12; :Yefet ;69:21) ,hmals/wlç ;(228 hnqm ;78:54) yntqa ,˚lm/hnq ,(469 ;56:8) tlp ,≈hw/flp (672 ;73:12) ylas
In these entries, the divergence of the translational and exegetical traditions of the Karaite versus the Rabbanite rendering is especially salient. 9.12.1.3.8 Entries in which Alfàsi’s rendering is identical with that of Salmon but differs from Sa'adiah and Yefet: ,fbtga/hrjth ,(552 ;39:6) dlùkt ,rm[/dlj ,(314 ;71:6) 95zwùg ,[fq/zwg • 96 ,lwlbm yç ,hlbns/lwlbç ,(430 ;55:18) bwrg ,asm/br[ ,(582 ;37:1) rtja (645 ;58:9) bfr wh yùdla
9.12.1.3.9 This subcategory is divided into two sub-groupings Entries in which Alfàsi’s rendering differs from that/those of Salmon and Sa'adiah but is identical with that of Yefet (a total of 5 entries): /μtya ,(34 ;4 ,146:4 ,137 ,49:12) 97hmda ,h[yùx ,bart-dlb-ù≈ra/hmda • ù≈mj(t) ,rkpt ,rmtùka/≈mjth ,(79 ;19:14) μhtysya ,ahtks ,ahtjlsa 90 In this grouping, Sa'adiah three times employs a cognate, in the remaining instances a non-cognate; in contrast, Salmon employs cognates in 5 instances. 91 Here, Salmon employs cognates throughout; Sa'adiah, non-cognates only. 92 The rendering immediately following the slash is Sa'adiah’s; the one following is that of Alfàsi = Salmon = Yefet. 93 Salmon adduces this rendering merely in his commentary, attributing it to his predecessors (“It is said”); in the body of his translation, he renders ahmxqy. 94 The text of Salmon reads: w[t[tt; this is in all likelihood a scribal error. 95 The rendering immediately following the slash is that of Sa'adiah = Yefet; the one following it is that of Salmon = Alfàsi. In the last entry, the third rendering is that of Yefet. 96 Both Salmon and Alfàsi record lwlbm yç in the name of others, this being preceded in each case by their own individual renderings, i.e. hùgrmla, ˆwzljla. 97 The entry (or the hyphenated cluster of entries) adjacent to the stroke is/are from Sa'adiah; next appears Salmon’s rendering that is again followed by the ren-
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qyùx ,hdç ,qya[/hq[ ,(196 ;66:15) ù˚yùkm ,˚krm ,jas/jm ,(560 ;73:21) (424 ;55:4)
If Yefet’s rendering reflects a tradition antecedent to that of Alfàsi, then clearly Alfàsi’s rendering cannot be considered original; if, however, Yefet took over the rendering from Alfàsi, then Alfàsi’s rendition may have been the original. Be that as it may, Alfàsi employs cognates for 4 entries, Sa'adiah a cognate for one entry only, Salmon non-cognates throughout. Entries in which Alfàsi’s srendition differs from that of Sa'adiah but is identical with that of Yefet (Salmon’s translation not extant) (7 entries): ;(Lam. 3:16, 348 ;119:20) çrùg ,jlk/srg ,(229 ;82:11) llb ,smg/llb • ,104:28) fql ,qztra/fql ,(533 ,114:8) swbnlj-swbmlj ,dlxla rùgjla/çymlj 98 dxr ,[qwt/dxr ,(548 ,75:6) fnq ,rgxtsa/fwq ,(Exod. 16:22, 176 (654 ,18:34) yws ,[rsm . . . l[ùg/hwç ,(624 ;68:17)
In all these entries, Alfàsi and Yefet rendered by cognates whereas Sa'adiah used non-cognates throughout. 9.12.1.3.10 Entries for which Alfàsi adopts an independent stand in his rendition and apparently shows originality (there are four alternative groupings, as for the several renditions of the lexicographers): (a) Alfàsi versus the three others, each records his own rendering (3 entries): ,d[awxla ,rwùgla [awna/twlw[ ;(206 ;68:31) 99ddb ,rùdb ,qrp ,zyawùg/rzb • πypùk 100,alqna ,rpk ,ˆwaht/hlqn ;(398 l[ ;64:7) rfawùkla ,ll[la (553 38:8)
(b) Alfàsi versus the three others: the latter show partial equivalence (4 entries): aynd ,dlùk ,dlb ,aynd/dlj ,(215 ;22:10) jfba :Alfàsi ;lkw/jyfbh • ;23:4) (X1) hmlùf ,(X2) twm lùf ,tamlùf ,twmlùf ,sbg/twmlx ,(552 ;49:2) (172 z[l ;81:8) d[r ,μgr ,b[r ,hwwqw b[r/μ[r ;(512 ;10:14 ,107 dering of Alfàsi = Yefet. At entry hmda, Salmon’s rendition relates to Ps. 49:12: the renderings for the instances in the other Psalm chapters are not extant. 98 In the MS of Salmon’s translation there is here a lacuna. 99 The entries renderings are arranged in the following order: (1) Sa'adiah, (2) Salmon, (3) Alfàsi, (4) Yefet. 100 However, Alfàsi adduces an opinion other than his own, i.e.: πapùktsa laqyw ˆwlq ˆm whw.
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Here Alfàsi employs cognates throughout; Salmon and Yefet cognates in one entry only; Sa'adiah non-cognates throughout. (c) Alfàsi versus Sa'adiah and Yefet: the latter disagree in their renderings (Salmon’s rendering not extant) (4 entries): ,zgal ,fgl/z[l ;(480 tywz ;144:13) 101anarha ,anayawz ,andwaùdm/wnywzm • rsknm ,ykan ,byak/hakn ;(530 ;139:5) qyùx ,rwx ,ùfpj/rwx ,(172 ;114:1) jyqw (270 hkn ;109:16)
In all the above instances, Alfàsi used cognate; Sa'adiah and Yefet invariably non-cognates. (d) Alfàsi versus Sa'adiah and Yefet: the latter record identical renderings (4 entries): wùx ,ùgars/rn ,(267 ;103:9) rfn/dqj/rfn ,(554 70:5) 102πlùk ,yùxm/πlj • (467 ;70:9) πltw ynp ,ylw/hnp ,(291 ;119:105) rwnw In all these instances, Alfàsi used cognates, in contradistinction with Sa'adiah and Yefet, who invariably used non-cognates. 9.12.1.3.11 Synopsis and conclusion The grand total of all Alfàsi’s translation synonyms for Psalms entries, incorporated in the above listings is 141. A statistical analysis follows: • The sum total of all the translation synonyms from Psalms definitely attested in works of his antecedents: Sa'adiah, Salmon (and Yefet) Sa'adiah and Yefet (Salmon not extant) Sa'adiah Only (v. Salmon) Sa'adiah (v. Yefet; Salmon not extant) Amalgamates Sa'adiah with Salmon Salmon and Yefet (v. Sa'adiah) Salmon (v. Sa'adiah+Yefet)
54 30 7 2 8 8 5
Total 114 = 81.5% • Entries for which some doubt exists as to whether Alfàsi’s rendering was original:
101
The order of renderings is: Sa'adiah, Alfàsi, Yefet. The order of translation synonyms is: Sa'adiah followed by Alfàsi. The translation synonym of Yefet is included in (i.e. identical with) that of Sa'adiah. 102
david b. abraham alfàsi’s comparative philology Alfàsi identical with Yefet’s rendition (v. Sa'adiah+Salmon) Alfàsi identical with Yefet’s rendition (v. Sa'adiah; Salmon not extant)
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: 5 : 7 Total 12 = 8.5%
• Entries for which Alfàsi very probably uses his own original cognate translation synonym: Versus Versus Versus Versus
all the others, each the others: three of Sa'adiah and Yefet Sa'adiah and Yefet
rendering differently them–partially equivalent (Salmon not extant) (Sa'adiah = Yefet) Total
3 4 4 4 15 = 10%
• In 84 entries all the above-mentioned translators employ cognates. • In 57 entries Alfàsi prefers to render by a cognate (with no concern for identifying an equivalent antecedent rendition); these can be divided as follows: • In 30 entries a cognate rendition is attested in at least one of the antecedents. • In 12 entries a cognate rendition may have existed and been used by one of the antecedents. • In 15 entries it is very likely that Alfàsi himself made an original choice of a translation synonym. • In 9 instances Alfàsi gives preference to Sa'adiah (a Rabbanite!) over a Karaite rendering. • In 13 instances Alfàsi prefers a Karaite rendition (that of Salmon— in 8 instances Yefet likewise) over that of Sa'adiah.
To sum up, Alfàsi gives preference to a cognate over a non-cognate translation synonym in cases where a cognate is either (1) feasible (= potential) or (2) actually recorded; it is noteworthy that Alfàsi made a deliberate choice of his cognates from the range of renderings available to him. On account of this tendency, and only on this account, can it be explained why Alfàsi, Karaite as he was, did not consistently and exclusively follow in the footsteps of the Karaite renderings, although, he does show some preference for such renditions as against those of the Rabbanites (i.e. Sa'adiah Ga"on). Even in those instances, however, the decisive criterion for his choice may have been the etymological equivalence of definiens and definiendum that he discerned.
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9.12.1.3.12 Entries from Psalms 42–72 for which Alfàsi used noncognate translation synonyms compared with the parallel renderings of Sa'adiah, and Salmon (and Yefet), of eight types: (1) Those in which Alfàsi’s renderings are already attested in the translations of Sa'adiah and of Salmon (a total of 30 entries): 16) qbf/rfa ,(70 ;58:10) ùgsw[) dfa ,(Yefet: janùg .28 ;55:7) çyr/rba • :47) rdq ,radtqa/ˆwag ,(470 ,gsp ;48:14) rxq/ˆwmra ,(Yefet: 64 ;71 ;69: /r(w)z ,(470 gsp ;48:14) lyùg/rwd ,(371 dd ;42:5) μhydja/μdda ,(286 ;5 ,(571 ;64:7) çtp/çpj ,(215 ˆm ;61:8) lùxp/dsj ,(503 ;58:4) bntga ,bngt ˆyn ˆm hna zwùgyw/ˆwny ,(568 tw[yxq ;45:9) ˚sm/rm ,(179 58:7) bayna/tw[tlm ,(72:17) lstny :Sa'adiah ;lsn . . . ˆyn ˆm hwqtça μwqw :Salmon ;(57 ˆy) dfa ;58:10) ˚wç/hrys ;(371 dd ;42:5) lalf/˚s ,(337 ;55:9) (h)ljar/h[s xq/rps ,(ˆwd :Yefet ;357 ùd ;56:9) yxja/rps ,(337 ;55:9) πxa[/r[s ,(70 /gsp ;(385 ;55:2) μlq/f[ ,(385 45:2) btak/rpws ,(470 gsp :48:14) /hlwxm ,475 ;60:4) 105[dx/μxp ,([pr :tpy 470 ;48:14) 104[alq 103,[lq rd/π[r ,(ibid.) rkm/hmrm ,(515 ;50;19) ùgwaz/dymxh ,(45 ˆwy ;69:3) r[q :tpy ;154 fhl ;5 ,57) [ùgùxna/bkç ;(284 πwn ;48:3) rwrs/çwçm ;(619 ;55:12) .(699 ,16:6) ˆsj/rpç ,(161 ;72:10) hpjt/rkça ,(μan
(2) Those in which Alfàsi’s rendering is identical with Salmon’s but differs from Sa'adiah’s (16 entries): dxq ,ˆùf/hmd ,(46:7 ;446 mh) bzj ,hma/ywg ,(323 ;43:4) 106brf ,rwrs/lyg • ,(ùgah:M ,K MSS) μah/hmh ,(399 ;62:2) htks ,rbx/hymwd ,(389 ;48:10) djùg ,[ùxùk/çjk ,(10 jf ;51:8) tanyfm ,blq-dx/twjf(b) ,(446 ,46:7) ùgah ,(215 ;61:8) 107lkw ,hpyùfw/ˆm ,(154 ;57:5) [mal ,[fas/fhl ,(96 ;66:3); 57 ˆy ;72:17) . . . hmsa aùdh wlaq μwq hsarb μsa . . . ; lstny / ˆwny ,(365 rbd ;51:6) ld[/qdx/qdx ,(!Sa'adiah adduces one meaning only ,(539 ;42:10) μklfm ,hsbag/rdq ,(511 ;45:5) (bt :Yefet) jùgn ,jlx/jlx ,yqsa/qqwç ,(665 ;57:7) hybz ,htwh/hjyç ,(172 ;44:14) wzh-znf ,hywçt/slq (703 ;65:10) yùfl
103 In his commentary, Salmon states: wprç wgsp μwq laq. The original rendering would therefore seem to have been merely w[lq, this annotation being a gloss that had crept into the main text; in the translation text of the verse a dual rendering appears for wgsp, i.e. w[lq wprç. 104 Sa'adiah renders: ah[alqw ahlyxp yp μklab wdraw: thus all three derive gsp from hgsp. 105 Salmon records two renderings for this word: aht[dx ahtqqç; but the note in his commentary would seem to indicate that it is specifically ahtqqç that constituted the original rendering, whereas aht[dx, as a gloss, had penetrated the translation text. 106 The rendering immediately following the slash is that of Sa'adiah; the one following that of Salmon = Alfàsi. 107 Salmon’s annotation in his commentary, however, implies non-equivalence of his rendering and Alfàsi’s.
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Yefet’s rendering is identical with Salmon’s in 12 entries; in two entries, it is identical with Sa'adiah’s; in the remaining two entries (i.e. jlx and fhl) it differs from both. (3) Those rendered by Alfàsi precisely as rendered by Sa'adiah but differs from Salmon’s translation (7 entries): ;(110 hmk ;63:2) rçb ,ˆdb/rçb ,(568 tw[yxq ;55:9) ldanx ,rbn[/twlha • tabwbjm , . . . hbyyfm/tw[yxq ;(387 ;65:14) πf[t ,(πjtla+) lmtça/πf[ μql ,ljz/πaç ,(475 μxp ;60:4) d[ra ,lzlz/çy[rh ,(568 ;45:9) tafwçqm.(ibid. 56:3) sj ,πjz/πaç ,(639 ;56:2)
Yefet rendered two entries precisely like Sa'adiah (i.e. çy[rh, πf[); for two he recorded originals (tw[yxq/tadrùgm; πaç I/sj); the remaining three he rendered like Salmon. (4) Entry for which Alfàsi sets out two renderings, one of which corresponds with that of Sa'adiah and with that of Salmon’s translation (+ of Yefet) (647) tany[m ˆm . . . μwq wrsp dqw bhùdla talqùtm ˆm ,(45:14) twxbçmm •
(5) Those that Alfàsi rendered differently from both Sa'adiah and from Salmon but in accord with a rendering antecedent to Salmon and adduced in (the latter’s) commentary in the name of some other source (5 entries): wlaqw . . . qawrla :Salmon ;(104 ;58:2) hsrùkla ,(103 ;56:1) syrùkt/μla • wlaqw . . . wdh :Salmon ;(389) hhbç/(55:2) hymwd ;[mùg :Sa'adiah sùrk μla wlaqw . . . çwç :Salmon ;(430) thb/(62:4) ttwh ;qlt :Sa'adiah ;hbçy . . . aùxya ydwnt :Salmon, (357 ùd) twlgla adùh yp ytlwùg/(56:9) ydOn ;blw :Sa‘adiah ;thb . . . .ybwrhw yrwpn :Sa'adiah ;ytwlùg hdm yn[y ydrçt wlaq μwqw . . . Yefet renders like Alfàsi throughout. (6) Entry in which Alfàsi amalgamates Salmon’s rendering with that of Sa'adiah: :Sa'adiah ;(tpy so) wrk[ty :Salmon ;(561 rmj) wrk[tyw wrdkty/(46:4) wrmjy •
wkrtw (7) Entries for which Alfàsi renders contrary to Sa'adiah and to Salmon’s translation, the latter two being identical (5 entries): ;(123) πk[a/(57:7) πpk
108
;˚lwq yp ;(365 rbd) ˚d[w yp/(51:6) ˚rbdb •
108 The entries are arranged, following the slash as follows: Alfàsi, followed by Sa'adiah=Salmon.
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chapter nine μybybr ;twmla asny ;(9 hmdqmla) hçjwlaw hwlùkla/(55:16) twmyçy ;skn μjr ;(503 wrz) ˆfb/(58:4) μjr ;(çy)çf ;(507 πyzrz) çaçr/(72:6)
Yefet adopts his own independent rendering for ˚rbdb/˚bfaùktb and for πpk/ynja for the others, his rendering is identical with that of Salmon = Sa'adiah. (8) Those rendered by Alfàsi contrary to the renderings of Sa'adiah and of Salmon, the latter two recording differing renderings (a total of 22 entries): ,μhp/ˆyb ;(215 ˆm ;61:8) (hnama :Yefet) ˆasja 110,πwr[m 109,qj/tma • tj ;65:11) (fç :Yefet) fùk ,swdrk ,am/dwdg ;(70 dfa ;58:10) 111Ø ,zym ras ,yùxm ,˚ls/˚lh ,(332 ;57:3) ˆsja ,lùxpb μmt ,lùxp lmk/rmg ;(598 ,πrùkzy/πyzrz ;(482 ;50:10) çjw ,y[s ,ˆawyj/zyz ;(539 rdq ;42:10) (yçm :Yefet) μhrdq yl[ ,bfr yj ,yrf bfr/yj ;(507 ;72:6) (ywry :Yefet) ,rùgpy ,bfry bt ;71:4) ˆyak ,μlaùf ,spnla rmrmm/≈mwj ;(70 dfa ;58:10) (yrfla :Yefet) . . . bh ;55:23) (˚darm ˚yf[y :tpy) ˚lqùt ,˚yf[y ,˚ùxarga-˚bwlfm/˚bhy ;(723 /πwn hpy ;(45 ;69:3) (ljw :Yefet) bljf ,˚ùtl ,amj/ˆwy ;(675 ˚lç ;420 a[ptrala ˆysj :Yefet) lamùgla lmùga ,πwn ˆm . . . ˆsja ,jùgar ˆsj ay 1966: ,rmùk :40:5 yyùùk ;dmùk :MS:K) dmk ,rmùx ,πçq/hmk ;(284 ;48:3) ;(560 ≈mj ;68:24) ≈wùk ,ˆhw ,bùxùk/≈jm ;(110 ;63:2) according to Qàfi˙ :Yefet) . . . yl[ tygla lzn ,rys ,lzna/tjn ;(215 ;61:8) hpyùfw 112,hla ,lkw/ˆm (dadtsa ryhm :Yefet) rham ,ùdatsa ,˚açm/ryhm rpws ;(598 tj ;65:11) (fj (rb-) jsp ;(619 π[r ;65:12) ˆlsm ,hùgjm ,hfars/lg[m ;(385 f[ ;55:2) hljnm ,tadrùgm ,ta[faq tadaj/tjytp ;(469 ,72:16) bùxùkm ,πk ,raçtna/ 44:11) μlfùxa 113,dabtsa ,jabtsa/hsç (491 ;22 55) (hlwlsm πwys :Yefet) /wnr[çy ;(482 zyz ;50:10) (ar[ç :Yefet) yrarbla ,lqjla ,(y)çjw/ydç ;(690 (70 dfa ;58:10) ˆw[lq(n)y ˆwlqny ,hlla h[bwzy ,πxaw[la hpx[t 109
The Entries are arranged as follows: Alfàsi, Salmon, Sa'adiah. This rendering is preferable, according to Salmon’s opinion as he expressed it in the note to his commentary; in the translation text, however, his rendering is identical with that of Alfàsi. 111 Sa'adiah by-passes this word, without translating it: . . . μkkawça ryxt ˆa lbq. Might it have fallen out of the text of the translation? We could certainly not posit a rendering wnyby/ryxt. It is feasible that Sa'adiah himself omitted the translation of wnyby simply because he subjoined ryxt, which is of prime importance for comprehension of the plain sense of the Bible text (although, Sa'adiah is not entirely consistent in his numerical correlation i.e. of the total of words in the translation text v. that of the original. 112 This rendering is preferable, according to Salmon’s opinion as he expressed it in the note to his commentary; in the translation text, however, his rendering is identical with that of Alfàsi. 113 Alfàsi includes here the phrase ytyçwç μhytdyt[w (Isa. 10:13), too, but records neither a rendering nor an exegetical remark; at entry dt[, however, (p. 439), he interprets twdt[, hnzaùkmla lawmala. At any rate, jabtsa which means “to abandon the blood of,” and which can also mean “to disown money,” shows partial equivalence with Salmon’s dabtsa. However, the possibility can be reckoned with 110
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Yefet is independent in his rendering in 11 instances (these are indicated above by parentheses); in 6 instances his rendering equals that of Salmon (ˆyb, rmg, rmg, ≈mwj, ≈jm, tsp, lg[m), in 3 instances it equals that of Alfàsi (r[ç, hsç, ˆm) and in two instances it equals that of Sa'adiah (hmk, ydç). It is on the basis of this category that Alfàsi’s originality can be most effectively estimated, given that his renderings follow neither Sa'adiah nor Salmon. This determination, however, is not unequivocal; it must be qualified by the following considerations: It is feasible that Alfàsi in these cases is simply perpetuating an early translational or exegetical tradition, a tradition remaining unreflected in the translations of both Sa'adiah and Salmon. Moreover, the distinction between the rendition entry word employed by Alfàsi and that adopted by Sa'adiah is on occasions not an exegetical difference but a matter of style—as, for example, zym-μhp as a rendering for ˆyb; μmt-lùxp lmk, ˆsja-lùxpb as renderings for l[ rmg. Even in instances in which the difference is of an exegetical nature, the very same entry word adopted by Alfàsi can be encountered in the records of his antecedents as a rendition for a Hebrew entry, although in a different context and in a different location. For example, the word tma at Ps. 61:8 was rendered by Alfàsi as qj, as opposed to πwr[m and ˆasja employed by Salmon and Sa'adiah; however, the rendering qj for tma is very frequent in Sa'adiah, at other occurrences (such as Ps. 15:2; 19:10; 146:6, etc.).114 In other words, Alfàsi’s apparent originality and freedom in certain entries is largely to be attributed to the high semantic transparency of these entry words and to the availability of several alternative definientes of relatively frequent occurrence. (9) A summary of entries from Ps. 42–72 in which the renditions employed by Alfàsi are already documented by Sa'adiah and/or by Salmon, reveals a total of 59 entries (out of 86), namely, 68.2 percent. The remaining entries, in which their non-cognate translation synonyms would appear to be Alfàsi’s own original renderings (paragraphs 7 and 8) amount to 27 in number, namely, 31.8 percent. If
that a corruption of text occurred in one of the recensions, i.e. the letter ,ùj assuming the graphic text was in Arabic characters, had turned into ùd or vice versa. Be this as it may, Yefet records the version wjabtsa, too. 114 For full enumeration for Psalms, see index in ed. Qàfi˙, (1966), p. 308.
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we deduct from this total,(a) three entries for which Alfàsi and Yefet have identical renditions as well as (b) two further entries attested in Salmon’s commentary but not in his rendition, the percentage of Alfàsi’s own original renderings is reduced to a mere 26 percent. This is the maximal number of translation synonyms that we can assume to be indubitably originated by Alfàsi. But as noted above, one cannot be certain that even this number is indeed all to be attributed to Alfàsi’s own initiative. Be this as it may, the percentage is relatively low, though it exceeds the corresponding percentage noted for entries rendered by cognates. What is of significance here is that for his translation synonyms. Alfàsi can be seen to fall back upon the renditions of his antecedents to a considerable extent: 70 percent for non-cognates and 84 percent for cognates. 9.12.2 Alfàsi’s sources for language comparisons 9.12.2.1 While the previous section dealt with the assumption that the language materials used for comparisons comprise materials loaned from Arabic and Aramaic translations to the Bible, the emphasis here is on ascertaining whether the comparisons as such or the comparison formulae used by Alfàsi were established by his predecessors. Skoss (introduction to Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ, pp. 59–60) and more recently Becker (1984, pp. 74–77) claim that Alfàsi was acquainted with the Risàla, the magnum opus of Ibn Quraish, although he never mentions it by name. So it can be postulated that Alfàsi took over his comparisons, at least in part, from Ibn Quraish. Indeed, it is not Alfàsi’s practice to refer to the authors of his sources by name; nevertheless, it remains quite surprising that he found no opportunity to indicate even once the name of that founder or, at least that scholar who had molded the theory that served as Alfàsi’s constant guide for the comparisons in his lexicon. It is also very remarkable that the many comparisons appearing in Risàla are nowhere mentioned by Alfàsi (Skoss, ibid.). Had Alfàsi consciously omitted them, on account of purposefully refuting them, he could have explicitly stated so, as he indeed did, with regard to several other instances of comparison.115
115 To resolve this difficulty, we might assume that the Risàla in its original recension had not yet included the comparisons undocumented by Alfàsi, the assump-
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Be that as it may, we are entitled to categorically state that it was not Alfàsi who invented the Theory of Language Comparisons, since its fundaments as well as a good many actual comparisons are embedded in the commentaries to the Bible of Sa'adiah and Salmon, and the latter clearly lay within Alfàsi’s cognizance: those of Sa'adiah in the form of firsthand express citations and those of Salmon in a less direct fashion. 9.12.2.2 Comparisons in the records of Salmon b. Yeru˙im In the surviving fragments of Salmon b. Yeru˙im’s commentary to Psalms,116 one encounters several comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic and with Aramaic, established on the patterns of certain comparison formulae used by Alfàsi in his lexicon. Following is a classification according to the above-mentioned comparison formulae, of all the comparisons occurring in Salmon’s commentary to Psalms 42–72: 117 (143) (Ezra 7:26) çrç/(52:7) çrç :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. • (Alfàsi 708 =) but Alfàsi 606 =) (12) çjr/(45:2) çjr :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • .(in formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (78) 118hmk/(Ps 107:5) amx/(63:2) hmk :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • ;(lacking in Alfàsi, 110) ;(missing in Alfàsi, 424) (47) hq[/(1 Sam. 26:24) hrx/(55:4) hq[ • (Alfàsi 470 but he does not apply it to this specific verse =) (119) • (ady-) sp/πk/(72:16) – tsp (475 Alfàsi =) (67) μxp/( Jer. 22:14) [rq/(60:4) μxp •
tion being that these comparison materials were glossed in by copyists of the Risàla in the course of time (this did in fact occur, for example, in the case of Ibn Janà˙’s Kitàb al-"Ußùl, in the Rouen MS). However, this assumption finds no corroboration. 116 On the basis of ed. L. Marwick (1956). 117 Following the Bib. Heb. entry (before the slash) appears in parenthesis a reference from Ps.; the numeral in parenthesis appearing next to the final component of the comparison designates the page number in Marwick’s ed. (1956). 118 In the meantime, this is an isolated text variant, for which I find no support in the Aramaic Targum according to Sperber’s ed.; this applies to all the instances in the Bible at which the root amx occurs (excluding Psalms and Job, for which Sperber’s ed. of the Aramaic does not exist: these latter I inspected in the printed rabbinic Bible ed. (Miqra "ot Gedolot). For that matter, support was not found in Sa'adiah’s commentary to the word hmk, or in the lexicons Arukh, Meturgeman and of Jastrow. Finally, this comparison is nowhere to be found in the records of Alfàsi.
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(brq)/hmjlm/(68:31) brq :Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) • (575 missing in Alfàsi,) (96) /μylk/(61:8) ˆm :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • (74) (Ezra 7:9) aynm/aynm this comparison is missing in Alfàsi, 215; however, he adduces the first explanation,) already attested in Salmon. Does it mean that he refutes the explanation based upon this comparison? 9.12.2.3 Comparisons with Arabic In Salmon’s commentary to Psalms 42–72, only two explicit comparisons with Arabic appear; in one case, a cognate is compared on “tauto-etymological grounds,” i.e. dlj/dlùkt (Ps. 49:2, pp. 24–25); in the second, a non-cognate translation synonym is compared: rça/πxw, yrça laq (Ps. 72:17, p. 120). The first rendering, πxw, is encountered in Alfàsi’s records but in contexts other than the present verse; the second rendering is entirely lacking (p. 164). However, the comparison dlj/dlùkt is unattested in the records of Alfàsi (p. 552). These comparisons serve merely as examples, constituting, as they do, a minute portion of materials extant from Salmon’s commentary. However, they suffice to permit the assumption that the total number of comparisons incorporated in his commentary to the Bible amounted to at least several dozen and possibly to several hundred. All the comparisons appear in the commentary that followed from the translation, their pragmatic purpose being to explain why one or other biblical word was rendered by a specific Arabic expression or, as in some cases, to provide an additional rendering or an alternative interpretation, to the rendition initially posited for the given biblical phrase. These comparisons are by their very nature explicit: eight comparisons are here encountered with Aramaic and only two with Arabic! The scant comparison with Arabic might be attributable to the fact that his renditions by cognates were viewed as filling the role of implicit language comparison; indeed it would be very far-fetched to conceive the possibility that such an enormous quantity of rendition by cognates was produced merely co-incidentally. A very clear example of the phenomenon of an extensive rendition by cognate translation synonyms in one biblical verse can be found in the following ˜kçy brqtw rjbt yrça ˚lkyh çdq ˚tyb bwfb h[bçn ˚yrxj/ ˜ksy brqtw ratùkt yùdla abwf ˚lkyh çdq ˚tyb ryùk yp [bçn ˚ryaùxj (Ps. 65:5).
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In this verse, 7 (!) of its 10 words—namely, all except the first, second and seventh—were rendered by cognates. But an exhaustive enumeration of the cognate translation synonyms occurring in Salmon’s commentary is not intended; the present interest is to study the explicit comparisons in particular, the comparison methodology, the terminology and the aims of the comparison. The aim of Salmon b. Yeru˙im’s comparisons is clear: it invariably serves to provide good reasoning for the renderings of a given biblical word; the scholar will search for explicit comparison. The widely used term for comparison with Aramaic is hgl ˆm μwgrtla (çjr, hq[, μxp, ˆm). Other terms, however, are attested: μwgrt (entries hmk, sp), μwgrt whw (entry brq); ˆm qtçyw (entry çrç)—whereas the term for comparison with Arabic is br[la hgl yp (see entry rça). Some of these comparisons are encountered more or less verbatim in Alfàsi’s records, i.e. the entry words specified for comparison are lemmata from the same verses and their comparison formulae are the same (so çrç, μxp), or their comparison is by a different comparison formula (such as dlj, çjr). Yet one other instance appears with co-formulaic comparison but citing the entry word from a different verse (-tsp). Some comparison instances are unattested as such by Alfàsi, but the formula serving for their comparison is encountered in other comparisons (as with hmk, ˆm, rça, hq[, brq). The omission of one or other specific comparison can be explained by the assumption that Alfàsi disagreed with it; for which reason he preferred not to adduce it: he may well have thought that the given verse could be satisfactorily elucidated even without the comparison, or he had some other unknown reason for omitting it.
CHAPTER TEN
MENAÓEM B. SARUQ
10.1 Mena˙em b. Saruq and his opinion on Hebrew comparison with Arabic Did Mena˙em, in his ma˙beret, use comparisons with Arabic for the elucidation of biblical entry words? Discussion of this question has continued incessantly ever since the ma˙beret was compiled (around 950 CE). Dunash b. Labrat, his rival and critic, interpreted the term w[mçmk, which occurred frequently in the ma˙beret, as a technical term intimating comparison with Arabic. At the entry ynjfw (Sáenz-Badillos, p. 113; ibid. 1981, p. 367) Dunash responds: w[mçmk jmq . . . trtpw . . . hfjh ayh tybr[b w[mçmk jmqh yk w[mçmk wnwrtp ˆyaw. Dunash reiterates this claim, in his preface to the Hebrew/Arabic comparison excursus appearing in Dunash’s response to the entry word yn[wfm (ibid., pp. 88ff .) which reads: twmdl wnl hm rmat μaw
òçlb μ[mçmk μyrbd trtp hta μg hnh ˚byça ùr[h ˆwçll tyrb[h ˆwçlh (“And if you argue: “What right have we to compare the Hebrew language with the Arabic language?” I respond as follows: “But you yourself have interpreted several words μ[mçmk (= in their literal meaning, as they sound in Arabic!).” In his footsteps followed his disciple Yehudi b. Sheshet (p. 43) who also imputed to Mena˙em comparison of Hebrew with Arabic on the basis of the expression w[mçmk. Superficially, this seems irrefutable proof that Mena˙em used the comparison. But Mena˙em’s disciples very soon took up the cudgels for their master, proposing to rebut the criticisms that Dunash had aimed at Mena˙em, they set out to bolster their opposition to the comparison of Hebrew with Arabic: they were thus forced to take up the issue of the term w[mçmk. Their reply is as follows: tymd harm hlml çy yk ybr[h ˆwçlb tymd rçak wnnyaw . . . br[ ˆwçlb w[mçmk yk rta (the word harm here signifies “sense”) (talmidei Mena˙em, p. 103). In contra-distinction to the entry words that Dunash and B. Sheshet had singled out as evidence that Mena˙em compared Bib. Heb. with an Arabic cognate, Mena˙em’s disciples adduced other entry words, for which Mena˙em employed the term w[mçmk and concerning which there was no possibility of adducing the existence of an Arabic
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cognate—as for instance, hd[xa and dgb (talmidei Mena˙em, p. 103). Although, prima facie, Mena˙em’s disciples may be presumed to have reliably represented their master’s opinion and doctrine with regard also to this issue of language comparison, the dispute did not abate. On the contrary, in the nineteenth century the controversy came to life again: Pinsker (note at pp. 143–44) remarked that the term w[mçmk could be interpreted in one of two ways: (a) as interpreted by Dunash; (b) tlgrwm hnbwmw ˆwmhh lxa ayh h[wdy rbk tyrb[h hlymhç çwrypl wa μwgrtl hkyrx hnyaç d[ wlxa “That the Hebrew word is well known by common folk and its sense is familiar to them, so that they have no need for a rendering or an explanation.” Thus b corresponds with what Mena˙em’s disciples maintained, i.e. w[mçmk means wfwçpk. Pinsker probably viewed Mena˙em’s disciple’s explanation as a mere excuse and held that Mena˙em also practised comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic. S. Gross, too (1872, p. 65), maintains that when Mena˙em was compelled by force of circumstances to relinquish his tenet of refraining from (explicit) comparison with Arabic, he adopted the term w[mçmk implying veiled comparison. It was apparently S. Gross who first located the expression in the commentary of Rashi to hqwl[ (Prov. 30:15): w[mçmk hqwl[l rtp μjnm ybr[ awhç wndml, (“Mena˙em interpreted hqwl[l ‘literally,’ thus showing us that it is an Arabic word”) (ibid., n. 5). Bacher (1894, Appendix I, pp. 68–71) also took up this topic: in fact he adopted a stance very similar to that of Pinsker, presenting nothing new toward a resolution of the controversy; his conclusion, that Mena˙em had indeed compared Hebrew with Arabic, remains a matter of mere speculation. True, Mena˙em’s laconic definitions, as well as the fact that he fails to pinpoint his sources, leave room for the claim made by Bacher; but on what basis is that scholar certain that the interpretation of wtmhzw as çab was arrived at by Mena˙em through comparison with Arabic!? Surely it is equally feasible that this derivation was made through a comparison with rabbinic Hebrew! Bacher took the trouble to count all the occurrences of w[mçmk in Mena˙em’s work and found that they totaled about 200. Kaufmann (1886) was brisk in putting forward the argument that the textual condition of the ma˙beret (ed. Filipowski) was totally unsatisfactory, so that no reliance could be placed on it even regarding the total number of occurrences of w[mçmk. Kaufmann even suggested several improved textual readings, from MS Bern 200. Kaufmann thought that according to the latter MS, the total number of appearances of w[mçmk is
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considerably less than the total posited by Bacher, and he thereby claims to have undermined the main basis of Bacher’s argument. However, the statistical situation as outlined in Kaufmann’s article suggests no alteration in the essential problem discussed above, for which reason Bacher (1895, p. 74, n. 5) did not retract his original stand, remarking that in at least a considerable number of instances of the use of w[mçmk, Mena˙em had indeed connoted a comparison with Arabic. Wechter (1947, p. 382), too, held that Mena˙em employed comparisons with Arabic, in disguise. Perez (1978, p. 423) adopts Bacher’s standpoint but only hesitantly. Most recently, Téné (1983, n. 65) has also adopted Bacher’s opinion, whereas Becker (1984, p. 75) did not commit himself.1 The question thus remained unresolved. The present study attempts to resolve this question from a newly defined viewpoint and thereby to come to a clear conclusion. It stands to reason that to ascertain the true connotation of this term, only its actual occurrences are to be taken into account. However, it can be shown that its occurrence is somewhat random, rather than systematic. Take e.g., entry bhlç (p. 174/380*):2 ad loc. some manuscripts use the term w[mçmk while others do not. But at entry bhl (p. 112/229*) he fails to use this term; he merely adduces biblical citations, with no definition adjoining them. In an excursus on monoliteral, bi-literal and expanded roots (at the beginning of Section bet of the ma˙beret (pp. 39–40/79*)—incorporated “incidentally” to the entry arprpçb (Dan. 6:4), a word commencing with the “servile,” letter 'b)—Mena˙em makes a note of the radical link existing between tbhl and tbhlç within the context work hnwçarbml twa ypwd[ μylmh
1 Becker (1984, p. 321, in note to entry rpa [C1, p. 516] states that Mena˙em may possibly have established comparisons with Arabic; he makes a cross-reference to the note of the editor of the ma˙beret. It is instructive to compare Becker’s notes in his 1977 edition of the Risàla with the corresponding notes in his 1984 publication, regarding the point at issue. In the 1977 edition, at several entries, he noted cross-references to various entries to which Mena˙em had applied w[mçmk, as e.g. C1, pp. 141, 176, 194, 202, 208, 229, 240. He intended thereby to allude to the possibility that Mena˙em had endorsed comparison with Arabic. If this were not the case, why did Becker classify Mena˙em within the same grouping as other various grammarians who practised comparison with Arabic? On the other hand, in the 1984 work Becker omitted these cross-references. Did he thereby imply that he was then inclined to disallow the feasibility that Mena˙em had indeed recorded comparisons with Arabic? At any rate, at entry rpa, as noted earlier, he did not absolutely rule out this notion. 2 The number with the asterisk refers to Sáenz-Badillos edition.
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(“words possessing an initial ‘redundant’ letter”) (p. 45). Prima facie, at tbhl, too, the meaning should have been defined by the term w[mçmk but in fact this is not the case. Incidentally, it should be noted that the term w[mçmk is marked specifically at root bhlç, which possesses no Arabic “expanded” cognate counterpart and not at bhl, which does possess such. Therefore, the dispute between Kaufmann and Bacher as to how many times the term w[mçmk is used by Mena˙em in the edition of the lexicon issued by him personally has little bearing on the issue under discussion If Mena˙em did indeed used comparison with Arabic, although in a veiled manner, his comparisons should be evaluated with respect to the general texture of his comparative and lexicological theory. It would be inappropriate to determine the meaning of the term w[mçmk per se, detached from that theory. If, for example, we examine his comparison from the standpoint of the aims of comparison, it will become clearly evident that Mena˙em’s comparison is undertaken within clearly defined aims. Because, by and large, comparison is adopted by the Hebrew grammarians in the age of Mena˙em and proximate epochs for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the entry word under discussion, especially if that word is a rare or hapax legomenon entry in the Bible. However, at junctures where comparison with Arabic would have been anticipated, the records of Mena˙em contain no indication of comparison. For example, at entry lb (Dan. 6:9), had Mena˙em considered language comparison, he would obviously have compared the entry word with the Arabic cognate lab, a word possessing precisely the same meaning. Instead, he preferred a forced comparison, by the system of metathesis: bl ˆm hkwph hbyt tyarn (“this appears to be a word, reversed in spelling, from bl”): this, despite Mena˙em generally fighting shy of the principle of metathesis. At entry drgthl ( Job 2:8; p. 59), Mena˙em himself states that “this word has no counterpart in the Bible” (ˆya hrwtb ˆwymd wz hlml), i.e. it is a hapax (so also Gross, 1872, p. 49, n. 1), for which reason he determines its sense from its context (hnyyn[ ypk hnwrtpw). In this instance, of all such, the “masked expression of comparison” w[mçmk would surely have been expected! Likewise, at wrb[ ( Joel 1:17), about which Mena˙em states ˆyyn[h ypl wnwrtp: “its signification is determined from the general context” and not from the obvious comparison with Arabic. The same applies to ˚lg (p. 56/106*) and many further instances. In contrast to this, at entry words of frequent appearance at which prima facie no comparison with
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Arabic would seem necessary for ascertaining the sense, such as the word hkb, the designation w[mçmk is indeed encountered. Generally speaking, a correlation is noticeable between the “intraHebrew” language theory of the Hebrew grammarians and their theory of language comparison (Téné 1983, 6–8). Téné applied this supposed correlation to their principle of letter substitutions as well (ibid. §7). It would seem fair to proceed further and assume that the aforementioned correlation is applicable to the various facets of the theory of letter switches. The conclusion reached by Téné, (ibid., p. 273) might be tenable as a negative proposition, too—namely, that a rule which is not an integral element of the “one-dimensional” language study practised by the Hebrew grammarians cannot be assumed to be in effect in their interlingual “multi-dimensional” area of investigation. Mena˙em took an extremely moderate stand on this point: he restricted letter substitution to the group y''wha and no more. The resulting conclusion is: Heb./Arab. comparisons built upon any other letter switches3 (such as j/'k) cannot be attributed to Mena˙em. The Hebrew grammarians and later scholars who resorted to comparison of Hebrew with Arabic failed to take note of the fact that the tag w[mçmk is to be found at a good many entries that yield Arabic cognate translation synonyms but necessitate the assumption of a Heb./Arab. letter switch. For instance, w[mçmk bhz (p. 78/151*) necessarily implies the switch z/'d whereas according to those manuscripts in which w[mçmk is used—e.g. ryxj (p. 93/186*)—if the “literal meaning” is meant to relate to r'x'ka, then two switches would be necessitated: j/'k and x/'x (perhaps semantic flexibility as well). Also in the case of wgrjyw (p. 94), if the implied comparison is with 'gr'k, two letter switches would necessarily be involved—i.e. j/'k and g/'g— (as well as a metathesis, following his definition (ibid.) hrwgj ˆwypr
3
See Mena˙em‘s own words in the ma˙beret at entries tjba (p. 12), bg (p. 50). On this issue, see also Bacher (1895, p. 85), Yellin (1945, p. 64), Perez (1978, pp. 334–47). Thus even the word ˆwmra defined (p. 34) by Mena˙em by ˆwmla, does not emanate from the letter switch l/r but simply from the semantic affinity of the two. Note, also, that at entry lzrp (p. 145), no comparison with lzrb is established (lzrb itself was omitted at its suitable location in the lexicon, on p. 48). Even more, Mena˙em did not show an awareness of the Heb./Aram. switch ç/t for which reason, he posited no etymological link between the Heb. çç and the Aram. ˆytç-tç (pp. 182–83) nor between bç(y) (p. 169) and bt(y) (p. 184). This conclusion can be inferred, further, from the need he had to resort to formula Bib. Aram.*/Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. in his comparison glt/glç/glt (p. 184).
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(“slackening of the belt”). Likewise for ˆn[/μamg (p. 135/285*), ˆax/ˆa'x (p. 148/314*). By positing that Mena˙em established comparison with Arabic only in those few instances for which no substitution is necessary, the scope of his comparison would be reduced to the point that its utility was virtually nil, considering that from the context of comparison would be eliminated all those Arabic words containing one of the following letters: 't, 'g, 'j, 'd, ç (i.e. both shin and sin, in most of the instances) —these being a part of those letters bearing a diacritical point, excepting only such switches as q/k ( qjx/˚j'x). Even according to Filipowski’s edition—which in Kaufmann’s estimation is replete with this expression—in only 80 instances of the occurrence of w[mçmk can a comparison with a cognate Arabic translation synonym be posited, and of these 80 in only 37 of them, can a comparison be maintained without letter switches;4 moreover, most of the cases are of such frequent occurrence that their meaning is well-known and thus necessitate no comparison with Arabic. In fact, when one takes as text version the critical edition issued by A. SáenzBadillos the total is reduced to 30.5 It can therefore be concluded that w[mçmk does not imply comparison with Arabic. Bacher (1895), Rabinovitsch, p. 74, n. 1, and Gross (1872, p. 65, n. 5) see their conclusion that w[mçmk refers to Arabic cognate comparison as corroborated by Rashi’s remark on hqwl[l (Prov. 30:15). This assumed corroboration can be refuted by postulating that Rashi, in the above comment, very likely reflects Dunash’s construing of w[mçmk and not Mena˙em’s own opinion on the matter.6 What, then, is the true sense of this expression?
4
At entries: [bxa, [bra, zra, lxb, rwb, yrb, twlwtb, tyb, μwrd, wtmhzw, tpz, dy, μwy, dbk, blk, ˆmk, rpk, μrk, hnbl, dly, lyl, wlyly, ham, rhm, hjm, ˚lm, twm, hlbn, rmn, ˆy[m, hrq[, lwp, lytp, hpxpx, ˆsr, tqprtm, bwfr. 5 An examination of the ma˙beret in A. Sáenz-Badillos’ ed. shows that in seven of the entries enumerated in the previous note—rwb, twlwtb, μwrd, wtmhzw, wlyly, lwp, tqprtm—the designation w[mçmk does not appear. 6 Dunash of course uses w[mçmk in the sense of tybr[b w[mçmk (“according to the sense in Arabic”), and this is not surprising. However, the connotation “in its simple sense, according to the spelling and pronunciation customarily applicable to the word, without bringing any changes into operation” can also occasionally be found, as, for example, in Retort # 4 against Sa'adiah Ga"on (Schröter, p. 2), in which he criticizes Sa'adiah for interpreting ba…K] ( Job 31:18) in the sense of ba´K.] and states categorically: w[mçmk bak ytlb ˆk wnyaw (it does not mean so but according to its usual meaning).
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The disciples (talmidei Mena˙em, p. 103) provide the following authentic definition for Mena˙em’s w[mçmk: μy[wdyh μylmb [wdy awh rçak (“as the word is well-known, as one of the familiar words”). This definition is of a general nature and fails to identify the finer secondary senses that are sometimes contained within expression: • w[mçmk = the most common meaning (out of the various meanings) of the word under discussion For example, at entry rça (p. 36/64*), Mena˙em enumerates several senses: as a relative word, in the sense of one of the three particles yk, μa, ˆ[ml the latter two comprise only a small minority of all the instances, whereas the first sense, for which he assigns w[mçmk, is the main sense of rça. • w[mçmk = the “basic” or “simple” sense (in contrast to the “metaphorical” sense)7 For example, at entry bhz (p. 78/151*), he states that bhz (Zach. 4:2): w[mçmk bhz wnnyaw rwhfw jxw ˚z wnwrtp. In other words, w[mçmk bhz denotes “the regular sense,” i.e. the metal entity called bhz, whereas the metaphorical sense of bhz is rwhfw ˚z (i.e. “refined/clean and pure”). This connotation of w[mçmk is evident, further, from Mena˙em’s remarks on μwyAytbng (Gen. 31:39; p. 57) and μkj-bl (Eccles. 10:2), in contrast with μymy bblb ( Jon. 2:4). • w[mçmk = the “meaning salient from the context” Bacher (1884, p. 70) mentions entries at whose lexicon locations the term w[mçmk is used, whereas in the excursus at entry blg (p. 56/106*) on the topic of unique words, the same entries are classified under the category defined as follows: hwjmb μtzyja alwlw μhyl[ hrwy μnyyn[ .μnwrtp [dwn al ˆyyn[m μtyyltw. (“words whose subject matter delimits their sense, and were it not for their being embodied in a context and governed by a defined topic, it would be impossible to determine their meaning).”8
7 Incidentally, R. Hai Ga"on in his Kitàb al-Óàwi (Abramson, 1977, p. 110) uses the term [wmsm (in the simple sense) in contrast with ra[tsm (in the metaphorical sense) as follows: ra[tsmla ˆmw ˜y[wmsm ˆyan[mlaw lw'kdla ˆ[ laqyw y'gmla ˆ[ laqy ab Abramson (p. 114) rendered: hlaçhh ˆmw μy[mçn, whereas a more precise rendering would be hlaçhkw μfwçpk. 8 Note that this very expression implies that Mena˙em did not engage comparison
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10.1.1 Concerning the isolated explicit comparison rpa/rpgm At entry rpab (1 Kings 20:38) (ed. Filipowski, p. 31), it is stated: . . . la ybr[ ˆwçlbw The editor remarks (ibid.): ybr[h μçh rman alw hzl hmwdk wa [qrbla awh ylwaw awh hm (“the Arabic noun intended, is not specified: perhaps [qrbla or some similar word was intended”). Pinsker (p. 173) suggests the reconstruction rpgmla, probably on the basis of what Ibn Quraish adopted for comparison in his Risàla. Perez (1978, p. 422), also, maintains that this is the noun to be reconstructed; although he doubts the likelihood that this comparison was penned by Mena˙em himself, he does not utterly rule it out. Becker (1984, p. 321 in n. to entry C1, p. 516) is of the same opinion but Kaufmann (1887, p. 298) had long before remarked that this “comparison” is nothing but a secondary gloss that penetrated into the Hamburg Codex and of which no trace at all appears in the Bern MS.9 Further proof that no comparison with Arabic exists in the ma˙beret, that if so explicit a comparison had been set down by Mena˙em, it would hardly have failed to elicit some reaction from Dunash and his disciple!10
10.2 Hebrew/Aramaic comparison as recorded by Mena˙em Mena˙em practises comparison with Aramaic only:11 moreover, in this context his comparisons are, in the main, inevitable comparisons (pertaining to formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram., above, 3.6.1). However, with Arabic to determine the meaning; for he states outright that out of context, the sense could not be established. Prima facie, there remains also the option of comparison with cognate languages, but with such an approach he is clearly unconcerned. 9 In the Sáenz-Badillos ed., this text version is attested in only 3 MSS of the ma˙beret, whereas in the majority of the witnesses the ”comparison” is unattested. 10 Dotan (1993, p. 52, n. 14; 1997, p. 106, n. 4), upon reading the first version of the present study, wrote that my excluding any kind of comparison with Arabic from the content of w[mçmk was not convincing. However, Dotan did not adduce any new evidence to support his claim nor did he attempt refute any of my arguments. This calls to mind Bacher’s reply rejecting Kaufmann’s claim. I believe that the new evidence supplied here leaves no doubt that w[mçmk was never meant in Mena˙em’s ma˙beret to be an allusion to Arabic. 11 Yellin (1945, p. 105) held that Mena˙em disapproved of comparison, even comparison with Aramaic, whereas according to Wechter (1957, p. 382), Mena˙em pledged (so to speak) in his discussion at entry jba (p. 12) that he would refrain from comparisons with Aramaic but did not fulfill his word.
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there exists a group of noticeable size, of deliberate comparisons (above, 3.6.2). Mena˙em’s comparisons are subject to his grammatical approach to the notion of the Hebrew root, as discussed by him in the ma˙beret, (pp. 39, 43), i.e. that there exist radices possessing less than three letters (= the theory current in Hebrew grammar, before the time of Óayyùj; see Téné (1972), p. 1369, §2.7.2) This theory maintains that comparison is permissible on the condition that the radical letters be identical in the two compared languages and with no switches, excepting the interchanges of y''wha. Only in one instance does Mena˙em compare by the use of metathesis, i.e. lb/bl (p. 45). Nonetheless the stringent reservations for comparison that he set did not prevent him from being systematic in his comparison practice, as he states, at entry twf (Dan. 6:19): tyrb[ ˆwçlb ˆwyμd taz hlml ˆya. (“This word possesses no counterpart lit: comparable entity in the Hebrew language”). 10.2.1 A listing of the Heb./Aram. comparisons in the ma˙beret of Mena˙em 10.2.1.1 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. inevitable but explicit comparisons .(21) ˆdyja/twdyj ‚(80) πyqz/πqz ,(29) yhwpna/μypa
12
,(15) πg πga •
10.2.1.2 Inevitable Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. comparisons with zero term ,(25) ˆyhla/μyhla ,(25) anlya/μylya ,(86) dj/dja ,(19) aynzam/μynzam • çyça ,(29) rysa/rsa ,(28) sna/sna ,(26) hma/twma-μyma ,(24) la/(h)la rb/rb ,(47) rqb/rqb ,(46) yab/y[b ,(45) lfb/lfb ,(35) ayça-yhwça/hytwyça ,(54) hwg/hwn ,(53) ddg/ddwgth ,(51) abg/μybg ,(48) arb/rb ,(47 ,son) ,(61) trbd/trbd-rbd ,(58) πg/πg, (55) llg/llg ,(59) aryg/ryg ,(54) ˆyrzg/rzg hwh/hyh-hwh ,(68) ah/ah ,(67) qqd/qqd ,(67) rz/rwz ,(67) ˆwhrdm/rwd rmz/rmz ,(79) ˆmz/ˆmz ,(80) [wz/[wz ,(73) rhrh/hrh ,(72) wmh/μh ,(70) ,(87) wfyjy/fwj ,(21) ˆdyja/hdyj ,(86 21 ,tell) ywj/hwj ,(84) lbj/lbj ,(79) 13 ˆyfj/ˆyfnj ,(91) armj/rmj ,(89) πlj/πlj ,(87) hwyj/hyj ,(87) hyj/hyj 12 The reference here is to Filipowski’s ed. However, one can easily find the counterparts in Sáenz-Badillos edition. 13 Filipowski (1854) did not record any Bible reference to ˆyfj, and it is feasible that he believed Mena˙em had in mind the intra-Aramaic interchange ˆyfj/ˆyfnj But in fact the form ˆyfj, without nun, is unattested in biblical Aramaic, whereas when Mena˙em compares with post-biblical Aramaic, he makes this explicit by a term or by an express location reference. For this reason, it is most probable that the comparison intended is with the Hebrew ˆyfj and that the biblical reference is thus to be drawn on, i.e. Ezek. 4:9.
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,(98) llfa/llf ,(96) lçj/lçj ,(94) ˚rjta/˚rj ,(92) ˆsj/ˆsj ,(91) hlbrk/lbrk ,(110) rwk/rk ,(68) bhy/bhy ,(99) drf/ drf ,(99) μ[f/μ[f ,(117 ,destruction) jlm/jlm ,(116) ajmta/ajm ,(111) ltk/ltk ,(110) ,(66) ddn/hndn ,(118) ynm/hnm ,(118) anm/hnm ,(117 ,advise) ˚lm/˚lmn /rtn ,(182) açn/açn ,(149) lxn/lxn ,(80) qzn/qzn ,(122) ryhn ,ryhn/hrhn /rps ,(ibid.) jsn/hjs ,(ibid.) rgs/rgs ,(ibid.) ˆgs/ˆgs ,(125) dgs/dgs ,(38) rtn ,(135) yp[/ap[ ,(133) ll[/ll[ ,(132) f[y/hf[ ,(131) hd[/hd[ ,(188) rps br[ta/br[th ,(ibid. ,enemy) r[/r[ ,(137) rq[ta/rq[ ,(136) byx[/bx[ hwjp/hhp ,(144) qpn/qwp ,(139) tyç[/tç[ ,(ibid.) dr[/dwr[ ,(138) ,(146) rçp/rçp ,(143) sp/hsp ,(142) glp/glp ,(143) μp/hmyp ,(141) ,(ibid.) dx/dx ,(148) abx/ybx ,(ibid.) μgtp/μgtp ,(147) htp/hpy-htpt ,(ibid.) μwq/μwq ,(155) lq/lwq ,(ibid.) lbql/twlybqm ,(153) lbq/lbq ,(161) hbbr/hbbr ,(160) fçq/fçq ,(ibid.) ˆrq/ˆrq ,(159) brq/brq sprth ,(ibid.) [[r/[[r ,(165) ˆwy[r/ˆwy[r ,(164) ymr/hmr ,(162) çgrh/çgr qç/qwç ,(171) ywç/hwç ,(170) hlgç/lgç ,(169) bybç/bybç ,(ibid.) spr rpç/rpç ,(176) çmç/˚ytçmç ,(174) wlç/hlç ,(181) rwç//ryç ,(179) .(185) ˆqt/ˆqt ,(36 ,182) yçrç/çrç ,(181) tyqwrçm/ qrç ,(179) 10.2.1.3 Comparisons on formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. /rwj ,(61) rbd/ghn/rbd ,(58) hpwgm/dymx/πygh ,(22) ˆwfa/rtym/ˆwfa • skn/fjç/ask ,(100) πrf/hl[/πrf ,(149) llf/lx/llf ,(86) rwj/bl /rzn ,(121) bygn/brj/bgn ,(109) ˆpk/b[r/ˆpk ,(108) apyk/[ls/πk ,(107) qr[/swn/qr[ ,(131) d[/llç/d[ ,(125) dhs/jdy/ˆrhç-ths ,(81) dwz/rws ,(ibid.) jçp/πsç/jçp ,(146) qrp/[çy/qrp ,(190) djp/˚ça/djp ,(139) ,(157) h[yxq/hdq/h[yxq ,(151) arpx/rqb/rpx ,(149) jlx/[qb/tlx / trçm , ( 1 8 0 ) ryç / μzn / twrç , ( 1 7 7 ) y[tça / rps / h[ç - h[tçh .(121) bat/çby/bat ,(181) tyrsm/tbjm 10.2.1.4 Bib. Heb./(Bib. Heb.)/Targ. Aram. /wdxn ,(143) qwnpt/ˆd[m/qnp ,(141) djp/˚ça/djp ,(79) ˆyz/ylt/twnz-ˆza .(148) aydx/wht 10.2.1.5 Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) .(161) ([br)/≈br/[br • 10.2.1.6 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. ,(54) wg/˚wt/(a)wg/wg ,(19) lza/˚lh/lza/lza ,(11) ba/yrp/hybna/ba • qls/hl[/qls/qls ,(93) rwj/ˆbl/rwj/rwj ,(59) μrg/μx[/μrg/μrg .(155) lfq/grh/lfq/lfq ,(188 ,128)
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10.2.1.7 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. 14
(179) qps/qpç •
10.2.1.8 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. by metathesis .(45) bl/lb • 10.2.1.9 Rab. Heb./Bib. Aram. .rq[/rq[ • Non-Cognate Heb./Aram. translation synonyms in Ma˙beret Mena˙em 10.2.1.10 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. .(97) anyf/fyf ,(89) awk/ˆwlj. • 10.2.1.11 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. .(98) dgym/ywjfm ,(83) rx[/rwz ,(82) alqt/arz-rwzm ,(23) apqwt/ˆtya • 10.2.1.12 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb. (146) ˆgçtp/ˆgçrp ,(23) çy/ytya ,(15) za/ˆyda • 10.2.1.13 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. /μrb ,(34) [ra/≈ra/ty[ra-[ra ,(23) ˆyxrwq lka/lykr ˚lh/ˆyxrq lka • / [wrza / [rda ,(64) rkd / rkz / rkd ,(64) yd / rça / yd ,(48) μrb / ˚a ,(92) πsj/srh/πsj ,(86) ydj/hzj/ydj ,(80) hnz/ˆym/hnz ,(17) [rda/ /hl[/qls ,(109) tpk/lmg tpk ,(99) arpwf/ˆrwpx/rpf ,(97) ywf/ylx/twf fyq/≈yq/fyq ,(108) ˆ[k/ht[/ˆ[k ,(171) (bzyç)/lyxh/bzyç ,(188) qls .(184) glt/glç/glt ,(170) qbç/jls ,bz[/qbç ,(154) The comparisons in the latter two groups, according to Mena˙em’s conception, are not of etymological nature, (a) as is evident from his attitude to the issue of letter interchanges (above, 10.1) and (b) as is salient from the very formula represented in the last category (above, 3.6.7). 14 But the statement made by Mena˙em on ˆh (p. 72) is not a Heb./Aram. comparison with μa but a simple definition, this being clear, since the comparison would necessitate the switch m/n that is unacceptable. It goes without saying that the remark subjoined by Filipowski, in entry rdç (p. 171) in the name of Meturgeman, i.e. ç''yrl 'lh πwlyjb twldtçh ˆwçl does not match Mena˙em’s system and thus there was no reason in adducing it.
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10.3 The nomenclature for the languages and the comparison terminology “Zero term” is the designation employed in Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. inevitable comparisons, in a comparison by metathesis (lb/bl) and in the Rab. Heb./Bib. Aram. comparison (rq[/rq[). In the remaining comparisons of formulae Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. and Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., the comparison term is tymra ˆwçlb. This term recurs in 38 comparisons; in two of these the phrasing is ymra ˆwçlb (d[, rhs), in one awh tymraw (qnp), and in one other, wrps tymra yl[bw (ba). In contiguity with the term ˆwçlb tymra, the comparison word wmk or whwmk (preceding or following it) is generally appended, with, in some cases the addition of the existential expressions çy or axmn, as tymra ˆwçlb whwmk axmnw (“and there exists likewise, in the Aramaic language”) (ˆza, p. 79); in one instance the phrasing tymra ˆwçlb wnwymdw appears (djp, p. 141). In several comparisons the Targum component—i.e. Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., within the formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.—is phrased in a generic way (i.e. as a “generalization/rule,”) e.g. lkw rwj tymra ˆwçlb ˜bl (p. 86) and likewise at entries, πrf, ˆpk, d[, qr[ rpx, h[tçn, h[br. In cognate translation synonym comparisons, Mena˙em just once uses a term from the root μgrt: yhwpab μa yk μgrwtm wnya wypa lkw (p. 29). In non-cognate translation synonym comparisons (formulae Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. and Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.) the term most commonly used (i.e. 16 times) is tymra ˆwçlb, whereas in only four instances does a term from μgrt appear: wmwgrtw (rzn, p. 83), μgrwtm (˚çm; ywjfm, p. 98), μwgrtb (fyq, p. 154), ˆnymgrtm (ˆyxrq lka, p. 23). In three instances the phrase swlqnwa rtp occurs: entries, ywjfm ˆtya, rwzm. In two cases, “zero term” + wmk: za wmk ˆyda (p. 15), likewise at ˆgçrp (p. 146); in three cases the term is ˆwçl: çy ˆwçl ytya (p. 23), also ˆwlj (p. 89), fyf (p. 97). To sum up: Mena˙em’s comparative terminology matches well his lexicographical method in general; just as his definitions are laconic and his lexicographical terminology uniform, so, likewise, are his comparison terms.
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10.4 Comparisons recorded by Mena˙em’s disciples 10.4.1 Heb./Bib. Aram./Targ. Aram. .(Stern 1870, p. 65) ˆysysn/μyp[wz = snb • .(ibid. 61–62) rqby/atryqb/trqb-arqbl/rqbl • .(ibid. 96) rgp/srh = rgp ,(ibid. 73) jskt/rmzt = μyjwsk • 10.4.2 Bib.Heb. ≠ Arab. .(62) jzn=jzy ,(ibid. 96) πlk=twplk ,(ibid. 99) ˚na/˚na• 10.4.3 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate translation synonyms) .(ibid. 100) atdx/μyjwj • /qt[yw ,(ibid. 73) ˚(a)myw/hn[y ,(ibid. 77) ryjb rmya/πwla çbk • .(76) ˚ytwbat/˚ytqwçt ,(ibid. 91) çynktaw/q[xyw ,(33) qyltsaw 10.4.4 Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb. .(ibid. 75) wsmh/wrbta/wgmn •
10.5 Comparative terms • layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwhy rtpw (rqb); laynd rpsb wnaxmw (ibid.) In non-cognate translation synonym comparisons, of formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: πyswy layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwyw (hn[w), layzw[ ˆb rtp ˆkw (πwla çbk) μwgrt ˆkw wrmwab ≈mwa πyswy layzw[ ˆbw (μyjwwj), wrmab ˆwrtpl πqwt dw[ ˆtnwy rtp ˆkw (q[xyw), swlqnwa μgrtm (wgmn), layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwy rçpw (ibid.), .sylqnwa (qt[yw), swlqnwa rtp ˆkw (˚tqwçt),
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DUNASH BEN LABRAT
Dunash b. Labrat did not compile any work specifically on language comparison. Nor did he write any systematic grammar book or lexicon. His “generic” productions, i.e. the retorts on R. Sa'adiah Ga"on (attributed to Dunash) as well as the retorts against Mena˙em are of a polemical nature. In these works, he does no more than record his rejoinders on various issues of a grammatical or exegetical nature, raised in the works of other Hebrew grammarians. His retorts (alongside various issues) have a bearing on the comparative philology of Heb./Aram./Arab. Certain retorts relate to some specific comparison by either his mentor Sa'adiah Ga"on or his rival Mena˙em b. Saruq. In some cases he rejects the comparison, whereas in others, in lieu of the sense proposed by them (Sa'adiah and/or Mena˙em), he suggests a sense for the word founded on comparison with Arabic or with Aramaic. For example, he utterly rejects Sa'adiah’s comparison ˚rymah/ryma (˚aç[) (Schröter, p. 16, retort 50). Elsewhere, (ibid., p. 15, retort 45), he proposes the comparison z[l/z[l, in disagreement with Sa'adiah’s exegesis for the Bib. Heb. z[l. There are, however, some retorts that discuss the fundamental aspects of language comparison. These materials have been dwelled on above (2.1; 2.2; 2.4, 5; 5.1.3). This chapter deals with the remaining comparison topics pertaining to Dunash, to the extent that this is possible via what is embedded in those retorts. Here a certain change in the usual sequence of discussion has been made, comparisons with Arabic coming first on account of a certain methodological problem observed therein. Only after a wellfounded list of his comparisons has been established will it be possible to draw conclusions on Dunash’s method vis-à-vis this issue.
11.1
Comparisons with Arabic
Dunash sets up 181 comparisons with Arabic (as well as two further citations of comparisons by other grammarians that he adduces, only
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to reject them. Fourteen comparisons are sparsely scattered among various retorts, whereas 167 (all the others) are recorded together in a special collative list, included in entry yn[fm (Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 88ff.). For three comparisons, and for these three alone, Dunash spells out the Arabic cognate with which he compares the Bib. Heb.; they are ryma, z[l, jmq (see below, list of comparisons). In all the rest he found it sufficient to record a general formulation, such as tybr[b w[mçmk (“like its plain sense in Arabic”), without expressly opining which Arabic cognate should be established as counterpart to the Bib. Heb. word under discussion. Gross (1872, pp. 105–12) “filled in” (reconstructed, as it were) the appropriate cognate translation synonyms for the items in the above-mentioned concentrated list but failed to state in each case whether he had based his “reconstructions” on some specific authority or text source, or had “filled them out” by merely using his own discretion. The majority of his proposed reconstructions seem plausible; only in the case of a few of his postulated tr. syns, can one cast doubt on the validity of his determination. For instance, for the entry z[l (Ps. 114:1), Gross (p. 108) settled on the Arabic cognate zgl—which, according to the Latin rendering (ibid.), has the sense of “unclear, meaningless matters”); however, Dunash himself had stated expressly (Schröter, p. 15, retort 45) that the Arabic cognate translation synonym for z[l is z[l, (in the sense of πan, “commit adultery”), and had Gross done his homework properly, he would have been aware of the comparison actually intended by Dunash. Some other judgments of Gross are indeed questionable. Two methodological errors are apparent in his treatment of the comparison μhdn/μ'kd, there are: (a) he attributes to Dunash the Heb./Arab. interchange h/'k, which has no corroboration; (b) he overlooks μhd, an absolutely equivalent cognate current in the comparative philology of Dunash’s contemporaries (see below, ch. 16). Gross likewise postulates the cognate translation synonym πçk to counterpart πcj (Isa. 52:10); and in fact Ibn Barùn (about 200 years after Dunash) adopted this very comparison in his Kitàb al-Muwàzana (p. 55). But Ibn Barùn’s comparisons should not be applied to ascertain Dunash’s meaning. It is quite possible that Dunash had in mind the Arabic cognate πs'k (or even πz'k) (= “tear linen material; in this context: lbç”) or πsjt (= “peel,” in a metaphorical sense). The comparison of twplyk with balk is also far-fetched. More likely, would be the comparison with πlk or πwlk. Further, the comparison ˚pç
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(Num. 35:33)/˚ps is preferable to the comparison with jps postulated by Gross. For a comparison with lk (Isa. 40:12), he would have done better to postulate lak, rather than lk. In attributing to Dunash the comparison ˆks…y (Eccles. 10:9)/ˆ'gç, Gross went to an extreme. Such an assumption is extremely improbable, for three reasons: (a) the meaning inherent in that cognate (i.e. “becoming sad”) does not suit the context; (b) the interchange k/'g is not to be found in any other of Dunashs’s comparisons; (c) he assigns to Dunash a comparison involving two switches within one word, i.e. s/ç and k/'g. It is more probable that Dunash simply had in mind the translation synonym encountered in the works of Alfàsi and other grammarians—namely, the comparison ˆksy/ˆ'ks. Certain other comparisons posited by Gross, feasible as they may be, each appear to be only one of two or more possible comparisons. Instead of [nky (Lev. 26:41)/[nk, rpk (Deut. 21:8)/rpk, wsmyw ( Judg. 15:14)/çm, μ[z (Num. 23:8)/μ[z, μlx (Ps. 39:7)/μnx, μlx one might postulate, the following alternatives respectively, taking as basis the comparisons established by Dunash’s contemporaries: [nky/[n'ky, rpk/rpg, sm/ysamt‚ μ[z/μgz, μlx/μal'f.1 The last two alternative comparisons involve the assumption of a different sense for the entry word under discussion. The rest of Gross’s proposed comparisons are reasonable; counterparts for them can be located in the records of the contemporary Hebrew grammarians. In what follows are presented only those comparisons with Arabic that Dunash adopted here and there in his retorts, they are comparisons that were omitted by Gross from his listing. • ryma/˚rymah-ryma (Schröter 50),2 ˚ba/˚na (Sáenz-Badillos 24), ylb/hlb (ibid. 29), (dbz)/dbz (Schröter 21), fnj/wfnjyw (Sáenz-Badillos 86), ˆymy/ˆymy (“oath”; Schröter 12, #37), (πlk)/twplk (Sáenz-Badillos 56), z[l/z[l (Schröter 45), (yn)/an (Sáenz-Badillos 36), (˚rm)/jrm (ibid.
1 In several of the comparisons proposed by Gross there are some technical errors. In the case of three comparisons— ≈r (1 Sam. 12:3)/≈r, ˆa[ ( Jer. 50:6)/ ˆax, μyaxax (Isa. 48:19)/axax—the diacritical mark of the letter 'x has apparently been dropped. At comparison htmxp (Ps. 60:4) the word adduced should probably be μxp not μsp; also, instead of μta'k, one should probably read μl(a)j at comparison for μwlj (Gen. 41:15). 2 The interpretation attributed by Dunash to Sa'adiah Ga"on—namely, ryma rtpw (Isa. 17:6) w[mçmk is not compatible with the text in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr as we have it, in which the rendering is ˆxg. See Alloni, HaEgron, p. 195, comments to ryma.
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98), (qrm)/qrwk (ibid.), (jjz ,jzn)/twy (ibid. 82), (ˆykam)/ˆksm (ibid. 100), (qr[)/qrw[ (ibid. 106), (μjp/μjp) (ibid. 53), jmq ≠ jmq (ibid. 113). Of the comparisons in the above list, nine—dbz, twplk, z[l, jrm, qrm, an, qrw[, μjp—are reiterated in the excursus (yn[fm, SáenzBadillos, pp. 88ff.). Two—ryma, jmq—are recorded only to be rejected. Five comparisons are “new” (do not appear in the excursus): ˚na, hlb, wfnjyw, ˆymy, ˆksm.
11.2 Letter interchanges The theory of Heb./Arab. letter substitution held by Dunash can be derived from his express statements at the opening of the excursus and further from the various comparisons that one can be sure are his (namely, those for which there exists only one possible cognate translation synonym). However, the interchanges postulated by Gross as his own reconstructions for Dunash’s comparisons have been excluded here, because they have no corroboration. For example, the switch h (Heb.)/'k (Arab.) cannot be identified in even a single comparison or unambiguous proposition recorded by Dunash. Furthermore, this interchange is attested by not even a single philologist in the period under discussion. Despite this, Gross assigns it to Dunash, although indirectly, by postulating the reconstruction of the Arabic cognate μ'kd as a counterpart to μhdn. Moreover, the Heb./Arab. interchanges j/k, k/j, k/'g, ensue merely from those “comparisons,” i.e. πçj/πçk, ˚pç/jps, ˆksy/ˆ'gç attributed to Dunash by Gross: these pseudo-comparisons of Dunash indeed have already been ruled out, above. The interchanges noted specifically by Dunash are as follows: z/'d, j/'k, s/ç, [/g, ç/'t (yn[fm, Sáenz-Badillos, p. 88): the j/'k switch is reiterated at entry jwm (Sáenz-Badillos, p. 98) and its application is demonstrated in the list of Heb./Arab. words. The remaining interchanges ensue from the comparisons as such; they are as follows): 'g/g (in comparisons ˆpg, çrg‚ rdg, dg, lbg, zg, ryg and many more) 'd/d (in comparison dymlt) x/s (in comparison qps) b/p (in comparison r'db/rzp) 'x/x (in comparison ≈br) 'f/x (in comparison amx, rhx) s/ç (in comparison jlç, ybç, tnç, jçq, çrp, çyfp etc.)
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Bib. Heb./Arab. comparisons necessitating two interchanges are found in two instances only, i.e. çrg (g/'g + c/ç) and rzp (b/p + 'd/z). Dunash made no specific mention of letter interchanges between Hebrew and Aramaic, nor were any such interchanges embodied in his comparisons.3
11.3 Hebrew/Aramaic comparisons In this sub-section are incorporated also the comparisons rejected by Dunash, to point up the polemical character of his “retorts.” 11.3.1 Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram.
ˆmz/ˆmz ,(83) ˚rwdm, ˆyryyd/yrwd ,(51 Schöter) ayçwa/yçyça ,wççathw • ˆybrsm ≠ μybrs (35 ibid.) ˆm/ˆm ,(47 ibid.), ajm ≠ yj ,(21 Sáenz-Badillos) hl[/hnn[y ,(ibid. 31) hf[ ≠ fy[ ,(ibid. 100), hf[ ≠ hfw[m (ibid. 99), (ibid. 59) arçm/˚ytyrç ,(ibid. 58), μwp ≠ hmyp (ibid. 100) 11.3.2 Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. ,(32 Sáenz-Badillos) arygj/jsp/wrgjyw (16 Schröter), rbdy/gjny/rbdy • wgrtyw ,(27 ibid.) tgrj/hmya ≠ wgrjyw ,(26 Schröter) ˆysj/ljl ≠ ˆysj ,(83) /rmzt/μyjwsk ;(96 Sáenz-Badillos) çbkw/qçjw/çwbk ,(ibid.) arygj/jsp/ yjm/hkm ≠ twjml ,(ibid. 56) ˆylyçk/twmwdrq/lyçk ,(ibid. 93) jskt Sáenz-Badillos) aklm/hx[/˚lmyw ,(ibid.) aklm/hx[ ≠ ˆyklm ,(48 Schröter) had[/llç/d[ ,(ibid. 23) ˆysysn/myp[wz/sn(b) ,(ibid.) tsm/ydm/tsm ,(32 ,(ibid. 106) qr[/swn/μyqrw[j ,(ibid. 104) (l)l[/ab/ytllw[w ,(ibid. 33) μjrw/bhayw/˚mjra ,(33 ibid.) ytpy/byjry/tpy ,(ibid. 108) argp/srh/wrgp ,(64 ,ibid.) yjsyw/≈jrw/hjça ,(55 Schröter) aw[r/ˆwxr ≠ ˚y[r ,(ibid. 32) hbyat/hçby/ytbat ,(116 ,33 Sáenz-Badillos) tw[y[ç/tqlj/ y[çml .(29 Sáenz-Badillos) atlykm/hdm/lkw ,(96 Schröter)
3 It is worth noting that in the Chart of Letter Equivalences in Hebrew/Arabic, as recorded by Dunash, the equivalence ç/ç is also included, on the basis of the comparisons rzç/rzç and πfç/πfç (Gross, 1872, p. 112).
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11.3.3 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb.
μyrkz ≠ ˆyrkd ,(ibid.) hnqt/anqt ,(59 Sáenz-Badillos) ˆqt ≠ anqt • .(ibid. 60) 11.3.4 Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. .(ibid.) yhwnzl/wbyml/ynz ,(60 Sáenz-Badillos) ˆyrkd/μylya/ˆyrkd • 11.3.5 Comparison by letter metathesis Dunash records one solitary instance of comparison established by metathesis of letters: wgrjyw/arygj (see above Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/ Targ. Aram., 11.3.2).
11.4 Grammatical comparisons In his retorts, Dunash records five grammatical comparisons between Hebrew and Aramaic or Arabic. Despite this meager total, these comparisons are proof that Dunash did not restrict himself to lexical comparisons but delved also into an analytical comparison of the structure of these languages. An enumeration of these comparisons follows: (a) In both Hebrew and Aramaic, d stands in place of t in the hitpa''el conjugation when the prim. rad. is a sibilant—e.g. ˆwtnmdzh (Dan. 2:9, Qeré)/ˆyrhdzm/ˆyqqdzm (Schröter, p. 2, retort 5). With regard to Arabic, also, he noted that ùf stands in lieu of t (of the "ifta'ala form) when the prim. rad. is x. (b) The ending t : in the words tL;ht ( Jer. 49:25, Qeré) and tl;jn (Ps. 16:6) is a plural morpheme μwgrth ˚rd ypl (“according to the way of the Targum”), as it is in Aramaic. This comparison was adduced in the name of Sa'adiah (Schröter, p. 23, retort 89). (c) In both Hebrew and Arabic, proper names can be declined with possessive pronoun affixes as well as with gentilic yod; this is so also in the plural form: ˆw[mç, ˚nw[mç, ynw[mç, μynw[mç (ibid., p. 29, retort 104). (d) In retort 47 (Schröter, p. 15) he discusses ym with its equivalent in Arabic.
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(e) At the entry μynmjh (Isa. 17:8) he compares the derivation path of the singular form ˆmj from hmj, with elision of the h with the parallel derivation of ˆzj from hzj. He seems that the morpheme ˆ … is Aramaic (Schröter, p. 56, retort 170).
11.5 The comparative terms 11.5.1 The nomenclature (5 ,2 Schröter) yrb[ ˆwçl :Hebrew (5 ,2 Schröter) ydçk :Aramaic ;26 retort ibid. ) tymra ˆwçl ,(96 ,83 ,20 ,16 ,Schröter) ymra ˆwçl .(106 Sáenz-Badillos, (20 Schröter) μwgrt ˆwçl (21 ;5 Schröter) yrgh ˆwçl :Arabic (21 ;5 Schröter) yla[mçy ˆwçl .(Sáenz-Badillos, p. 98) br[h ˆwçlb ,(45 ibid.) ybr[ ˆwçl
• • •• •• • •• ••
11.5.2 The terminology .(5 Schröter) yrghh ˆwçlb çmçt ˆk ,ydçkh yrb[h ˆwçlb (ibid. 55) (μwgrth) ˆm ;(96, 48 ,64 ,27 ,26 ,83 ibid.); ˆwçlm ˆwçl ˆm (ibid. 48) (μwgrt) awh (ibid. 16) (ymrah) ˆwçll hmdy awh (ibid. 50 ,37) ((y)la[mçy) ˆwçlb (awh) ˆk(w) Sáenz-Bandillos, p. ;45 ,21) (yrgh/ybr[) ˆwçl ˆm/-b h[mçmk (hbwrtpw) (106 ,98 ,88 ,86 ,82 ,53 ,36 ,24
• • • • • •
It is not surprising that Dunash adopts the term w[mçmk (Schröter, retort 50; Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 29, 98) to connote comparison with Arabic (it is encountered also in comparison with Aramaic, see SáenzBadillos, p. 106), considering that he was convinced this was indeed the connotation of the expression in its use by Mena˙em, too (see above, 10.1).
CHAPTER TWELVE
RABBI JUDAH ÓAYYÙJ
12.1 Comparisons in the grammatical treatises The three grammatical treatises of Óayyùj,1 as well as the extant portion of his grammatical commentary to the Prophets, namely, Kitàb al-Nutaf (“The Book of Plucked Feathers,” i.e. selected exegetical notes)2 contain virtually no treatment of language comparison. Only one single comparison has been located in the grammatical works of Óayyùj3—his comparison of the morphological formation of the words awklhh ( Josh. 10:24) and awba (Isa. 28:12)4 with the 3rd person plural perfect verb form in Arabic, awl[p5. In each, the vocalic “orthographic” w is followed by a quiescent a (see Kitàb al-Af 'àl Dhawàt Óurùf al-Lìn, p. 20). In fact, Óayyùj, citing the other grammarians,
1 See Óayyùj—in the Bibliographical References. For recent systematic analyses of Óayyùj’s theory see Goldenberg 1980, Basal 1992, Watad 1994. See also Maman (2000a), pp. 263–67. 2 On the name “Nutaf ” see Maman (2000a), note 3. The extant parts of Nutaf have been published in Harkavy (1895a); Harkavy (1901); Kodowtzow (1916); Allony 1963, 1970, pp. w-a; Abramson, 1978–79, pp. 203ff.; Eldar (1979). Basal (2001) republished all that material, along with new remnants from the ENA and Firkowitch collections. 3 See Bacher, 1884, p. 5; P.K. Kokowtzow, 1916, p. 64, n. 1; Wechter, 1964, n. 28. 4 This grammatical comparison is not reiterated in the grammatical comment to the word awba itself in Kitàb al-Nutaf to Isa. 28:12 (Allony, 1970, p. 25; Basal, 2001, p. 176 and n. 180). There he describes the additional a as a matter of eloquence of the language (˚yr[ awçl awçn lùtm hjaxpll hdyaz awba yp, πlala hùdh Ps. 139:20); but he does not mention awklhh. It cannot be assumed that Óayyùj withdrew his original opinion. In such cases the grammarian would be expected to state expressly his revision regarding grammatical elucidation. It is more probable that Óayyùj intended to provide additional data—namely that the Arabic form is primary ( lxa) and that, therefore, linguistic habit or inflection in accord with the primary form is considered a linguistic eloquence (hjaxp). Ibn Janah, however, opposed this comparison; see Becker 1998, §119. 5 Wechter (1947, p. 384) maintains that Óayyùj avoided the use of comparison with Arabic; Wechter himself remarks on the comparison awklhh/awl[p recorded by Óayyùj, without offering an explanation of the paradox of a scholar who opposed comparison with Arabic nonetheless allowing himself to establish this comparison!
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notes two further comparisons in said treatise (ibid., p. 187), both being grammatical in nature but constituting comparison with Aramaic. He compares the suffix morpheme 3rd person pl. appearing in the word wysim]hi ( Josh. 14:8) with an identical morpheme used in the Aramaic word wyTç]ai (Dan. 5:4) ('gr'km yl[ t'gr'k hmlkla h'dh wytça l'tμ ynayrsla 'fplla). Likewise, he compares the possessive pronoun affix in the word yhwlwmgt (Ps. 116:14) with the Aramaic suffix as in yhwdy, yhwl[. It is no wonder that Óayyùj failed to record lexical comparisons in his grammatical treatises, for, rather than defining his entries by lexical definitions, his methodology tends to define them “grammatically” (although within the entries, he arranges the several forms according to their meanings). As a rule, as Kokowtzow (1916, p. 72) observed, Óayyùj restricted his activity to one very clearly defined area in language science and treated it with virtually no digressions.
12.2 The comparisons in Kitàb al-Nutaf In Kitàb al-Nutaf a commentary to the Bible, too, Óayyùj centers solely on grammatical issues and refrains entirely from expansive annotations to the verses (see Abramson, 1978–79, p. 229; p. 47, §3); only on rare occasions does he subjoin an Arabic rendition. In one instance he employs a comparison phraseology: wnrbdn (Mal. 3:13)/hybr[la yp hmlakm (Eldar, 1979, p. 256; Basal, 2001, p. 277). This comparison relates to a grammatical issue, i.e. that the Heb. nif 'al and Arab. fà'ala possess reciprocal functions. The entry word renderings into Arabic comprise some cognate tr. syns, as well, as follows: μfja (Isa. 48:9)/μft'ka (Abramson, ibid., p. 227; Basal, ibid., p. 185); μygrwm-hrgm (2 Sam. 12:31)/'grawm (Abramson, p. 30; Basal, ibid., p. 109); tdmxUm (2 Sam. 20:8)/hdm'xm (Kokowtzow 1916 [= Allony, 1970], p. 193; Basal, ibid., p. 119); jyr ( Jer. 48:11)/hjyar (Abramson, p. 36, ibid., p. 209; Basal, ibid., p. 203). These are all implicit comparisons. The comparisons hrgm/'grawm and tdmxm/hdm'xm are uniquely Óayyùj’s own initiative: they are not attested in the records of any other Hebrew grammarians in the period under investigation The comparison hrgm/'grawm is established by letter metathesis.6 6 It is possibile that Kitàb al-Nutaf to Ezek. 8:6 (Kokowtzow 1916 = Allony 1970, p. 46) contains an allusion to an additional grammatical comparison Heb./Arab.
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The letter interchanges ensuing from the above implicit comparisons are as follows: g/'g (hrgm), j/'k (μfja), x/'x (hrmxm).
12.3 Nomenclature for the languages and the comparative terminology In comparisons with Aramaic: (yhwlwmgt/yhwl[); ynayrsla 'fplla 'gr'km yl[ (wysmh/wytça) ynayrsla 'fplla yl[ In comparisons with Arabic: br[la hgl yr'gm ˚l'd yr'gy (awl[pw . . . awba); hybr[la yp (wnrbdn/hmlakm). Thus the significant contribution of Óayyùj is not to be seen in the comparisons as he “happened” to record, for these are very meager in quantity and of next to no value for scholarship: his important contribution is rather in the theory of the Hebrew root established by him. This theory had direct influence on language comparison as it was subsequently practised (see above, 2.5). Kokowtzow (1916, p. 73 and n. 2) even claims that Óayyùj‘s theory left its impression, indirectly at least, on the development of modern-day Semitic comparative linguistics.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
R. JONAH IBN JANÀÓ
R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ did not compile any work devoted uniquely to comparative philology but many comparisons are embedded in his treatises on grammar and lexicology. (Concerning the comparisons in the “minor” works, see below, 13.15.)1 Kitàb al-Luma' (= Sefer HaRiqmah), apart from having been written in the context work of the Arab grammarians’ theory (as shown by Becker 1998, see above, 1.2.1), comprises, in the main, grammatical comparisons (which are outside the scope of the present study),2 whereas Kitàb al-"Ußùl (= Sefer HaShorashim) is replete with lexical comparisons. The latter are clear proof that Ibn Janà˙’s practice of language comparison was a methodical system. Various scholars have discussed certain parts and/or sectors of this comparison system. Bacher (1884, 1885) issued synopses on Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons with Aramaic and rabbinic Hebrew, as well as on his comparisons with Arabic. But these surveys did not handle the issue thoroughly and did not even approach being a complete coverage of the materials. The quality of the printed editions and/or transcriptions of MSS on which Bacher based his publications was less than satisfactory (above, 0.1). Furthermore, ever since the publication of Ibn Barùn’s Kitàb al-Muwàzana, there have been always some scholars who viewed Ibn Janà˙’s methodology, as mirrored by Ibn Barùn’s doctrines. In the present study, an attempt has been made to arrive at a new evaluation of the comparison methods of Ibn Janà˙, based on the entire range of his lexical comparisons as encountered in his several works. The better printed editions have been used as source texts but whenever necessary, the MSS themselves of the four works— i.e. "Ußùl, Shorashim, Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq and Sefer HaHassagah were resorted to. The present study aims to present the lexical comparisons
1
On Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons in general, see Maman (2000a), pp. 271–75. With regard to Ibn Janà˙, comparative grammar has now been comprehensively treated in Becker 1998. 2
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exhaustively and to evaluate them with the aid of new scientific tools. Certain fundamental problems having a bearing on Ibn Janà˙’s methodology have been discussed in earlier chapters, alongside discussion of the comparison methods of other scholars (see, for example, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, also ch. 6 in its entirety). Here the treatment is restricted to those issues that specifically characterize the comparisons of Ibn Janà˙.
13.1 Ibn Janà˙’s comparative philology and the text versions of the Rouen manuscript 13.1.1 Ibn Janà˙’s Lexicon Ibn Janà˙’s Lexicon was transmitted not in a single, recognized recension but in three distinct recensions: (1) the version represented in the Oxford Codex of Kitàb al-"Ußùl (broadly speaking, the body text appearing in Neubauer’s edition); (2) the version of MS Rouen, its distinctive aspect being the glosses recorded therein (in the apparatus of the aforementioned ed. of Neubauer; below, it is referred to by the mark MS-R); (3) the Hebrew translation penned by R. Judah ibn Tibbon of the Kitàb al-"Ußùl (i.e. the Bacher edition of Sefer HaShorashim). The three recensions are non-equivalent with regard to the total number of lexical comparisons established by Ibn Janà˙ in his work.3 In some cases, the Oxford MS + MS-R together stand in opposition to the Shorashim; in others, the Oxford MS + Shorashim differ jointly from MS-R. The two may have an addition whereas the one—an omission or vice versa. Do we have the means to determine, in every case, whether a given entry is an original comparison or a secondary addition? Further, is it possible for us to ascertain the identity of the redactor who subjoined the additions in the original version? How this was done and with what aim in mind? An analysis and/or resolution of these problems will enable us to inventorize the original comparisons, those established by Ibn Janà˙ himself, 3 Comparisons that do not appear in the lexicon of Ibn Janà˙, are not counted here, though it could theoretically be proven that Ibn Janà˙ endorsed them. Only the fact that he did not record them in his lexicon is decisive, regardless of whether or not there is a reason for their omission.
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and to deduce his method from these alone. The problem regarding comparisons in the Shorashim versus the two other recensions have been bracketed together with a problem of a more general nature— the matter of what became of language comparison in those treatises that underwent translation into Hebrew, an issue to which a detailed discussion has already been devoted (above, ch. 6). In the present chapter the aspect of the question that relates to the text variants appearing in MS-R is discussed. In the MS catalogued under n° 5 in the Rouen Municipal Library and comprising Kitàb al-"Ußùl,4 glosses and annotations appear as additions between the lines of the main text of the MS and in the margins. These annotations are absent from the Oxford MS, which served as basis for the main text of Neubauer’s edition (1875), these being incorporated in the note apparatus of that edition. The editor, however, failed to treat them thoroughly in his introduction. Nor did he relate to the complex dilemma (a) whether or not the additions/annotations are an integral part of the original work and (b) who had penned these notes, the original author or a subsequent reader/student. Bacher claims, in his preface to Shorashim (p. 40) that “there are some additions that R. Jonah himself had subjoined to his Book, when the latter had already been publicly distributed: these additions are in MS-R.”5 The fact that R. Judah ibn Tibbon’s translation fails to include any of the MS-R gloss annotations, not even one of them (!), was rationalized by Bacher, in his argument: “R. Judah b. Tibbon copied Sefer HaShorashim from the First Edition of his work, for which reason the additions included in MS-R are missing from the translation (= Shorashim)”6 (ibid., p. 41). This argument has no foundation, as will be shortly demonstrated.7 Poznanski (1916, p. 468, entry hççgn) treats the comparative materials in the MS-R
4 A photographic reproduction of this MS, in microfilm and photostat, is housed in the Institute for Microfilmed Hebrew MSS, the Jerusalem National and University Library. Its catalogue numbers are F6652, F7336 and P881–884. For a good description of the MS, see Neubauer’s introduction to his Kitàb al-"Ußùl pp. 6–8. 5 .ˆawr yùùk awhw μyçnah ydyb wrps hyh rça yrja hnwy ùr rbjmh ˆsynkh rça twpswh çy 6 wtqt[hm wrd[n ˚kl ,μyçrçh rps ta qyt[h hnwçarh arwdhmhm ˆwbyt ˆb yùùr (MS-R =) ùr[b waxmn rça twpswhh. 7 Ibn Janà˙ did revise his book but did not make any changes once it was released to the public. This can be learned from his remark in entry πf, where he explains that the reason he does not correct a mistake that occurred in the first edition—i.e. he does not move tpff to root πf—is that the book “has been already spread in the cities.”
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glosses as the authentic composition of R. Jonah, and in this approach he apparently follows Bacher. Allony (1944, pp. 198–201) inspected these MS-R glosses from the standpoint of their relevance to Ibn Janà˙’s treatises in general and with special reference to the Bible translation: Allony located in them some express citations from R. Abraham ibn Ezra (ibid., p. 201). He entirely ignored the Bacher’s determination and he was unequivocal about the conclusions that can be tacitly drawn from his discovery of the Ibn Ezra quotations, i.e. that the glosses cannot have been penned by Ibn Janà˙ but must have been the work of some glossarist who flourished after the time of R. Abraham ibn Ezra. The MS-R glosses deserve a more exhaustive study that investigates all the annotations (and not merely a part of them, as was done above) and discusses all their aspects. In the present study, only about 300 of the annotations have been treated, i.e. those possessing some aspect of language comparison. They are scrutinized from the viewpoint of the present research project and an attempt is made to put forward a solution to the fundamental problem as delineated earlier. 13.1.2 πwr[m/MS-R The lexicographical method of Ibn Janà˙ is selective in the definitions given for entry words. An entry word that is “so well-known that it requires no definition,” is not provided with any definition, and on occasion he notes alongside such a word, πwr[m (“[well] known”). One unambiguous conclusion ensuing from Ibn Janà˙’s system of language comparison is that the fundamental aim of the comparisons is to afford support for the given definition of the entry word, i.e. to determine it precisely or to corroborate it. For this reason it is not surprising that the entries marked with πwr[m contain no language comparison, either in the Oxford recension of the "Ußùl or in Ibn Tibbon’s translation (Shorashim). The argument, clearly, is: if the entry is not in need of definition, to what purpose might language comparison be employed? In MS-R, many cognate translation synonyms have been subjoined to entry words, even in cases where the original entries lack definition and are simply marked πwr[m or are even devoid of this mark.8 The subjoining of this cognate serves as
8
In entry qqd (163/112) Ibn Janà˙ broaden the “definition” to πwr[m han[m
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a “filler” for the missing definition as well as for language comparison, almost invariably only Heb./Arab. comparison. Comparisons with Aramaic in MS-R are indeed few and far between. As they stand, the subjoined definitions, with the comparisons they embody, almost never stand in contradiction to the sense assigned by Ibn Janà˙ with his expression πwr[m, especially in those instances in which the entry word possesses only one sense or to which only one potential Arabic definiens can be assigned (e.g. ˆfb/ˆfb; lmg/lmùg‚ etc.). However, the juxtaposition of πwr[m and the definition/comparison as subjoined is contradictory: whichever way one interprets it, an illogicality remains: (a) if Ibn Janà˙ retracted his basic assumption that a certain given entry word is πwr[m and he now sets out to correct (fill in) what was previously lacking, we would expect him to delete the πwr[m; and (b) if he did not revise his judgment, the additum has no place. It is probable that the additum was penned by a glossarist, who stepped short of taking the liberty to delete Ibn Janà˙’s initial “definition”, i.e. πwr[m—and yet felt free to gloss at his own discretion. The list of entries in this category that follows comprises only those instances in which the definiens glossed in by MS-R is a cognate translation synonym; those cases in which the glossarist appended a non-cognate translation synonym to the entry word are ignored. Of special interest in the context of the entries “defined” by πwr[m,9 are those entry words that were initially marked by him πwr[m but for which a rendering of a complete verse containing the entry word was subsequently recorded a translation that clearly incorporates a rendering for the entry word itself. (Such a rendering is very often the upshot of an exegetical discussion or of a syntactical analysis of
(Ibn Tibbon: [wdy wnyyn[w), hence he specifically relates to the meaning of the entry word and not to other aspects that might have relevance to it. See also çrk (p. 332), where he says: rwhçm whw πwr[m lyawala μalk yp. On the use of πwr[m as a “definition” in medieval Arabic dictionaries see Kopf, p. bs, par. 1j. 9 An entry included in this category is one, defined by Ibn Janà˙ as a “partial definition” while leaving the rest categorized as πwr[m, whereas MS-R glossed in a cognate translation synonym ˆn[r tyz ( Jer. 11:15 ,rùgçla dyry . . . tyz ˚rdt hta (Mic. 6:15) rmùtla dyry . . . (p. 193). When defining the entry word tyz, Ibn Janà˙ feels no urge to define the signifié (i.e. the type of fruit, together with its identifying feature) by a specific rendering, for these are virtually “well-known.” But he does deem it necessary to record a differentiation between subtle senses of the signifiant: at times this word denotes the signifié “the olive tree,” and at other times, rather the fruit of this tree. Ibn Janà˙ himself does not spell out and identify “this fruit ” or “this tree,” whereas MS-R fills in this information by means of the cognate ˆwtyz.
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the entry word.) A rendering of this type does not directly serve the purpose of the entry word but clarifies the general context of the verse under discussion. In such a case, if MS-R subjoined to πwr[m the Arabic cognate, the instance is included in the listing, for it cannot be posited in such a case that Ibn Janà˙ rescinded his original “definition” of πwr[m. At entry ˆwçl (359/250), Ibn Janà˙ indicates πwr[m, whereas further along he discusses the expression wnwçll çya (Gen. 10:5), rendering it htgl yl[ ya hnasl yl[. The rendering wnwçl/hnasl incorporated in the translation of the phrase is not meant to vitiate the “axiomatic fact” that the entry word is indeed “well-known” and in no need of definition: the rendering is recorded not for the purpose of the entry word ˆwçl but for the expression as a whole. It stands to reason that in the rendering of the phrase, the emphasis was placed specifically on the syntax (the prepositional affix l was rendered by Arabic yl[ rather than by l); however, it is feasible that the emphasis is semantic (i.e.: that ˆasl is intended not in its basic connotation—namely, “the speech organ,” “the tongue”—but in its secondary, metaphorical connotation, “language”). Either way, the MS-R additum is redundant, not only because it stands in contradiction to πwr[m but also because of its being incorporated in the rendering of the verse adduced by Ibn Janà˙, which follows. 13.1.2.1 The entry words that Ibn Janà˙ expressly categorized as πwr[m and for which MS-R subjoined an Arabic cognate ,(123) ydùg/yrg ,(114) qrb/qrb ,(89) ˆfb/ˆfb ,(68 lwxa) zra/zra • ,(163) qaqdna/qdh-qd ,(162) [md/h[md ,(160) μd/μd ,(139) lmùg/lmg /blk ,(305) dbk/dbk ,(235) ramj/rwmj ,(201) tpz/tpz ,(188) bhùd/bhz ,(335) πtk/πtk ,(332) çrk/çrk ,(328) πk/πk ,(322) ˆwmk/ˆwmk ,(320) blk /hlmn ,(377) jlm/jlm ,(359) ˆasl/ˆwçl ,(353) lyl/lyl ,(346) byhl/hbhl hlùg[/hlg[ ,(502) lùg[/lg[ ,(483) ls/ls ,(465) rsn/rçn ,(437) hlmn ,(542) μùf[/μx[ ,(ibid.) (amla) ˆy[/ˆy[m ,(519) (ròfnla) ˆy[/ˆy[ ,(ibid.) ,(658) sar/çar ,(599) [bxa/[bxa ,(547) barg/brw[ ,(557) brq[/brq[ ,(734) smç/çmç ,(722) ˆyks/ˆykç ,(711) rwùt/rwç* ,(675) hparw hmjr/μjr ,(749) dyrç/dyrç ,(ibid.) ry[ç/hrw[ç ,(738) r[ç/r[ç ,(734) ˆs/ˆç .(710) μwùt/μwç*
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13.1.2.2 The entry words for which Ibn Janà˙ recorded no deflnition (leaving them classed as πwr[m) and for which MS-R subjoined an Arabic cognate hùxyb/hxyb ,(88) rùdb/rzb ,(78) ˆata/ˆta (78) yta/hta ,(68) ≈ra/≈ra ,(57) rma/rma • μmh) μah/μwh ,(167) hmwsd/ˆçd ,(157) ˆjd/ˆjd ,(ibid.) rab/ryb ,(91) ,(194) rkùd/rkz ,(193) ˆwtyz/tyz ,(187) babùd/bybz ,(173) lkyh/lkyh ,(177) /hfj ,(219) ryznùk/ryzj ,(206) fbùk/fbj ,(205) abùk/abj ,(197) ˆamz/ˆmz ylj/ylj ,(224) μkj/μkj ,(ibid.) μfòk/μfj ,(220) bfj/bfj ,(ibid.) hfnj ,(278) dwht/dhyth ,(241) ˆpj/ˆpj ,(238) qnùk/qnj ,(233) wmj/μj ,(227) /lbk ,(ibid.) bkwk/bkwk ,(303) bak/bak ,(ibid.) μyty/μwty ,(300) dty/dty (346) ùghl/ghl ,(344) sbl/çbl ,(332) μrk/μrk ,(313) bùdk/bzk ,(305)lbk rfm/rfm ,(367) ù˚m/jwm ,(361) ham/ham ,(353) ùtyl/çyl,(349) jwl/jwl, /μqn ,(424) ljn/ljn ,(412) rùdn/rdn ,(382) [nm/[nm ,(378) ˚lm/˚lm ,(372) bn[/bn[ ,(507) sr[/çd[ ,(486) ramsm/rmsm ,(484) μls/μls ,(452) μqn ,(598) ybùf/ybx ,(565) lwp/lwp ,(551) bç[/bç[ ,(550) hmr[/hmr[ ,(536) /lwq ,(627) sdq/çydqh ,(ibid.) jdq/jdq ,(625) rbq/rbq ,(602) jax,/jwx /arq ,(634) πfq/πfq ,(633) ltq/lfq ,(630) hmaq/hmwq ,(444) lwq /μyjyr ,(675) hlùkr/ljr ,(663) ù≈br/≈br ,(647) hyrq/hyrq 10,(646) arq /d[r ,(682) bnra/tbnra ,(681) ˚mr/˚mr ,(ibid.) bfr/bfr ,(677) ajr ydùt/dç ,(697) jbs/jbç ,(689) μqr/μqr ,(686) dxr/dxr ,(482) d[r ,(709) fws/fwç ,(708) yws/hwç ,(500/705) dhaç/dhç ,(705) haç/hc, ,(703) lamç ,(730) ams/μymç ,(724) glùt/glç ,(ibid.) qas/qwç ,(711) qws/qwç anç ,(ibid.) [ms/[mç ,(ibid.) hynamùt/hnmç ,(ibid.) ˆms/ˆmç ,(732) lamç/ .(750) fwç/frç ,(740) lps/lpç ,(734) anç/ 13.1.3 rkùd dq/MS-R Ibn Janà˙ states in his introduction to Kitàb al-Ußùl (p. 5, Shorashim, p. 2, Bacher’s preface, p. xxii) that his lexicon is not to be treated as an absolutely “independent” work. The student will find using the lexicon alone insufficient for obtaining a complete picture of the lexico-grammatical data required; he should also consult Ibn Janà˙’s earlier works as well as those of R. Judah Óayyùj. In all likelihood,
10
Ibn Janà˙ enumerates all the connotations of arq but sees no need to single out the sense “reading a book.” Nonetheless, MS-R reiterates, all the connotations and specifies that one, too, the one ignored by Ibn Janà˙, namely: haarqla [barlaw . . . tazh hrwth ta arqt lùtm. It is further noteworthy that even MS-R fails to adduce this connotation, with the etymological comparison arq/arq reflected therein, as the basic signification or at least the first connotation to be entered.
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the reason he refers the reader to those works is in order to have grounds for reducing the scope of the treatise he was currently compiling. In "Ußùl one encounters some 500 cross-references to or citations from the works of R. Judah Óayyùj (see Shorashim, pp. 554–55, index ii), this in addition to all the references to works of Ibn Janà˙ himself (ibid., pp. 556–57, index iv). Many of these cross-references stand in lieu of lexicographical definition and explication; in other words, an entry in which appears a note such as “This has already been mentioned in the Treatise on Letters of Weakness [i.e. by R. Judah Óayyùj]”11 neither supplies a definition nor employs any language comparison. In such cases the writer also refrains from any redundant elaboration except in instances for which some information should be added to that of Óayyùj or where he decides to cancel some part of it. This is especially applicable when Ibn Janà˙ clearly implies that he proposes to rescind an opinion he expressed in one of his earlier works. For example, the entries hkb (92/63) and hlb (95/66) each incorporate citations of certain verses only, with a crossreference to Kitàb al-Af 'àl Dhawàt Óurùf al-Lìn, whereas they present no definition at all; nor do they record any elucidation or language comparison. On the other hand, the entry llb (93/64) includes several original elements beyond what Óayyùj had already set down in his own entry in the work Kitàb al-Af 'àl Dhawàt al-Mithlayn and beyond what Ibn Janà˙ himself stated in his Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq. This structure is characteristic of the entries constituting weak verbs, these being the topics (a) of the grammatical treatises of R. Judah Óayyùj and (b) of the treatise that constituting the greatest of all Ibn Janà˙’s “minor” works, Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq. And it is nothing other than the implementation of the objective that Ibn Janà˙ had formulated in the introduction to "Ußùl. A consistent loyalty to this structure is to be found in the Oxford MS of "Ußùl as well as in the Rome and Escurial MSS of Sefer HaShorashim, whereas the Rouen MS deviates from it by virtue of its subjoining exegetical annotations and language comparisons even at those locations at which the original work made do with a cross-reference to earlier treatises. Such insertions run quite counter to the original plan set by Ibn Janà˙, as expressed unambiguously in his introduction and as implemented in the entries as transmitted according to the Oxford MS of "Ußùl.
11
ˆylla πwrj batk yp rkùd dq (Ibn Tibbon renders: ˆywprh twytwa rpsb rkzn rbk).
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Had Ibn Janà˙ himself wished to revise his initial statements, it stands to reason that he would have made changes in the form and style of the entry; for instance, instead of simply . . . rkùd dqw he would probably have stated, more elaborately, something like anh hyp πyùxn/rkùdn ˆjnw. At any rate, he would certainly have been more elaborate in his phrasing. It is quite evident that a late browser annotated the MS with glosses; he limited himself to the context of addita and correcta but made no physical alteration, either in the body of the text or in the gist of the treatise. 13.1.3.1 Entry words for which Ibn Janà˙ gave no definition but was content with a cross-reference to his earlier treatises or to those of R. Judah Óayyùj, whereas MS-R subjoined to them an Arabic cognate ,(143) rùg/rg ,(140) ˆùg/ˆng ,(95) ylb/hlb ,(94) llb/llb ,(92) ykb/hkb • /hgh ,(163) qd/qdh-qd ,(157) yjd/hjd ,(156) swd/çwd ,(147) ssùg/ççg ,(202) yrùd/hrz ,(193) wkùd/hkz ,(194) rkùd/rkz ,(189) bwùd/bwz ,(169) ùgh tay ,(255) ytj/htj ,(228) μlj/μlj ,(221) hayj/μyyj ,(205) bbj/bbj ,(293) dqw/dqy ,(285) ˆymy/ˆymy ,(281) μjw/μjy ,(273) μby/çby ,(272) taw/ ark/hrk ,(310) yk/hwk ,(300) hns/ˆçy ,(298) ùtrw/çry ,(297) frw/fry z[/z[ ,(376) alm/(alm =) hlm ,(372) am/-ymym-μym ,(368) twm/twm ,(331) 12 jwp/jwp ,(551) yùt[/ç[ ,(548) yr[/hr[ ,(536) ang/hn[ ,(522) l[/l[ ,(514) ,(604) rwx/rwx ,(ibid.) qyùx/qwx ,(602) μwx/μwx ,(590) açp/hçp ,(565) ylq/hlq ,(631) ùfyq/≈yq ,(630) μwq/μwq ,(629) yq/ayq ,(619) rrùx/rrx /hbr ,(660) ybr/hbr ,(650) sq/çq ,(640) ≈q/≈xq ,(638) ynq/hnq ,(635) ,(683) y[r/h[r ,(682) ˆr/hnr ,(681) ymw/hmr ,(680) hmr/hmr ,(ibid.) abr .(757) μat/μat ,(748) hrs/rrç ,(697) ybs/hbç ,(688) qr/qqr 13.1.4 Entry words rendered by Ibn Janà˙ by a cognate translation synonym and for which MS-R records redundant retranslations when they recur several times within the entry In his entries, Ibn Janà˙ makes a practice of adducing divers biblical citations. In some instances, he does not take the trouble to translate or define the entry word under discussion either before the citations or after the first in the series of citations. He does so only subsequently, after several of the citations have been recorded—in fact, in the very midst of the discussion on connotations and finer
12
This comparison is recorded in the name of R. Abraham ibn Ezra.
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nuances in the sense of the entry word at its several occurrences. In some cases MS-R redundantly subjoins such defenientes (= renderings) for the initial occurrences of the entry word, reiterating them time and again for each and every citation. Here a tendency can be discerned in MS-R, to record “in advance” what Ibn Janà˙ sets out later. For example, at entry jbz (p. 187) Ibn Janà˙ adduces several portions of verses without rendering them, whereas MS-R subjoins cognate translation synonyms for some of them: the text there reads: jbùdm ( Josh 22:10) harml lwdg jbzm . . . jbùdbw (Exod 8:23) ùhl wnjbzw. But clearly the additions jbùdbw and jbùdm in MS-R are superfluous; for, when Ibn Janà˙ subsequently considers it necessary to record a specific lexicographical annotation trwfq rfqm jbzm tyç[w lyq amnaw) (. . . jbùdmla hpx yl[ ˆak hnal typ hjybùdla brqt μl ˆaw), he himself resorts to a cognate translation synonym (i.e. hjybùd) as a link with the rendering of jbzm. Here are set out only those instances in which one may see a real reiteration of the Arabic cognate pertaining to the entry word (without indicating any non-cognate that may have been systematically subjoined by MS-R):13 ùgj/gj ,(198) anz/hnz ,(198) bnùd/bnz, (187) jbùd/jbz ,(146) çyrùg/çrg • /lf ,(262) ˆhf/ˆhf ,(260) rhf/rhf ,(237) ˆj/ˆnj ,(235) ramj/rwmj ,(210) ,tlp/flp ,(557) bkn[/çybk[ ,(366) rhm/rhm ,(267) yrf/hrf 14,(263) lf dwx ,(600) qdx/qdx ,(590) ù˚sp/jçp ,(577) y[pa/h[pa ,(573) flp brq/brq ,(631) ùfyq/≈yq ,(608) lùf/lx ,(605) jùxjùx/jyjx ,(601) dyx/ ,(669) ywr/hwr ,(661) hwbr/awbr ,(655) yarm/harm ,(650) aùtq/açq ,(647) rwùt/rwç ,(694) las/laç ,(681) ˆr/ˆnr ,(681) ˆamr/ˆwmr ,(678) bkr/bkr (743) yqs/hqç ,(730) μsa/μç ,(727) fls/flç ,(722) ˆks/ˆkç ,(711) It goes without saying that this phenomenon is additionally to be found in MS-R, in the form of subjoining a non-cognate translation synonym to the entry word, a translation synonym adduced much later in the discussion by Ibn Janà˙ himself. For example, adjoining the first connotation recorded at entry hjtlm (p. 360)—i.e. hwsk (garment, raiment)—MS-R hastily subjoins a statement implying that some believe the word to be explained as hnazùk (a receptacle for storage of clothing); this addition, however, is superfluous, because
13 An example is the rendering of hrwp by hrx[m, as recorded by Ibn Janà˙ in his entry, this being repeatedly recorded by MS-R in his glosses. And again, at entry ˆam, MS-R redundantly records a fivefold repetition of the rendering for the subsequently entered occurrences of this verb. 14 For the grammatical aspect of this comparison see Becker 1998, § 61.
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Ibn Janà˙ himself mentions this opinion in the sequel to this discussion. MS-R continues this practice at entry apq (p. 640) and elsewhere. The long citation from Sefer he-'Anaq of R. Moses ibn Ezra concerning the various connotations of entry rwt is also entirely redundant, for Ibn Janà˙ had fully enumerated these significations earlier. 13.1.5 Annotations in MS-R that contradict statements of Ibn Janà˙ The deviations from Ibn Janà˙’s method and from his fundamental structural plan for the treatise Kitàb al-"Ußùl, as these transpire from MS-R’s annotations, lead to the inevitable conclusion that the notations were the work of a late glossarist. If some decisive piece of evidence were needed for this fact, then there may be adduced the striking contradictions noticeable between certain annotations in MSR and the elucidations and grammatical analyses of Ibn Janà˙ as set out by him ad loc. or elsewhere in his lexicon. Given these contradictions the evidence is irrefutable. The instances of contradiction are as follows: At root dhy (p. 280) MS-R subjoins an example, explaining it as follows: tahùgla ˆm hhùgb ydjta ya hnm (Ezek 21:21) ynmyh ydjath. This implies that “The word ydjath is from the root djy and its meaning is “congregate at one of the corners.” The grammatical treatment together with the interpretation supplied by MS-R stand in contradiction to Ibn Janà˙’s clear statement at root dja (p. 33) viz.: ydjab ydrpna ya ydjatsa hryspt ynymyh ydjath, which means: “to . . . tahùgla be alone (= isolated) or secluded in one of the corners.” The semantic difference in the two senses here is subtle but absolutely limpid. For Ibn Janà˙ adopts a definiens ( djatsa) that differs from the one employed by MS-R (= djta); indeed, these pertain to two different roots. Again, Ibn Janà˙ interpreted the form ydjath as deriving from the root dja whereas MS-R recorded it amid the entries of dù jy. It is tempting to surmise that the MS-R glossarist was under the influence of the grammatical system of a lexicographer belonging to the pre-Óayyùj, school, which had failed to distinguish between the two roots, classing them under the one biliteral root dù j. At root dwz (p. 190) MS-R glosses as follows: h[pa [qbt hrwzhw (Isa. 59:5) . . . hrùdmla hùxyblaw hyp rsp. Ibn Janà˙ himself fails to record this quotation ad loc. nor, for that matter, does he record it at any other potential entry. However, he does record the given
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Arabic definiens hròdm ù≈yb at root rzm (p. 369) in his elucidation of the entry rzmm. It is, therefore, improbable that Ibn Janà˙ assigned the same definiens to entry hrwz, which has no radical mem.15 At root ddj (p. 211), MS-R subjoins the verse djy lzrbb lzrb (Prov. 27:17), whereas Ibn Janà˙ himself, in immediate proximity (!), regarding a different root—namely hdj—states that he classifies this occurrence of djy with the tertiae yod verbs and not under the geminates. Regarding the form tll in the expression tll hrh (1 Sam. 4:19), MS-R states (p. 345): tdll laq hnak hyp lyq, whereas Ibn Janà˙ himself, in his Mustal˙aq (p. 153), had long before ruled out that grammatical parsing of the form. In its place, he proposed one of three other grammatical, cum semantic resolutions—namely, (a) the root hll, (b) the root ttl, (c) the prefixed particle l combined with the word tl. At root fwp (p. 367), MS-R states: yhw hfm lxala aùdh ˆm ˆa lyqw brqala whw hfm μhlxa ˆa lyqw fbs hfm ax[ hfm ,dyrsla Ibn Janà˙, on the other hand, records the entries hF…mi and hF,m,æ under the root hù fn, without mentioning the possibility of any other grammatical parsing—either in his own name or in the name of other philologists—either as a conjecture or in a definitive manner. The entry wnjna is recorded by Ibn Janà˙ under the root jna (p. 58), whereas MS-R speaks of the rendering ˆjn. If MS-R had a cognate translation synonym in mind, then this did not accord with Ibn Janà˙’s opinion. At root μù my Ibn Janà˙ discusses the entry μymy in the sense “year” (p. 285). Quite surprisingly, MS-R subjoins here the combination μymy t[bç (“seven days”) and renders it μaya h[bs. This annotation of MS-R is out of place here, for the root and entry recorded here are totally different: the word μwy had already been treated in its appropriate place by Ibn Janà˙. The analysis of the verbal form hn
15 The rendering recorded by MS-R for the quote is to be found in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr at the given biblical location. Derenbourg remarks that this interpretation is documented in the works of R. Judah Ibn Bal'am, too.
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Hebrew as a geminate verb. In the parsing of the verbs ydjath, djy, and hnrt, as well as the nouns hrwz, hF…mi and hF,mæ, MS-R follows in the footsteps of grammarians of the school prevalent before Óayyùj; and in this approach the glossator contradicts the grammatical method of Ibn Janà˙ both in the wider context, and in particular, Ibn Janà˙’s outspoken statements as regards the said entries. From this standpoint, it can be said that the glossator of MS-R did not merely subjoin but “impaired” the Ibn Janà˙ text; for that glossator’s grammatical system would appear to reflect a clear regression vis-à-vis the theories of both Óayyùj and Ibn Janà˙. A further case of contradiction: When attempting to identify the referent of the plant, denoted rp.K (Cant. 1:14; 4:13), Ibn Janà˙ rejects the suggestion that it be identified with the Arabic rwpak (the latter apparently postulated on account of its being phonologically “cognate” with the equivalent Hebrew noun), his grounds: a non-correspondence between the nature of the plant ensuing from its biblical usage on the one hand and the features of the rwpak in the reality of his time on the other. He therefore gives preference to R. Sherira Ga"on’s identification, i.e. that what is referred to is the plant anj16 (henna), again, on account of the physical/“botanic” correspondence of rp.K as described in the Bible. MS-R subjoins, with no explanation, a third possible identification, i.e. lpnrq. It appears very probably that the latter was not a proposal penned by Ibn Janà˙; for it is out of the question that Ibn Janà˙ put forward an additional identification contra to the one immediately preceding, without stating the logical grounds. Likewise, Ibn Janà˙ identifies biblical μtr with the Arabic μtr, whereas MS-R, in the name of other scholars, proposes the identification lùta (p. 691). In accord with the comparison lça/lùta established elsewhere by Ibn Janà˙, it is salient that μtr equals lça; thus if Ibn Janà˙ had held this indeed to be the case, he would have specifically stated so—as he indeed stated, as regards the synonyms (aws hljlaw hgw[lap hgw[-hlj, p. 507/p. 357), ≈ra, tmda (≈rah l[ laq hnak . . . hmdah l[, p. 21/p. 13)) and the like.17 Alternatively he might have set out data, for each respective entry whose mutual collation would have made possible the determination of their synonymity.18 16 In fact, this identification is already attested in the translation attributed to Sa'adiah at the relevant biblical passages; but remarkably, a variant reading exists that, indeed, accords with the MS-R gloss! 17 Also hr[n ,hml[ (μl[, p. 529/p. 372). 18 In this category, for example, are to be reckoned all the paired entries that
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The same applies with regard to the terms rmj (Ibn Janà˙: rpq/MSR: rmj, p. 235) from realia. Another instance: At entry μtyrqhw (Num. 35:11, hrq, p. 647), Ibn Janà˙ proposes no specific definition, contenting himself with a reference to what Óayyùj had stated in Kitàb Óurùf al-Lìn. Óayyùj, in the relevant entry, states: hyrq . . . yn[m ˆm ˆwky ˆa dy[bb sylw; like his predecessor, he juxtaposed μtyrqhw with hyrq, without any remark of disapproval on the etymological connection established by Óayyùj between the two, clearly implying consensus with Óayyùj. On μtyrqhw MS-R remarks that it pertains to the sense ayh (hayya"a, “preparation”); he adduces support for this from the Targum, which in Num. ibid. renders ˆwnmztw—a clear contradiction of the opinion alluded to by Ibn Janà˙ when he cross-referenced to Óayyùj’s statement. It seems likely that the MS-R, glossator did not take the trouble to check out what Óayyùj had written. A subtle but clear intimation of this: MS-R did not set down this opinion as one differing from the opinion propounded by the author himself (as he does in fact in several other instances, e.g. lyqw, hyp rspw, etc.). In other words, MSR’s intention was not to supplement the author’s thesis but to explicating it. Unfortunately, however, he explained it incorrectly.19 A further example: For fwn (Ps. 99,1), Ibn Janà˙ proposes two possible connotations: fwm, hlt (p. 416), whereas MS-R renders lym, showing that he identified fwn with hfn, a proposal for which no intimation can be found in Ibn Janà˙’s record and, further, this being an assumption irreconcilable with Ibn Janà˙’s grammatical theory.
match the formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb.2 (non cognate translation synonym). 19 Neubauer assigns the additional annotation laws in MS-R to the word ˚ytwlaçm (Ps. 20:6) (Ußùl, p. 694, n. 19). However, the intention of the glossator in this note may have been to subjoin it to laç laç (Gen. 43:7) or to ˚laçy (Deut. 6:20). Both biblical citations indeed appear directly before ˚ytwlaçm, a word of the type πwr[m, that Ibn Janà˙ left undefined, as he was accustomed to do in several entries. The morphology of the glossed word laws cannot serve as a pointer to the correct text link, for this word, as it appears in its inflected form, matches neither of the two potential lemmata; it is an abstract nominal formation or maßdar (infinitive). However, if Neubauer is correct, the explanation represented in MS-R’s gloss is in blatant contradiction to Ibn Janà˙’s statement in the body of the entry. For Ibn Janà˙ distinguishes between laç/las (ask, question) and laç/bhwtsa (request, seek) (as well as laç/bhw [give]), and he warns the scholar to beware of “mechanical renderings.” It is indeed remarkable that ˚ytwlaçm accords perfectly with the connotation bhwtsa and not with laws!
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13.1.6 The aims of the cognate translation synonyms glosses in MS-R What might have been the motive for the glossator to subjoin cognates at entries for which Ibn Janà˙ did not bother to provide any definiens and, on the contrary, labeled them πwr[m? It is hard to believe that the explanation lies in a deliberate renewed investigation of the problem of precisely defining an entry treated as [wdy (“well-known”)— from which it would follow that an entry not so labeled is presumably not “well-known.” It is also far-fetched that this entails an attempt to refute the contention that there indeed exist “well-known” entries or to undermine the lexicological system that allows for this sort of “definition” of entry words. The glossator himself never subjoined a definition at any location where Ibn Janà˙ had omitted to record one, as, for instance, at entries br[(b wa ytçb), tyb, (ljn-) ybr[, etc. Entries that Ibn Janà˙ left with no rendering and with no definition, were occasionally filled out by the glossarist, who subjoined them to a non-cognate translation synonym. This served to fill in the “void” left by Ibn Janà˙. Entries of this kind are: rypk (p. 330), ˚yh (p. 173), hqhl (p. 342), dn (p. 407). For Ibn Janà˙, these are no doubt πwr[m. Nonetheless, MS-R subjoined to them respectively the following synonyms: μgrd lyqw dsa, πyk ,hqwùg, dwf. But in those entries defined by Ibn Janà˙ by a non-cognate translation synonym and for which MS-R subjoined a cognate translation synonym, it is probable that the gloss was indeed entered for the purpose of comparison, since the lexicographical need had been fulfilled by the non-cognate translation synonym. What is more, a large number of entries exist for which Ibn Janà˙ saw no need to record any definition and at which MS-R subjoined both cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms, in exact imitation of the practice adopted by Ibn Janà˙ himself at a wide range of entries in his lexicon. 13.1.6.1 Entries to which MS-R subjoins cognate as well as non-cognate translation synonyms ,μfùk/μfj ,(173) rxq ,lkyh/lkyh ,(177) rsk ,μah/μmh ,(140) rts ,ˆùg/ˆng • yp lòkd ,dwht/dhyth ,(272) qbaf ,taw/tay ,(221) ça[ ,ayj/hyj ,(220) ˚sma ,(514) hwq ,z[/z[ ,(353) dsa ,ùtyl/çyl ,(346) [lw ,ùghl/ghl ,(278) ˆydla ,(590) rçtna ,fsbna ,açp/hçp ,(548) πçk ,yr[/hyr[ ,(522) rxa ,lg/l[ ,(ibid.) qrtja ,dqwt ,jdq/jdq ,(625) ˆpd ,rbq/rbq ,(602) ù˚rx ,jax/jwx ,(ibid.) bxtna ,μwq/μwq ,(630) twx ,lwq/lwq ,(627) rhf ,sdq/çydqh ,(638) ˚lm ,ynq/hnq ,(631) πyx ,ùfyq/≈yq ,(629) πòdq ,yq/ayq ,(634) [fq ,πfq/πfq
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dwd , hmr / hmr ,(675) h ù g[n , hl ù kr / ljr ,(640) [fq , ≈q / ≈xq ,[qwt ,dxr/dxr ,(683) ztha ,d[r/d[r ,(681) fqs ,ymr/hmr ,(680) hmyq ,yws/hwç ,(689) çqn ,μqr/μqr ,(ibid.) [fq ,ù≈r/≈xr ,(686) lmat ,rùftna ù≈gb ,anç/anç ,(732) rasy ,lamç/lamç ,(711) rqb ,rwùt/rwç ,(708) .(757) hbjfxm ,hmawtm/μymawt ,(740) ù≈apùkna ,lps/lpç ,(734) 13.1.6.2 Entries that Ibn Janà˙ rendered by a non-cognate translation synonym and to which MS-R also glossed a cognate In the list that follows, only the cognate translation synonyms subjoined by MS-R are enumerated: ,(114) μrb/μrb ,(105) h[qb/h[qb ,(86) lb/llb-lwb ,(32) yùkat/ja(h) • wh/awh ,(ibid.) ùnh/hgh ,(169) ah/ah ,(144) drùg/drg ,(ibid.) ùtwrb/çwrb ,(296) drw/dry ,(247) rtja/hrj ,(241) zpj/zpj ,(235) rmj/rmje ,(171) rb[ ,(494) rts/rts ,(445) ù≈pn/≈pn ,(428/300) sajn/μytçjn ,(347) wl/Wl fbs/fbç ,(640) bxq/bxq ,(589) qrp/qrp ,(565) jyp/jyp ,(499) rb[/ .(713) rks/rkç ,(698)
13.1.6.3 Entries that Ibn Janà˙ left without a definiens and to which MS-R subjoined a cognate and even reiterated the cognate gloss several times ˚lm/˚lm ,(349) jwl/jwl ,(300) μyty/μwty ,(197) ˆamz/ˆmz ,(78) ˆata/ˆta • ù≈br/≈br ,(647) hyrq/hyrq ,(619) rrùx/rrx ,(550) hmr[/hmr[ ,(378) (705) haç/hc, ,(703) ydùt/dç ,(663) 13.1.6.4 Entries for which MS-R subjoined a definiens that is probably a cognate translation synonym concurring with his own system (= only partial equivalence of the radical letters) /hakn ,(291) bxn/bxy ,(282) apj/πjy ,(266) lpf/πf ,(232) wmj/μmj • ,(525) wl[/l[ ,(463) ls/lçn ,(410) yjd/jdn ,(306) h[bq/[bwk ,(303) yk .(659) hwbr/hbbr ,(632) ùfqy/≈yqh ,(596) twgrb/çw[rp ,(541) ù≈g/hx[ 13.1.6.5 Entries for whose definition Ibn Janà˙ was content with an Aramaic cognate, whereas MS-R recorded, additionally, an Arabic cognate /˚rj ,(211) (dja) dj/dja/dj ,(107) (hyrb) arb/rb ,(89) (lfb) lfb/lfb • ,(413) 21(rwn) rhn/rhn ,(354) (b[l) b[l/[t[t/b[l ,(247) 20(qrj) ˚rj
20 According to MS-R’s approach, it is very likely that this is a case of a k/q interchange. 21 According to the glossarist’s approach, these are two entries pertaining to the root rùùn.
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(dhaç) dhç/d[/dhç ,(690) (μsr) μçr/μçr ,(591) (rsp) rçp/rtp/rçp (fyùk) afwj/lytp/fwj .(718) (hrwsa) ryç/hd[xa ,dymx ,jj/ryç ,(705) .(648) ˆrq/ˆrq ,(215) 13.1.6.6 Explicit comparisons in the MS-R annotations Only on rare occasions are explicit comparisons to be found in the MS-R glosses. In entries dba/dab (p. 15), dyrg/dròg (p. 144) ˆgd/ˆùgd (p. 153), bwrk/bwrk (p. 331), qhn/qhn (p. 413), MS-R adopts distinctive terminology, i.e. expressions commonly in use in Ibn Janà˙’s inventory of comparison terms though not unique to him. The expressions are: ybr[la ùfpll snaùgm (ˆgd); ybr[lab whw (bwrk); ybr[la ˆm byrq (qhn); bwlqm hybr[la lwq lxala aùdh ˆm (dba). In one instance, no term occurs but the employment of an intra-Arabic example has the same status as an explicit comparison: hlb (p. 95): lab bwùt laqy, ylb. The large majority of MS-R’s comparisons, however, are merely implicit comparisons, structured on the pattern used by Ibn Janà˙ in his implicit comparisons. 13.1.6.7 Comparisons with Aramaic encountered in MS-R glosses Within the range of the MS-R glosses to Kitàb al-Ußùl, in only nine instances,22 are comparisons with Aramaic resorted to, this being an extremely rare measure relative to the many hundreds of comparisons with Arabic that the glossarist subjoined. Only three of these Aram. comparisons are of the etymological type, i.e. based on the formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (493) brs/ˆam/brs (371), lwfm/açm/lyfm (370), ajm/hkh/ajm. The remaining comparisons pertain to formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cognate translation synonym) ,(548) ≈pn/hr[ ,(517) ≈wq/hf[ ,(271) ymwa/lyawh ,(180) anyz ynam/ˆxh ,(173) yrç/ˆyh ,(647) ˆmz/hrqh). 13.1.7 Synopsis of the conclusive evidence that the MS-R annotations postdate Ibn Janà˙ Citations from source texts that postdate Ibn Janà˙ (such as R. Abraham ibn Ezra; see Allony 1944, p. 201). Téné (1972, p. 552)
22 This total does not include those comparisons with Aramaic that constitute nothing more than the comparison gist as stated by Ibn Janà˙ himself.
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also opines that the composer of the MS-R annotations long postdated Ibn Janà˙. 2. In Ußùl according to MS Oxford and in Shorashim, all the annotations are lacking. 3. The salient contradiction between the πwr[m label or what can be classed as πwr[m and the very subjoining of a definiens by the glossarist of MS-R. 4. The several cases in which MS-R contradicts an explicit opinion of Ibn Janà˙, whether at the entry ad loc. or at a different entry, these contradictions comprising issues of grammar as well as issues of lexicology and semantics. 5. The instances in which the MS-R annotation is practically redundant, in that the gist of the annotation is spelled out by Ibn Janà˙ himself in the course of the discussion, sometimes before the link point of the annotation and sometimes after it.23
13.2 The theory of letter interchange as used by Ibn Janà˙ Ibn Janà˙ left no systematic discourse on the topic of the letters that can be interchanged in the context of etymological comparison of Hebrew with Arabic or with Aramaic. Nor does he make a habit of remarking on the letter switches in close proximity to his recording of explicit language comparisons. It is from an inspection of the comparisons themselves, however, that we can deduce which letter switches Ibn Janà˙ permitted. A list of these interchanges follows; the paren-
23 Cases can be pinpointed in which it might be surmised that MS-R is merely reiterating what Ibn Janà˙ himself states at length elsewhere. Nonetheless this cannot be said with certainty. It is more probable that MS-R copied these statements from text sources that had been used systematically. At root fqn (p. 452), Ibn Janà˙ makes a cross-reference to what he discussed in his Mustal˙aq and subjoins nothing, whereas MS-R does subjoin the definiens fnq; Ibn Janà˙ allows such a comparison, qua one of metathesis, at root ffq (p. 633) and prima facie it would seem that MS-R copied from there. However, it is more likely that the glossator’s source was Sa'adiah’s translation of Job (10:1), where this word is encountered; for this would accord with his habit of recording supplementary materials gleaned from Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr (as noted by Allony 1944). Furthermore, nothing indicates that the glossator’s grasp of Ibn Janà˙’s theory was sufficiently profound to enable him to draw an analogy between statements in separate treatises and reach a synthesis of the two. On the contrary, the salient evidence is that MS-R adduced source texts whose systems stood in direct conflict with the principles of Ibn Janà˙’s grammatical system.
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theses refer to a sample entry at which a comparison was established incorporating the given interchange. Interchanges of letters, Hebrew/Arabic: a/h (μynbh; twrhnm [implicit comparison]); b/p (twbr[/hprg; hymstla yp hbraqm); g/ùg (lzwg); g/ùk (rgç/ù˚rç; ˆabraqtm); g/k (ˆzrg); y/w (l[y; [ry); z/ùd (za); j/ùk (jlç); (flp); y/w (;dly implicit comparison); k/ùg (μhytwrkm ;rks); ç/s (ˆas; wts); s/x (ssq, qps); [/g (ç[r, h[x); x/s (≈anyw); x/ùx ( ˆxj); x/ùf (μx[); ç/z f/t (llç/llz ;asnaùgm ˆwky ˆa zwùgyw); ç/ùt (μça); s/ç (jlç,, ˚pç); ç/c (rçb, hwçq); t/ùt (qtb, ttr). Interchanges of letters, Hebrew/Aramaic: b/p (tw[wb[ba/y[wp[p); g/q-k (≈mwg/axmwq-axmwk). Interchanges of letters, Arabic/Aramaic: g/ùg (ˆwgra); f/ùf (arpwf; tlhç); s/ç (awts/atç); [/g (arp[m/rpgm); q/g (syqrn/hsùgrn); ç/s (agaç/ùgas; rhdt). 13.2.1 Did Ibn Janà˙ practise taß˙ìf? Certain scholars have attributed to Ibn Janà˙ additional Hebrew/Arabic letter interchanges and even remarked on their peculiarity. Bacher (1885, pp. 33–34) and Kokowtzow (1893, p. 88 n. 175), followed by Wechter (1964, n. 322) enumerated the following in the list of Ibn Janà˙’s “innovative” letter switches: μhytrkm (Gen. 49:5) /rùgm; ≈any (Eccles. 12:5); /sn; wjypy (Prov. 29:8)/ùgapa; wLvT… (Ruth 2:16)/lza; rgç (Deut. 7:13)/ù˚rç; rkç (Isa. 19:10)/rùgs. Bacher maintains that Ibn Janà˙’s statement ("Ußùl, p. 138, pp. 18–22) concerning the comparison hmgm/hmhm (i.e. ybr[la ùfpll asnaùgm ˆwky ˆaw) is clear evidence that Ibn Janà˙ had in mind a real (etymological) link between μmg and μmh! Wechter (1964, n. 771) took the matter further and claimed that the comparison wjypy (Prov. 29:8)/ùgapa involves the interchange j/ùg and is on the same footing as the comparison ˆçj (Exod. 28:4)/ˆçwùg by the “system” of taß˙ìf 24 (confusion regarding the marking of the diacritical dot). Clearly implied is Wechter’s assumption that Ibn Janà˙ is employing comparison based on the rule of taß˙ìf. It would appear from some comments he made on
24 Concerning the connotation of this term, see Kokowtzow (1893), p. 80, n. 168, Wechter (1964), n. 311, Kopf (1976), p. 65 and nn. 3–5, Téné (1983), p. 266 and n. 96. On taß˙ìf in the Arabic lexicography, see Kopf (ib), pp. 65, 85. The comparison ˆçj/ˆçwùg was established by Ibn Barùn in al-Muwàzana (p. 55).
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Ibn Barùn’s comparisons that Wechter ascribes to Ibn Janà˙ several further comparisons by taß˙ìf. The comparisons are: qzb/qrb (Wechter, n. 405), ˆjb/ˆjm (n. 407), jrza/jyrx (n. 444), πçj/πçk (n. 553), hqçj/qç[ (n. 554), πf/lpf (n. 577). Ibn Janà˙’s employment of comparisons by taß˙ìf is additionally evidenced by an instance, in a discourse on letter interchanges within Hebrew (Riqmah, p. 109), in which the comparison can be interpreted as having been established on the basis of taß˙ìf. The issue under discussion here is that of the possible substitutes for the letter zayin. Ibn Janà˙ states: dw[ hrmwhw qzbh harmkb çrhm (Ezek. 1:14). The upshot is that Ibn Janà˙ maintains an intra-Heb. comparison of the words qrb/qzb. Prima facie, this is a limpid indication of the use of taß˙ìf ;25 the intra-Heb. interchange reflects the Hebrew/Arabic comparison qzb/qrb (a comparison expressly maintained by Ibn Barùn, by the rule of taß˙ìf ). This assumption gains corroboration from Ibn Janàh’s statement in his introduction to ch. 7 (w) as follows: μtxqb twytwah txq trwmt rwayb (“An explanation i.e. enumeration of the mutual interchange of several letters with each other”) (ibid., p. 104). In that introduction, Ibn Janà˙ sets out the categories of letter substitution, one of which he defines as the interchange of letters μtrwxb μymdtm μhç (“that have similarity in their graphic appearance”).26 Cannot this be clearly viewed as an intimation of the taß˙ìf procedure (in interlingual comparisons)? The truth is, however, as regards the potentiality of an interchange of such nature, the interchange itself is not expressly specified. A very general restriction was set by Ibn Janà˙, which he spelled out (at the end of the above-mentioned chapter) as follows: If the two entry words set for comparison are both in widespread use in the vernacular, such that neither can be given “priority” over the other, then an interchange cannot be postulated between them, i.e. each must separately constitute an entry. This provides us good grounds for determining that no interchange exists between Hebrew qzb and
25 Regarding taß˙ìf interchange between the two Arabic letters rà and zày, in Arabic, see Kopf (1976), p. 74, subsection 3 and p. 75, subsections 6, 12. 26 As examples of this type of letter interchange, Wilensky (ibid., n. 4) gives the alternation between the Heb. letters b/k and çø/v: these do indeed show graphic affinity, b/k with regard to the square script and çø/v . . . with regard to the specific location of the diacritical point.
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Arabic qrb, for each is in regular use in its respective language. Moreover, in the preface to the above-mentioned chapter, Ibn Janà˙ enumerates articulative affinity of two letters as one of the reasons for interchange between them. Elsewhere (Riqmah, p. 36), in the chapter discussing the articulative classing of the letters, he includes under the class “dental letters” the letters çrx sz. Thus it is quite feasible that the intra-Heb. z/r interchange referred to by Ibn Janà˙ in the context of the switch qzb/qrb is tenable simply because (in his opinion) the two consonants are of similar articulation type, rather than being based on his “conviction” as to the applicability of the principle of taß˙ìf. As for the comparison wjypy/ùgapa, Wechter interpreted it as an etymological comparison, for which reason he maintained that it is founded on the interchange j/ùg. However, this determination is by no means indisputable. It is much more probable that Ibn Janà˙ is comparing the expression hyrq wjypy, as a single entity, with its translational counterpart ≈rala yp ùgapa, the comparison being merely semantic in nature and no more. How can this be explained? wjypy, in another context, has the connotation hjypn (blowing), whereas ùgapa has the sense rryq (cool down): it is plausible that the concept “cooling down” incorporates the sememe “blowing” as well. But ùgapa possesses, additionally, another sense, i.e. “to leave hurriedly” (see e.g. the Munjid dictionary, p. 598): thus the same sense can be assigned to wjypy, too. Had Ibn Janàh in this case intended an etymological comparison, one would have expected him to adopt the phrasing hsnaùgmla ù≈[b (see below). The other “comparisons” that Wechter intimated were cases of Ibn Janà˙ employing comparison by the system of taß˙ìf (i.e. ˆhb/ˆjm; jrza/jyrx; πçj/πçk; hqçj/qç[; πf/lpf) were not established as comparisons by Ibn Janà˙, either explicitly or tacitly, neither by taß˙ìf nor by any other rule. Wechter merely clutched at a straightforward rendering recorded by Ibn Janà˙ and mistakenly attributed to it an implication that cannot be traced. It seems very likely that Wechter read Ibn Barùn’s methodology into the works of Ibn Janà˙. The other “bizarre” comparisons are, for the most part, not so unusual when treated against the background of the comparison method of the Hebrew grammarians of that epoch; some were “born” merely out of copyists’ “ghost comparisons.” The comparison μhytwrkem/rùgm, according to Neubauer’s edition ("Ußùl, p. 374), involves several problematical aspects: (i) the notion
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of the root seems confused to an extent that could hardly be attributed to Ibn Janà˙, considering that the comparison is between the roots rkm and rrùg, which show equivalence in the scope of two letters only, i.e. rk/rùg (ii) this comparison itself would necessarily require (a) the k/ùg interchange (which is indeed feasible according to Ibn Janà˙) as well as (b) interchanges between strong verbs (such as rkm) and a root pertaining to the geminate group. Ibn Janà˙ subjoins, next to rùgm an additional definiens—namely, rks[—although nowhere in the Arabic lexicons is the entry word rùgm recorded with the sense of rks[.27 MS British Library, BM Marg. 953 = Or. 4837, which Margaliouth asserts to be the earliest extant MS of the Ußùl and which merits the status of constituting the primary “basic text form” to be used for any new edition of "Ußùl, reads here rùgm (without the shaddah). This lectio simultaneously resolves all the above-mentioned difficulties; for according to this version, the comparison is between rkm and rùgm, both being strong roots and showing mutual equivalence for all three of their radicals (allowing, of course, for the switch k/ùg). As for lexical documentation, the root rùgm is indeed encountered in the lexicons in the sense of “(great) army” (see for example, Lane, vol. 7, p. 2690), precisely as defined by Ibn Janà˙). The comparison hmgm/hmhm, too (as recorded in "Ußùl, ed. Neubauer, p. 138), seems very strange:28 the interchange g/h is not encountered even in the records of Ibn Barùn and it is extremely surprising that Ibn Janà˙ did not see fit to comment on the application of such an interchange, despite its bizarre nature and apparently unique occurrence. Owing to the special importance of this matter, a full citation follows of the relevant passage from the "Ußùl, where Ibn Janà˙ discusses the matter at entry hmgm (according to Neubauer’s version,
27 Only R.P.A. Dozy, vol. 1, p. 180, records this connotation; the sole quotation that he adduces for the entry is the one here referred to, according to Neubauer’s ed. of the "Ußùl. As shown in what follows, it seems certain that Dozy was misled, in that he blindly followed the misjudgment of those scholars who remarked on the comparison under discussion as being bizarre or “innovative.” 28 It is indeed surprising that Bacher did not reckon with the MS-R reading: hmjm (it occurs no less than 12 times!). Had he given precedence to this reading, he might have surmised the employment of taß˙ìf, for the sole distinction between j and ùg in the Arabic script is the diacritical dot. However, at the time Bacher penned these statements, the taß˙ìf rule in Ibn Barùn’s comparison theory was as yet undiscovered.
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ibid.): ˆaw hM…væm] hnz yl[ ˆyylùtmla tawùd ˆm ˆwky ˆa ydn[ hyp ylwala . . . ˆwkyp ,adxq tdxq ya hmh tmmh wh yùdla ybr[la ùfpll asnaùgm ˆwky μhdxq ya μhhwùgw hmhm hmydq μhynp tmgm ryspt. Thus according to this reading, the comparison is exactly as presented by Bacher. The aforementioned British Lib. MS omits the passage asnaùgm ywky ˆaw to hmydq inclusive; nonetheless, the text as a whole in that version does not seem to be lacking or erroneous. For example, no potential error involving “a skip of the copyist’s eye” due to homoioteleuton seems relevant in the BL version. Thus in that recension, no comparison is established between hmgm and hmhm. What is more, that MS, in the definition (not the comparison!) recorded for hmhm, reads hmjm instead of hmhm. This provides support for the MS-R reading (twice hmjm with a j). The reading hmjm is indeed the lectio difficilior,29 in lieu of which the copyist of the Oxford MS (or perhaps Neubauer himself ) “read” or preferred the lectio facilior, i.e. hmhm. Consequently, one way or the other, no interchange g/h* occurs but at the most, a case of the switch g/j, which at least has a justification in the rule of taß˙ìf. But as demonstrated above, no real corroboration can be found for the notion that taß˙ìf can be attributed to Ibn Janà˙. It should furthermore be noted that in Arabic the word hmùgm is used in the very sense of dxq.30 If in a certain transmission a copy of the "Ußùl text was written in Arabic characters,31 it might be surmised that the comparison possibly established by Ibn Janà˙ was /hmùgm, hmgm, and that in a subsequent copy, the diacritical point was accidentally lost or omitted and from this error emerged the version hmjm. Be that as it may, the comparison as set down by Bacher derives nil support, either from MS-R or from the British Lib. MS. The remaining comparisons are straightforward: ≈any/sn: The x/s interchange exists within Hebrew, for Ibn Janàh also compares sn (Deut. 34:3)/sn with the very same connotation ("Ußùl, p. 417). Ibn Janà˙ states this explicitly at entry ≈wn ("Ußùl, p. 418). For the word wlçt, Ibn Janà˙ suggests two alternatives: (a) comparison with the
29 hmjm with the connotation dxq is documented in Arabic lexicons, See, e.g., br[la ˆasl, entry μùùmj in vol. 12, p. 152, Beirut ed., 1952; also Lane, p. 635. 30 See e.g., br[la ˆasl at entry μmùg. It ensues that semantically μùùmj = μùùmg = mùùmh. 31 But see Bacher ZDMG, 1884, p. 305; Wilensky in his notes to HaRiqmah, p. 59, n. 4; p. 264, n. 3.
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Arabic root lls and (b) comparison with llz. It is thus feasible that he is postulating the existence of an intra-Arabic interchange z/s, in the same way that he maintains the viability of such an interchange within Hebrew (Riqmah, p. 109).32 Regarding the comparisons rgç/ù˚rç and ttr/hyùtr, Ibn Janà˙ does not mention total hsnaùgm, but braqt and hsnaùgmla ù≈[b— namely, “partial similarity.” In fact, in the first case, both (a) the g/ùk interchange and (b) the metathesis rg/ù˚r are present, whereas in the second case, (a) the interchange t/ùt but (b) not a correspondence of the tertiae radical, i.e. t as against y are present. In other words, a switch might be assumed here of the two verb patterns: geminates and third yod.33 If it is necessary to postulate two discrepancies in the same comparison, then, in the opinion of the Hebrew grammarians, a “full” comparison may not be determined. It was only Ibn Barùn who viewed the ttr/hyùtr comparison as fullscale hsnaùgm, by the taß˙ìf rule (see above n. 28). Had Ibn Janà˙ had a conception of taß˙ìf, he would surely have regarded this instance as normative and “full,” and not merely as partial, hsnaùgm. 13:2.2 Comparison of vocals The outcome of what Ibn Janà˙ stated regarding the affinity of Hebrew with Aramaic—the two languages being so close as to be, so to speak, “twins” because of their similarity in respect of the “closed and open” vocalic entities (twjtpw twxmq) (above, 2.2)—is that the grammarian made comparisons not only of the letters but also of the vowel entities in these languages. His positive declaration regarding the affinity of Hebrew and Aramaic in their vowel entities allows further for a parallel “negative” induction—i.e. that Hebrew and Arabic are non-equivalent in this area: this is indeed borne out, for not a single Heb./Arab. comparison has been encountered that relates as well to their vocalic entities.
32 The issue of how the interchange of letters within Hebrew relates to their respective interchanges with the “corresponding” letters in Arabic still remains to be investigated and clarified. 33 The mutual interchange of these two verb patterns is maintained by Ibn Janà˙. See, e.g., "Ußùl, p. 745, at entry hqç.
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13.2.3 Comparison of cognates whose roots present “mutually metathesized” letters34 (346/493) rsn/ˆrs ;(228/329 ;aypwk) πnk/ˆpk :Heb./Aram. • ;(446/633) fnq/fqn ;(34, Bacher 1884) lùxùk/≈yljy :Heb./Arab. • /lsj ;(332/473 bas/abs ;(90/131) hzwrùgm/hrzg ;(118/173) rhk/rkh /[wç ;(13.2.1 above) ù˚rç/rgç ;(478/677) jçr/çjr ;(163/239) sjl) (710) [çw The comparison lsj/sjl is one of two possible comparisons. The other is the comparison with Aramaic: lsj/lsj. It is surprising that Ibn Janà˙ did not give preference to the comparison with Aramaic and made no decision in its favor in spite of (a) its constituting a comparison with Aramaic, a language closer to Hebrew than Arabic; and (b) the clearer equivalence of the respective Aram. root with the Heb. one, in that the letter-for-letter correspondence does not necessitate the rule of metathesis. In this case, however, the comparison with Arabic is, in a certain sense inevitable, for the sense of the root sjl, plus the specific linguistic context in which it is used (“destruction caused by locusts”), render the word most appropriate and suitable for the connotation and context of the Heb. lsj—namely, hbrah wnlsjy yk (Deut. 28:38). This suitability is so decisive as to cancel out the “weakness factor” in comparison, reflected in the necessity to fall back on metathesis. The same applies to the comparison hrzg/hzrùgm (p. 131/p. 90). Ibn Janà˙ first proposes an interpretation for the phrase hrzg ≈ra (Lev. 16:22) on the basis of an intra-Heb. etymology, assigning to it the sense hrwzg (cut off from civilization). This etymology does not necessitate metathesis; nevertheless the comparison with hzwrùgm appears to him more suitable (cut off, not only from human civilization but even from vegetation, in other words a barren desert), despite the need to resort to the rule of metathesis. In almost all the remaining comparisons established by metathesis, an alternative etymological analysis is available without the need to postulate metathesis; nonetheless, the former alternative was justifiably given preference, on semantic grounds. It should be remarked, however, that this approach is not considered by Ibn Janà˙ as “the etymologically ideal solution,” because comparisons
34
On metathesis in Ibn Janà˙’s grammar see Becker 1998, §§ 35, 37.
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of this type possess only partial correspondence.35 Furthermore, the total number of comparisons by metathesis is minute as a proportion of the grand total of Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons. Additionally, it is noticeable that several comparisons established by his predecessors by the rule of metathesis were rejected by Ibn Janà˙ and replaced by non-metathesis ones, provided that the semantic disparity of the respective comparisons was marginal to the extent that resorting to metathesis might have been considered unjustified. This is the case, for example, in entry ç[ry (Ps. 72:16). Other grammarians (e.g. Sa'adiah) elucidated the word, in the sense of rç[ (affluence, prosperity), by metathesis. Ibn Janà˙, however, interpretes it by employing a comparison with sgr (blessing, welfare and growth). The two connotations are close, for the subject of the verb is the noun yrp (fruit). In fact, it is not only letter metathesis that requires reservation; letter interchanges are also in need of same. Comparison without resorting to interchange might be considered “more interesting” than comparison involving letter interchange. Ibn Janà˙ compares jlç ( Joel 2:8) with jals, remarking, however, that in one Arabic dialect, the word is ajlç. This rider would seem to have been adduced simply and solely for the purpose of reaching a more precise measure of suitability for the Heb. jlç, a correspondence for which the assumption of a ç/s switch becomes redundant. (The Hebrew grammarians of that period treated inter-lingual comparisons of roots incorporating the match Hebrew “right-handed” shin v. Arabic shin [bearing the three diacritical dots], as quite regular and normative comparisons, and not as extraordinary or irregular phenomena.)
13.3 The condition necessary for comparison record: A comparison established only in instances of specificity One of the definition terms used in Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon is πwr[m (well known). This term is applied to entry words that occur fairly frequently in the Bible or even in rabbinic literature, provided that they possess a high level of semantic transparency and require no explanation. Incidentally, this seems to me further evidence that the
35
hsnaùgmla ù≈[b. See, for instance, entry hrzg; also, above, end of 13.2.1.
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lexicon was not aimed at the reader possessing no knowledge at all of Hebrew,36 but at an erudite student having a reasonable knowledge of Hebrew (the measure of his familiarity with the language is determined, basically from those biblical entry words that Ibn Janà˙ does not trouble to define but merely marks as πwr[m). It may be concluded that at each entry word for which Ibn Janà˙ spared himself having to define or even simply render it—in which case if he had indeed rendered it, a cognate implicit comparison (at times, an explicit comparison) would have arisen—the modern scholar has “missed” an instance of language comparison. Considering that Ibn Janà˙ established hundreds of comparisons, many of them reflecting a good measure of abstract thought and profundity, it seems reasonable to assume that he realized that in the cases of πwr[m entries there were, theoretically at least, satisfactory grounds for recording explicit cognate translation synonym comparisons and that he nonetheless refrained from setting them up in practice. The upshot is that Ibn Janà˙ records comparisons only in the event of some singularity, such as some unique aspect in the semantic, occurring in a Hebrew word. For example, the entry tyb in its basic connotation was left undefined, he merely marked it πwr[m; in contrast, regarding the entry tyb in the sense of “woman,” he saw fit to record a comparison—namely, a comparison with its Arabic counterpart tyb, also used in the sense “woman.” It goes without saying that the comparison “forfeited” on account of πwr[m is now automatically restored; for if the cognate translation synonyms are semantically equivalent in their “metaphorical” connotation, it is fair to equate them also as to their “basic” sense (provided there is no logical reason to do otherwise). But in fact the term πwr[m is nothing but an explicit expression of a general, indeed a prominent phenomenon reflected in Ibn Janà˙’s lexical work, i.e. to refrain from translating or comparing words determined, at their loci, to be πwr[m. For instance, at entry har (p. 655), no rendering is given for the basic connotation (physical sight of the eye); thus automatically avoiding an implicit comparison with
36 Moreover, it cannot be maintained that the precise meaning of πwr[m is “of frequent occurrence in certain texts,” because it is not frequency alone that proves “erudition.” Furthermore, to indicate high textual frequency of a word he employs another term: rwhçm . . . yp e.g. hnçmla yp hrwhçm hùfplla hùdhw ("Ußùl, p. 19).
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the cognate yar; subsequently, however, when enumerating the outstanding connotations, he resorts to translation and thus spontaneously to recording an implicit comparison for the metaphorical sense “intellect and cognizance”: blqla hywrw μl[la hb dary am hywrla ˆmp t[dw hmkj jbrh har yblw lùtm (Prov. 1:16). The same happens at alm (p. 375). At the initial citations, exemplifying the plain sense, no comparison is recorded; but when, subsequently, he adduces another connotation, i.e. alm (complete), Ibn Janà˙ notes that this use of alm is not to be rendered by alm, as the previous connotation was so to be rendered, but by μamt. It is only by a negative process of induction that the comparison alm/alm, in the first sense, is disclosed. Had it not been for the fact that Ibn Janà˙ at the second connotation wished to steer clear of Óayyùj’s classification—i.e. to avoid a technical rendering by a word of phonetically similar sound (= a cognate translation synonym), alm/alm—there would have been no intimation of the comparison he had in mind at the first connotation. Likewise at rwç/rwùt (p. 711/p. 504) and elsewhere. In principle, then, entry words that lack explicit definition, lack a rendition, and come under the category πwr[m, the “hypothetical” definiens of which is a cognate translation synonym, may supposedly be treated as “bearing” a comparison. Nevertheless, the approach adopted by Ibn Janà˙ in the rest of his lexicon entries leads us to understand that in his comparative system, no comparison is necessary even hypothetically at the entries marked by the term πwr[m.
13.4 Comparison methods 13.4.1 Explicit comparison on tauto-etymological grounds ( >zero comparison in Shorashim) Explicit comparison maintained on tauto-etymological grounds is fairly rare in Ibn Janà˙’s records: it is encountered in the following instances only: • yl[‘/wl[: aml ˚lùdb tyms rhpla whw sarhmla dy hb (dyry) (bk ,zk ùçm yl[‘Bæ wl[la ˆm ahb brùxy (Ibn Tibbon translates: rmwl hxwr yl[‘B l[m wbæ μykmç rwb[b ˆk arqn . . . çtkmh dy) (he means to say that the handle of the mortar is so called because one strikes with it l[m i.e. from above) (p. 525/369).
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• μynba… / ˆwnb ( ˆB] a i ) : 3 7 daryw . . . hdyaz hyp πlala μynbah ˆwnbla hyl[ fqsy yùdla rbùtmla hb . . ., (ˆI b ,hnb) (p. 98/p. 68). It would seem that the phrasing . . . . . . fqsy yùdla is a rationale; indeed this seems probable, since the definiens rbùtmla is sufficiently clear and needs no further elucidation. This is evident from the fact that the customary particle of elucidation ya was not used here. Also, the word ˆwnbla was specifically chosen, this being a cognate with ˆb-μynba rather than a word standing merely as a non-cognate such as ˆydwlwm; the latter indeed is semantically more likely, since it encompasses twnb (Ibn Tibbon in fact rendered it μydlyh). In this context, it is worth mentioning the definition adduced by Ibn Janà˙ for the entry word μynba, by way of his discussion of the entry wynpa (Prov. 25,11; see ˆpa p. 64/p. 44), this being adduced there merely for purposes of grammatical comparison (in Ibn Janà˙’s opinion, the a in the words μynba, wynpa and μyspa is not radical but “additional”). Ibn Janà˙ states (ibid.): dalwala fqsm ya μynb ˆm qtçm μynbah. Because the word μynba, together with its definition, were only incidentally treated here, Ibn Janà˙ did not trouble to define the entry word with a definition incorporating a cognate translation synonym but merely stated dalwa, this being a non-cognate. In contrast, at the natural location in his lexicon, at which the entry μynba was recorded “for its own sake,” Ibn Janà˙ took care to provide it with a definition constituting a cognate, i.e. ˆwnbla. This is further corroboration for my thesis that definitions comprising implicit comparisons of cognates are produced on purpose and not in coincidental fashion; and it also shows that implicit comparisons are indeed comparisons and not simply “renderings.” • rmj/rmja: rùtkalayl[ ahnal . . . rm,j… rmùklaymsyn[mla aùdhˆmw (p.235/p.160). . . . armj 13.4.2 Explicit comparison by dint of discussion of the Arabic example The comparison ˆpg/ˆpùg contains no comparison term and is therefore prima facie an implicit comparison. Further on, however, Ibn Janà˙ remarks that the nominal form ˆpg has, in addition, a feminine
37
§ 67.
For the grammatical aspect of the comparison of this entry see Becker 1998,
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counterpart (in Arabic)—namely, hnpùg also, in Hebrew the noun ˆpùg can be used in the masculine form (e.g.‚ qqwb ˆpg [Hos. 10:1]) or in the feminine form (e.g. tjrws ˆpg [Ezek. 17:6]). This very discussion of the grammatical nature of the Arabic word, and its correspondence with the Heb. word forms, even though he fails to use the conventional comparison terms, justifies our treating the comparison as an explicit one. Likewise, Ibn Janà˙ explains the entry ydjath (Ezek. 21:21) by the cognate ydjatsa and the non-cognate translation synonym ydrpna follows this with a comment on the use of djatsa (in Arabic parlance): drpna aùda lùgrla djatsa laqy (p. 33). The specific regard expressed as to the Arabic definiens, renders an otherwise implicit comparison to be one of an explicit nature. The same applies at entry h[x (p. 615): after his rendering by the cognate ygxa, Ibn Janà˙ employs the term laqy, and follows it directly with an example of an intra-Arabic usage; this procedure serves as a clue to the explicit nature of the comparison. Likewise, at the comparisons [wç/[çw (p. 710/[lacking in p. 504]) and grwm/ùgrwm (p. 791/ p. 273). 13.4.3 Implicit comparisons that to all intents and purposes are explicit comparisons The category implicit comparison > explicit comparison as encountered in Alfàsi’s records does not exist in Ibn Janà˙’s works, for his records do not comprise comparison lists. However, there are instances in which an implicit comparison may be interpreted as an explicit one, given its context. Take, for example, the entry ˆax (p. 602/ p. 424): ˜aùxla hb ≈ùky dqw . . . a[ymùg z[mlaw ˜aùxla μ[t ˆax hùfplw . . . dn[ μngla ˜al μngla ˆm (y ,a ùqyw) wnbrq ˆaxh ˆm amaw . . . z[mla ˆwd z[mlaw ˜aùxla μ[t ybr[la. No specific attention is paid to the etymological equivalence of ˆax/ˆaùx; prima facie, one might posit that Ibn Janà˙ intended merely to point out the two different renditions and, in their wake, the two differing connotations available for ˆax: (1) μng, (2) ˆaùx. In his initial phrasing, he does not specify μng but merely mentions the “entity as a whole,” with its separate components, (a[ymùg) z[mw ˆaùx. It follows that the grammarian is also relating to the semantic range of ˆax1 and ˆax2, as these relate respectively to their cognate counterpart ˆaùx and not just to their formal renderings (ˆaùx, μng). There is thus much more than a mere allusion to the semantic connotation of the Heb. ˆax being far broader than ˆaùx.
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Taken together, this would seem to justify classing the comparison as an explicit one. Likewise, at entry alm (p. 375) Ibn Janà˙ shies away from incorporating talmkw (Esther 1:8) in the context of alm in its normal sense (as Óayyùj thought): he claims that the Esther occurrence is to be rendered by μamt and not by alm. His argument gives us to understand that some occurrences of alm should indeed be rendered by a cognate; this being the case, he has thereby also established a comparison. At entry μae (p. 55),38 he defines: hyqyqj μa in a manner similar to Alfàsi’s definition of yqyqj μd, μd. At entry hkalm (p. 342), with the connotation “property, possessions,” Ibn Janà˙ sums up the discussion by citing the verse jlç al μa wh[r tkalmb wdy (Exod. 22,7), the word being defined, hlam yp ya hklmw. All the discussion is recorded under the root ˚al, on the assumption that the m of hkalm is not a radical letter. The automatic consequence is that hkalm and limU are merely (non-cognate) translation synonyms. Immediately following that definition, he cites a different opinion (held by others) regarding the etymological parsing of the entry word, as follows: amw hkalmh lgrl μym μwq l[ùgy dqw aklm hnwrspyw alxa hhbça. In other words, the m in hkalm is indeed radical, whereas the Arabic rendering is the cognate ˚lm. (It is unclear whether this is the reason for Ibn Janà˙’s conclusion vis-à-vis the notion of the scholars who so thought or is the outcome of the explicit comparison they established.) It is of extreme importance to draw a distinction between Ibn Janà˙’s own rendering [= ˚lm(w lam)], which according to his interpretation is a non-cognate to hkalm, and the rendering of the other scholars, for whom the same phrase is a cognate to hkalm. Indeed, there is no doubt that aklm hnwrspyw is meant to apply as an etymological comparison hkalm/˚lm, (a) by dint of the essential distinction discernible here and (b) because, if his attention had been focused on the grammatical issue alone (i.e. m being radical or otherwise), he would have had no need to resort to their rendering or (at most) might have adduced it paraphrastically, such as ˚lmw lam, in the same manner that he had earlier expressed his own definition.
38
On this comparison see Becker 1998, § 61.
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At entry qpr (p. 696/p. 484), Ibn Janà˙ states: hdwd l[ tqprtm yryg laqw hl hyradm tb hpfltm ya ahbybj yl[ tqprtm (Cant. 8:5) lyld alb hyl[ hlldtm (Ibn Tibbon’s rendering reads: . . . tqprtm) awhç μyrja wrmaw ahbybjb hqprtm br[h ˆwçll hmwd wtsypm rmwlk hyar alb t[g[gtm wmk. At this entry, Ibn Janà˙ rejects the interpretation proposed by other authorities, because “they have no proof ” (lyld) implying that his own opinion has a proof for the sense he has determined, although he does not state explicitly what this proof is. It is probable that what he wishes to allude to is nothing more than the “usual proof,” which, indeed, is encountered at this entry, too, i.e. the etymological equivalence of (a) the entry word and (b) the Arabic definiens, qprth/qprt. We thus have here a comparison that is apparently implicit but in essence and in fact is an explicit comparison (and no wonder that Ibn Tibbon interpreted it as such and indeed treated it as such in his translation).
13.5 Comparison with Aramaic cognates Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Ar. (implicit comparison, cognates) /-lbq ;ddùg/ddg/dwg ;sasa-ssa/ayça/çyça ;ˆawùgra/ˆwgra/ˆmgra-ˆwgra • .hya[r/ˆwy[r/ˆwy[r-h[r ;hlabq/lbql Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Ar. (explicit comparison, cognates) rq[/rq[/rq[ ;drf/drf/drf • Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Ar. (cognates) gbx/[bx/[bx ;[qp/y[yqwp/tw[wqp ;jbn/jbn/jbn • Ibn Janà˙ does not himself record any example of the Aramaic entry word at entry [bx, but he states, in a non-specific way, that the word is “a word (or root), well-known in Aramaic.” In Shorashim, one encounters an expanded version of this entry, with an additional illustration from biblical Aramaic, the example [bfxy (Dan. 4:30). However, that Aramaic entry word is unsuitable for an illustration of the said connotation, namely, the sense “tint, color” ([bfxy denotes “immerse, moisten”). It is hard to determine if Ibn Tibbon is to be blamed; it might rather be surmised, with some probability, that this is but the gloss of some unversed student who was entirely misled by the phonetic affinity of the Heb. [bx and the Aram. [bfxa. It
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is thus more than likely that, by using ynayrs, Ibn Janà˙ had in mind targumic Aramaic, such as ˆyn[bxl in the Targum (to Judg. 5:30), which renders the Heb. μy[bx. In the jbn comparison, Ibn Janà˙ does not state clearly that he is referring to targumic Aramaic, but this is no doubt the case because in Bib. Aram. that root is unattested. Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram./Arab. (The comparison with Arabic was omitted in Shorashim): rbç/arybsò rbs; hylç/atyls/yls; dhf/rhf/dhf; (implicit comparison + synonym hmyçm). Heb./ Aram. general comparisons (cognates) In three comparisons Ibn Janà˙ refrains from using a phrasing indicative of the Aramaic stratum with which the Hebrew entry word is to be compared; nor is any specific example for the Aram. entry adduced, either from biblical Aramaic or from the targumic stratum. The comparison in each case is of a general nature, its formulation being something like “Bib. Heb. XYZ” ynayrsll snaùgm (is similar to Aramaic). But it is probable that in all three instances, he intends to compare with Targ. Aram. specifically; see μrg, and lbq in comparison Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (not ad loc.), jbn in comparison Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Arab. Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (cognates) Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon systematically treats of only the Hebrew entry words in the Bible and does not deal with the Aramaic words in the inventory of defined entries. Thus no comparison with Aramaic occurs that is inevitable for the lexicon on lexicographical grounds, as was noted in Mena˙em’s and Alfàsi’s works. On the contrary, all Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons are absolutely deliberate and self-motivated. A listing follows of the entry words for which Ibn Janà˙ established comparisons with Bib. Aram. (for a full enumeration, see chart, ch. 16). tylbt-twlbl ,wlfbw ;(65 ,64) μyspa ,rsa ,(face) ypal ,snwa ,twma ,wypga • dj ,rwd ,ypg ,ryg ,rbzg ,hwg ,dwgy ,(Riqma 241) rbg ,(hdç =) rkb (94) ,tdml ,htrgm ,wnltk ,lbrkm ,μylçjnh ,˚rjy ,ˆsj ,hfjhw hzjy ,(Riqma 275) ,qsa ,μyngs ,ˆwtçn ,jxnl ,tsy ,μyskn ,(Riqma 192) bdnth ,˚lmyw 39,hjlm
39
The verse Ibn Janà˙ cites from Bib. Aram. is anjlm alkyh jlm yd (Ezra 4:14),
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,ˆrq ,ymlx ,abx-ybx ,μysp ,br[th ,(652) rqpl ,μyap[ ,lyl[b ,(l[ =) d[ ˚ytyrç ,twlçw ,lykçm ,rwç ,bybç ,μwçrh ,çprm-sprtm ,yzr Rab. Heb./Bib. Aram. Only one entry word from rabbinic Hebrew was compared by Ibn Janà˙ with Bib. Aram., namely, the Mishnaic occurrence çyqh (Tamid, 7:3)/ˆçqn (Dan. 5:6). Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognate translation synonym) .rkç ,ynrs ,qry ,rkz ,(257 ,154 Riqma) lwmta ,hla ,yla • Bib. Heb./(Targ. Aram.) (cognate) rqy/rqy (p. 295; in Shorashim, p. 204, this comparison was omitted). The comparison with the Targum was recorded chiefly for exegetical purposes, as Ibn Janà˙ states: μjyl[m ytrqy rça (Zach. 11:13)
he does not state clearly, however, whether the form anjlm is a nominal or a verbal form. R. Abraham ibn Ezra, too, in his commentary, is terse and obscure; it is Rashi who elucidates according to the context byrjhl μyxwr wna lkyhh ˆbrwj ta (the destruction of the Temple, we aspire to destroy). The implication is that Rashi interpretes anjlm as a verb in the perfect tense but with the sense of the future (such as is fairly common in biblical Hebrew; the reference is thus to the Holy Temple). Bauer and Leander also class the form anjlm in the category: verb, Qal = Pe'al, perf. first pers. pl. (see BL, §50, p. 174). But it is very unlikely that Ibn Janà˙ intended to parse the word in this way. On the contrary, this word may well be a nominal form, on the following grounds: (1) Perfect verbal forms with future connotation are unusual in biblical Aramaic; (2) the context does not allow for construing the form as perfect (= with the plain past tense connotation). More likely is the interpretation “the destruction of the palace (= of the King, not of the Temple) is itself our own destruction/downfall.” It would appear that Mena˙em in his Ma˙beret (entry ˆ[k, p. 108) also understood it thus (wnqzh wqyzhw wnrts lkyhh tryts). However, this interpretation of the phrase raises a morphological problem: the regular inflection of the segolate nouns with personal possessive affix for 1st pl. is on the pattern an:li[]P,i according to which, if parsed as a nominal, the vocalized form would be an:j}l]m.i The following might be a resolution for this problem: the inflected suffixed, 1st pl. form according to pattern an:l]['P] is common in post-biblical Aramaic (see Dalman, p. 206; Stevenson, p. 38), and the biblical form an:j]l'm] may well constitute a “prenatal” appearance of the later normative phonological pattern (one might compare occasional biblical occurrences of 1st pers. sing. perfect tlef'q,] tl'f'q,] such as tr,mea,} tl'feB,] instead of the standard Bib. Aram. form tlef]q,i which may be considered as “heralding” the oncome of the post-biblical forms). Be this as it may, Prof. I. Yeivin confirms that no Babylonian tradition MS (of non-Tiberian reading tradition) containing this verse is extant. Nor in fact is any such MS extant for any part of the Book of Ezra, so that an inspection for a variant vocalization tradition for this word cannot be made. Kittel and Kahle’s conjectured “text emendation,” i.e. l. an:jæ“l]m,i is surprisingly erudite and certainly interesting, but no corroboration for their suggestion is forthcoming!
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μwgrtla bhùdm yl[ hyp ˆtnw. He very likely has in mind the “element of meaning” delineated by the additional word ytljd used for the exclusion of anthropomorphism and is concerned to interpret broadly the whole Targum quotation ˆwhyny[b ytljd trqyd πlj (since my fear was dear to them); however, this comparison ipso facto incorporates the above-mentioned linguistic comparison. Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (cognate, not ad loc.)
qpc/qps (p. 741/p. 529). The Targ. Aram. (Deut. 2:7) is not a direct translation of the Bib. Heb. (1 Kings 20:10), and in the absence a further link with some other specific Bib. Heb. (for it was adduced from the Tosefta of the Targum to that given biblical verse), the comparison was not eligible for inclusion in the formula Bib. Heb./(Bib. Heb.)/Targ. Aram. The comparisons μrg/μrg (p. 144/p. 99) and lbq/lBeqi (p. 624/ p. 439) were adduced in a general mode with no express citations. In all probability, Ibn Janà˙ meant to compare them with targumic Aramaic “as a whole entity” rather than with biblical Aramaic, because in Bib. Aram. μrg and lbq are of rare occurrence: μrg is a hapax legomenon and lbq though appearing three times as a verb, is not used with the connotation under discussion (the remaining occurrences of the root are phrases with lbq}): Thus a comparison of the Hebrew entry words with their Bib. Aram. counterparts is of no avail in these instances for determining their meanings. Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (cognate)
atlypa/twlypa ,(39/57) (sign) arma/rymah ,(69/100) y[wp[p/tw[wb[ba • ,(73/105) atrwxb / trwxb ,(71/103) hayxyb / hxb ,(44/64; late) ,(115/168) 40ardrd/rdrd ,(94/137) amylg/ymwlg ,(89/129) (dust) çwg/çwg 42 lsj/wnlsjy ,(136/202) brz/brz ,(117/171) 41rdh-anardwh/μyrwdh πçn/πçn ,(289/413) (look) anrhn/wrhnw ,(228/329) πnk/ˆpk ,(163/329)
40
Ibn Janà˙ records this comparison in the name of R. Sherira Ga"on in his
swqaydrwq wzjaç ym ùfapla ryspt (BT Gittin). 41 It is evident, from this comparison, that Ibn Janà˙ was not aware of the comparison rdh/rzj with the “interchanges” necessitated by the latter. 42 The example he adduces for the Aramaic entry word is the occurrence appearing outside of the talmudic text but accompanying that text as an addendum at the conclusions of Sedarim (“Orders,” groups of Tractates), such as: d[wm rds lysj (Concluded is the Seder [Order] Mo'ed.)
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,(343/488) (feed, taste) hps/awpsm ,(338/481) ˚s/˚s ,(326/464) .(478/677) çjr/çhr ,(455/645) ryrq/rq ,(395/562) ˆdp/ˆdp The comparison πnk/ˆpk is obtained by metathesis. The comparison rymah/arma is founded on the exegetical comment recorded by R. Sherira Ga"on on the word arma in “the chapter 'Rabbi Eliezer’ in tractate Shabbat”;43 the word being interpreted is ˆmys (mark, sign). Both earlier and later commentators explained arma as rja [bxbw rja ˆym wb μynrwa wyhç dgbh tlyjt (the beginning of a garment that they would weave in one kind of material but have it dyed with another).44 This interpretation would appear to have evolved by a semantic narrowing from the wider sense ˆmys, a connotation preserved in the records of Ibn Janà˙ in the name of R. Sherira Ga"on. It would further seem to be linked, however, by the phonological affinity of arma with the Arabic word hrama (used in the sense ˆmys).
43 He has in mind here the chapter named in our editions of the Talmud qrp grwah, which is the thirteenth chapter in Tractate Shabbat and not the chapter hlymd rz[yla ybr qrp (The Rabbi Eliezer Chapter on Circumcision), which is the nineteenth chapter in that tractate. This is proven by the word arma not being
encountered in that chapter, whereas in ch. 13 it does occur—namely in BT fol. 105a, in a citation from the Tosefta (Shabbat 12 in the Lieberman ed. = chap. 13 in the printed ed. and in the Leiden MS). Moreover, it would seem that the epithet grwah for ch. 13 is a late abbreviated form of a fuller title, rmwa rz[yla ybr, grwah these words being, indeed, the opening words of this chapter. In fact, this title is attested in the Vatican MSS of the BT (In the ed. issued by Maqor, Jerusalem, 1972, vol. 1 [book 2], p. 94, the text reads: grwah wa ù[yla `ùr a qrp qyls). See also the Munich Codex (ed. Strack, p. 256): ùwa rz[yla ùr ˚l[ ˆrdh. This is also borne out by the complementary epithet for ch. 19—hlymd rz[yla ybr—which serves to distinguish it from ch. 13, which also bore the general “undefined” title rz[yla ybr qrp, as referred to by Ibn Janà˙. Subsequently, the latter was termed grwah‚ (a) to emphasize the above distinction and (b) on account of its contiguity with the chapters [ynxmh (10), qrwzh (11), and hnwbh (12). 44 This is the interpretation of Rashi at Shabbat 105a and other authorities, too, as also of Lieberman, at Tosefta Shabbat, ch. 12 (13) and Tosefta, Kil"ayim 5, 19 (see Tosefta to Seder Zera"im, New York, 1955, p. 244); likewise Kohut, in Arukh HaShalem, and Jastrow in his lexicon; also Kosowski, various Concordances to rabbinic literature; and Perush haGe"onim le-Seder Teharot, on the word twyrmwa (pp. 98–99); see also n. 2 on p. 99 (ibid.). R. Óanan"el is alone (most probably following R. Sherira Ga"on) in construing the word arma by the connotation μl[ in la[mçy ˆwçl (Arabic), which corresponds well with the interpretation ˆmys given by Ibn Janà˙. It is feasible that Kohut and Jastrow, too, are alluding to the sense twa ˆmys (sign) in the entry arma as it occurrs in the Mekhilta to Exodus, pericope Beshalla˙, section Shira, Parasha 3.
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The comparison ymwlg/amylg is classed in talmudic Aramaic, rather than in the context of comparisons with Targ. Aram. (Bacher afforded no source ref. for amylg), even though the reading in the printed text version of Targum Onqelos to Gen. 25:25, as a rendering for the Bib. Heb. trda, is amylg or μylg (the comparison with Targ. Aram. specifically might be corroborated by the text appearing in Shorashim— namely, amylg trdal μrmam (that they call trda, amylg), except that the given word trda in Shorashim is merely a translation of the word ask in "Ußùl. However, this rendering, μylg, recorded in Jastrow’s lexicon, is adduced in the Sperber ed. as the reading of the VE group of manuscripts only, whereas in all the other MSS, and indeed in the body of the text, the reading is ˆl…k]k… (in Babylonian pointing), which is also the rendering recorded by Rieder in his 1974 ed. of the Pseudo-Jonathan Targum to this verse. This version is likewise attested in Berliner’s ed. of Targum Onqelos, according to Jastrow, and it was also the one used by Levita, according to the entry ˆlk in the Meturgeman (p. 66, col. a) (as well as in the comparison with entry word amylg for which he adduces one solitary citation of ˆlk; ˆlkk, i.e. from the Second Targum to Esther 8:9; this Targum was apparently unknown to Ibn Janà˙). It thus seems probable that the Targum reading known to Ibn Janà˙ for the Heb. in Gen. 25:25 was also ˆlkk and it therefore follows that he could never have cited the word amylg from targumic Aramaic: i.e. what he had in mind in his comparison was the word as documented in Talm Aram., in which this word appears quite frequently (about eighty times). Another question might be raised: Why did Ibn Janà˙ not establish his comparison directly with the ad loc. rendering of the Bib. Heb. ymwlg in Ezek. 27:24—i.e. ˆyzzwg. It would appear, from amylg in his interpretation, that he was unwilling to accept the rendering of the Targum ad loc., ˆyzzg,45 i.e. a ball of wool;46 he preferred rather, to adopt an interpretation based on a cognate Aramaic rendering. To the formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. belongs, further, the comparison rdh μyrwdh/-anardwh, despite the fact that the expression
45 See Ben-Yehuda, Thesaurus, entry μwlg I, (p. 776) the biblical ref. at ibid. should be emended to Ezek. chap. 27, instead of chap. 23! 46 The vocalized reading in Sperber’s ed. is ˆyzigz"wOgb (in Babylonian pointing), but the reading in MSS C F O Y B Z is ˆyzzwgb. The version in the Arukh is ˆyzydwg: this reading, adduced by Ben-Yehuda (as in the preceding note) is not attested in the Sperber edition.
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atrqd anardwh as so recorded in "Ußùl and in Shorashim, is nowhere to be found in the Talmuds.47 Indeed, neither Kosowski’s Concordance nor the lexicons to rabbinic literature (Arukh, Levi, and Jastrow, etc.)48 provide any documentation for this phrase. At any rate, for our purposes, whether the documentation of this expression in "Ußùl is unique or is documented in other sources and whether it pertains to the Aramaic of the talmudic period or to Ga"onic Aramaic,49 the word anrdwh itself as well as the root rdh in general, in the sense assigned to it here by Ibn Janà˙ in his comparison, is treated as being encountered in the Talmud. The expression atnybz ˚s recorded by Ibn Janà˙ in "Ußùl (p. 481) for purpose of the comparison ˚s/˚s also lacks any documentation in BT, and no record of it appears in the lexicons to the Talmuds and to their commentators.50 We have, furthermore, found no reference to it in the indices to Otzar haGe"onim: it might possibly be one of the few Aramaic expressions of the Geonic epoch that have survived solely in a citation by Ibn Janà˙.51 Comparisons based on formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. (for full enumeration, see below, chap. 16) ,wytaxb ,hrybh ,˚ytrjb ,≈wb ,μydbh ,dça ,yla ,wlh ,μylal ,(660 μg) ˆwfa • ,w[wzç ,(190) ˚ynza ,≈wdt ,hbhdm ,rgd ,qbdyw ,yzng ,≈mwg ,wpygy ,˚nwjg ,wzgn ,μybg ,ˆsjy ,lj ,rfj ,twbwfj ,(Mustal˙aq 79, too) rwj ,fwjk ,wrgjyw ,ryzrz ,μyqz ,πypfw ,wn[f ,w[fh ,wnllfyw, twpff ,çwfy ,ykçjm ,μyçrj ,μprjb ,μykrjh 47 Bacher records not a single source/reference for this expression in Shorashim (p. 117). 48 Nor have I located it in the indices to Ozar haGe"onim 1–12 or in variant readings for anrdwh (Shabbat, 77b; Pesa˙im 76a, etc.). Documentation is also lacking in the Syriac lexicons: Duval, R. Lexicon syracum auctore Hassano Bar Bahlule I-3, Paris 1901 and Gottheil, R.J.H., Bar 'Ali, The Syriac-Arabic glosses II, Roma 1910–28. I also checked in vain Payne-Smith, Thesaurus Syriacus, Oxford, 1879–1901. In BT Óullin, 48b and 113a, the expression atnkd arwdh occurs; but since we are prima facie placing reliability on Ibn Janà˙’s text version, we cannot assume the possibility of a switch of the attested expression with the one recorded by Ibn Janà˙, and certainly not of a corruption of the "Ußùl text. 49 It is not documented by Epstein (1921–22); however, he does record (§ 44) hynrdwh wbwry[d and twma [bra hynrdwh rdhw. 50 Bacher states, in Shorashim (p. 338): wmwqm yt[dy al (I do not know its location). 51 In several instances, Ibn Janà˙ constitutes the most ancient corroborative source and at times the sole source, for elucidation of various words used by R. Sherira Ga"on. See, for example, Ozar haGe"onim to Tractate Shabbat (vol. 2), part 2, § 144, p. 37 and n. 1, § 96 on p. 23, n. 1, § 99, and n. 7, § 285 on p. 80, n. 1, as well as further references that can be culled from the indices under entry: μyçrçh rps janùg-ˆb yùùrl.
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,ˆkbw ,μypkb ,rwk ,çbkw ,jry ,ytrsy ,jykwhw ,ˆwlybwy ,bbytw ,yprf ,πrf ,çpf ,tsm ,μynmm ,(704) ydçl ,μyby[lm ,çwqlm ,walyw ,rtk ,lyçkb ,ˆpklw ,μyjwsk -twnksmb ,rjrjs-hrjsw ,μyrds ,dgsy ,μwtkw ,rwnm-dyn ,yhnyw 52,bgn ,wrsmyw ,μyrf[ ,tq[ ,hp[ ,(508) (loot) d[ ,μyd[ ,rwb[m ,rb[yw ,rdms ,ˆksm ,twjrpl ,μyrwrpb ,dqp ,˚lp ,flp ,μyrwfp ,μytjph ,wydjp ,gpyw ,wrgp ,μyqr[h ,wjljw ,≈yx ,hjx ,twjx ,(164, in Mustal˙aq too) wdxn ,μytbxh ,tpy ,wnqrpyw , hbr , hmarw , tçq , ylsrq , tw[yxq , ytxpq , ytxq , tbrx , tyjwlx ,ttr ,ysysr ,˚mjar ,wdrw ,(Mustal˙aq 220, as well) ddwrh53 ,y[brw ,twryç ,tyfç ,ˆyjç ,hjça ,(117 Mustal˙aq) [çh ,tkwç ,rgç ,façb ,fybrç ,tbhlç ,(750) ˚ytwrç ,wgrtçy ,brç ,yrqçt ,μypwqç ,wpçw ,h[tçnw .ytbat Entry words compared on formula Bib. Heb.1/(Bib. Heb.2) Targ. Aram.: ,ynmkmb ,fçwyw ,twrj ,(Riqmah 143) twljmbw-ˆwlh ,dmg ,(31) ˚ynza • .μhydb[m ,(66) bgn On formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/(Targ. Aram.): .πqt ,trçm ,ydhçw ,μgtp ,(503) d[ ,ˆkbw ,ry[z ,μwrd ,μkry[b •
13.6 On formula Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram./Arab. ,[çh ,ynjçpyw ,qnpm ,çr[ ,rhsh ,wpqny ,ryn ,hrfn ,grwm ,μyrpkb ,rmj ,μ[xbw • .μyt[rt ,h[qçw On formula Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Arab. (implicit comparison): .hmq (wyny[w) ,wtsh ,htmxp ,μyrmk ,f[byw ,twrwal •
The comparison dygn/˚çm/wdwgn, recorded in "Ußùl (p. 404) in the name of R. Hai Ga"on, in his Kitàb al-Óàwi, is merely a marginal gloss and bears the mark hyçaj as a heading and as an end mark. Both Neubauer ("Ußùl ibid.) and Bacher (p. 283) noticed this and commented on it. The gist of the text annotation corroborates the above, for after recording this comparison, the annotation reads: hyla rwùfnmla μwqla hyùgw ya wdgn ˆm hqtçy dylwla wbaw. Now, it is not Ibn Janà˙’s practice to set out his own opinion in the 3rd person, in the middle of a discussion (as he does, in fact, at the commencement of a treatise, a chapter, etc.). 53 Apparently Ibn Janà˙ did not postulate an etymological link between ≈br and [br and was not aware of the interchange x/[/ùx. This can be gleaned from the fact that he specifically chose the present formula for this comparison. 52
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On formula Bib. Heb. /Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: ,rçp ,μysp ,twnwtç[-tç[ty ,dwr[ ,tjn ,wrhnw ,πqwzw ,μynz ,wrbdh ,wg • .hrpç ,wjktçyw ,wçgr ,fçq ,brq 54,twrfq ,ˆgçtp
On formula Bib. Heb. /Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Arab. .hglpn ,hd[m ,hytwyça • On formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.: .ççq/ˆqz/açyçq/wççwqth • On formula Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.:
çqn/qyçh ,[qt/çqn • On one occasion only does Ibn Janà˙ establish a comparison on this formula—and then with an “apology,” because his lexicon does not usually treat lexical items from biblical Aramaic as entry words: afaytja ˚lùd anmzly μl (ˆak) ˆaw hynayrsla hùfplla hùdh anrsp amnaw [çr çqwn ˆybw ahnyb snaùgy alp (Ps. 9:17) ajbajxaw ("Ußùl, p. 454) (Ibn Tibbon renders: wnyl[ hyh alç pùù[a tymrah tazh hlmh wnçrpw wyrbjw [çr çqwnl htwa hmdy alç hçrpl. (I have elucidated this Aramaic word, although under no obligation to explain it, simply to prevent its being compared with the similar word çqwn in the phrase çqwn and other similar expressions) (Shorashim, p. 319). On formula Bib. Heb./Arab. (cognate)/Targ. Aram. (non-cognate): , arkd/ ùùlbwyùù/ lbwy,/ rpk/ yj/ twj , qjd/ qpd/ μwqpdw , ltwk/ rydùg/ rdg • y qn / hqn , ytg-yrm / daqn / dqwn , rqwtya / [çm / y[çml , wqyrm / jsm / wjçm ,rrj/lylx/lylx ,bwrj/(t)mt[a/μt[n ,ysmta/sb[/wçk[ ,bwrj ,ˆqwr/ .πfq/≈q/sswqy
On formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate) /Arab. (cognate with Targ. Aram.) (The comparison with Arab. is implicit in "Ußùl/explicit, in the main, in Shorashim: ≈wj ,hls/ls/dwd ,rpgm/arp[m/rpa ,fwlb/fwlb/ˆwla ,μfb/amfwb/hla • lmrk ,jmr/jmwr/ˆwdyk ,ùgrwm/grwm/≈wrj ,jalm/jwlm/μylwrj ,qws/qwç/ 54 The comparison formula proves beyond all doubt that Ibn Janà˙ did not postulate a connection between rçq and rfq, an etymological link currently accepted in modern lexicology, as represented by the following expression: rçq/ rùtq (Arab.)/rtq* (Aram.) > rfq (by assimilation of the emphasis component with that component in the q).
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/ˆwrd[y ,hynwns/tynwsns/rwg[ ,ykrk/aykrwk/sys-sws ,(619 lqx) ˚yrp/arwryp/ /asnrwq/μ[p ,hrx[m/atrx[m/hrwp ,bwk[/atybwk[/r[r[ ,jlp/jlpta /μyykt ,rpùf/arpwf/tlhç ,glst/flç/bhr ,hpqsa/atpwqs/ltpm ,sanrq .swwaf/swwf
In the following comparisons the comparison with Arab. is explicit: .lymza/lymza/[wxqm
55
,rfmq/ayrfmq/hjtlm ,μwn/μwn/μyzh •
On formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (non-cognate)/Arab. (cognate with Talm. Aram.): /tlxbj and probably (153) ùgas/agaç/rhdt ,ˆybrç/anybrwç/rwçat • 56 hsgrg/syqrn as well.
On formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (cognate)/Arab. (non-cognate): 57
.anj/rpwk/rpk •
On formula Bib. Heb./Aram. (cognate)/Arab. (non-cognate): .μùf[/μrg/μrg •
13.7 Listing of comparisons on formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate) ,μyts/μymwfa ,çrj/μfa ,ybwf/ylja ,ˆynwqry/twrwa ,h[m/hrg-hrwga • ,tya/(çy=) çah ,(564 wp) ˆwdk/awpya ,(47 too) rçym/ˆwla-lya ,ˆylwtj/μyya ,πqt/yçyçal ,jbdm/larh-layra ,μfq/μyxma ,rtb/μa ,a[yxm/ˆwtyah /rhgyw ,ˆyd/hg ,amlç/hkrb ,πw[/rwbrb ,ˆlya/akb ,lylj/bwb(n) ,swjs/ldb /μynwybd ,rbt/μprg ,grd/μrg ,hadyjy/hdwmlg ,μwjt/twlylg ;tyhla ,ˆjg 55
For a detailed discussion of this comparison, see Maman (2000a), p. 272. Ibn Janà˙ built this comparison by combining the comment of R. Yehuda"i Ga"on (in Halakhot Gedolot, p. 70, sic Bacher, Shorashim, ibid.) on tlxbj (Cant. 2:1), i.e. syqrn, with the interpretation given by R. Hai Ga"on for syqrn at BT Berakhot 43b, sùgrn/tlxbj. We classify his comparison within the context of “comparisons with Talm. Aram.,” and not “with Targ. Aram.,” despite the fact that, according to Jastrow, the text rendering syqrn exists in Canticles for the Heb. tlxbj. Sperber records only the reading μygern" (in Bab. pointing), (and no var. lec. at all are registered for Canticles). It is quite feasible that this reading evolved from syqrg (= Greek narkissos). However, considering the late dating of the Targum to Ketuvim, which clearly implies its reliance on the Midrashim and the Talmudim and, in particular, since this Targum was unknown to Ibn Janà˙, the documentation of the given Aram. cannot be excluded from pertaining to the talmudic stratum, as so clearly indicated by Ibn Janà˙’s own citations. 57 This is based on the commentary of R. Sherira Ga"on to BT Gittin, 69b. 56
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,ˆyswf/μynbh ,tçyçwd/ykrdt ,çnk/rgd ,arwfyj/tçbd 58,albyzd-albwyd /twyj ,jwr/zyzj ,atdxm/jwj ,atyqdnwp/hnwz ,hx[/hmz ,rbt/(μmh =) μhyw ,πfj/wfljyw ,hwt/hlj ,bak/hljn ,amwhyz/htalj ,(Mustal˙aq 142) .ˆmykj /twçrjm ,(anyd) gwlp/≈wrj ,ˆynbwg/(blj-) yxyrj ,rqy/çpj ,zng ,rxa/ˆsjy /twjpf ,(a[rad) apqwt/(≈rah) rwbf ,(flock) rzg/ypyçj ,hkws çrj 59,hypçw[ /hykwh ,ˆyxrj/[zy ,alqjb jlpm/μybgwy ,aba al/lawyw ,rybt/πrf ,aykçwp ,ˆmz/d[wm ,[r[/dy[wh ,zyz/[yxy ,qpnta/wrmytn ,(ayrbg)/μymy ,swmyn/ydlybw ,ˆmz /hnwkm-ˆk ,fwçqb/ˆwkn(-la) ,rbd/dry ,blx/μwn[qwhw ,(açbwdd) anyq/r[y ,a[rt jwtyp/rwtpk ;amyfp tyb ,ˆam/bwlk ,rymg/lylk ,ˆkb/yk ,sysb /trjml ,ˆyarkwn/rzmm ,πyk/ˆwçl ,tyma/μyqla wta jql ,ˆyskn/hkalm yçwbl/ yçm , apyf/ rm , [z[dza/ wd[m , ˆyrwryp/ wytw[mk , yhwrtbw amwyd whwna ,hyrwmfm/twrhnmh ,(see bibliography above) lylj/bwbn ,ˆynw[bx , rbt / tjnw , çjnd ˆyqz - ˆlçlç / μytçjn , wlyhbb / ≈wjn , açdqm ynb / ,lflfyad/r[n ,qyr[w rybt/ssn ,ˆyzng (tyb)/tkn (tyb) ,ayskn yryt[/ylyfn hnrdsmh , ˆwlfqyw / wkçnw , dqwa / taçm - açn , rgp / ( hyrah ) tlpm /ˆwfb[y ,anql/lps ˆflç/[ls ,˚lm/whtystw ,hjçmd anam/˚ysa ,ardska/ /wçw[ ,rbrbw rb/hnw[w ry[ ,jrp/πw[ ,çdqm tyb/ˆw[m ,ˆyqwnpt/μynd[ ,bk[ ,ybr/tyl[ ,dbw[/μkll[m ,ˆmk/ˆyw[ lg/ (zy[) z[h ,atwydx/hbwz[ ,çnkta /hr[m ,aybrbr/twbr[t ,(171 rdh) alpk/μyçq[m-bq[h ,anyxt/dx[m ;(342 ˚al) ˆyskn/hç[m ,rxwa/hç[m ,alwj(-ymy)/hç[mh (-ymy) ,gwz/˚r[ ,rçym /jn[p ,agz/ˆwm[p ,(69 çça)-yçyr/(μ[h lk-) twnp ,abwf (abhd) /zpwm (bhz) ,jyr/hnjx ,˚ypç/alkwa/hndçrp ,ˆy[yb trwx/μy[yqp ,anypwç/hryxph ;ylg ,ˆwflç/ry[x ,ˆyçby ˆybn[/μyqwmyx ,(Riqmah 112) μyqa/qyxh ,anybk/rjx ,hajndm/ynwmdq ,ˆba/rwrx ,çwbl/ˆwlqx ,aynb ynb/tw[ypx ,anam/tjpx /wxqyw ,aynzam/hnq ,ardq/tjlq ,drm/≈qyw ,afyq ypwys ,atlybd ,dxj/≈yq ,çnkta/wççqth ,hbwkr/ylwsrq ,afyq tyb (tyl[)/hrqmh (tyl[) ,hzb /twjqr ,aw[r/jwrh ,rbt/dry ,atwbyt/zgra ,tyrj/[q[q ,tyyxm(d), 60bçq /πyjç ,çrp/qwç ,ljn/twmdçb ,(branch) hkws/˚bwç ,yrsn/μybbç ,ˆçmç ,bljd ˆykbwg/twpç ,jçp/πsçyw ,(522/732) rbq/μynmça ,brbr/hyrykç 61,ˆpj(d)
The reading albwyd in "Ußùl is documented also in one of the MSS recorded by Sperber in his apparatus, whereas the reading lbzd, as in Shorashim, is the version adopted by Sperber in his main text (at 2 Kings 6:25). 59 Sperber, at Targum Jonathan to I Sam. 13:20, records (in the main text) hypç[ and in the following verse, aypç[l; however, in MSS T and MS b, at the second occurrence, the registered reading is hypçw[, aypçw[, as in Ibn Janà˙’s version. 60 Wilensky remarks in Riqmah (p.127 n. 11),that this vocalization—i.e. bveq with tzere—differs from the vocalization in accepted Bible editions and MSS in which the ç is with segol. He states: ly[lm ayh twqyywdmh twajswnh lkbç rmwa qùùdr ù hnwy ybr wyl[ ˚ms rça ymlçwry rpsùùm ≈wj. 61 But in Sperber’s ed. of Targum Jonathan ad loc. (Ezek. 41:16), the reading is 58
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,ˆjtp/tyrwr[qç ,lyp ˆç/μybhnç ,hytp μypwqç ,μfp/hqçm ,lza/wqypçy çwpt 62,rwry-dwry-rwdy/ˆt ,wydç/arjt 63,albrwt-arb rwt (rwd)/wat ,ˆmms/rçç .(abhd) ypjm/(bhz) On formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Bib. Heb. /dgnta/˚çm ,twnhb/ˆylwsrq/μy[rk ,rwf/˚bdn/hryf ;qm[/rçym/lba • atpwqs/μyb[ ,twlyl[/ypwqst-πqtsa/lpnth ,wyçwbm/tthb/tçwjn ,fwçp .jtp/πlg/t[lqm ,lpn/ˆkr/jnx ,bxy/≈[n/jnx ,hlj/hxyrg/hgw[ ,ˆtpm/ On formula Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. (non-cognate) .arwç rb/l(y)j64 ,arb lgnrt/tpykwd •
13.8 Comparison of Hebrew with Arabic The comparisons in this major category are classified in accordance with the standard comparison typology, i.e. explicit comparisons, implicit comparisons, cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms. However, an additional factor has been taken into account—namely, the practice of R. Judah ibn Tibbon in his production of the translation Kitàb al-Tanqìh (see above ch. 6).
ypjd with no var. lec. registered. Incidentally, the word, rdan, which in Ibn Janà˙’s record in "Ußùl follows ≈[ πyjç, was transliterated by Neubauer in Hebrew characters, giving the impression that it pertains to the verse quotation, but in fact this is an Arabic word that, according to Neubauer’s editing method, should have been transliterated into Arabic characters. 62 It seems that the "Ußùl reading (arb) rwd, is mistaken; for in Shorashim the text reads instead (arb) rwt. In Sperber’s edition of Onqelos, likewise, no variant with d appears, from any MS, the unanimous version being with t. Sperber registers no var. lec. arb with r; the reading is unanimously albrwt or alb rwt with a l. In fact, Ibn Janà˙’s version arb rwt, is more transparent etymologically; a l/r switch may well have occurred subsequently. 63 In Shorashim the reading is ˆydwry, in "Ußùl: ˆyrwdy; in the Sperber ed.: ˆyrwry (MSS s l Z), ˆyrwdy (MSS b g) and ˆydwry (MS o). 64 Ibn Janà˙ adduces this comparison in the name of R. Sherira Ga"on in his Glossary to Tractate Shabbat (78a); this in itself is sufficient indication that the comparison is meant to be with Talm. Aram. and not as a hypothetical comparison with Targ. Aram., such as to the Targum at Ps. 50:11 (ydç zyz); Job 3:7 lwgnrtd hnnr) (wb hnnr awbt la/. . . arb. This Aramaic entry word appears twice further in the Targum to Job as well as twice in the “Second Targum” to Esther, both these Targums were almost certainly unknown to Ibn Janà˙. (The above examples have been culled from the Levita’s Meturgeman, at entry arb lwgnrt.)
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13.8.1 Heb./Arab. explicit comparisons that lack "ishtiqàq i.e. are not derived from a real inflectional root in the language. In the work Risàlat al-Tanbìh, (Dérenbourg 1880, pp. 261–63),65 Ibn Janà˙ discusses at length the forms sh (Zach. 2:17), wsh (Neh. 8:11) and shyw (Num. 13:30). He there investigated the possibility of assigning these forms to the regular verb patterns, according to their several inflections. But, having found no regularity in their inflection, he reached the conclusion that these verb forms cannot be taken as derived from a “normal” root (one that can be inflected in a regular fashion) but are rather part of the inflection of a “word with no root,” which is sh (i.e. a sort of onomatopoeia). Thus the meaning of shyw is “He said sh.” The Arabic counterpart is hx (with the same connotation as the Heb. sh, i.e. a call or signal for all present to be silent), where, likewise, the word has no root and the verb derived therefrom, hxhx, also means “to say hx”. Comparisons for words that lack "ishtiqàq are established by Ibn Janà˙ also at entries hha/hha (p. 169/p. 116); ywa/wa (p. 26/p. 16), ay/ahya/-h ( p. 41/p. 26), ddyh/dh, dyh, (p. 170/p. 116). These words are employed, both in Hebrew and in Arabic, for invocation, a loud cry, cheering, or lament. 13.8.2 Heb./Arab. explicit comparisons, cognate translation synonym, in "Ußùl and Shorashim Only the entry headings are recorded below; for the comparisons in full, the reader should refer, in each case, to the source itself or to the chart of comparisons (below, ch. 16). Source references are indicated only for those instances in which the comparison appears outside of its logical location or outside "Ußùl and Shorashim. Riqmah) ˆa/μa ,hyla ,lyla ,μyfah ,μyqz-μyqza ,zam-za ,ryah-rwa ,μymga • (˚ph=) ˚pa ,˚na ,whnan ,ˆman ,twhma ,(˚rdh-) μa ,(ibid.) ˆa/μa ,(101 (hmjlm-) tyb ,yçyçal ,μymçaw ,lça ,hytwyça ,hnwpa ,twlypa ,(Riqmah 22) ,lzwg ,[dg ,˚wqtbw ,rçb ,arb ,[xb ,ytl[b ,hqlwbm ,hrkb ,(Riqmah 311) ,˚[mdw ,rbdtw ,ˆzrg ,μrg ,ˆg ,ydrg 66,hrzg (≈ra) ,(Riqmah 147) wzgn-tyzg
Translated into Hebrew by Solomon b. Joseph b. 'Iyyob, as Sefer Ha-Ma'aneh. In "Ußùl the comparison is hrzg/hrwzùgm; however, Neubauer, in his apparatus, recorded from MS 0 the reading hzwrùgm. Bacher (ZDMG 1884 = “Berichtungen . . .,” p. 38; ZDMG 1884, p. 624) emended the text of "Ußùl on the basis of MS 0. From 65 66
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,μylzh ,wtmhzw ,yndbz ,wttwht ,twrmhmb ,wlht ,wrkht ,sdh ,ybhbh ,μwqpdw ,wnlsjy ,tmj ,rwmjy ,wrmrmj ,≈mjty ,≈ymj ,≈mj ,wgwjy ,ytljz ,jzy ,˚y[z[zm ,(621) yaxax ,yl[y ,μy ,tmj ,ryhy ,dydy ,lbwyh ,drf ,ytjpf ,ˆtj ,μhyrwçjw ,trçj ,(also Riqmah 239) ,btkb ,μyrpkb ,hjwsk 67,hskb ,rwnk ,tljk ,h[ry ,thqy ,twrzm ,ddwmyw ,samy ,(704) ydçl ,tmjlw ,μymhltmk ,μynbl ,fbly ,twbwalt ,hdwxm-dxm ,hjnm ,hfylmhw ,(Riqmah 139) jwlm ,jlmm ,alm ,μhytwrkm ,(369–422) twrzm ,jzy ,≈anyw ,sn ,fwnt ,lgm ,tbnl ,μyntm ,y[çml ,frmy ,μyrxmh ,ytyjsw ,rhsh ,ˆas ,μçtyw ,qwtnw ,wpqny ,dqn ,wr[n ,≈wx[n ,ryn ,hrfwn ,twpyfn (during the lifetime of ynp-) l[ ,tw[l ,μyyd[ yd[b-hd[ ,wçb[ ,hnyps ,rksy ,πjs ,çr[ ,hkr[m ,wmx[ ,tmx[ ,(2 times) hn[t ,wll[tyw ,(Riqmah 313) ,hbqh ,glp ,hglpn ,rfp ,hnwpa ,(Risàlat al-Taqrìb 323) wjypy ,μhyapa ,hywrl ,wngrtw ,ytlgrt ,tkbrm ,wytwçqw ,sswqy ,ynfmqtw ,trfqm ,wrfq ,hbqhw ,(twice) wlçt ,jlçh rkç ,rzçm ,yrwçtw ,rbçaw ,qtry ,[yqr ,tpxr ,ç[ry ,çjr .μyt[rt ,wnyllwtw ,qrwç ,wqçy ,˚pç ,˚pçy 13.9 Explicit comparisons in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim (Heb./Arab. cognates) ,llwjtm-lwjy ,wz ,hmyhaw ,ˆpg ,hydwdg ,(wife) ˚tybw ,hqwb ,ydjath 68,μynba • ,wnbjsw 70,hçn 69,hfqn ,(twmçb) wbqn ,grwm ,πnky ,yk ,hyrf ,ˆxjb ,rmj ,ljy
a semantic viewpoint, the concord of hrzg with hzwrùgm is greater, in that both words are used in the sense of “soil that lacks vegetation and cannot enable anything to grow.” This reading finds corroboration in the term of comparison used by Ibn Janà˙: ybr[la ùfpll hhbaçmlaw hsnaùgmla ù≈[b ahyp ˆwkyw; in other words, what is being discussed is a partial similarity with regard to the ùfpl, i.e. the etymology. The partial nature of the similarity is due to the roots of the words being compared by metathesis. If Ibn Janà˙ had had in mind the comparison rzg/rzùg, we would have a “complete” comparison. Bacher in his Shorashim (ed. 1896) did not grasp the subtlety of the distinction and thus failed to emend the reading hrwzùgm. It would thus appear that Ibn Tibbon used an Arabic recension in which the error had already occurred. The likelihood of the occurrence of such a corruption is greater in a text written in Arabic characters (in which the letters r and z are similar, their distinction residing merely in the marking/non-marking of a diacritical dot that may be easily switched from one to the other) than in a text written in Hebrew transliteration. 67 According to Bacher’s emendation (ZDMG 1884, ibid., p. 621), the comparison is with ask and not with sk. 68 The comparison is here established according to tauto-etymological reasoning. 69 Ibn Janà˙ records this verb both at root fqn and at root ffq; it is noteworthy that the comparison by metathesis is recorded at ffq specifically! This implies that he treats the grammatical analyses for hfqn ( Job 10:1) and for wfqn (Ezek. 6:9) as of equal validity; for, if the comparison with Arabic were the decisive factor in determining the root, he would have recorded the verb at root fqn only. 70 This is based on an addendum registered by Razhabi (1966, p. 286).
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,whw[xw ,μynwyx ,twjxjxb 71,ylwtpn ,qnpm ,μydt[h ,yl[b ,wzwl[y ,qptsyw ,rksy ,(master) rwç ,[çh ,rgç ,rbwç ,rbçm ,μqyra ,(also p. 192) ˆwzgry .ˆwrç ,h[qçw ,jlçml ,wlç ,wjfçyw Uncertain cognate translation synonyms in this category ypùt / tpç ,(503/709) ˚wçla ( [ùxw )/ ˚wc ,(384/547) hprg / twbr[ • .(504/710) [çw/[wç (530/742) The uncertainty in the case of t/br:[ stems from Ibn Janà˙ relating to hymstla yp hbraqm (affinity with respect to name); and it is not entirely clear whether he is referring (a) to affinity of the signifié (that in both Heb. and Arab. the seventh sphere is denoted by a name connoting the semantic area of “glory and exaltation,” in which case, the pair twbr[ and hprg are merely non-cognates; or (b) to the affinity of the signifiants (that the two nouns are cognates). If b were the case, some remark regarding the interchange b (Heb.) /p (Arab.) could have been expected. The ˚wç/˚wç comparison is uncertain, because the word ˚wç is cited as a part of the phrase ˚wçla [ùxw and not as a unique definiens; moreover, the phrase itself serves as a secondary synonym of the principal definiens of ˚wç—namely, zrùk. Thus the comparison in fact is ˚wçla [ùxw ,zrùk/˚wç. The uncertainty in the case of tpç/ypùt, on the other hand, is rooted (a) in the comparison not being established by the unambiguous comparison term/s as well as; and (b) in Ibn Janà˙ failing to deal with the discrepancy in the third root letters of the respective entry words being compared. The typology of the [wç/[çw comparison is likewise uncertain, on account of Ibn Janà˙ neglecting to relate to the metathesis of the w and the ç (the first and second radicals) in the Arabic versus the Hebrew; here, too, the comparison term used is not an unambiguous one.
71 This accords with Bacher’s proposed emendation (ZDMG 1884, p. 627), whereas in the opinion of Neubauer, who reads lwtqm, no comparison occurs here at all.
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13.10 Implicit comparison—cognate in "Ußùl/“zero” comparison in Shorashim 13.10.1 Implicit comparisons, cognates, accompanied also by a non-cognate translation synonym ;yxqtsa ,ˆzw/ˆza ,(68 too) dwaùdm ,πla[m ,yrawwa/twra ;hsaf ,hnaùga/ˆga • /ˆwra ,hqùt ,hnwma/ˆwma ;drpna ,djatsa/ydjath ;μa[ ,hdjtm/μydja ;μdqt ,hyrwkb ,rwkab/twrwkb-μyrwkb ;rgx ,μrb ,l[b/hljb ;twbat ,ˆwra /73hrbw ;ld[ ,rb/rb 72,rqb bjax/rqb ;ùgwz ,l[b/l[b ;drdza ,[lb/yn[lb ,bnaùg ,hdùg/wytwdg ;ù≈wj ,bawg-hybaùg/abgm ;san ,qlùk ,rçb/rçb ;[fq ,yrb ˆm ,lalùg ˆm/llgb ;r[b ,hlùg/μyllgk ;˚rj ,lùglùg/wllgl ;qlga ,rdùg/rdg ;yçgm ,μwhdm/μhdn ;ljn ,rbd/μyrwbd ;-b rm ,πrùg/μprg ;rsk ,μrùg/ymrgt ;lùga ,ˆqùd/ˆqz ;bùxgt ,μgzt/μ[z ;[wzn ,anz/hzw ;πyslab . . . [bt ,bnùdtsa/μtbnzw /hY:jl æ ;bltsa ,πfùk/μtpfjw ;ˆmk ,rùdk/trdjh ;ˆwùgsm ,swbjm/çwbj ;hyjl ;yf[a ,μjr ,ˆnj/ˆnjy ;bùxg ,hymj/hmj ,ddùgt ,πlùk/πljy ;h[mtùgm twyb, yj /bçjy ;[wfqm ,μrùka/μwrj ;darùgla ˆm πnx ,lùgrj/lgrj ;rqn ,rpj/hrph ,μ[f/ytm[f ;πqs ,llùf/wnllfyw ;μmt ,lmk ,μtùk/μtj ;-b lab ,bsjta ;dya/byxy ;rùdq ,spf/çpf ;ù≈pn/afaf/hytafafw ;ùgw[bm ,ˆw[fm/yn[fm ;lka ;lwaft ,dtma/ddwmtj ;ywl ,tpl/tplyw ;b[kla ˆwd ,ˆa[ark/μy[rk ;hwq walm ;ˆams ,hzntkm ,hùkmm ˆaprùk/μyjim´ ;dspy ,rùdm/rzmm ;ùgwzt ,rhm/rhm ;ˆyf ,falm/flm ;ytwn ,halm/μhyjlmw ;rwaçt ,rmat rma . . . alm/(wbl) ;ùtydj ,lùtm/lçm ;[zn ,jsm/jçm ;˚rjt ,rmrmt/rmrmtyw ;˚ld ,˚[m/˚w[m ,μyhn/μhnyw ;˚ls ,ùghntsa/(hmkjb) ghnyw ;ˆy[ ,[wbny/y[wbm ;dm ,jtm/μjtmyw ;las ,yrùg ,rfq ,πfn/wpfn ;barfùxa ,[n[nt/μy[n[nm-[rnt ;ryazla qwp twx ,b[çt ,˚abtsa/˚bç ˚bsb ;lxatsa ;yqn/hqnw ;jartsa ,spnt/çpnyw whqz[yw ;hblx ≈ra ,zaz[/lzaz[ ;brùx ,qpx/qpsyw ;yds ,ùgays/hgws ;bçat /wytwçyf[ ;lam ,πf[/πf[y ;ùtagtsa ,μjrtsa ,πf[tsa/πf[ ;rpj ,qz[/ ,hbq[/bq[h ;bùgj ,yfg μmg/˚wmm[ ;ytp ,μalg/μl[ ;rùknm ,saf[m-saf[ ;laz ,brg/br[ :hzaùgm ,hbqa[m/bq[ raùta ,bq[/twbq[-bq[b ;r[w ,b[x ; rhça hrç[ , arwç[ / rwç[ ; πlga / lrga , lr[ ; πaxpx , brg / ybe r [
72 This accords with Bacher’s proposed emendation (ZDMG 1888, p. 307), whereas in the opinion of Neubauer, who took the word rqb following bjax to be a Hebrew word, this is not an instance of a comparison. 73 The spelling with h is in conflict with the Masoretic spelling (at Ezek. 23:47). In the glosses of MS-R to "Ußùl as well as in Shorashim, the spelling is with a. The truth is that Ibn Janà˙ most probably had in mind the spelling with a, since the location of this scriptural citation is at root arb, in which case the spelling with h may be just a copyist’s error.
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; qrp , adp / twdp ; μlùfa / μt[a / μt[n ; rùxja , d[a 74 , dt[ / hdt[w ;rsk ,ù˚ùxp/wjxp, ˆl[a ,hxpa/yjxp ;jtp ,rgp/hr[pw ;[nx ,l[p/tl[p ,[qp/tw[wqp ;dh[t ,dqpth ;ˆaxqn ,dqp/wdqpyw ;rsk ,qqç ,μxp/htmxp ;μzal ,yl[ tbùt ,ltpna,/ltltp-lytp ;qrtpa ,lz[na ,drpna/drpn ;rfp ;-b lqtna ,ˆ[ùf/ˆ[xy ;ˆynf ,lylx/lylx ;ajrp twxla [pr ,ajrm lhx/wlhxy /twlybqm ;ùdùka ,lbqt/wlbqw ;jax ,ù˚rx/jrx ;ˆsla ùtydj ,rygx/ry[x ;adtba ,μdqt/ynmydqh ;hrùxjb ,hlabq/(μ[-) lbq ;hyqaltm ,hlbaqtm ,ryxq/rxq ;bùtw ,zpq/≈pqm ;˚rj ,lqlq/lqlq ;rxbla bhùd ,μwq/hmq ,qbr/qbrm ;rybk rhn ,sar/μyçar ;μl[ ,yar/har ;wnd ,brq/brq ;qyùx ;h[wmgm hraùgj ,hmùgr/hmgrm-μgr ;rbq ,ydawla ˆfb ,hbùgr/ybgr ;lbj ˆakm ;hbjr/hbjrb ;twx ,jyzrm/jzrm ;spn ,jwr/jwr ;ryùtk am ,ywr/hwr , ç[tra / ç[rtw ; dqpt , rkp , y[r / ˆwy[r ; dydç twx , ˆr/ wnynrh ; [saw ,hlyls/hlyç ;qyrf ,lybs/ylybç 75,πwçt/πaç ;dns ,dpr/ynwdpr ;brfùxa .μkja ,ˆqta/ˆqt ;glba ,μmt/μmtk ;hmyçm ,yls/htylçbw ;hdly 13.10.2 Entries, for which an implicit comparison was reiterated ,baz ,hrg ,rçkty ,ˆyb ,πa, πla-twpylam ,hwla ,(hz) ya ,ˆwrja 76,ja • ,jpyw ,rjn ,ytrrm ,alm ,˚ry ,çayl ,wnjfw ,çrjy ,wfnjyw ,çmj ,lbj ,[rz ,jtp ,jp ,wxwpy ,rwç[ ,rç[ ,ˆyyn[ ,hqwm[h ,ry[ ,hmçn ,bqny ,hbxm-byxn , lgr - tlwlgrm , awbr , çar , harm hmwq , twmlx , dwx , wqdx , μy[bxh ,μylçy ,rkçw ,rwç ,twbç ,[wbç ,tlbç ,hkbç ,hxr ,ˆwmrw ,bkr ,ylgr .μltb ,hqçy ,hnçm ,tçlçw
74 Neubauer, in "Ußùl, marked a shaddah (doubling mark), above the d in dt[a; in this case, the t is the taw of the VIII-conjugation, the root being dd[. According to this reading, there is no implicit comparison to be registered. However, an inspection of the MSS of "Ußùl (i.e. MS Oxford, which Neubauer himself used in preparing his edition) it emerges that there is no shaddah in this word, which is to be interpreted ahdt[aw, i.e. the IV-conjugation of the root dt[. This reading reveals an implicit comparison, as registered in the text, i.e. dt[/dt[. This reading is also the more likely one because, the non-cognate ahd[aw follows the cognate and it is very unlikely that a root would be given an elucidation, by that same root, ya ahdt[aw ahd[aw. It ensues that we should here identify two distinct roots. Incidentally, this MS is consistent in marking the shaddah and as noted earlier, the word referred to is not marked with any shaddah. In MS-R, the reading is ahdh[aw, which is most probably corrupt. 75 According to the Addenda of Razhabi (1966, p. 290, addendum 45). 76 For the grammatical aspect of the comparison of this entry see Becker 1998, § 67.
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13.10.3 Entries, for which an implicit comparison is encountered once only ,rab] ,μç…a… çwna ,μae ,ˆ"a/ æ μa ,ˆ"a/i μa ˆ:a/i μa ,πwla ,ˆyaæm ,za ,μda ,zwga • ,hnhe ,yld“mi ,tl"d" ,çrg ,br…g ,ldgm ,rwbg ,hnbig ,hkreb ,drb ,μylxbh ,qhb ,twynUjh ,ynxlj ,dlj ,(?) ˚j ,hyjh ,afj ,[wrz ,rk;Z:Ti ,rykzm ,twywiz:k] ,hz ,lyl ,bbly al ,μyrmkh ,syk ,swk ,rybk ,rty ,dly ,μwy ,dy ,jbfæh ,ççj ,μyfyrj ,ss ,rçn ,rmn ,≈meh ,y[æm ˆmi ,(342) ]limU/hkalm, jwlm ,hqjm ,hjmw ,gzmh/ ,çyfp ,r/ç[ ,yqr[w ,r[r[ ,hrq[ ,ˆy:[m ,πyf[hbw ,twpf[mh ,wdb[i ,wtsh ,μymmwqtmm ,jlxt ,lxlx ,Hr…yx ,μyrhx ,μy[bx μyçr…p ,[rp ,μyjrpa ,srl ,thrb ,jawr-jwr/jwr ,jyr/jwr ,[wbr tC…qæ jyçqt ,açqm-μyawçqh ,twryrç ,lqçm ,hpç ,μç ,μymwlçlw ,ˆwflç ,hlkçm ,tbkçw ,tqjçw ,t[bçw .tjt ,tjtma-rwçm 13.11 Implicit comparison—cognate in "Ußùl/explicit comparison in Shorashim ,μWj ,twrmzm ,μynbh… ,wçlgç ,rdg ,wyl[b ,f[yw ,ˆwgra ,y[pa/h[pa ,rjea • ,rwqnb ,ˆblm ryhm ,(also in Riqmah 138) hn
13.12 Explicit comparison—non-cognate translation synonym (a) Explicit comparison, non-cognate translation synonym in "Ußùl and Shorashim
ˆbrd ,(692 qtr) ˆytw/(bhzh-) tlg ,arw ˆm/rja ,ama/wa ,(13) ˆyzrk/ryda • ,ˆyqw πaksa/çrj ,ˆas[n ,μyan blk/μyzh ,πçrùk ,rùgnk/rdrd ,zamhm/ /˚kes ,(Riqmah 59) yK/ˆ[ml ,ùglap/˚tl ,baqj/zmwk ,dq/rbk] ,lagb/μymyE
77
According to the Addenda of Razhabi (1966, p. 287, par. 26).
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,ùgapa/wjypy ,πçrùk ,hyranq ,rùgnk/r[r[ ,jaqp/rdms ,(137 hlg) [qp yrax/ˆrt ,ltyùt/wat ,hqrjm/πr:ç; ,ù˚wpay ,dqdq/ (b) Explicit comparison, non-cognate translation synonym in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim
ˆwmh ,fsq/ˆyh ,çwmùk-ùçwdùk/hydwdg ,πaùgm/bwbn ;hdhw ,hrpj/rwj-hrwam • ,djùg/çjk ,bnùg/hprf ,(reached the middle) pxn/ hxj ,dyxrp/gz ,aùtlh/ /πçn ,ydaw/ljn ,ùgw/rwnm ;dwzm ,hbrùk/fwqly ,ryafla hrbad/μy[rk ,ˆkl/yk /twllw[ ,μarp/μydy[ (dgb) ,hpn[z/rypns 78,[pq/˚kws ,hblaw/çyjs ;hs[s[ ,πçrj/tçqçq ,rmfm/(hdmh-) wq ,bwùd/πrx ,rtn/frp ,lgj/dq[ ,≈axùk ,ùgza/at ,ˆaqr/dr…c] ,[rs/grç ,rxnm/fybrç ,ylawd/ twmdç ,dùgn/ytdbr .dbr[/ˆt 79,rmg/ μwht 13.13 Explicit “semantic” comparisons at entries which are non-cognates both in "Ußùl and in Shorashim The entry pairs listed above were established for comparison on the basis of their common semantic element, whether of metonymy, metaphor, or whatever. There are several instances in which the common denominator is the very existence, in both languages, of the same noteworthy phrase. Following the pair of entry words, the connotations shared by both are indicated (in parentheses); if the basic sense is straightforward and well known, the additional connotation only is marked in parentheses. Adjoining the phrases no semantic elucidation is given; crossreference is given only for those comparisons appearing outside of "Ußùl.
ˆyhr/hwqt-rysa ,(end, grandchild) arw/μktyrjaw ,(I wish, lest) l[l/ ylwa • (darkness, a place where one is disoriented, blind) çfg/hylpam (≈ra) (Riqmah 331) rkçla lzwg/lzwg, (branch of the underworld, branch,) qr[/ydb ,
78 However, according to Bacher, loc. cit., p. 338, n. a, in the Escurial MS of Shorashim this comparison does appear. 79 In Neubauer’s ed., loc. cit., the Arabic word adjoining the comparison term ybr[labw is rag, but in all likelihood this is a printer’s error, for which, read ramg. This is evident from the word appearing as a rendering of a Heb. plural entry word twmwht. What is more, the non-cognate translation synonym recorded at the beginning of this entry as the rendering for μwht is rmg.
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,(13.2.1; will?, direction?) hmjm/hmgm ,(pigeon fledgling, any bird fledgling,) (πna) ymj/(πa) hrj ,(oppression, change) μkùf/smj ,(anklet, cable) lùnj/jj ,(inundation and) μw[/πpf ,(closed, full) [wbfm/μwtj ,(burning, overcoming) interior) dbk/bl ,(compassion stirred, be dried) ùgah/wrmkn ,(swimming, walk) πna / ˆwçl , bùxq / çql ,(begin) dùka / jql (ibid. Riqmah, ;guts, ,(urine descendants) lwb/μym .(the speech organ, a mountain or a part of it, roar [lion], sound) raz/r[n (going down, give fruit) lzn/tjn ,(blowing wind, expel) ù˚pn/bçn ,(surrender) dy yf[a/dy ˆtn ,([any other beast], (gold, glorious song) hbhùdm-bhùd/btkm-twd[-yd[ ,(beams) dpawr/twlsim ,(Riqmah 314 in the rank of my people); ymwq hwrùd yp/ym[ ˚wtb μ[fm/wypb dyx ,(provisions, livelihood) daz/hdyx ,djaw ˆasl /dja hp ,(cut, crossing water) [fq/wjlx ,(Riqmah, ibid.; . . . succeeding) dyxla (cold and wind, attic) hjwrm/hrqm ,(talk a lot Riqmah, 331) qrùk/[rq ywr/πwn (against, equal) aza/(ynwlp) dgnk (ynwlp) ,(shoulder, side) bknm/μkç .(saturate, blow wind) Instances of a lack of complete semantic correspondence: In comparing the pair lgçe (Ps. 45:10)/hyrsU (p. 703/p. 498), Ibn Janà˙ remarks that hyrs is the most suitable translation synonym (the most suitable, presumably, of the various alternative translation synonyms possessing an approximately similar connotation) for lgç, although the two terms do not refer to the same signifié (ahna ala hynarb[la hùfplla hqyqj yl[ tsyl). This might be paraphrased, according to our notions, as follows. The words lgç and hyrs are not equivalent as to all their semantic features—for instance, in their use for defining legal status and social standing: in this respect, they cannot be termed absolute translation synonyms; however, by dint of their having several basic semantic features in common (han[m yp ahnkl), they are indeed eligible, on the level of language practice, to serve as translation synonyms. Correspondence in ways of derivation: The verb form μhyapa (Deut. 32:26) (ha…p]h)i derives from ha…Pe, with the connotation: “I shall put/scatter them into a remote hap (“corner, edge”) (in the world).” By a similar “way of derivation,” the Arabic verb yxqa is derived from yxq, and qpa from qpa, with connotations equivalent to those of (ha…p]hi < ha…Pe (p. 559/p. 393).80
80
See Becker 1998, § 137.
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Likewise, the derivation of the verb ra´pe from tr…p,o hr…ap parallels the derivation of the translation synonym bùxq from byùxq (p. 560/ p. 394); likewise hL…si > tl,s/çùg > çyçùg (p. 485/p. 340). 13.14 Heb./Arab. explicit semantic comparisons in "Ußùl/“zero” in Shorashim The following are examples of non-cognate translation synonyms used with the same metaphorical connotation. The verbs amg and μhl, although constituting non-cognates, are both used in the sense of “swallowing,” and both possess the metaphorical sense, with the object ≈ra/ù≈ra: ≈ra amg/ù≈rala μhtla (speedily traversed an enormous distance, within a small measure of time, p. 138/p. 94). Additional comparisons of non-cognates in metaphorical connotations are mentioned by Ibn Janà˙, at the following entries: rykzh/πr[ (“inform/notify” or “evaluate an object as goodly and pleasant,” p. 195/ p. 131); ≈yljh/lùxùk (satiate, delight, p. 230/p. 157); -b lpn/ yp [qw (harm); tdlm hdm[/hdalwla ˜m td[q (ceased [from], p. 532/ p. 374); Ibn Janà˙ fails to note that the fundamental meanings of dm[ and d[q are opposite (for the connotation of the Arabic verb d[q is “sit”). However, it is probable that he means to say that both verbs denote “the consummation of a motion” (whether this “culmination” comes after “walking” or follows a “passing-over from one state to another state,” e.g. from standing to sitting or vice versa); gr[/ùgan (utter a sound, a voice: originally used for the sounds of certain beasts and subsequently used metaphorically for humans also; p. 547/p. 385); (hça)b qjx/ (harma)b whl (a euphemism for sexual intercourse; p. 606/p. 427); ttç/brs (one of the basic connotations of πwfpf [“dripping, light streaming”], for the metaphorical connotation “flowing and continuously moving on”; p. 752/p. 537). Mutual concurrence of two connotations of the same word: • μyrtsm/taypùk ypùk (hide oneself, seclude and also the lion’s lurking places or den in Ibn Tibbon’s rendition, p. 494/p. 347); rbæv/ … yrç (purchase and also sell, p. 700/p. 496). Mutual concurrence in extension of meaning (via metonymy or metaphor):
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• ldg/μùf[ (superiority in quantity or in quality, p. 124/p. 85) and similarly rybk/μyùf[ (p. 306/p. 211). ˚lh/yta (p. 175/p. 119; “a guest coming from afar; a flow of honey, used as a symbol for what/who comes from afar”); jx/lkça (“spotless, pure,” also “color white”; p. 606/ p. 427); rjç/yjùx (“rise early in the morning,” as well as “clarify, elucidate”; p. 715/p. 508); πk [qt/qpx (“smite, and also “make a business deal,” p. 77/p. 549). Semantic concurrence in (a) of verb and connotation (b) of a substantive derived from that verb: • jql/ùdùka: jql >jwqlm/ùdùka > hùdyùka (booty, plunder, p. 357/p. 248); hdM]ji/tmlja: dwmj > dmj/μylja μlj (gave birth to gorgeous or lovable children, p. 233/p. 159). Partial semantic concurrence: • rxb/rbt (p. 105/p. 75): rxb signifies refined gold whereas rbt denotes non-refined gold; μjl/μa[f (p. 351/p. 244): the wider connotation of μjl basically applies to “all foodstuffs,” just as is the case with Arabic μa[f (˚lùdk br[la ˆasl yp μa[fla ˆa amk); however, by and large, μjl denotes specifically “something baked from wheat or barley grain.” The two signifiants ˆsns/bfç-π[s (p. 496/p. 348) denote “branches of palm trees”; however, in Arabic parlance, π[s mostly signifies a “dried-out palm tree branch,” whereas Heb. ˆsns and Arab. bfç are used for “a fresh green palm branch.” μynypwt/πùkr (p. 768/p. 547): The Hebrew entry word (a) denotes “unfinished baking,” whereas (b) πùkr denotes “dough”; on account of the semantic affinity of the two, however, (b) is used as a rendering for (a). One Hebrew signifiant versus two signifiants in Arabic: h[t/lùx, brfùxa (p. 766/p. 546). Comparison of ways of derivation and linguistic usage:
[xrmb [xr/πxùkmlab bqùt (p. 687/p. 486): In Hebrew both the action of boring and the implement are derived from the same root, whereas in Arabic the phrase is built of two different roots. In principle, a phrase equivalent to the Hebrew might have been feasible, i.e. πxùkmlab πxùk, but for the fact that in Arabic the object of πxùk can be only what is neither a human nor the limb of a human. [lwtm/zmrqlab gwbxm sablb sblm: Hebrew uses a verbal participle ([lwtm) derived from the noun (ynç t[lwt). Arabic, in contrast, did not evolve a denominative verb from the noun zymrq, even
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though, prima facie, it might have been possible to render [lwtm by a single Arabic equivalent word, i.e. *zmrqm (p. 762/p. 544). tam/[m ˆm (from within, p. 76/p. 52).
13.15 Comparisons in Ibn Janà˙’s Opuscules In his minor works (Derenbourg, 1880), Ibn Janà˙ used comparisons only sparsely: a total of fourteen lexical comparisons. Eleven of them are in Kitàb al-Mustal˙aq; the remainder are divided up as follows: one in Risàlat al-Taqrìb wa-t-Tashìl, one in Risàlat al-Tanbìh, and one in the Kitàb al-Taswi"a. Further encountered in Mustal˙aq are four discussions on specifically grammatical topics or on issues of general “principles” in the field of Heb./Arab./Aram. comparison; there are also two grammatical comparisons in the Kitàb alTaswi"a. Relative to the enormous number of comparisons recorded later in the exhaustive work Kitàb al-"Ußùl (Shorashim), the above is indeed a meager total. However, this is not surprising, given that these treatises were designed for “filling out” and emending Óayyùj’s treatises, for elucidating his method, or to argue with his opponents; one wouldn’t expect to encounter lexical comparisons in those works. Moreover, the grammatical comparisons that are encountered, by dint of an analysis of some biblical forms and the fundamental discussions on the problem of language comparison, are astonishing in the extent of their thoroughness as well as of their profundity; As in other areas, the impression is that these sporadic discussions are nothing but a “prelude” and “blueprint” for his magnum opus on the grammar and lexicography of biblical Hebrew. Inventory of the lexical comparisons in Ibn Janà˙’s minor treatises Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. • rwj/rwj (Isa. 24:6; 29:22; Esther 1:6; and more) (rwj)/ˆbl (Mustal˙aq 79); wrxn (Zeph. 3:6)/wht (Gen. 1:2); ytmçhw (Lev. 26:32)/ydxaw ,aydx (ibid. 164); dryw (1 Kings 4:32)/w[qryw (Exod. 39:3)/wdydrw (ibid. 220); faç (Ezek. 25:15; ibid. 6)/zbyw (Gen. 25:34)/façw (ibid. 112); [çh (Isa. 6:10)/jfw (Lev. 14:42)/[wçyw (ibid. 117). Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (local non-cognate) hyj (heal), twyj (Exod. 1:19)/(ˆmykj) (Mustal˙aq 142).
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Bib. Heb./Arab. (explicit comparison) πka (Mic. 6:6) πk/πk (Mustal˙aq 149); shyw (Num. 13:30) wsh (Neh. 8, 11)/hxhx-jx (Tanbìh 262);81 jph (Isa. 42:22), wjypy (Prov. 29:8)/ù˚pn (Taqrìb 262). Bib. Heb./Arab. (implicit comparison + synonym) wnyllwt (Ps. 137:3) < lly/lyla (Mustal˙aq 240); jx (Lam. 4:7; Isa. 18, 4) jx + smç (ibid. hjx 210); lylx/lylx + ˆynf (ibid. 211; Taswi"ah 377); wllx (Neh. 13:19) – llùf + ˆ[ smçla tlaz (Mustal˙aq 213). All the above-mentioned comparisons, with the sole exception of twyj/ˆmykj (Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram., non-cognate translation synonym), are reiterated in Shorashim or, at least alluded to by a cross-reference to Mustal˙aq or to one or other of the minor treatises.
13.16 Comparative philology in Sefer haRiqmah The bulk of Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons in the Sefer haRiqmah are in the area of grammar: they are numerous, multifarious, and profound in the nature of their abstraction. (Since these comparisons are not treated in the present study, they are not here enumerated.) But here and there one encounters lexical Heb./Aram. or Heb./Arab. comparisons apropos of a discussion on grammatical comparisons or while the writer is elucidating a biblical verse or some isolated word from Scripture that may have a bearing on some general topic. For example, when discussing the issue of the doubling of some consonants beyond the requirements of grammar, he adduces the word lwmta, in which the t is sometimes doubled (dagesh, as in 1 Sam. 10:11) and sometimes not doubled (rafé ). Here, he remarks that the equivalent word acts similarly in (targumic) Aramaic, i.e. ylm…ta which is in some cases with a doubled and in other instances with a simple t (Riqmah, pp. 154, 257). On the subject of the morphological pattern of the word rbæN“ (Ps. 18, 26), he remarks that it may be compared with the Aram. word rbæg] (rbg ytya Dan. 5:11; Riqmah, p. 241). It is quite obvious that the grammatical comparison is founded on the etymological and semantic equivalence of those two words. A listing of the lexical comparisons adduced by Ibn Janà˙ in his Riqmah
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See Becker 1998, § 124.
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follows; however, instances of the comparison of grammatical particles (such as d/d in the sense of rça, p. 88) are excluded. Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. (cognate) .(192) bdnth/bdnth ,(275) dj(a)/dj ,(241) rbg/rbg • Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. local cognate: (154) ylmta/lwmta non-local cognate: .(143) çwp/ˆwçyp ,(143) lylj/hljm-ˆwlh • non-cognate: μyqa/qyxh (“present”) (112). Bib. Heb./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. .(130) brx/r[b/brx ,(327) rgp/srh/rgp • Bib. Heb./Arab. (cognates)
tyb/(war) tyb ,(22) (dph =) ˚pa/˚pa ,(ibid.) ˆai μa ,(101) ˆai/μa • ynblU/hn
˚wtb ,(59) yKæ/ˆ[ml ,(332–331) dbk/bl ,(331) (rkç) ˆyhr/(hwqt) rysa • .(314) dyxla μ[fm/wypb dyx ,(314) ymwq hwrùd yp/ym[ These comparisons are, by and large, repeated in Sefer haShorashim (e.g. dj/dj); indeed, it may be inferred that a comparison that is not reiterated is recorded for grammatical purposes only. Take the following instance: the comparison on formula Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (local non-cognate translation synonym) qyxh/μyqa had as its aim to demonstrate that Hebrew possesses the potential consonant interchange g/q, for it is on the basis of the Aramaic rendering of the word wqyxyw (2 Sam. 15:24) as wmyqaw that he concludes that wmyqaw is an alternate form for wgyxyw. Likewise, rbg/rbg (recorded in detail above) and bdnth/bdnth.
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13.17 Uncertain comparisons In "Ußùl one occasionally encounters renderings that appear to be aimed at etymological comparison but that Ibn Janà˙ nevertheless refrained from expressly recording as comparisons. Prima facie, it might be argued that he transmitted them as implicit comparisons. However, these comparisons are founded on special or complex language processes; had Ibn Janà˙ had language comparison in mind, might have been expected an explicit mention regarding these processes. I am referring to those comparisons necessitating letter metathesis such as djp/zpj, additional letters such as l[wç/bl[ùt, more than one letter interchange between the two respective pair components such as ˚sm/ùgzm, or an interchange of morphological patterns such as dydr/adr. It is an open question, whether the grammarian treated these as real comparisons or merely desired to render these entry words by similar sounding counterparts, in the same way that other philologists practised such renderings as lbh/abh ,μmz/μmh etc., where no etymological equivalence exists. Uncertain comparisons are encountered also with regard to explicit comparisons. In this category are to be reckoned those comparisons adduced in the name of others, without an explicit remark on whether Ibn Janà˙ consents to or rejects them. For example, at entry ˚al (p. 342) Ibn Janà˙ records the comparison hkalm/˚lm. The lexical (unnatural) location of this entry seems to indicate that the m of hkalm is not radical. On the other hand, he refrains from using any clear expression of rejection of or disagreement with the comparison.
13.18 Rejected comparisons Several comparisons occur in "Ußùl that Ibn Janà˙ adduced merely to rebut them or to propose alternative ways to render or elucidate them. The rejection of a comparison can be effected in a number of ways: (1) If in Ibn Janà˙’s opinion an etymological comparison has an incorrect basis of grammatical parsing, he rejects the comparison categorically. A case of this type is the comparison azml (b[r-) yzm/(anwtal) (p. 369/p. 257), since the m in b[r-yzm is radical, whereas the m in azml is an additional letter (= an affix) (in Ibn Janà˙’s words: μymla ˆal . . . htgl ˆm . . . alw azml yn[m ˆm sylw . . . yzm). hdyaz . . . azml yp. The nullification of the comparison is expressed
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by the phrase: . . . ˆm alw . . . ˆm sylw. Incidentally, this comparison is recorded in Alfàsi’s work; nonetheless, this is not an unequivocal basis for assuming that Ibn Janà˙ had Alfàsi’s opinion in mind when he used the impersonal subject in stating: μwq . . . hnwrspy. Nor is it clear that Ibn Janà˙ even knew of Alfàsi’s Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ. (2) But there are etymological comparisons that Ibn Janà˙ would not disqualify merely on the grounds of grammatical or semantic analysis: he would simply opine that the comparisons are unsuitable to the context in which the entry word happens to occur. For this reason, these comparisons are not rejected with sharply worded expressions; nor, indeed, are they totally “ruled out.” This is especially the case when an interpretation built on a comparison that is rejected by him is set forth with the endorsement of a commonly accepted authority, such as an interpretation based on a tradition to be found in rabbinic literature or in the Aramaic biblical Targum. An instance of type (2) is the comparison bhw (Num. 21:14)/bhy, i.e. a Heb./Aram. comparison “an allusion to what the Targum had said (= interpreted) and to what has been traditionally received”82 (Shorashim, p. 126): Ibn Janà˙ refrains from rebutting the comparison on grammatical grounds and avoids rejecting it, with semantic arguments, on account of his faith in the Oral Law as transmitted by the Sages: “And we shall not contradict anything of their words but we state that another way of construing is possible” (ibid.).83 Even the comparisons ˆmæ/ˆmæ and bae/bae, which cannot be disqualified etymologically, he rejects, gently as follows: “. . . except that my opinion is more inclined to interpret in the way I already told you”84 ("Ußùl, p. 372; Shorashim, p. 259); or he employs the phraseology: “but what we have stated seems more likely (= correct)” (Shorashim, p. 9). At times the received or “commonly known” interpretation proposed for the entry word is not founded on etymological comparison and Ibn Janà˙ postulates such a comparison as a basis for that interpretation. Such is the interpretation ensuing from Targum Jonathan for the verb rf[ in the phrase dwd la μyrf[ (1 Sam. 23:26), which was rendered as ˆynmk “hiding” (mustering?). Ibn Janà˙ interprets it, using the etymological equivalence with Aram. rf[, in the sense of rws or lza (turn aside, go), verbs the Targum renders by the root rf[ (p. 518/p. 365). 82 83 84
hlbqb wb habç hmw μwgrth rmaç hml zmr awhç. ùwkw rja ˆyyn[ wb twyhl ˆktyç rman lba μhyrbdm hmwam rwtsn al wnaw. ˚l htlq am yla lyma yna ala.
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For further rejected comparisons, see the chart in chapter 16, below (in col. “Ibn Janà˙,” where the symbol ≠ occurs). However, several comparisons can be traced85 that were not expressly rejected (see above, 13.2.1). It may be safely assumed that some traceable comparisons were rejected by Ibn Janà˙ because a letter interchange implied by them was unacceptable to him. For example, the interchange [/òk which is normative in Alfàsi’s comparisons (e.g. ˆwfb[y /ˆwfbòky, μkytwmx[/μkmwxòk), is not encountered in Ibn Janà˙’s records and in all likelihood was unacceptable to him; thus such comparisons can indeed be treated as “rejected.”
13.19 Nomenclature for languages and comparative terminology The comparison terms will be set out precisely as phrased by Ibn Janà˙, with their counterparts as rendered in Hebrew by R. Judah ibn Tibbon. Adjoining each term, one sample entry in which the term occurs is noted as well as the total number of records of the entry (or of its translations) in parentheses. The statistics are approximately correct, if not precisely so. If Ibn Tibbon omitted a term in his translation, this omission is marked by the symbol 0.86
85 I have excluded from the present discussion Ibn Janà˙’s rejection of interpretations whose basis is something other than (etymological) language comparison, even if the non-relevance to language comparison was patently clear throughout— i.e. even “from the start” as tsq (Ezek. 9:3), which is rendered by Targum Jonathan asqnp, whereas Ibn Janà˙ rejects this rendering and proposes instead an interpretation that is likewise unconnected with any equivalent etymology, Heb./Arab. or Heb./Aram. (see tsq, p. 639; Shorashim, p. 450). The exclusion of these materials accords precisely with the decision to exclude from this study such citations from the Targum as have a bearing on exegesis, rather than on philology, such as lza (I Sam. 9:7) (p. 31/p. 19); wmjn (Isa. 40:1) (p. 424/p. 297); lpt (Ezek. 13:10) (p. 767/p. 547); ˚ypt (Ezek. 28:13) (Shorashim, ibid.). 86 The terms used by Ibn Janà˙, on those occasions when he avails himself of the Aramaic Targum for exegetical purposes do not belong here, although they show a similarity to comparison terms. For instance, the expression . . . bhùd aòdh yla hlwqb μwgrtla which is common in comparisons (see below), is used for purposes of exegesis, too (hlp[, p. 539): ˆyla lk tyl ˆyrma ˆwhblb ay[yçr ah. The usage in the given instance as well as in others of a similar nature, is thus not included in our “terms and phrases of comparison.”
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The names of the languages At times, when Ibn Janà˙ treats Heb. and Aram. jointly, he fails to designate each of the languages separately but uses for both the general appellation: ˆynaslla (entry ˆkç) or ˆytglla (entry r[n ,rts)/ twnwçlh ytç. Ibn Tibbon once (at twbwalt) adopts the general appellation at a place corresponding to that where Ibn Janà˙ specifies separately the names for the Hebrew and the Arabic. Names for Hebrew ;(dxm ,[z[z) (t)yrb[h ˆwçl(h)/(h)ynarb[la ,ˆaslla ,hglla ,ynarb[la• .(ttç) 0 A certain aspect of Hebrew: tyrb[h hlmh/hynarb[la hùfplla ;rsa) tyrb[h ˆwçlh/ynarb[la lwq • .(lgç) Hebrew speakers: .(ldg ,μy[lwtm ,rfq) 0 ;(twice + ˆwçl ;ˆbl) μ(y)yrb[h/ˆwynarb[la • Names for Arabic .(dxm ,[z[z 7 times) (t)ybr[-h ˆwçl-h/(13 times) hybr[la • (rwmjy) br[ ˆwçlb ;(hyla) ybr[b/(4 times) ybr[la • ;11 times) br[h ˆwçl ;(qtr ,sh ; 7 times) br[ yrbd/br[la μalk • 0 ;(μhyapa) μnwçlb ˆk μyçw[ br[hw ;(wrkht) br[h .(lxa) ;(wat .(ytdmj; 7 times) ;(hmj ;3 times) ybr[h ˆwçlh ;(μtk ;6 times) br[h ˆwçl/br[la ˆasl • .(-b lpn; 7 times) 0 ;(alm ,tls) -l br[h (μy)rmwa ;(zmwk ,rfq) ybr[h .(grç ,πçn ,rwnm) 0/ybr[la ˆaslla • .(ˆt ,ˆwyx ,fqn) 0 ;(hdyx) ybr[b ;(μx[ ,μy ,rçb) br[h ˆwçl/br[la hgl • μyrmwa ;(jyph) br[h yrbd ;(wlçt ;4 times) br[h rmam/br[la lwq • 0 ;(twrap) μnwçlb br[h ;(tw[) hzh ˆwçlh μyaybm br[h .(hrj) br[h .(ttr ;8 times) .(μhyapa ;22 times) br[h ˆwçl ,(μhytwrkm ;times 19) br[h μyrmwaç hm ;16 times) ybr[h ˆwçl-h ;(≈anyw ;18 times) br[h ˆwçl/ybr[la ùfplla • ;(2 times + μyqza) br[h (μy)rmwaç hm ;(dbz) br[h yrbd ;(hjwsk .(4 times + πnk) 0 ;(hjnm ,twpyfn) ybr[ ;(wttwht) tybr[h hlmh .(tljk) ybr[h ˆwçl/ybr[la ùfpl • .(in quoting R. Sherira Gaon ,ˆbrd) la[mçy ˆwçl/la[mçy ˆwçl • Arab dialects .(ryn) 0/μhtagl ù≈[b ;(rwnm) 0/hym[la hglla •
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Speakers of Arabic dn[ (97 times, with a verb or the particle) br[/br[la • Speakers of Arabic vernacular .(tmj) 0 ;(hmdç) ˆwmdç ;(hyla) μ[h/hma[la .(rdrd) 0 (rwçat) br[ ˆwçlb/andn[ .(r[r[) 0/andlb yp .(rdrd) lbbb/qar[la yp .(jlç ,srh) 0/ˆmyla lha
• • • • •
Arab. grammarians: .(≈wx[n) . . . ˆyçrpm/ˆwrspmla ;(twhma) br[h ymkj/br[la aml[ • Arabic treatises
br[la hgl (yp tarqw) ;(twllw[) 0/br[la hgl btk ;(ˆt) 0/br[la btk • .(μy)ybr[h ˆwçlb (ytdmlw)/ Names for Aramaic
tymra-h/ynayrs-la • This term is usually meant to apply to Aramaic in general and not specifically to a certain expression or aspect (such as etymological or semantic) or to a certain literary corpus of Aramaic. In this meaning the term is used about fifty times (e.g. lbq ,rbzg ,μrg ,lfb ,sna). .(≈wq) μwgrt ;(rb[ ,çbk ,bg ,wla) μwgrth ˆwçl/ynayrsla • .(ddg) tymra/ynayrsla hgl • μrmab tymral ,tymrah yrbd ,tymrah rmam/ ynayrsla + lùùwq • refers to a certain Aramaic work including the Targum, about 30 times,) .(h[tçh ,dqp e.g. μwgrt-h/μwgrt-la • refers to the Aramaic translations of the Bible; in this sense the term is used about 390 times) .(rwk ,hbhdm e.g. .(7 times e.g. tljç) 0/(17 times e.g., rwbf) μgrtmh/μwgrtla • .(fb[ ,lay) μgrtmh ;(rdms ,hryf) μwgrth l[b/μwgrtla bjax • .(πçn) wnytwbr ;(lj) lùùzr/lyawala • .(8 times+ ççq) (lùùz) wnytwbr yrbd/lyawala μalk • wnytwbr yrbd ;(rymah) μynwmdqh wrma ;(rbç) wnytwbr ˆwçl/lyawala lwq • .(awpsm ,˚s ,μrz ,μyrwdh ,hxb)
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Aramaic books ,trwxb ,twlypa) dwmlt/dwmlt ;(see above) μwgrt ;(dwr[) laynd/laynd • ;(see above) lyawala μalk ;(hylç rhdt) dwmlt ˆwçl/dwmlt-la ;(rwrp .(ˆbrd) μynwagh çwryp/ˆnbrd ançyl Comparative terms and expressions Regarding the manner in which terms of comparison link up with language nomenclature and with other additional, linking words, see above (3.1.2) The term hsnaùgm serves primarily to denote etymological concord.87 In the opinion of the Hebrew grammarians this “automatically” implies semantic concord; in fact, this term is occasionally adopted for semantic, non-etymological, comparison, as aùdh snaùg ambrw yn[mla ([wç, p. 710) (Ibn Tibbon renders: ˜yn[b hmwd hyhyç rçpaw as “it is feasible that it is similar in the meaning,” p. 504). Thus the term can be applied to the comparison of two signifiés of the same language88 or for a universal language phenomenon and not restricted to a linguistic link between two languages—i.e. one that is established by comparing Heb. to Arab. Such is the comparison maintained between the semantic components (a) “detachment, tearing” and (b) “empty space, void” (qtr/qtr, p. 691/p. 488): hhbaçmw hsnaùgm yçla yp llùklaw lxtmla yçla [afqna ˆybw. Enumeration of terms: (hmwd/(different inflections) snaùgm • ;(about 80 times in the comparison to Arabic and 70 times in the comparison to Aramaic) br[hw ;(hlb) bwrq (7 times) 0 ;(wngrtw) ghwn ˆwçlh hzw ;(rçj) ˆwçlh μylypm .(ˆmk) wnmm rzgnw . . .-l hmwd/hnm qtçmw . . .-l snaùgm • .(yjlçm) 0 ;(μyd[ ,lsj) hmwd/snaùg • .(jyph) hmdy ;(8 times e.g. hha) hmwd/snaùgy • .([wç) whwnymd/ansnùg • 87 Óayyùj in his introduction to his grammatical treatises ( Jastrow, 1897, p. 3) explains that he intends to set out the materials according to ≈ùkçw [wn ,snùg. According to his definition (ibid.), and according to Ibn Janà˙’s explanation in his preface to Mustal˙aq, snùg refers to “root.” This implies that hsnaùgm applies primarily to equivalence as regards the root and, as a consequence, to the meaning or one of the meanings of the root. 88 lwql snaùgm can apply to comparison with Rab. Heb. too: . . . (Ps 41:2) ld la lykçm yrça . . . (Avot 3:1) μyrbd hçlçb lktch lyawala lwql snaùgm whp ("Ußùl, p. 721).
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.(hqlbm ,≈anyw) wtwa hmdm yna ;(πsj) hmdn ;(ç[r) whmda/hsnùga .(twbwalt) wwtçh/hsnaùgmla tqptaw .(≈mj) μymwd/ˆysnaùgtm txq/hhbaçmlaw hsnaùgmla ù≈[b ;(qwtr) ˆwymd txq/hsnaùgmla ≈[b .(ttr) 0 ;(hrzg) ˆwymd ,rpç) hmwd/qpawm ;(arbs-rbç) μyksm/qpawy ,(dxm) ˆwymd/89qapw 0 ;(tjn) hmwd ;(r[n) wmyksh/tqpta ;(rts) 0/hqpawm ,(hrç .(twbwalt) wwtçn/hsnaùgmla hòdh tqpta ;(hylpam)
• • • • •
The term qaqtça is not restricted in its use by Ibn Janà˙ to etymological derivation but can be applied also to semantic attribution. One encounters instances in which Ibn Janà˙ expressly juxtaposes this term to yn[m, as e.g.: ryg ˆmp hlybn hpyùgll br[la qaqtça amaw [aptrala yn[m ˆm hwqtça μhna yn[a ,yn[mla aùdh ("Ußùl, p. 402); likewise: μdqtmla yn[mla ˆm qtçm whw (çrp, p. 589); also at fjç (p. 713). At times, the word yn[m is missing but the phrase ˆm qtçm adjoins some other word expressing the idea of semantic substance of the signifié, as raçtnala ˆm qtçm (jrp, p. 586): the latter signifies that the entry word μyjrpa is semantically connected with jrp in the sense of “radiation and display” (raçtna). Likewise: am lùtm aùdhw
μhdn[ qpxla ˆal dyla yl[ dyla brùx ˆm [ybla hqpx br[la tqtça brùxla ([qt, p. 770). In other words, the concept hqpx (business deal) is derived, semantically, from the concept of qpx-brùx (striking > handshake [as commitment, pledge]; metonymic grounds). Enumeration of occurrences: ˆyn[b . . . hrzgh/djaw . . . qaqtçalaw ;(ˆma) hrzgh wmk/qaqtça . . . lùtm • rzgn/yn[m ˆm . . . qaqtça ;(bfj) . . . trzgw ;(ˆkç) 0/qaqtça ;(çrp) rja
89 One of the connotations of qpta is “volitional and intentional consent or agreement.” For the comparison terms built on this root, this connotation is incompatible. In the comparison terms the use of this root, is in the sense “co-incidental congruence” existing between two phenomena within the two languages under discussion. Ibn Janà˙ is greatly enthused by a certain qapta between Hebrew and Arabic regarding sh> shyw/hx > hxhx: hyybr[la hgllaw hyynarb[la hglla yp qaptala aùdh bùg[a amp); Risàlat al-Tanbìh, p. 262). Had there been a conscious mutual language concord, so to speak, between the users of the two languages, his enthusiasm would be out of place. The expressions μyksm and wmyksh employed by Ibn Tibbon, in his rendition of the above-mentioned term, also refer to coincidental consonance only.
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;([qt ,rf[) 0/tqtça am ;(rf[) wtwa rwzga/hqtça ;(hlbn) 0; (ˆg) ˆyn[hm . . . ;(hbhdm) 0 ;(6 times + sp) rzgn/. . . qtçm ;(tls) ˆm wtwa ˆyrzwg/ˆm qtçt .(ˆmk) wnmm rzgnw . . . l hmwd/hnm qtçmw . . . l snaùgm .(rbç) 0 ;(llf ,ˆza) . . . m jqln/. . . ˆm ùdwùkam • 0/hbç ;(μym) μyrmwa br[h ;(μx[ ,çql ,μça ,tyrja) . . . hmwd/hybç • 0 ;(hryb) hmwd/hbçm ;(wttwht) wtwa hmdm yna/hhbça ;(db) hmwd/hbçy ;(ˆkç) ù≈[b ;( ryzrz) ˆwymd txq/ hhbaçmla ù≈[b ;( rtk) hmwd/ hbaçm ( tam) .(hrzg) ˆwymd txq/hhbaçmlaw hsnaùgmla .(ˆrq ,rfq ,hjnm) -l hwç/ -l wasm • .(ˆwrç) 0/òfplla hsnaùgmw yn[mla hqbafm • .(πxr) -l hmwd/ˆyb hsnaùgmw hlkaçm • hbraqm ;(fmq) ˆyn[ç . . . ˆwçll bwrq/yn[m braq ;(ybx) -l bwrq/braqy • .(dçl ,rgç) 0/ˆabraqtm (ˆaòfplla) ;(twbr[) 0/hymstla yp .(laç) . . . axmn/ùgròkm . . . ùgaròka • .(μx[) ghnm wb μyghwn/yrùgm . . . hyp yrùg • ghnm awh . . . ghnmw ;(jql) ≈pjk . . . wb ≈pjhw/. . . bhùdm . . . hyp bhùdmlaw • zmr ;(jçm :ˆwgk X 10) ˆwwk ;(wat) hfn / bhd (bhùdmla aùdh yla), (ˆwçl) t[dw ;(X 3 + r[n) ˚rd ayhw ;(lylk) çryp ˆkw/bhùdm (whw) ;(πwn) 0 ;([q[q) .(rqy) 0 ;(rdms :ˆwgk X 5) t[dh l[/bhùdm yl[-yp ;(lçn ,ssn ,μymy) .(rkz) t[d awhw/yn[m whw • .(-b qjx) 0/ù≈rgk • ;(ç[r) 0/. . . πyrxt ;(rmkn) çmtçm rçak . . . çmçm/πyrxtk . . . hprxtm • .(rybk) 0/πrxtt Particles of comparison 14 times e.g.) 0 ;(about 60 times e.g. [yqr) ˆkw/aùdkhw ,˚lùdk • .(ryn ,hrwam 0 ;(12 times e.g. ˆbl) rçak ;(17 times e.g. çrj) (-ç) wmk/amk • .(hla) ˆkw ;(7 times e.g. ˚lh) .(hyrf) 0 ;(tljç) wmk ;(2 times) rçak / -k • lùtm ypw ;(hmj) -ç rwb[b ;(ggj) rçak ;(9 times e.g. [z[z) wmk/lùtm • .(hd[) 0 ;(dgnk) hzkb/adh .(2 times) rçak ;(rja) . . . hml hmwd hz/. . . am yl[ • .(lgç) ttyma l[/hqyqj yl[ • Other particles (above, 3.1.2.1) .(ddg) -bw/yp dùgw • .(fybrç) -b hyhyç çyw/yp ˆwwky • times, e.g. hnyps) -b awh ˆkw ;(46 times, e.g. hyla) -b/(aòxya) yp ,-b yhw • lxa ;(ynjçpyw) -l hmwd awhw ;(rwmjy) -b wl μyarwq ˆk ;(lgm) ˆwçlbw ;(2
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.(e.g. 17 times μwht) 0 ;(μç) l[ lpwn . . . hzh ˆwçlhw ;(wrkht) . . . ˆwçlbw ;(tmj ,rpk) ˆyrwq br[hw ;(13 times, e.g. yaxax) lxa/dn[ • .(4 times, e.g. çql) 0 ;(llh ,[dg) . . . ˆwçll hmwd ;(dqdq ,rwnk) -b ,(l[y) .(lyçk) ˆkw ,(6 times) awhw ,ayhw/whw ,yhw • ,(2 times + jx) -l hmwd ;(flp ,sh) -b ;(14 times, e.g. μjr) -m ,ˆm/ˆm • .(1 time ytdmj) 0 .(çwqlm) yk ,([rt) -ç ynpm/ˆal • .(tbhlç ,çwqlm) yk/ˆap • .(yk) 0/yn[m yp • Other connecting verbs (above, 3.1.2.3) :(about 270 times in a comparative context and twice as lùùwq • a comparative term or its substitute) /-yp lwqy ;(dwd ,rpa ˆwla ;(about 100 times, e.g. hqç) rma/hyp laq • rmay/(yp) laqy ;(3 times, e.g. [wç) μgrtm ;(9 times e.g. μybbç) -b rma 0 ;( jlç , rdrd ) arqnw ;(twice + rwçat ) ˆyryq ;( twlypa ) ˆyrmaw ;( hyla ) /ˆwlwqy ;(rhdt) 0;(6 times, e.g. rbd) -b rman/ . . . yp . . . lyq ;(8 times e.g. -b lpn) l[ hzh ˆwçlh μylypm ,(20 times + hp) μyrmwa/(br[la lwqt) ;(lj) warq ˆwçlb ;(rbx) ˆwçll hmwd awh ;(μhyapa ,μrg) (ˆk) μyçw[ ,(˚pç) μyaybm ,(dqn) ,ljz) warq ,(rmkn) lxa ;(31 times, e.g. dbr ,rypns) 0 ;(lwz) ˆwçlm (πwn) .([rt ,ryn) ˆyarwq ;(ddg ;(5 times + μçr ,çgr) yrbd ;(jxn) rmam ;(wngrtw) lxa/(br[la) lwq • ,rhn) 0 ;(6 times, e.g. hwg) ˆwçl ;(12 times, e.g. hd[) rma rça ,rmaç hm ;(17 times, e.g. hqn ,lay) μrmab ,wrmab-ˆm/(μ)hlwq yp-ˆm ;(6 times, e.g. ˚rj .(tljç) rmanç ;(bwbn ,hryb) μgrtç wmk/(μgrtmla) lwq ;(μtkm ,yd[) μyrmwa ;(8 times, e.g. μylax) -l ˆyrwq ,μyarwq/ymst ,ymsy • .(çql) 0/hymst ;(dwdg) 0 ;(çrp) whwarq/tms ,(ˆyryç ,çr[) arqn ;(rfq ,hylpam) 0;(rwb[b) ghnmk ;(sna) ghwn ;(çql) çwmyç/lam[tsa • /lm[tst ;(ynypwt 0 ;(jpf) ˆwçl wlyph ;(rfn) μyrmwa ;(ˆbl) wçmç/tlm[tsa μyaybm ;(lfb) -b çmçm ,(tyb) ,çmtçm/lm[tsm ;(ykh–yk) 0;(ˆma) μyçmtçm .(μwtkyw) wtwa .(μy[lwtm) 0/zùgya .(lzwg) wbyjrh/[stt .(πpf) 0/πxt .ùq 0/hb tmlkt μwgrt ;(fçq ,r[r[ ,hryf) μgrt/μgrt ;wb μyçrpm/(ˆwrspmla hmgrtw
• • • • •
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.(see above pp. 358–59) .(ttç) 0/ra[tsm ;(h[wxqm) l[ . . . hlmh tlpm/tra[tsaw • .(ˆwmh) 0/yn[mla hb dary • .(μyzh) wb μlçm μyaçwn/ . . . lùtmla hb brùxt • .(ldg) 0/zaùga • .l[ . . . lpn/yl[ [qy • .([zy ,rwbf) -b zmwr/yla . . . raça • .(rzmm) çwryph hz wb çryp/jrçla adhb hb μkj • hrhaùf yl[ ;(tljk) . . . awhç wmk/(ybr[la ùfplla ˆm) hrhaùf yl[ • .(see Bacher 1884, 71) (rwmj) wfwçpk/ Comparison terms used by R. Judah ibn Tibbon in the category of implicit comparisons> explicit comparisons (above, 13.11) .(21 times, e.g. arp ,jlp ,çlg ,l[b) br[h ˆwçlb ,ˆm • .(tpjç ,sdrp ,rgws ,hnbl) ybr[ ˆwçlb ;(rpa) ybr[ ˆwçlw • .(12 times, e.g. bx ,ˆwgra) ybr[bw ,(tqprtm ,qrj ,ayça) br[h ˆwçll hmwd • ,rdg) br[ ˆwçlb μy-arqn-h μhw ,awhw ;(h[pa) ybr[b arqnh awhw • .(wlç ,lça) br[-ybr[b wl ˆyrwqç ;(twrmzm çwrp ˆwçl br[h μylypm ˆkç ;(3 times, e.g. f[b) br[h lxa • .(çjr) l[ hlmh .(tlbç) l[ . . . br[h ˆwçlb lpwn • Comparison terms used by R. Judah ibn Tibbon in the category “Zero” > “Comparison” (above ,6.2) ;(39 times, e.g. ybr[-h ˆwçlb-w ;(62 times, e.g. bgj ,rpg ,tyrb) ybr[b(ùw) • ,μkrk ,tlby) br[b ;(14 times e.g. fhb ,jldb) br[ ˆwçlb lfrga ,byba) ;(6 times, e.g. hpna ,lbj ,rwk) ybr[ (ˆwçl)b . . . ˆyrwq ;(6 times, e.g. lmk arqn ;(21 times, e.g. μyfyrj ,μyçat ,hpya ,hdysj) (y)br[ (ˆwçl)b arqn ,(rx[) br[h μyrmwa ˆk wmkw ;(lbn) br[h rmwa rçak ;(hnblj) ybr[b wmç .(ˆtywl ,dprs) 0 Comparison terms in marginal glosses of the MS-R μwgrtla laqw ;(hf[ ,lyawh ,ˆyh) μwgrt w/whw/˚ldkw . . . μwgrtla hyp laq • ,(brs) μwgrtw ,(lyfm) μwgrt ùda ;(hrqh ,hr[ ,ˆxh) μwgrtla yar whw ;([bçn) . . . br[la lwqt am hbç aùdhw ;(ˆgd) ybr[la ùfpll snaùgm ;(fam) μwgrt amaw ;(dba) hybr[la lwq lxala aùdh ˆm bwlqm ;(qtn) ybr[la ˆm byrq ;(πy[s) .(bwrk) ybr[lab whw
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The remaining comparisons in MS-R are all implicit comparisons. The terms registered above correspond well with Ibn Janà˙’s scheme of terminology; however, they are acceptable to other grammarians, too. Nonetheless, it is discernible that the term μwgrtla yar whw occurring three times in MS-R is nowhere to be found in Ibn Janà˙’s records. Further, the term hùfplk (Bacher, 1884, p. 71) is not encountered in the original comparisons of Ibn Janà˙. Conclusion The names for the several languages in Ibn Janà˙’s records are more or less systematic and firmly established. Aramaic is designated ynayrs, whereas targumic Aramaic is termed also μwgrtla hgl. (R. Sa'adiah, for example, likewise gave it a “special” additional designation, hgl yfbnlaw ˆyynadskla). The name for Arabic, likewise, is (h)ybr[ (combined with hgl, ˆasl, etc. or not combined). On just one isolated occasion, he deviates from this nomenclature and refers to Arabic as la[mçy ˆyçl, but the instance concerned is a citation, from the works of R. Sherira Ga"on. The terms most prevalent in comparisons are hsnaùgm (occurs about 150 times); μwgrtw, in various combinations (about 400 times); -b/yp (about 70 times). The remaining terms are of rarer occurrence, several of them being encountered once only (e.g., hlkaçm, hqbafm, . . . ùgarùka ,yrùg yrùgm). Of main interest is that no essential difference exists between the several terms and they all are meant to denote the same thing. Even the term -l ywasm does not have a stronger connotation of equivalence of compared entry words than snaùgm and the like. Connecting verbs are used systematically, too: there are about 270 instances, the large majority constituting forms of lùùwq, in contrast with only 2 instances of yla . . . raça as well as an isolated usage of hb dary and some similar expressions. In contrast with Ibn Janà˙, R. Judah ibn Tibbon was more flexible in his use of terms. For example, the verb lm[tsa in its various forms is rendered by ibn Tibbon by no less than five different verbs: çmyç, çmtçh, ghn, rma, . . . l[ ˆwçl wlyph, l[ . . . ta μyaybm); further alterations occur, but these generally do not distort the original connotation intended by Ibn Janà˙. At times, however, Ibn Tibbon’s term fails to accurately reflect the wording in the original. The rendering tymrah ˆwçlh of Ibn Tibbon does not unambiguously reveal which of the following appears in the original: (a) . . . hglla hynayrsla —i.e. a general epithet of language, (b) ùfpl ynayrs, relating
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to a certain Aramaic expression, or (c) ynayrsla lwq, denoting a citation from an Aramaic corpus: the same expression of Ibn Tibbon translates all three, alike. (See, for example, the terminology in the original and in the translation, for entries rpç, ˆrq, hwg). The terms are used in comparisons of cognate and non-cognate translation synonyms, indiscriminately. Even the terms hsnaùgm and qaqtça, whose use is primarily for etymological comparison, are used also for semantic, non-etymological comparisons. A study of Ibn Janà˙’s terminology further enables one to ascertain his sources for the linguistic text materials he discusses. The term μwgrt by and large signifies the Aramaic of the Targum. In contrast, however, no Arabic term exists to denote “one specific Arabic literary corpus”: the few terms of this type have generic application, to br[la btk, ˆwrspm, and the like. On the other hand, certain terms indicate quite clearly that Ibn Janà˙ made use of various dialects of the Arabic language; I refer to such terms as hglla, μhtagl ù≈[b hyma[la and, in some further respect, ˆmyla lha, andn[ (i.e. the Andalusian vernacular), etc. The extent of etymological or semantic concord between the entry words compared is reflected in some way in the terminology, too. As an example, hsnaùgmla ù≈[b expresses merely partial or incomplete equivalence. Other expressions, outside of the array of comparison terms, to some extent reflect the resoluteness of the comparison. An expression such as adùg byùg[ (entry rts, dxm), which conveys enthusiasm, implies an assertive determination of concord. An expression such as hynayrslaw hybr[la hgll hsnaùgm hglla hùdhw (entry hbn), on the other hand, is no more than a colorless term of comparison, implying no appraisal. Hundreds of comparisons were established by Ibn Janà˙ by objective terms, but they would all seem to contain a resolute determination of comparison. These should all be distinguished from another group of terms that, expressly or allusively, point to several alternative paths of comparison or of elucidation, of which one path is to be preferred. To this group belong: ,lgç ,μybbç) qylaw ,(hrzg ,hywr ,≈anyw) hyp ylwalaw ;(wla) yyla amhbjaw • ,hqn ,lyfn ,lay ,dwg ,lba :and similarly) ˆsjalaw ,(μybbç) lùxpa ,(ˆwrç .(hhn) brqalaw .(hdr ,hxq ,hbwz[ Several comparisons are openly recorded as a matter of feasibility only ,μhyapa ,hn[ tjn ,ddwmyw ,sam ,çpj ,ljz ,ybhbh ,μrg lyla) zaùgw ,zwùgyw • ,ddyh ,πa) ambr ,(jpf ,brz) ˆkmy ,(wnyllwtw ,qqç ,wlçt ,dç ,twtp ,jyph
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,[ry) aòxya lmtjt yhw ,(fmq ,μyd[ ,rks ,twpyfn ,lsj ,twrwmhm ,wrkht .(fbly One seems to be the least assertive of all: .(ç[r ,ççq ,≈wq ,hkr[m ,çbk ,μrg ,hnwpa ,μyfa) ˆa d[by amw •
It goes without saying that some expressions imply reservations about or actual rejection of a comparison: (and others ,zng) yna ala ,(hla) amaw.
13.20 Ibn Janà˙’s sources Bacher (Shorashim, indices 1–3, 5–7, pp. 553–59; ibid., p. xl), WilenskyTéné (Riqmah, indices b-h; z-j, pp. 489–93, 670–71; also Riqmah, p. 17 n. 2) enumerated all the locations at which Ibn Janà˙ adduced statements and materials in the name of his predecessors, including R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, R. Judah ibn Quraysh, Mena˙em, Dunash, and R. Hai Ga"on, or which he recorded without indicating his source. True, this does not necessarily imply that Ibn Janà˙ had actually seen the works of all the above-mentioned writers. Of R. Sa'adiah’s works, for example, he certainly did not know of Kutub al-Lugha (Skoss, 1955, p. 34, n. 88; 66; Téné, 1972, p. 552 and n. 17); of R. Hai’s works, he did not know of the comprehensive lexicon to the Bible and to rabbinic literature, Kitàb al-Óàwi (Dérenbourg, 1880, introduction, p. 106 and n.).90 Moreover, scholars have long noted that the Aramaic Targum to Ketuvim was unavailable to Ibn Janà˙.91 Dérenbourg (1880, p. 105 and n. 3) further assumed that Ibn Janà˙ was not acquainted with the Karaites’ treatises; indeed, it seems that Ibn Janà˙ knew of neither Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ of David b. Abraham Alfàsi nor Kitàb al-Mushtamil 'ala al-ußùl wa-l-Fußùl fì, l-Lugha l-'Ibràniyya of Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Ibn Al-Faraj. This is salient from the fact that certain comparisons in Ibn Janà˙’s records that are attested earlier in Alfàsi’s work or in the work of Abù Faraj Hàrùn are set out as his own, by the expression ydn[ zyaùgw or ana hqtça yùdla
90 It is noticeable that a unique citation from this lexicon appears in the Rouen MS of Ußùl (p. 15). However, since it is missing both from the Oxford MS and from the Hebrew version (Shorashim, p. 9 and note b), is obviously a later addition. 91 Bacher, REJ 1882, p. 273; Wilensky, Riqmah, p. 503, n. 12. See also above, 3.10.1; 9.12.1.2.
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or some similar phrase. This is the case, for example, at entries rf[ ("Ußùl, p. 518) and hjç (ibid., p. 713). At entry drp Ibn Janà˙ even boasts that nobody before him had reached the elucidation of the biblical verse . . . twdrp wçb[ ( Joel 1:17), as he had explicated it, i.e., on the basis of the comparison çb[/sb[. Yet this very comparison is already attested in Alfàsi’s lexicon (rb[, p. 365; çt, p. 754). True, the explication of the verse in its entirety as interpreted by Ibn Janà˙ does not accord completely with Alfàsi’s explication, but, at least as to the comparison çb[/sb[ they have the same opinion. Clearly, if Ibn Janà˙ had known of the Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ, he would not have accorded himself the credit of pioneering these comparisons. Likewise, Ibn Janà˙ (Kitàb al-Luma', p. 33; Riqmah, p. 44) treats the analysis [wdm = hm+ [wd as his own interpretation. But just this analysis can be found before him in Kitàb al-Mushtamil.92
13.21 The unique nature of Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons By the language comparisons he adopted, Ibn Janà˙ made practical application, of the great discovery that Óayyùj had revealed in the theory of the Hebrew root. Herein lies Ibn Janà˙’s unique, fundamental, and distinctive contribution to Hebrew lexicology, etc. It was solely by means of Óayyùj’s novel discovery that Ibn Janà˙ was able to check out the comparisons of his predecessors and exclude those that were not compatible with the “tri-literal root” system. Ibn Janà˙ rejected such comparisons as (Heb./Aram.) yzm/azml (above, 13.18), a comparison recorded by Alfàsi as well as trwgal/arga (recorded also by Ibn Quraysh). Some other comparisons, founded on the pre-Óayyùj root theory, were not explicitly ruled out by Ibn Janà˙. However, an inspection of his comparison listings demonstrates that no mention at all was made of comparisons pertaining to that category, which can only mean that Ibn Janà˙ treated them as rejected comparisons without even feeling the need to state this fact, and treating their rejection as self-understood. Very probably, this can be safely assumed for the following comparisons from Alfàsi’s records /hd[y ,hlwlw/tll ,aùxj/≈xj ,ùtj/çwjy ,lj/wlwjy ,pùg/wpygy ,ˆwks/˚ça • ,rtwt/rtnl ,πwçt/πçn ,yrùg/μyrgnh ,jwra/jwrm,ù˚aùkm/twjml ,r[tsa /wxqh ,ˆybxtnm/hyb,xø ,çytpt/çpb ,hyç[/ç[ ,aç[/hçç[ ,ayar[/μypyr[ 92
Bacher, 1895, p. 233 and n. 6; Abramson 1975, pp. 127–28 and notes 1–6.
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/jgy ,tlyfnw/lfyw ,ynhtn/wnyhtw (and Heb./Arab.) ˚çwça/˚ytaççw ,y≈qn wkd (:and from Ibn Quraysh) ;aytnp/htpt ,wçwp /μtçpw ,(abrq) yjygm Riqmah 184, treats this verb as a hollow) rrùdt/wrz ,wmah/wmh ,qd/ /jypy ,ù≈g/μx [øw ,μhlanm /μlnm ,hhwna/whwnaw ,rùg/μrgIhw ,(Ibn Janà˙, and) yktsa/tksh (and Heb./Aram.) aùxqna,/yxnq ,ù≈p/hxpy ,awjpty .qpn/qpyw ,af[/fy[ ,af[/hfw[m ,td[/μyd[ ,jsnty/ytyjsw (from Mena˙em Other comparisons Ibn Janà˙ rejected on account of their lacking semantic concord such as: jpfw/˚hw/ytjpf ,ˆwl[yt/ ytllw[w ,ˆçqn/çqn etc. (above, 2.6) and Heb./Ar. ,rb/rb (Gen. 45:23) ,ˆawyk/ˆwyk, hlybn/hlbn It was noted earlier (13.3) that Ibn Janà˙ maintained comparisons only if they contained some element of particularity; thus he saw no reason to establish comparisons for extremely frequent entry words such as wa, la, and the like. However, Ibn Janà˙’s originality and specialty are noticeable above all in the 342 comparisons he himself devised. For these were born of his own profound research and not some rule of thumb formulated by another scholar nor a critique he had launched against some rival philologist. These comparisons reveal the facts that his predecessors had overlooked and that he undertook to reveal to scholarship. To substantiate this statement, I have selected one category from this plethora of comparisons—namely, those entry words for which Ibn Janà˙ revealed subtle differences within what can be broadly called “components of a field of similarity,” in other words: unique connotations of frequent lexemes. His predecessors had compared, with Arabic or with Aramaic, (a) entry words of very common occurrence or (b) entry words pertaining to a unique or rare root, the later being notably infrequent. Apart from applying himself to comparisons of roots of rare occurrence, Ibn Janà˙ also highlighted unique significations issuing from frequent entry words, illustrated in what follows: The entry word yk appears in the Bible 4,475 times. The connotations of the word were well known; they had been crystallized in talmudic times and transmitted in the name of the Amora Resh Laqish: ahd ,ala ,amld ,ya :twnwçl h[brab çmçm yk (“ky is used in four senses: if, lest but, because”) (BT, Rosh HaShana, 3a). Ibn Janà˙ discovered two verses in the Bible in which yk is used with the connotation of Arabic kay (for, in order to).93 d[ appears in the Bible
93
For a detailed discussion on this comparison, see Maman (2000a), p. 273.
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1,269 times as a conjunctive. In one of these instances, as detected by Ibn Janà˙ the particle serves the same sense as the word l[ in biblical Aramaic. μa occurs 1,071 times in the Bible and Ibn Janà˙ discovered the single instance in which this particle is used with the connotation of Arabic "an or "inna (R. Judah ibn Quraysh had earlier noticed the use of Heb. μai/Arab. "am). dy appears in the Bible about 1,617 times (plus 17 times in biblical Aramaic); among these, Ibn Janà˙ discovered the specific connotation μydy/dya (strength). The root jlç is encountered 846 times in the Bible (plus 14 times in biblical Aramaic) in its usual connotation (not including jl'ç,, etc.); of all these occurrences, Ibn Janà˙ identified the “special” connotation by the comparison jlç/ù˚lùt. μça appears in the Bible about 100 times as a verb or as a noun with the ordinary connotation of “sin”; it was Ibn Janà˙ who identified the specific occurrence aymçaw in the sense of μùtat, meaning “atonement” (these being dadùxa, according to our linguistic approach). The root rùùsy occurs in the Bible about 40 times as a verb and a further 50 times as a noun (rswm). Ibn Janà˙ located one occurrence, ytrsyy, with the connotation of Aramaic rsyy (girds, fastens the belt). ˚ùùçj appears about 110 times in the Bible, and among all these, Ibn Janà˙ detected the semantically unique occurrences ykçjm/aykyçj (the impoverished, the miserable). sùùwn appears in the Bible about 160 times in the sense “flee.” Ibn Janà˙’s predecessors had interpreted hjle sn: alw (Deut. 34:7) as a metaphorical use of that same sense, but it was Ibn Janà˙ who decided conclusively that that occurrence constitutes a once only instance of the connotation in Arabic nassa (dry). Similar semantically unique word occurrences were detected by Ibn Janà˙ for radices hùùzj, dùùdm, hùùn[, μùùwq, rùùbç, aùùlm and many more. From these roots, he pinpointed, as semantically unique, the following words: hzjy, (≈ra), ddwmyw, hn[t, hmq wyny[w, rbçaw (rbùt/), etc. (The full details of these comparisons are set out in the chart (ch. 16) and, of course, can be referred to in the source text, i.e. Kitàb al-Ußùl, each according to its relevant root.) The above represents a succinct summary Ibn Janà˙’s unique acumen in the area of lexical comparison.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
HAI GA"ON, ABÙ-L-FARAJ, SAMUEL HANAGID, AND ABRAHAM HABAVLI
14.1 R. Hai Ga"on R. Hai Ga"on lived and flourished in Babylon in the years 939–1038 C.E. and compiled a comprehensive lexicon of Hebrew and Aramaic, entitled Kitàb al-Óàwi. The greater part of this lexicon has not survived, and of the surviving remnants only about a third have appeared in print (Harkavy 1895, 1896; Abramson 1977; Maman 2000).1 In addition, certain citations from al-Óàwi, recorded by several scholars, were assembled by M. Steinschneider (1901) and S. Poznanski (1901). Abramson (1977, p. 108) collected other quotations from the lexicon that had been unknown to Steinschneider and Poznanski but never published them. On this scanty basis the aforementioned scholars have attempted to evaluate the true nature of al-Óàwi. R. Hai Ga"on culled his entry words from the Bible, the Mishna, the Tosefta, the Midrashim, and the Talmuds. His lexicon is edited according to the alphabetical order of the root, but its arrangement is anagrammatic (see, e.g., Abramson, 1977)—according to a system adopted in several Arabic lexicons that had been composed about 200 years before the time of R. Hai (see Kopf 1976, pp. 117–18). By this system, the arch-entry for any given bi-literal or tri-literal root incorporates not only the entry words pertaining to that specific root but also the several entry words arrived at by a permutation of the letters of that root. For example, at root flj (in letter t in al-Óàwi ), entry words from the following roots are dealt with: flj, lfj, ljf, jlf, fjl, jfl.2 Included in the lexicon are also roots that have no linguistic actuality (in Hebrew or Aramaic), these being accompanied by a marginal note lmhm (unused) to that effect. Henceforth R. Hai’s language comparisons are discussed on the basis of those portions of the Kitàb al-Óàwi that have been published. 1 2
I am preparing all those remnants for publication. On a detailed presentation of this system see Maman 1999, pp. 235–39.
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Steinschneider (p. 131) and Poznanski (p. 597) have already shown cognizance of the fact that R. Hai had embedded a good number of comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic and with Aramaic in his lexicon; however, in discussing Kitàb al-Óàwi, they failed to dwell on this aspect in a detailed manner. R. Hai Ga"on flourished in the generation of Óayyùj and the one following it. Nevertheless, the method reflected in his lexicon is none other than that root theory that had predominated in Hebrew grammar before the time of Óayyùj. The geographical distance between Spain and Babylon was apparently the reason Óayyùj’s theory did not reach R. Hai—at any rate, not before he compiled al-Óàwi. The root theory influenced the comparisons and their “nature”, as demonstrated above (2.5), and this probably was true of R. Hai Gaon’s comparisons, too. In the materials I inspected, 45 comparisons were encountered, the majority, 39 in number, being comparisons of cognates. Of this, 14 are Heb./Aram., 29 Heb./Arab., and 2 Aram./Arab. Of the comparisons with Arabic, only 9 are explicit, the remainder implicit. Notwithstanding the paucity of comparisons, 17 (about 38 percent) are attested for the first time in R. Hai’s record, the reason being that his lexicon discusses rabbinical Hebrew entry words, too. This indeed is the distinctive characteristic of R. Hai as compared with other Hebrew linguists of that epoch. In al-Óàwi, the Hebrew and Aramaic entries and discussions are pooled together indiscriminately. This “unclassified” arrangement is conducive to what is termed “inevitable comparisons” (above, 3.6.1). Yet, for all these comparisons, R. Hai adopted terms or formulae that converted all the comparisons into deliberate explicit comparisons. On one occasion, R. Hai Ga"on illustrates a linguistic phenomenon in Hebrew and Aramaic, failing to distinguish the one from the other. From this it follows that he postulated a greater affinity between those two languages than between either of them and Arabic (see above, 2.2): μwgrtla yp andùgw ˆaw ,ylxa πla lbq (w)aw hglla yp andùg(w amw) ylxa wawla sylp hawx mymkj ˆwçl ypw hawç hawh (we have not found in the language a radical waw preceding an aleph, though we found in Aramaic hawç hawh and in Rab. Heb. hawx, yet the waw is not radical).3 In one case he opposes a Heb./Arab. comparison (ˆazym/μyyn-
3
Harkavy 1855–56, p. 4 = 1970, p. 112. Harkavy’s Hebrew translation is as follows:
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zam) on etymological grounds; in two cases he identifies two different forms of the same Aramaic word appearing in different Aramaic corpuses; and once he identifies a Hebrew word as a Greek borrowing. 14.1.1 The theory of letter interchanges In the comparisons discussed here, only the following letter interchanges are encountered: g/ùg (rgws), z/ùd (za), these in explicit comparisons; in implicit comparisons, there are five instances of j/ùk. (Additionally, the intra-Heb. interchange f/t is encountered, in the comparison of words jtm/ywjfm (T-S, 5a). One Heb./Aram. comparison is established by letter metathesis: wrgjyw/tgrj. 14.1.2 Listing of the comparisons
fyaj-hfaja/wfyjy/hnfja :Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram./Arab. • .(Maman, 2000, 352) (bwa)/twbwa :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram./Talm. Aram. • .(Poznanski 600 ,1901) ˆyjg/ˆwjg ,(Abramson 110, 1977) ,(Maman, ibid.) lzaw/˚lyw/wlza :Bib. Heb. 1/Bib. Heb. 2/Targ. Aram. • hfm/rfwj ,(Poznanski 602) tgrj/hmya/wrgjyw ,(ibid.) ˚nyz/ylk/ˆyz-˚ynza .(ibid. 353) 4ˆyfwljl/twtymxl/hwfljyw ,(Maman, ibid.) arfwj/ (Harkavy 95) aymç [yqr rywa/μymçb/rywa :Rab. Heb./Targ. Aram. • (Maman, ibid.) fj/fjfjm-ffjm-ˆyffwj :Rab. Heb./Talm. Aram • .(ibid.) πfwjm/πfjm , aòda/yza ,(Harkavy 96) òdynyj ,òda/za :Bib. Heb./Arab. (explicit) • ≠ μynzam ,(ibid.) ˆùda/ˆzaw-hnzah ,(Maman 2000, 352) ˆza/˚ynza ,(ibid.) (Poznanski 598) rwùgas/rgws ,(ibid.) thth/wttwht ,(ibid.) fa/fa ,(ibid.) ˆazym
hawx μymkj ˆwçlbw hawç hawh μwgrtb axmn μaw tyçrç ùa μdwq ùw twa qùùhlb wnaxm alw tyçrwç hnya ùwh. After ùwh, Harkavy adds, in parenthesis: ù ùah lùùxù . This remark is incorrect. Harkavy took the first occurrence of ylxa (radical) to be an epithet to πla but as the second occurrence of πla shows clearly, it should rather be attributed to waw. 4 It is not clear whether R. Hai intended to establish an etymological semantic link between the entry word ˆyfwljl, i.e. the rendering for twtyμxl and the adjoining entries = entry citations: 1) wl flwj ahyç . . . ˆmfn hyh hnwçarb; 2) ta çmçmh ty[xmah ˆwxyjh ˆm tja tamfnw μyryk ynç ˆaç[ç ty[xmah hflj hrwhf hlfn, rwhf rwhfh ta çmçmhw amf amfh ùwkw hamwfl; 3) μyçnahw lyq dq[law qyqjtla lybs yl[ sanla μalk ˆm ùdùka amw
wnmm hwfljyw wrhmyw wçjny.
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hala/hwla ,(Maman, ibid.) rùù ka/rùùja :Bib. Heb./Arab. (implicit) • hfj ,(ibid., 353) μfùka/μfja ,(Maman, ibid.) fyùk/ fwj ,(Harkavy, ibid.) ,(ibid.) frùk/frj ,(ibid.) πfùk/μtpfjw ,(ibid.) fnj/wfnjyw ,(ibid.) hfnj/ .(ibid.) ˆjf/ˆjf ,(ibid.) ˆyjawfla/twnjwfh ,(ibid.) fyarùk/μyfyrj twice in different meanings) bwbna/bwba :Rab. Heb./Arab. (implicit) • ,fyùkm/fjm ,(Maman, ibid. 353) hrarj/rrwj-rjwa ;(Abramson, 110, ,(ibid.) fùkma/ ˆyfjwm ,(ibid. 353) μafùk/ μfj ,(ibid. 352) fayùk/ fyj .(ibid.) jfn/jyfh-jyfm .(ibid. 352) fafj/ˆyffj :Rab. Heb./Arab. (explicit) • .(Harkavy 95) ran/rwa :Rab. Heb./Arab. (not cognate explicit) • ,(Abramson 112) afçwqb/lba :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cognate) • (ibid. 402) (atçqb) dgymb/ywjfm ,(Maman, ibid., 388) ˆylwtj/jwj (Maman, ibid., 408) hfnjla/ˆyfnj :Bib. Aram./Arab. • ,(ibid., 400) atfylj/μyçjlh :Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non cognate) • .(ibid., 396) (rymf) fjy/b[tn rxn (ibid., 353) fmòkt/afmjyl :Talm. Aram./Arab. • The following are identifications rather than comparisons, the third case being a borrowing: .(Harkavy 96) ˆza/qçm/hza :Bib. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • 112) hylwba/jyswbam/lwba :Talm. Aram./Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram • .(Abramson .(Maman, ibid., 353) wfmh/ˆyfmyj :Talm. Aram./Greek • 14.1.3 Terms of comparison5 :Talm. Aram. =) hyfbnla laùtmala yp ,(ˆyfjwm ,ˆyfmj ,bwa) (h)yfbnla yp • ,(according to Epstein 1982, ydçk ;(ˆyfnj :Bib. Aram. =) ynarsk la yp ,(hfyfj ,(comparisons listed in 14.1.2 in most of the) μwgrtla hyp laqp p. 51) (lwba) dwmtla yp ;(hza ,fhy ,atfylj ,jwj ,lba) μwgrt(w) ;(rywa) μwgrtla yp lwqk whw ;(za) ˆwpyxy . . . ˆylwqyw . . . (hyb)r[(labw) ,(ˆyffj) hymst br[law .(rwa) hybr[lab ,(yza) hybr[lab lyaqla
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14.2 Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Ibn Al-Faraj Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn, “The Jerusalemite grammarian,” is reckoned by R. Abraham ibn Ezra (Moznayim, p. 2a) to be one of the “Elder Scholars of the Holy Tongue” immediately following the time of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on;6 Ibn Ezra even praises him highly: “He compiled eight works on the grammar of the (Hebrew) language, (solid) as precious sapphires.7 R. Abraham ibn Ezra is referring here to the vast, comprehensive work, containing eight parts composed by Abùl-Faraj, i.e. the treatise known as Kitàb al-Mushtamil 'alà al-ußùl wa alFußùl fì al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya. The composition of this work ended before the year 1026 (Bacher, REJ, 1895, p. 253); it has been preserved in several manuscripts, one of which comprises 579 pages and is housed in the St. Petersburg Library. The treatise was abridged several times. One condensed version is commonly known as Al-Kitàb al-Kàfì fì al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya published recently by G. Khan et al.; a further, condensed synopsis of the latter bears the name Kitàb al'uqùd fi Taßàrìf al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya. However, only portions of these works have been published.8 Apart from his grammatical treatises, Abù-l-Faraj composed an Arabic translation of part of the Bible, accompanied by explanatory annotations. Sample portions were published in Poznanski, 1908. In these treatises, Abù-l-Faraj showed a keen fondness for language comparison (Poznanski 1896, p. 16, n. 2, quoting Harkavy). So much so that Poznanski (1908, p. 50) concluded that “even for the sake of the linguistic comparisons in this work (= Kitàb alMushtamil ), for these alone, the treatise is worthy of full publication.” Indeed Abù-l-Faraj incorporated a large quantity of comparative treatments in his treatises, constituting explicit and implicit comparisons as well as renderings by cognate translation synonyms.9 Almost all of the comparisons incorporated in Mushtamil are grammatical due to the nature of the work. Even the seventh part of Mushtamil,
5
On the nomenclature see Maman 2000, pp. 353–54. For a precise chronology, see Bacher (1835, p. 253) and Poznanski (1908, p. 54). According to their reckoning, Abù-l-Faraj flourished in a period partially overlapping, (a) that of R. Hai Ga"on in Babylonia and (b) that of R. Judah Óayyùj and R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ in Spain. 7 μyrqy μyrypsk μyrps hnwmç ˆwçlh qwdqdb ˆqt. See Bacher, REJ, 1895, p. 232. 8 For details, see Téné 1972, p. 1381. I am preparing a critical ed. of Mushtamil. 6
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which is lexical in nature, is meant to prove a grammatical characteristic of the Hebrew root.10 As Basal (1998, 1999, and elsewhere) has shown, Abù-l-Faraj followed in the footsteps of Ibn al-Sarràj and other Arab grammarians. This means that already at the outset, Abù-l-Faraj wrote his book as a comparative and contrastive grammar (see above, 1.2). A clear example of this method is his adoption of the 'amal concept from Arab grammarians (see Maman 1997) or the Arabic perspective in general (see Maman 2001, §9). However, even in the framework of the adopted theory he was subtle enough to prove originality, such as in the case of the comparison of the Hebrew infinitive and verbal noun with the Arabic maßdar (see Maman 1996, esp. §§14–16). The linguistic theory of Abù-l-Faraj and, necessarily, his comparison method,11 are founded on the theory of the bi-literal root (Bacher, ibid., p. 256; Poznanski, 1896, p. 7), although he flourished in Óayyùj’s time as well as somewhat afterwards. Though he had heard of (or probably read about) the new development of Óayyùj in the theoretical studies of the Hebrew root—as one can learn from his straightforward reply to Óayyùj’s theory—he was unable to adopt it,12 for this meant renouncing the traditional Karaite method, including his own development of that theory. 14.2.1 Grammatical comparisons13 A good many comparisons established by Abù-l-Faraj treat of the three languages with their respective grammars. Part 8 of Mushtamil is set aside for biblical Aramaic grammar; there one encounters contrastive comparison of the Heb. v. Aram. grammar. Hirschfeld (1892, pp. 54–60) published a portion of this chapter. Elsewhere in Abùl-Faraj’s works, several structural comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic appear. A list of these comparisons follows:
9
The renderings are similar to those of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, see above, 7.0. See Maman 1999, pp. 240–48, and Maman 2002. 11 The present discussion of this issue is only partial and remains provisional, pending the future publication of the Kitàb al-Mushtamil in its entirety, which I hope to accomplish in the near future. 12 See Maman 1995, p. 95. 13 The grammatical comparisons mentioned in the previous paragraph are not 10
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Comparisons of Hebrew and Aramaic The two languages are equivalent in the inflection of the regular verb, in the 3rd pers. masc. sing., in the future tense, qal form, as: flçy/flçy; jlçy/jlçy; also in suffixing the ùn for the 2nd pers. and 3rd pers. pl. forms in the future tense, as: ˆi w[mçt/ˆw[mçt, etc., except that in Aramaic this additional ˆ is invariable. They are also equivalent in the 3rd pers. sing. past tense qal forms μç/μç and the participial forms ˚Lehm' ]/˚lhm as well as in the past tense inflection of verbs of the type tmmwrth/tnnwbth. On the other hand, certain verbal forms in the two languages are homonymic: the form l['P,] in Hebrew, denotes the 2nd person Imperative,14 whereas in Aramaic, it signifies the 3rd person sing. past tense form, as jlç/jlç, etc. (see above 9.1.2 on Alfàsi). Also, the form l['P; in Heb. signifies the 3rd pers. masc. sing. past tense, whereas in Aramaic the same form denotes the masc. sing. participle form, e.g. [d'y:/[d"y;: rm'a/; rm'a; (this, of course, only when the 3rd radical letter is a guttural). The 3rd person pl. masc v./and fem. forms of the past tense, in Heb. share the same form (Wl[;); in contrast. in Aram. these possess two distinct forms: wqyls wq;yls (= hq;yls).15 Comparisons of Hebrew with Arabic Due to the lexical nature of the present study only few examples of comparative grammar will be presented here: In both Hebrew and Arabic exist intransitive verbs (verbs without an object), e.g. dm[, bçy/μaq, da[ (Zislin, 1962, p. 181). There exists, in both languages, an “imperative” for the 1st pers. (in Heb. only, sometimes paraphrastically): ˚ynp hara al* (expressed as ynp ta hart al) (2 Sam. 3:13) /˚hùgw yra al (ibid., p. 182). The uninflected conjunction rça is used in Hebrew, irrespective of gender and number of the governing noun, whereas in Arabic the parallel conjunctive yùdla is inflected according to gender and number (ytla, etc.); it is omitted in Arabic asyndetic relative clauses (Poznanski, 1896, p. 29; 1908, p. 62). Arabic kilà is treated as a singular form, although its connotation is dual (= two); thus in Heb., the accusative pronoun suffix in the repeated here. 14 Abù-l-Faraj did not know of or did not adopt the concept of binyan (conjugation) but used different morphological patterns for the classification of the verbal forms. See Maman 1995, pp. 87–95. For this reason the post-Óayyùj terms such as qal and pi''el are avoided here. 15 One of the feminine forms represents the Masoretic Qere the other the Ketib.
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form wOnpxtw ( Josh. 2:4) is, morphologically, singular but signifies the dual (for μnEpxtw [. . . and she concealed the two of them]; ibid., p. 63). 14.2.2 Semantic comparisons Abù-l-Faraj sets up an etymological semantic comparison between the Heb. [g"r, and [gEwOr (μyh) and the Arabic non-cognate translation synonyms ùfjl-hùfjl as follows: [gr/hprf-hùfjl = “an instant, a small moment of time”; [g"r/ ; ùfjl are, in his view, denominative verbs from the above-mentioned nouns, having the connotation: “he looked for an instant, ‘in a flash’ of time (lit: in the twinkling of an eye).” In part 5, §16 of Mushtamil, Abù-l-Faraj sets out parallel series of homonyms in Hebrew and Arabic respectively. Bacher (ibid., p. 246) adduces, as an illustration of the materials of this paragraph, the series: çpj-rqb-rqj-çqyb-çrd-laç/çtp-≈jp-blf-smtla-las. Abù-lFaraj even notes the finer differences of connotation between the several items within the series. 14.2.3 Listing of the lexical comparisons Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. ,(Poznanski 1896, 8) ˆybr[tm/wbr[tyw ;(Hirschfeld 1892, 57) tyzj/htyzj • .(Hirschfeld 1892, 56) jbçy/jbçm And in the framework of grammatical comparisons: /laç ,db[/db[ ,rgs/rgs ,[dy/[dy ,˚lhm/˚lhm ,rma/rma ,lza/lza • ˆw[mçt / ˆw[mçt , flçy / flçy , jfç / jfç , μyç / μyç , rbsy / rbwç , laç .(Bacher 1895, 250 ;Hirschfeld 1892, 54–56) Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. .(Poznanski 1896, 10) a[ybr/txbr/y[br • Bib. Heb./Arab. (explicit)
˚pnk ,(Bacher 1895, 245) sby/çby ,(Poznanski 1908, 49) dlùg/ydlg • .(Poznanski 1908, 47) hlùg[/hlg[ ,(ibid. 249) πnk/ Bib., Heb./Arab. (implicit)
ldùg/μylydg ,(ibid., 9) r[bt/r[bl ,(Poznanski 1896, 30) ˆya ˆm/ˆyam • hragm/hr[m ,(Poznanski 1896, 7) rwb[/rwb[ ,(Poznanski 1908, 49) 11) rpg/rp[ ,(ibid., 12) rmg/rm[ ,(ibid., 14) πylgt/tpl[m ,(ibid., 12)
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,(ibid., 9) barg/brw[ ,(ibid., 8) bwrg/br[ ,(ibid., 7) brg/hbr[ ,(ibid., l[p/l[p ,(ibid. 13) ryç[t ,rç[/ . . . ˆyrç[ ,rç[ ,(ibid., 12) hmr[/hmr[ . . . h[bra ,[ybrt/ . . . [wbr ,[bra ,(ibid., 15) gbx/μy[bx ,(ibid. 14) .(ibid.) r[ç/r[ç ,(13 ibid.,) ry[ç/μyrw[ç ,(ibid., 10) y[brt/y[ibr ] i ,(ibid., 10) 14.2.4 Arabic cognates in Abù-l-Faraj’s translation of the Bible In Abù-l-Faraj’s translation of the Bible, a tendency can be discerned to render the text by cognate Arabic translation synonyms. In his explanatory annotations, he occasionally makes a remark corroborating that this tendency was consciously present. For example, for rendering the biblical phrase μdl μd ˆyb (Deut. 17:8), one encounters μdw μd ˆyb. Regarding this rendering, he remarks: hùdh yp ytla tamalla hòdh amsala (the lams in these nouns, i.e. the other nouns in the verse from which this example is taken) yp ˆsjy al ùda ,wwla yn[mb yh aùdkw aùdk ˆyb lb yùdkl yùdk ˆyb laqy ˆa ybr[la (Poznanski, 1908, p. 59). The upshot is that this grammarian aspires to translate as literally as possible, i.e. by cognate translation synonyms. Were it not for the rules of the Arabic language, he would have rendered by a maximal amount of cognate translation synonyms (μdl* μd ˆyb/μdl μd ˆyb) (for further examples, see ibid., p. 58, to Deut. 9:7; p. 60, to Deut. 28:11). Further signs of this tendency are noticeable from the occurrence of a succession of cognates in a single rendition unit. In the verse segment rkzh ˚naxbw ˚rqbb ˚lwy rça rwkbh lk (Deut. 15:19), 5 of the 7 words are rendered by cognate translation synonyms, namely, lk, rkbla, dlwy, ˚rqb, arkùd. This tendency is especially noticeable in his usage of artificial Arabic words, such as hfms for rendering Heb. hfmç (Deut. 15:2) (R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, for example, renders it byystla) (see the same phenomenon in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr, above, 7.3.5). Listing of renderings by Arab. cognates (according to materials recorded by Poznanski, 1908, pp. 57–61): ahrùka/tyrja ,(59) ˚yòka/˚yja ,(58) hya/twa ,(57) ˚aba/˚ytwba • hrça ,(ibid.) ù≈ra/≈ra ,(57) halala/μyhlah ,(ibid.) lka/lkal ,(58) qyrb/qrb ,(ibid.) ˚rqb yp/˚rqbb ,(58) rkb/rwkb ,(59) ˆyb/ˆyb ,(58) hyras/ μlwj ,(57) [arùd/[wrz ,(59) [rzt/[rzh ,(58) arkùd/rkzh ,(59) μd/μd ,(61) dlwy/dlwy ,(58) μaya/μymy ,(57) dy/dy ,(ibid.) μkhyfùk μktafj ,(58) μlaj/ ˚ajda/˚jydhl ,(58) lk/lk ,(60) hsya/wOnç]y< ,(58) aùtra . . . ùtr/tçrl . . . çr ,(ibid.) μymwx[ ,(59) all[/tløyl[ ,(ibid.) μknwy[/μkyny[ ,(ibid.) ˚spn/˚çpn ,(ibid.)
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sdqt/çdqt ,(59) ahrapùxa/hynrpx ,(61) ltpnm/ ltltpw ,(58) μùf[a/ ,(ibid.) rwùt/rwç ,(59) haç/wyç ,(58) h[bs/t[bç ,(61) ˆwmwqy/ˆwmwqy ,(ibid.) yns (dn[)/ytwnç ,(58) hns/hnçh ,(57) ams/μymç ,(58) hfmsla/hfmçh .(57) tjt ˆm /tjtm ,(61) (ypys) 14.2.5 Nomenclature for the languages and comparative terminology 1892, 54) ynarb[la hqyrf qpawy . . . ynadskla hgl yp μalkla • 58 twice, 59) ynadskla ypw ;(ibid. 57) ˆytglla yp qpty ;(Hirschfeld 16 .(y[br) μwgrt ˆm dwùkam ;(ibid. 54) πlaùky ahnm amw ;(ibid. 55 twice, .(˚pnk) ybr[la yp . . . μùgrty ,(ydlg) ybr[la ˆm byrq •
14.3 R. Shemuel HaNagid 17 According to R. Abraham ibn Ezra (Moznayim, 2b) HaNagid compiled a scientific treatise on the Hebrew language, known as rç[h rps (Book of Amplitude), “this being greater than all the works mentioned elsewhere and surpassed by none other.”18 But this treatise (whose original was called Kitàb al-"Istighnà") has been almost entirely lost; only a meager fragment of it has survived and was published by P.K. Kokowtzow (1916, pp. 205–24). In his introduction (in Russian),19 Kokowtzow even assessed the linguistic achievement of HaNagid in the area of language comparison as well. As a broad and general appraisal, Kokowtzow maintains (ibid., p. 178) that HaNagid surpassed Ibn Janà˙ in the profundity of his linguistic analysis. We have no way of ratifying this evaluation or of refuting it, on account of the insufficiency of extant materials of HaNagid’s work. However, it is evident, from the nature of the remnants of the al"Istighnà" that it was an enormous concordance-style lexicon: for each and every entry, it had comprised not only a plethora of biblical examples but also a survey of the exegetical chain of tradition, from rabbinic literature up to his contemporary writings including refer-
16
The term ynayrs does not appear and this might serve as a stylistic mark. On the lifetime and (scholarly) achievement of HaNagid, see Munk (1851) pp. 86–109; Kokowtzow (1916b), pp. 100–106. 17
18 19
wnmm hl[ml ˆyaw μyrkznh μyrpsh lkm lwdg awhw
This introduction indeed deserves to be translated into Hebrew, together with all Kokowtzow’s introductions (ibid., p. 1893).
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ences to the treatises of R. Judah ibn Quraysh and Dunash b. Tamìm on comparative linguistics (ibid., p. 217).20 In the entry ˆma, which is extant, one encounters Heb./Arab. implicit comparisons ˆma/ˆma seven times, in several meanings (ibid. pp. 213–14, pp. 216–17); one cognate translation synonym explicit comparison as well as two non-cognate explicit comparisons ˆma/qdx (pp. 215–16) as well as four instances in which he resorted to the Aramaic Targums (pp. 216–17). All this points to a plenteous usage of language comparison, yet a comprehensive outline of HaNagid’s comparison system cannot be drawn. Perhaps it can merely be stated, in the wake of Ibn Barùn’s citation in HaNagid’s name (Muwàzana, p. 18), that HaNagid and following him Gikatilla were profuse in setting comparisons, between Hebrew and Arabic grammar; they even endeavored to locate common grammatical features in the two languages, whenever this was possible. This approach led them, in the wake of Arabic, to search for a case in Hebrew of a verb taking no less than three direct objects (ibid. pp. 162, 165). To date no other fragments of Kitàb al-"Istighnà" have been found among Genizah fragments. Yet two works aspiring to reconstruct some of HaNagid’s lost linguistic materials have been published recently; Perez (2000) found over sixty quotes from Kitàb al-"Istighnà" in an early twelfth century commentary to Psalms and 'Ukashi (1999) partially described the use of Hebrew in HaNagid’s poetry, assuming a link between HaNagid’s philological exegesis of the Bible and his usage of the same Hebrew for his poetry. The latter is too indirect to serve as evidence for HaNagid’s comparative philology. However, the former does contribute thirteen statements either for or against specific etymological Heb./Arab. comparisons, part of them being of a grammatical nature.21 Listing of lexical comparisons (all from the citations in the anonymous commentary to Psalms; every other reference is to Perez 2000): hmalx (73:20)/μmlx ;(254) amk (73:15)/wmk ;(251) ttç (73:9)/wtç • ;n. 43) açn ;(74:3)/twaV¨m ;(251) hùxmaj spn (73:21)/ybbl ≈mjty ;(255)
20 On the structure of entries in HaNagid’s lexicon, see Poznanski (REJ 1909, pp. 255–57). 21 Eldar (1996), though dealing with HaNagid’s new grammatical material, does not include anything related to comparative philology.
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/˚yxxj22 ;(266) ≈axj (77:18) ≠ ˚yxxj ;(258) πlùk (74:6) ≠ twplk ;(257, hnapa ≠ :16) 88 (hnwpa ;(267) asnm (88:13)/hyçn ;(ibid.) ≈axùk (ibid.) .(ibid) hnyp (ibid.) ≠ hnwpa ;(268) Heb./Arab. grammatical comparisons:
μnyn (74:8)/μa[fla (259): in both cases the verb preceding the object is missing, the fuller expressions would be μnyn dymçn/μa[fla awm[fa; ynwttmx (88:17) < twtymx (Lev. 25:23)/ˆkmt (88:17) < ˆakm (269): both verbs are denominative. Further grammatical comparisons, as recorded by Kokowtzow (on the basis of citations in HaNagid’s name, by authors who succeeded him): • The syntactical status of the maßdar as this relates to the Hebrew infinitive absolute (ibid. pp. 131–47) • Imperfect forms of the type wT'y¨ and the parallel l['p]y¨ forms in Arabic • The usages of the l[pna and the l[pn conjugations; the respective correspondence of the applications of Arabic l[tpa-l[pna and Hebrew l[pth-l[pn conjugations • The forms ˆn[r and ˆnaç relate to quadriliteral radices, just like Arabic ˆamf • The assumed etymological comparison tj't'/tjt is nothing but a conjecture of Kokowtzow To sum up, it can only be assumed that if HaNagid was so subtle in comparing the structure and grammar of the two languages, he would have been even more systematic in comparing their lexicon and semantics; but unfortunately, the latter part has been almost entirely lost.
14.4 Abraham HaBavli Of all the Hebrew philologists of the epoch under present discussion, Abraham HaBavli is the least documented scholar of all. Practically nothing is known about his life; nor is it known exactly
22
This was Dunash b. Tamìm’s suggestion. See Perez, ibid.
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when he flourished. A single grammatical work by him is known, whose meager extant portion was published by Neubauer (1863). His grammatical method, or as much of it as can be recovered from the remnants of the treatise, pertains to the pre-Óayyùj school. (It should, however, be borne in mind that a definitive determination of the dating of any philologist cannot be made merely on the basis of his grammatical method, as noticed in the cases of R. Hai Ga"on (14.1.0) and Abù-l-Faraj (14.2.0). Neubauer (1863, pp. 195–96) identified Abraham with David b. Abraham Alfàsi,23 owing to the close affinity of the body of the fragmentary work and the Jàmi' al-"AlfàΩ: at any rate the matter concerning us is that he established a close similarity between those two treatises. Moreover, this was the basis upon which, Neubauer set the earliest possible dating for the grammarian Abraham HaBavli. In HaBavli’s treatise one encounters very few comparisons. All of a grammatical nature and all Heb./Aram., these comparisons are incorporated in the discussion of letter interchanges within Hebrew; they therefore further allude to certain lexical comparisons. Listing of comparisons Bib.Heb./Bib.Aram. .(210) alzrp/lzrb ,(213) wxljyw/hwfljyw ,(ibid., 214) lçjw/μylçjn • Bib.Heb./Targ.Aram. .atytr/ttr-ffr ,dpwq/zwpyq ,dypwq/dwpyq ,(211) axmwk/≈mwg • Bib.Aram./Bib.Heb. .(213) hx[/yhwf[y-wf[yta-af[ • The Heb. /Aram. interchangeable letters., according to these comparisons, are b/p (lzrb); g/k (≈mwg); d/z (rwpq) ;f/t (ffr); x/f (af[). Comparative terms
ˆtnwyw ,( ffr) tymra ˆwçl awhw ,( af[) tymrabw ,( ≈mwg) ymra ˆwçlb • .(ˆydpwq zwpyq-dwpyq) dja μwgrt . . . hç[ 23 Due to the difference in the names, it would make more sense to identify him with Alfàsi’s father but by now Neubauer’s suggestion can not be definitively approved.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MOSHEH HAKOHEN IBN GIKATILLA, JUDAH B. BAL'AM, AND ISAAC B. BARÙN
15.1 Mosheh HaKohen ibn Gikatilla Ibn Gikatilla lived and worked in the third quarter of the eleventh century C.E.1 He translated into Hebrew the grammatical treatises of Óayyùj and compiled his own grammatical work called Kitàb alTadhkìr wa-l-Ta"nìth (Treatise on masculine and feminine genders). Most of this treatise has been lost; about 10 percent of it has been published (Téné, 1972, p. 1383), initially by Kokowtzow (1916, pp. 59–66) and subsequently by Allony (1949). Ibn Gikatilla composed a commentary to the Bible, too: this also was almost entirely lost. Poznanski (1895) collected all that is known of the content of this commentary, by means of citations adduced by scholars in Ibn Gikatilla’s name. Bacher (1909) discovered an Arabic translation, with an appended commentary, on the Book of Job; relying on certain indications, he ascribed this work to Ibn Gikatilla and issued it as a part of the Harkavy Memorial Volume (St. Petersburg 1909/Jerusalem 1969, vol. 1, pp. 221–72). Kitàb al-Tadhkìr wa-l-Ta"nìth is a selective grammatical lexicon: it deals with (a) biblical substantives showing two plural forms, one of the masculine pattern and one of the feminine or (b) such as have a plural form that seems to be discordant with its grammatical gender (i.e., a “feminine” plural form for a noun of a “masculine” pattern (= having no morpheme suffix of the feminine) or a “masculine” plural form for a noun of a feminine pattern. The character of this lexicon is such that it is not meant to provide lexical definitions, not even (Arabic) renderings for its entries: such, in fact, is the situation: for 28 of the 40 surviving entries, neither a definition nor a translation appears, for the entry concerned. It follows that no language comparison is to be expected in this lexicon. Nonetheless, one explicit comparison of Heb. with Arabic is encountered, namely, μyytpç/hypùta-ypaùta (Allony, p. 59). The 1
For a general overview of Ibn Gikatilla see Maman, 2000a, pp. 275–77.
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Hebrew entry word and its translation synonym, are cognate; however, whereas the Hebrew uses the dual form only, the Arabic counterpart uses singular and plural forms as well. The remaining entries are defined by an Arabic translation synonym, in 10 instances a cognate (several present a cognate and a non-cognate). These can all be viewed as implicit comparisons. They are: ,hm;a/ ; hma, μ/a/hma, ˆma/hnama, çmç/smç, hnç/hns, hyçwt/sya, ˆza/ˆùda, μynzam/ˆazym, ja/ù˚a, μae/μa. No comparisons with Aramaic are to found in the remnants of this work (Allony, ibid., p. 37). In his introduction to the translation of Óayyùj’s works into Hebrew, Ibn Gikatilla discusses the relationship of the state of Hebrew with that of Arabic in his time (see above, 1.2). The comparisons incorporated by Ibn Gikatilla in his translation of Job have not yet been exhaustively inspected. Of the total, Poznanski (1916, p. 451, n. 1) made mention merely of the following: arp qhnyh/arpla qhny lhp ( Job 6:5); ç[/hùt[ (4, 19); wrkht/rhq (19:3); sl[/sl[ (20:18). In contrast, in citations culled by Poznanski from secondary sources in Ibn Gikatilla’s name, only one single comparison cropped up: dg/dùg (Poznanski 1895, p. 39). According to Poznanski, Ibn Gikatilla’s method of word elucidation is very broadly dependent on Ibn Janà˙. Allony, too, pointed to this being the main source for Ibn Gikatilla. But Allony adds the following rider: “However, there are occasions where he disagrees with Ibn Janà˙ and adopts an independent stand, as e.g., hla, tyç, hpç, twpça, hyçwt. Ibn Gikatilla makes express mention of Ibn Janà˙ only at entry hnat: yçb hplaùk ˆm sylw qjltsmla bjax ˚lùdk laq (ibid., p. 62). It is fair to assume that, as in linguistic inquiry in general, Ibn Gikatilla proceeded on the same lines of language comparison as Ibn Janà˙ (and perhaps, likewise, of HaNagid). If any new initiative is discerned, it must be treated as restricted to secondary details (as e.g. sya/hyçwt) and not taken to be a “novel” element in the main fundaments of comparison method.
15.2 Judah ibn Bal'am Judah ibn Bal'am2 compiled three grammatical treatises; these are basically selective grammatical dictionaries, their entries taken over 2
For a general overview of Ibn Bal'am see Maman, ibid., pp. 277–81.
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from biblical Hebrew: 1) Kitàb al-Tajnìs (The book of homonyms) deals with homonyms and generally speaking indicates the different connotations of same; 2) Kitàb Óurùf al-Ma'ànì (Sefer Otiyyot ha-'Inyanim: “Book of particles”) enumerates the Hebrew particles and explains them; 3) Kitàb al-Af 'àl al-Mushtaqqa min al-"Asmà" discusses denominative verbs in the Bible. Surviving portions of these treatises have been published by Kokowzow (1916), by Abramson (1963), and by Allony (Beit Miqra" 1964). Abramson (1975) collocated all the remnants of these works in one volume. Judah ibn Bal'am also composed a Bible commentary, some parts of which have been published, while others remain as yet in manuscript (for details, see Abramson, 1963, pp. 54, 56). These have now been issued in new editions (Perez, 1981, n. 6; Goshen 1992;3 Perez 2000). In his grammatical works as well as in his Bible commentary, Ibn Bal'am adopted comparisons with Arabic, grammatical as well as lexical in nature. Poznanski (1916) and Perez (1978) collated a certain number of these comparisons. Poznanski dealt only with explicit comparisons with Arabic4 (ignoring the implicit ones and the comparisons with Aramaic), mainly in the grammatical works; Perez, on the other hand, dwelled only on hapax legemena in the Book of Isaiah. The latter scholar furthermore (p. 445, n. 225 and 1981, n. 26) referred to Ibn Bal'am’s treatments of Aramaic. Thus the collation and analysis of these materials has yet to be completed. All the material presented here is of partial nature and provisional, pending compilation of the comparison materials embedded in Ibn Bal'am’s Bible commentary in their entirety. 15.2.1 Grammatical comparisons Judah ibn Bal'am established structural grammatical comparisons (Poznanski ibid., pp. 453–59) as well as lexical comparisons both etymological and semantic in nature. A list follows of some additional comparisons that Ibn Bal'am established in the sphere of derivation
3
This edition was reviewed by Maman, 1996a. For instance, Poznanski failed to record comparisons from the fragments of a commentary published by S. Fuchs, 1893, such as the comparisons wççwqth/ayçyçq (Heb./Aram.), fry/frwt (implicit), twwj/yj as well as Ibn Bal'am’s demurral to R. Sa'adiah’s rendering: wlç]/ywls. Moreover, Poznanski overlooked the semantic comparison μ[h ta wkçnyw-μwtkyw/brjla μhtùx[ (Fuchs, ch. 6), etc. 4
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and inflection patterns, in Hebrew and in Arabic, in his work on denominative verbs: The Hebrew verb wnlsjy derives from the noun lysj, just as μr¨yw derives from hmrI, and in Arabic, drùg derives from darùg (Abramson, 1975, p. 163). The Heb./Arab. translation synonyms lha > lhayw/hmyùk > μyùk evolved in the same way (ibid., p. 147). Ibn Bal'am draws a parallel between hap > μhyapa and the Arabic pairs rsn > rsntsa (became mighty as an eagle) and qpa > qpa ("ufq > "àfaqa “is present in the distant horizons”) (ibid., p. 145). The denominative verbs ˆçedi O (from ˆç,d,) and bùxq (from byùxq) are used in the privative sense (“removal” of the entity signified by the substantive) (ibid., p. 156). In the form πa'h' there is a conflation of particles: h+ πa (having the same notation) just as in Arabic "ahal is a conflation of a + lh (ibid., p. 102). 15.2.2 The letter substitutions The letter substitutions ensuing from the comparisons collated to date, do not present any departure from the interchange theory of Ibn Janà˙. Following is a full enumeration. (Samples of entries in which the respective interchanges occur are given in parentheses): w/y ,(μrj ,wjxp) ùk/j ,(baz ,zam) d/z ,(μhytwwj) y/w ,(llgb ,dg ,ryg) ùg/gù t/ç ,(μlx ,w[xy) ùf/x ,(μyaxax ,μ[xbw) ùx/x ,(h[d) g/[ ,(fry ,μynwyx) (˚pçy ,rkç) s/ç ,(qrç ,twkbç) c/v ,(twpç ,hçqym). One Heb./Aram. interchange: (ˆh) a/h and one Aram./Ar. interchange: (ryùg/aryg) ùg/g. It is noticeable that Ibn Bal'am tends to prefer comparisons that do not necessitate any interchange, as ≈yljy ≠ lùxùk (Poznanski, 1916, p. 461). Also, he intimates that preference is to be given to the comparison tw[/ta[ over Ibn Janà˙’s comparison tw[/tg. Ibn Bal'am has no objection, in principle, to letter interchanges; however, his proviso is that these be operated in essential instances only, i.e. if/when the semantic concurrence is greater on the basis of the comparison with the interchange than without it. There can be cases in which the situation is reversed, e.g. the comparison tpxr/tapùxr, with the letter interchange he prefers, without operating any interchange, rather than the comparison established by Ibn Janà˙.
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For comparisons involving metathesis, too, the decisive factor for Ibn Bal'am is the semantic concord. In one instance he rejects a comparison established by Ibn Janà˙ on the basis of metathesis— namely, abs/bas—and he proposes instead, a comparison without metathesis: abs/abs.5 Elsewhere, he records comparisons employing metathesis: ynrs/ˆyrsn (Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram.), in certain cases even those necessitating root pattern interchange, e.g. μyrwrmt/μara (Poznanski, ibid., p. 464), μyzh/zhzh (ibid., p. 446). Ibn Bal'am’s sources Kokowzow (1916, III pp. 195, 201, and elsewhere) determined, that as a rule, Ibn Bal'am, just like R. Mosheh HaKohen ibn Gikatilla, was an epigone of Ibn Janà˙, his innovative contributions constituting partial supplements of what Ibn Janà˙ had omitted but presenting no novelties in the principles of methodology. This evaluation would seem to be valid for language comparison, too. Other scholars also noted Ibn Bal'am’s reliance on Ibn Janà˙ (Poznanski, 1916, pp. 453, 459; Abramson, 1963, p. 63). In this connection a particular remark by Ibn Bal'am is especially instructive. In his Kitàb Óurùf al-Ma'anì (p. 111), he states: dylwla wba hrkùdy μl amm aùdhw. The implication is that he checked out the records of Ibn Janà˙ systematically and exhaustively so that he could confidently criticize him for what he had failed to say. Ibn Bal'am discusses other source texts, too. For example, Eppenstein (1900–1901, p. 237, n. 1) noted that Ibn Bal'am (in his commentary to Deut. 28:27) recorded a citation from Dunash b. Tamìm; Abramson (ibid., p. 11, entry lba, end of n. 7) remarked that Ibn Bal'am had quoted Ibn Quraysh. Fuchs (1893, in his note to Ibn Bal'am’s exegetical remark to Deut. 14:1), noted that Ibn Bal'am had even used a Christian translation of the Bible, as well. Nonetheless, in several matters, Ibn Bal'am took an independent stand, as noted by Perez (1981, pp. 230–31). Ibn Bal'am undoubtedly imbibed the fundaments of the system from his predecessors; however, he rechecked their recorded statements, for each and every comparison, setting aside whatever comparison he held to be unacceptable. (Ibn Bal'am voiced his criticism of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, for example, regarding the latter’s elucidation of Num. 22:30, 14:44, Deut. 1:14; see details, noted by Fuchs, ibid.).
5
For other rejections, see e.g., Maman, 1996a, p. 474.
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15.2.3 Listing of comparisons Bib. Heb./Aram./Arab. ;(464 Abramson 65, ryn/ryn/l[/ryn ;(Perez 1978, 443; 1981, 215) ryg/aryg/ryg • .(Perez 2000, 122) spr/spr Poznanski) Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. lglg/lglg ,(ibid. 26) ˚rb/˚rb ,(Abramson 14, 98) (hla =) la/la • .(ibid. 77) abx/abx ,(ibid. 113), ah/ah ,(ibid.) ˆypgw/wypga ;(ibid. 33) Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram. ,(ibid., 25) (rb)/ˆb/rb ,(ibid., 29) [xb/twtp/[xb ,(ibid., 107) wla/wl/wla • / bhz / hbhdm ,(ibid., 154) amrg / μx[ / μrg ,(ibid.) arb / ≈wj / rb ,(Abramson, 159) lylj/bwbn/μylyljb ,(Perez, 1978, 445; 1981, 222) abhd ( abby )/ h[wrt / bbytw ,(ibid., 50; Perez, 2000, 54) πrf / hl[ / πrf (wdygn)/wkçm/dygn ,(Abramson 108) ˆkbw/za/ˆkbw ,(Perez, 1978, 445) (byrsw)/ˆamyw/μybrs ,(Fuchs, 1893, 6) wtykn/wkçnyw/μwtkyw ,(ibid. 129) arb[/jyrb/(1 Kings 6:21) rb[yw ,(Perez, 1981, 222; ibid. 2000, 23) ,(ibid., 77, 78) ryx/dy/ryx ,(ibid. 78, 171) ≈yx/rypns/≈yx ,(Abramson 176) ,(Perez, 1981, 229) (ttr)/d[r/ttr ,(Perez, 2000, 153) trfqw/rçqtw/twrwfq .(ibid., 104) tryyç/tjra/˚ytwrç ,(Perez, 2000, 53) fçw/zbyw/twfaçh Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (by metathesis) .(Abramson, 69) ˆyrsn/ynrs • Bib.Heb./Talm.Aram. /wççwqth ,(Poznanski, 472, ibid., 163) lysj/lysj ,(ibid., 115) ˆya/ˆh • .(Fuchs, ibid., 8) açyçq Bib. Heb./Ar. (explicit) ,(hplwm/twpylam ,(ibid., 93) (ùrnm)/zam ,(Abramson 10) ba = ba • ,(Poznanski 452) ˚na/˚na ,(Abramson, 20) πna/πa Poznanski, 468 ibid. 148) ,(Perez, 2000, 57 ,Poznanski, 469) rsb/rsb ,(ibid. 465) tqlba/hqlwbm ,(Perez, yrb/arb ,(ibid., 465) [ùxb/μ[xbw ,(Poznanski 463) tl[b/ytl[b/dg ,(Poznanski 469 ,Abramson 152) qrb/qrb 2000, 84; ibid. 468) ,(Poznanski 468) ssùgn/hççgn ,(Abramson 113) lalùgb/llgb ,(463 ibid.) (dùg)/dn ,( Poznanski 461) ybhbh / ybhbh ,( Perez, 1978, 445) μhd / μhdn ,(ibid. 469) lalha/μylwlh ,(ibid., 463) dyh/ddyh ,(Poznanski 466) bhzh/μyzwh ,(Fuchs, 13) yj / μhytwwj ,(ibid.) [z[z / [z[z ,(ibid., 463) ljz / yljz tyçpj ,(ibid., 463) trmj/wrmrmj ,(Poznanski 461) lùxùkù ≠ ≈yljy
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,(Poznanski 464) tljk/tljk ,(ibid., 464) hyrf/hyrf ,(ibid., 461) çpj/ ,(Poznanski bal/twbwalt ,(Abramson 51) rpk/rpk ,(ibid. 468) lpk/μylpk tpl/tplyw ,(Abramson 168) hnbl/hnbl ,(ibid.) fbtly ,fbly/fbly 466) ,(Perez, 2000, 48) daxm/dxm,(ibid. 462) (rxbla+) dm/ddwmyw ,(464 Poznanski) jtm/μjtmyw ,(Perez, 2000, 50) [çm/y[çml ,(Poznanski 464) μara/μyrwrmt ,(Poznanski 469) rknt/hrkntm ,(Perez, 1978, 445) jbn/jbnl ,(ibid.) ,(ibid., 467) πqn/πqn ,(ibid., 426) dqan/dqn ,(ibid. 464) r[n/rw[n ,(Perez, wjs/yjs-hjws ,(ibid., 467) abs/abs ,(ibid., 461) ˆaç ≠ ˆas ,(ibid. 464) sb[/wçb[ ,(ibid., 467) πjs/πjsn 2000, 94; ibid., 464) :Abramson 177 ? ˆn[)/ ˆn[ ,(ibid., 473) ˆy[/ ˆy[ ,(ibid., 461) ta[/ tw[l r[r[ ,(Poznanski 473) bq[/wbq[ ,(Abramson 179) bx[/bx[ ,(μamg ,μyg wjxp ,(ibid., 464) ùglp/μyglp ,(ibid.) μt[a ≠ μt[n ,(ibid., 462) r[r[ ≠ μyaxax ,(Perez, 2000, 73; ibid. 472) jtp/hjwtp ,(ibid., 465) ù˚xp/ ,(ibid.) hwx/μynwyx-ˆwyx ,(ibid.) jùxajùx/twjxjx ,(Poznanski 465) yaùxaùx/ ,(ibid., 467) ˆ[ùf/ˆ[xy ,(ibid., 465) gxgx-gax/h[x ,(ibid., 467) lylx/lylx hwùtqm/hçqm ,(ibid., 473) hmyaq/hmq (wyny[) ,(ibid., 468) jrx/jyrx jzr/jzrm ,(ibid., 465) qbr/qbrm ,(ibid. 469) babr/μybybr ,(ibid. 468) hkbç/twkbç ,(ibid., 468) tapùxr/tpxr ,(ibid., 465) ˆynr/hnr ,(ibid.) ≠ wlç ,(ibid., 465) rks/rkç ,(ibid., 470) jas-hjays/jwçl-μyjyç ,(ibid.) ypùt/μytpç-twpç ,(Poznanski 470) ˚aps/(wjyç) ˚pçy (Fuchs, 5) ywls .(ibid., 452) qyrç-qyrs/qrç ,(ibid., 470) bars/brç ,(ibid., 465) hypùtaBib. Heb./Arab. (implicit)
sws/ss ,(Fuchs, 10) tfrwt/fry ;(Perez, 2000, 103) hmrbm/μymwrb • ,(Perez 2000, 122) ˚tmr/˚twmr ,(Perez, 1981, 223) whqz[yw ,(Perez, 1978, 445) .(Fuchs, 13) ˚wç/μykçl Bib. Heb./Arab. (implicit) > “zero” in the Heb. translation ,(ibid., 40) baùd/baz ,(ibid., 37) rbd/hrwbd ,(Abramson, 32) μsùg/μçg • .(ibid., 79) hmlùf/μlx ,(ibid., 48) ˆabsj/ˆwbçj ,(ibid., 46) μarùka/μrj Bib. Heb./Targ. Aram. (non-cognate)/Arab. (cognate to Targ. Aram.) .(Poznanski, 470) thl/tyhlaw/rhgyw • Semantic comparisons
jybq ,ˆsb ˆsj/fq f[mk ;(Abramson 92) (same in Arab.)/ylwl = ylwa • .(ibid., 103) rj/çpj ;(Perez, 2000, 53) [rqa [mùga ,jyqç For the rest of comparisons, see Poznanski 1916, pp. 470–76
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15.2.4 Comparative terms Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram. .(abx ,ah ,˚rb) 0 ,(πg) yfbnla ypw ,(lglg ,la) ynayrsla ypw • Bib.Heb. 1/Bib.Heb. 2/Targ. Aram.
lqy hnmw ;(ttr) μwgrt whw ;(ryx ,≈yx ,ˆkbw ,πrf ,rb ,yrb ,wla) μwgrt(w) • μwgrt ˆm ,(dygn) μwgrt yk ,μwgrt ˆwçlm ;(ryn) μwgrt ˆal ,(lylj) μwgrtla .(μrg) μwgrt ˆm ,(rb[yw) Bib. Heb./Talm. Aram. .(ˆh) lùùz wnytwbr yrbdbw ;(wççwqth) ˆylwala lwq ˆm •. Bib. Heb./Aram./Arab. .(ryg) yrt amk hyp tagl ùtalùtla tbraqt dqp • Bib. Heb./Arab.
byùg[ ˆm aùdhp ,(μyzwh) ˆytglla ˆyytah yp hbraqmla yp byrg aùdhw • ˆm arhw . . . br[la lwqt ˚lùdkw ,(ˆwqx) ˆytglla ˆytah ˆyb qaptala . . . l br[la hymstl asnaùgm ˆak ambrw ,(twpylam) ˆytglla hsnaùgm ybr[la ùfpll snaùgm ,(≈yljy) yn[mlaw ùfplla yp dy[b synùgt whw ,(μhytwwj) ,(hçqm) br[la lwqt aùdkhw ,(hjws ,abs ,llgb) br[la lwqtw ,(twkbç) ,(areb) ybr[la ˆasl yp ,(yjs) br[la μalk ypw ,(μhdn) br[la lwq hbçy ,(rsb) br[la dn[ ,(wlç]) br[la ˆasl ˆm hmùgrtla aùdh (rspmla) dmtsa ù≈[b yp hmsa ˚lùdkw ,(qrec) hyrùxj hbr[m hùfpl ,(qrb) hybr[la ypw .(˚na) taglla The term “zero” and comparison on the strength of the Arabic example: .ˆ[xy ,lylx ,r[r[ ,tw[l The following terms appear as the usage by the translator of the grammatical treatises of Ibn Bal'am: μyla[mçyhw ,(twpç ,μyjyç ,txjk ,dg ,zam) (μy)la[mçy ˆwçlb awh ˆkw • ,(ˆn[) μyla[mçy ˆwçlb rmay hzm bwrqw ,(hnbel) l[wp ˆyn[h hzm wprx al la[mçy ˆwçlm awhç rmwa çy ,(twpylam) μnwçlb μyla[mçyh wrmay ˆkw .(rpk) arqy tybr[ ˆwçlb yk ,(ylwa) μyla[mçyh wç[y ˆkw ,(ynwbx[)
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Isaac ibn Barùn, the last Hebrew grammarian in the epoch under discussion, compiled the Kitàb al-Muwàzana bayn al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya wa-l-'Arabiyya, which contains fully detailed comparison of Hebrew with Arabic in the spheres of lexicon and of grammar. Kokowtzow published the surviving parts of al-Muwàzana in 1890 as well as additional fragments in 1916. In 1893 he published a synopsis (in Russian) of the contents of that treatise and of the comparison theory emanating from it. The substantial contents of the Muwàzana, included in the two groups of fragmentary remnants, were translated into English by Wechter (1964) and redacted in the form of one consecutive list (arranged in alphabetical order of the root of each entry word). In his annotations to the text, Wechter also incorporated the gist of Kokowtzow’s synoptic survey. Wechter added further independent notations; but according to Téné (1983, notes 16, 20, 82, 86, 96, 98, 104), Wechter’s main contribution was to make Kokowtzow’s survey available to English readers. Téné (§§ 2.2.4; 5) again reviewed Ibn Barùn’s comparison method (in his general treatment of language comparison of several other tenth and eleventh century scholars). Various other issues and problems not dealt with by the aforementioned scholars have been discussed in the present work (above, 2.2; 2.33 at end; §§ 2.4; 2.6.3.4; 2.6.3.5; 5.1.1; 5.3.4; 5.3.5; see also p. 33, n. 22 and p. 34, n. 24). 15.3.1 Listing of comparisons Kitàb al-Muwàzana, as noted earlier, has only partially survived. For this reason, scholars have endeavored to reconstruct (= complete) the lacunae on the basis of several sources. Wechter (15–22) filled in certain portions such as (philological) reconstructions from fragmentary quotations by grammarians who succeeded Ibn Barùn. Becker (1980) also restored materials, by citing Abraham b. Shelomo in his Bible commentary as well as by additional citations recorded by an anonymous scholar. In fact, the list of his lexicographical comparisons can also be restored from the text of Kitàb al-Muwàzana. In the introduction to his comparative lexicon (ibid., pp. 23–25), Ibn Barùn recorded several lexical comparisons to exemplify certain substitution rules in comparison method. For example, the interchanges ç/s and c/v are illustrated by the two words r[c and çar (ibid., p. 23).
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These two entry words are not to be found in the remnants of al-Muwàzana (pp. 87, 98, 171). However, since they are encountered in the introduction, where they are unambiguously presented as explicit comparisons, there are no grounds for not subjoining them to the general listing of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons. Some comparisons appearing in the introduction have also survived in the body of the work—e.g. the comparison ˆzrg/ˆyzrk appears in the introduction (p. 23) and is reiterated in the body of the lexicon (p. 167), likewise, ˆhb (pp. 24, 161), μynfb (pp. 24, 163), and others. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the remaining words now appearing only in the introduction, in fact also occurred in the lost portions of the work. In what follows, no mention is made of those words that have survived in the body of the lexicon, merely those that now appear in the introduction: qd/hkdmb wkd ,lmùg/lmg ,sydk/çydg ,hbkr/μykrb ,hrkb/rqb • ,wrgp/wr[p ,ˆy[/ˆy[ ,ù˚m/jwm ,rkùd/rkz ,jbùd/jbz ,μsd/ˆçd ,qdmlab .r[ç/r[ç ,ùglùt/glç ,rwùt/rwç ,sar/çar ,yar/har ,arq/arq Some further comparisons can be restored on the basis of allusions made by Ibn Barùn at entries that show a similarity, in their grammatical pattern, to the relevant presumed entry words. The numerals from 3 to 10, with their various forms and combinations, masc. and fem. gender, etc., whole integers and fractions and so on, can be restored on the basis of Ibn Barùn comments, in the grammatical section, on the close similarity of Hebrew and Arabic in the morphology of the numerals (p. 7) as well as by parallel statements within entries [br and çmj. There, Ibn Barùn states that the Hebrew form for a fraction ty[ybr, (side by side with [br), used in Arabic as well (= [ybr), is proper for ˆymùt and ryç[ as well, corresponding with tynymç and tyryç[, hlaùtmaw. The word hlaùtmaw alludes to the comparison ty[ybç/[ybs and the like. Other lexical comparisons can be restored by the sample instances adduced by Ibn Barùn in the grammatical section, as illustration of several grammatical rules (pp. 8–9): ,[lx/[lx ,[bxa/[bxa ,πtk/πtk ,πk/πk ,ramj/rwmj ,hma/hma .ˆs/ˆç ,smç/çmç ,qas/qwç ,swq/tçq In the latter instances, cognate translation synonyms were largely adduced as renderings for the word illustrating the rule in question, these perforce leading to at least implicit comparisons. The comparisons μai/ˆa'; μai/ˆai can be restored from Ibn Barùn’s statement at entry la (p. 36).
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Wechter reconstructed only one instance of this category: jnztw/jnz, which comparison survived in the introduction but nowhere in the substance of the lexicon (pp. 41, 168). He might well have reconstructed all the rest if the single reconstruction he made was indeed founded on that principle. 15.3.2 Comparisons with Aramaic The title of the treatise and its salient purpose intimate that this work was aimed at a comparison of Hebrew with Arabic only; Aramaic is not mentioned in the title. Indeed, in the majority of his comparisons Ibn Barùn avoids any treatment of Aramaic. Nevertheless, certain isolated comparisons with Aramaic are to be found therein. Wechter (nn. 179–80) noted only the comparisons at entries afj, jba, zwj. But in fact, one encounters several additional comparisons with Aramaic in Muwàzana: πa/πna (ynayrsla yp ˆwnla trhùf dqw). Ibn Barùn quotes from Jamharat al-lughah that the expression rwhas exists in Hebrew as well as in Aramaic. A semantic comparison: Ibn Barùn interprets the expression yrbh μymç (Isa. 47:13) in the sense ˚tj ,[fq (cleave, cut off ) by comparing with Arabic rbh, on the grounds, that the concept “cutting, cleaving” is encountered in Aramaic, too, in the linguistic context of “fortune telling, astrology”: see ˆyrzg ˆymfrj (Dan. 2:27); ayrzgw (Dan. 4:4). In entry rma, the Aram./Arab. comparison rM'ai/rma (çbk μwgrt) occurs. Ibn Barùn even calls this comparison qaptala byrg ˆm (one of the most wonderful concurrences).6 In some cases Ibn Barùn rejects comparisons that his predecessors established with Aramaic. Ibn Gikatilla explained rbdy (Ps. 47:4) in the sense of ghny; a comparison with Aramaic being the most likely background of this interpretation. Ibn Barùn refuses to adopt that explanation, apparently because in his opinion it does not suit the context. He likewise rejects Ibn Janà˙’s comparison at wypga and at dryw. But the few comparisons that he does maintain are enough to indicate that in principle he acquiesces to setting up comparisons
6 The gist of the passage would seem to intimate that the entry word is to be identified as the Arabic, whereas the Aramaic is adduced for elucidation of the Arabic. In that case, this would be the only instance in which an Arabic word has the status of definitum. However, it is possible, although as a forced suggestion, to interprete the Aramaic word rM'ai as the entry word.
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with Aramaic. Yet at several entries he purposely ignored an obvious comparison with Aramaic. For the comparisons wnlsjy/sjl; wnllfyw/lùfa, f[byw/f[b; Ibn Barùn adduced Ibn Janà˙’s statements (but without acknowledging their source) almost verbatim, but only with regard to the section of the comparison relating to the Arabic; he entirely ignored the section of the comparison established by Ibn Janà˙ with Aramaic. In other locations, where it can be reasonably postulated that comparison with Aramaic would be appropriate, no mention of it appears. For example, at the comparison hqlj/lqj a comparison with Aramaic alqj is suggestive; likewise at lylk/lylk ( ùgat), at ˆmla, at ˆfb etc. Why then did he see fit to compare with Aram., only in the instances mentioned above? Possibly in those instances there was some unique or specific feature, such as for instance, that the Aramaic served as real corroboration for the Arabic or for the connotation he had determined on the basis of the Arabic: At tjba he resorted to the Targ. Aram. non-cognate translation synonym abrj ylwfq as a corroboration of his comparison with hjabtsa (= laxatsa); likewise at hnfja. At wzj (Ps. 46:9), he took up comparison with Aramaic, merely to justify rejection of the elucidation offered by other grammarians, i.e. in the sense of wymy wzj al ( Job 24:1). Apparently for this entry word he could not find an Arabic cognate bearing precisely the same connotation. Indeed, he had explained the phrase μyzwjh ta in the sense yzaj = ryfla rùgaz, i.e. pigeon gamesters (in the astrological sense of “divination” or “fortune telling,” not in the sense of “plain seeing”). The comparison rhs/arhys has a unique feature, in that it was discovered in an Arabic dictionary. At rM'ai/rma, Ibn Barùn himself expressed his wonderment, by the expression qaptala byrg ˆm. Likewise, the semantic comparison rbh/rzg contains an element that is lacking in the Heb./Arab. comparison rbh/rbh. 15.3.3 Terminology Wechter (n. 318) recorded the comparison terms of Ibn Barùn in a general way. It should be noted that the “zero” and “zero”-like terms as well as μwl[m are used in Ibn Barùn’s comparisons. For example, at entry yna, Ibn Barùn states μwl[m and by this he means to imply the comparison yna/ana, likewise at entries ayh, awh, hçmj. In some cases, there is no term at all: for example, at entry ˆsj (p. 51), he says:
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tazh ry[h ˆsj lk ta ( Jer. 20:5) rqyw ˆsj hnmw ahlamùgw ahnsj (Ezek. 22:25), this being the whole text of the entry. Also in entries rrj, trj, hpj, llf, hrf, etc., no term appears. Nevertheless, the comparison is still an explicit one. The basic term used by Ibn Barùn is snaùgm or snaùgy;7 it is of such frequent occurrence, that one might wonder why he entitled his treatise Kitàb al-Muwàzana and not Kitàb al-Mujànasa! But apparently, Muwàzana is a term of a more general nature, whereas hsnaùgm, as used by Ibn Barùn following the practice of R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙, is a more “specific” technical term. 15.3.4 The sources of Ibn Barùn The sources used by Ibn Barùn were long ago dealt with: by Kokowtzow (in his Hebrew introduction to Kitàb al-Muwàzana, 1893, p. ii, w), by Bacher (1896, introduction to the Shorashim, p. XXIV, n. 3), by Eppenstein (1900–1901), and by Wechter (1964, pp. 7–22). Broadly and typically, these scholars pointed out Ibn Barùn’s affinity with R. Sa'adiah Ga"on (e.g. Eppenstein, p. 241), with R. Hai Ga"on (pp. 243–44), and with R. Judah ibn Quraysh (ibid., pp. 242–43). The general consensus is that Ibn Barùn’s main inspiration was R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙ (see Bacher, ibid.; Eppenstein, ibid., p. 237, p. 245). Kokowtzow, in his introduction to the Kitàb al-Muwàzana listed 43 verbatim citations from Ibn Janà˙’s works, not necessarily in matters of language comparison. From the Comparative Table (below, ch. 16) it can be deduced that out of the total of 71 comparisons surviving in Muwàzana and already encountered in Ibn Janà˙’s works but untraceable to any earlier source, eleven are recorded as implicit comparisons by Ibn Janà˙ as well as a further three that he rules out. He does not cite Ibn Janà˙ in each and every comparison, but by and large the citations are verbatim, thus removing any doubt as to their source. 290 of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons are already encountered in the records of R. Sa'adiah, whether in his Bible
7
Becker (1980, p. 296 and n. 39) remarks that snaùgm, the most recurrent term in Ibn Barùn’s work, is encountered tmw[l lfwbm fw[ymb ˚a μyrja μyrbjm lxa μg ˆwrb ˆb lxa ywxmh (“in works of other authors, but its frequency in those works is extremely meager relative to its frequency in the work of Ibn Barùn”). It was noted above (13.19) that in R. Jonah ibn Janà˙’s works, the term is very prominent and is encountered in a fair number of comparisons.
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translation or elsewhere as part of his inventory of explicit comparisons. However, it is absolutely clear that R. Sa'adiah did not view as comparison entities each and every entity viewed as such by Ibn Barùn. For example, wkd R. Sa'adiah renders qd; wjbf, he renders jbùd; and πf, he translates lpf. But there is no certainty that R. Sa'adiah took these three to be cognates. One way or the other, the rendering itself is already there in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr. It is feasible that Ibn Barùn took over many comparisons attested indirectly in R. Sa'adiah’s translation, i.e. by Ibn Janà˙’s Ußùl. For, considering that Ibn Barùn made very thorough use of Ußùl, it is quite possible that that work served him as a source for comparisons recorded there secondarily, as well. But it is not impossible that Ibn Barùn established several comparisons on his own accord, without resorting to any documented source, and this is especially plausible regarding such common words as μwy, dylwy, ˆymy, çryy, lg[, çar, laç, rwç, and the like. Despite all this, I treat as most decisive the documentation of a primary nature, the important matter being not what could theoretically have been borrowed from R. Sa'adiah, but what is known to have been one borrowed from him. Of the comparisons whose first documentation is in a record of R. Judah ibn Quraysh, 90 are attested in the records of Ibn Barùn. Eppenstein (ibid., pp. 242–43) illustrated Ibn Barùn’s affinity with Ibn Quraysh by the comparisons wykynjw/hyknjm; πtjb πtj; rz[y/rz[y etc. Indeed, the feature unique to these as well as other comparisons (see, for example, also wnaw, qbdl, lhy, μtbyyjw, ˆw[m, wndpa) is that Ibn Barùn could not have cited them from any other grammarians, for only he and Ibn Quraysh are known to have recorded them (at least according to our present knowledge). One further encounters 49 of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons whose first attestation is in a record of Alfàsi, but a good percentage of these might well have been adduced by Ibn Barùn from a source subsequent to Alfàsi. For example, the comparisons μçtyw/çtn; rgws/rwùgas; μydydr/hydra, and others are encountered in Ußùl, too. Furthermore, the Heb./Aram. comparison yla/ayla is adduced by Ibn Barùn explicitly in the name of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, even though it is recorded also by Alfàsi. On the other hand some comparisons characteristic of the Karaites are to be found in the records of Ibn Barùn. One such, the comparison çya/sya, happens to appear in the records of Alfàsi (but is also encountered in the writings of other Karaites) and is reiterated in the work of Ibn Barùn. Moreover, additional comparisons recorded “jointly” by Alfàsi
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and Ibn Barùn are not known in any other source—as, for example, ˆçlt/ˆslt and ˚wrç/˚arç, and it is feasible that this unambiguously indicates Ibn Barùn’s source. Be that as it may, Kokowtzow (1893, p. 120, n. 280; p. 145, n. 377) and Wechter (n. 115) remarked that Ibn Barùn made use, additionally, of Bible translations apart from that of R. Sa'adiah, and it cannot be ruled out that some of these were Karaite translations. The name Dunash b. Labrat is nowhere encountered in what remains of Muwàzana. What is more, the aforementioned scholars failed to note any link between him and Ibn Barùn. However, the comparison listing reveals that eleven of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons are attested for the first time as a record of Dunash. A certain number of these, such as μy/μy and twplyk/πwlk, could possibly have been taken over by Ibn Barùn directly from a record of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙. But at any rate, five comparisons unknown from another source were recorded “jointly” by Ibn Barùn and Dunash; these are: μtr/μtr, ynwkms/˚ms, hypy[s/hpy[s, rr/rar, qr/qyr, and it is fair to assume that they were in fact taken over by Ibn Barùn directly from the records of Dunash b. Labrat himself. But the above does not mean to imply that Ibn Barùn was entirely dependent on his predecessors. In many cases, he rejects their comparisons and even proposes alternative ones (see 15.3.6 below). 15.3.5 The taß˙ìf The taß˙ìf is an original concept of Ibn Barùn (Kokowtzow, 1893, p. 168, n. 80). Earlier (13.2.1) I attempted to demonstrate that Ibn Barùn could not have taken over this concept from the comparison theory of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ because Ibn Janà˙ himself did not practise taß˙ìf. It is possible that Ibn Barùn interpreted various renderings in "Ußùl as cases of taß˙ìf.8 For example, Ibn Janà˙ rendered rjb as ryùkt and hxr as yùxr: Ibn Janà˙ views the first pair as noncognate and the second as cognate translation synonym; Ibn Barùn, however, treated both as cognate translation synonyms, by taß˙ìf. In the opinion of Ibn Janà˙, ttr/hyùtr is no more than a partial comparison, whereas Ibn Barùn views it as a full etymological compar8 This also applies to those cases, in which Ibn Barùn established a comparison on the lines of rwa[t and in which R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ intended to render merely by non-cognates, such as ˆjb/ˆjm; jrza/jyrx; ytnjt/ytljm; tjbf/tjbùd.
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ison, by taß˙ìf. Scholars have investigated the essence of taß˙ìf. Téné (1983, p. 266, with bibliography in n. 96) defines it as “an error in the placing of the diacritical dots, i.e.: if one writes down qzb in Arabic characters and does not mark the diacritical dot of the zay(n), the word matches its Arabic translational synonoym qrb.”9 But this definition fails to relate to either the circumstances in which the aberration occurred or to the problem of whether the error occurred within an Arabic text or within a Hebrew one. The possibility of Hebrew is very far-fetched, since no diacritical mark exists in cases of the interchange z/r. That the error occurred with regard to switches owing to the formal similarity of two “alternative” letters is again, hardly applicable in Hebrew, for Hebrew letters z and r have no close similarity. It must, therefore be concluded that the error occurred within Arabic, where, in the given example and in other cases as well, the interchanging letters are almost identical and are distinguished merely by the diacritical point placed on one member of the pair. But the problems are still not entirely settled: What relevance does the distinction between qrb and qzb in Arabic have to the Hebrew counterparts? In the context of what socio-linguistic process and in what (historical) circumstances did the erroneous switch pass from Arabic to Hebrew? Did Ibn Barùn imagine the distortion in historical grounds? By its very nature, an aberration must be linked with a historical process. Insufficient data are available for ascertaining the entire substance of Ibn Barùn’s concept of taß˙ìf, but it is quite possible that he viewed this concept “technically” and no more. In other words, it might well be that he did not perceive taß˙ìf to be a profound linguistic approach nor think of it on a historical level but merely through speculative comparison of Arabic word pairs with their Hebrew counterparts, such as qzb-qrb (Arab.)/qzb-qr;B; (Heb.). The Arab philologists viewed the entry word qzb as a case of taß˙ìf; so Ibn Barùn applied the same concept vis-à-vis the Hebrew qzb. The next stage was to extend the field of this concept to entry words in which no counterpart pair exists in Hebrew, such as ˆçwj/ˆçwùg, and even further with regard to interchanges that his predecessors had simply treated as normal switches, such as x/ùx (see ˆwxr/ˆawùxr).10 In sum, we have here another 9
10
ta μynmsm ˆyaw twybr[ twytwab qzb μybtwk μa :rmal ,ˆjbhh tdwqn ˆwmysb çwbyç (qrb) tybr[l hlç tùùhnl qzb tyrb[h hlmh tywwtçm, yaz lç ˆjbhh tdwqn In the comparison rjb/ryùkt, in the opinion of Téné (1983, n. 97), the three
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concept/term that made its way from the unilingual context (in this case, the starting point being specifically Arabic) into the HebrewArabic interlingual context (see Téné, 1983, §7). 15.3.6 The unique characteristics of Ibn Barùn Ibn Barùn was the first Hebrew grammarian to have conducted a systematic and exhaustive comparison of Hebrew with Arabic, his comparisons being established, of course, according to his own theoretical system. His systematization is salient in several aspects: (1) Ibn Barùn recorded comparisons of even extremely frequent words, such as lk / lk , πla / πla , hta / tna , ≈ra / ≈ra , waòwa , ba /ba, ayh/ayh, dy/dy, and the like. (2) Ibn Barùn made every attempt to reach the maximal number of cognates in Hebrew and Arabic as well as to discover alternate comparisons within the same entry. In the entry rwnk, Ibn Barùn rejects Ibn Janà˙’s comparison (rank) and remarks that he had checked out the entry in Kitàb al'ayn (of Al-Khalìl), in letter k (rank) and in letter ùk (rwnùk), and failed to find in either the meaning Ibn Janà˙ had assigned to the word rank. Thus Ibn Barùn described, almost unintentionally, his method of search: to check out all hypothetical possibilities. It is thus no coincidence, when he proposes two cognate translation synonyms for hbky: wbùk and hybak; and similarly for lça: lùta and lsa; for according to his substitution chart, Hebrew k is liable to interchange with Arabic ùk, whereas Hebrew ç interchanges with Arabic ùt or s. On the same lines, for hnwpa, in addition to the two suggestions of Ibn Janà˙ (ˆapa, hnyp), he subjoins a third comparison possibility, tynp. (3) Ibn Barùn would compare a Hebrew entry (root) with an Arabic entry (root) as to all their respective equivalent connotations (e.g. πlj/πlùk), whereas Alfàsi and Ibn Janà˙ for example, established comparison of such roots only with respect to the rarer signification of the entry. (4) Ibn Barùn established a systematic and structural comparison in the grammatical context, too (Bacher, ZAW 1894, p. 283). pairs of letters b/ùk, j/y and r/r are the corresponding ones. But if, for this comparison, we graft a metathesis as well, we obtain the pair rjb/rùky, resulting in the respective correspondences: b/y, j/ùk, and r/r. The two latter pairs are usual and well known. The pair b/y in the Arabic script differ merely in the number of diacritical points (for the b, a single dot; for the y, two dots: in both letters the dots are sublinear). Construing the switch in this way well fits taß˙ìf.
ibn gikatilla, judah b. bal'am, and isaac b. barÙn
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(5) Ibn Barùn systematically inspected each and every entry in Ibn Janà˙’s lexicon and made a search to determine the occurrence or absence of specific comparisons. At ˆzy (Muwàzana, p. 60), he remarked: ayç dylwla wba hyp rkùdy μl. The criticism launched by Ibn Barùn against the comparisons of his predecessors is clear evidence of his feeling of independence. Regarding an etymological reasoning proposed by Ibn Janà˙ for deriving hlybn from lbn, Ibn Barùn made the following comment: alw ˚lùd ra μlp yb rm. It is also worthwhile comparing his annotations at ≈lj, at hha, etc. (see Wechter, 1964, pp. 8ff.). Téné (1983, 4.2.2) remarked that a classification of comparisons by various types of similarity is unique to Ibn Barùn. The implication is that Ibn Barùn, aside from setting up and creating explicit language comparisons, practised meta-comparison as well. Ibn Barùn regularly subjoins arguments for the corroboration of the sense of an Arabic word adopted by him in his comparison work: these he adduces from usages in Arabic poetry, from the Qur"àn, and from the Óadìth, as well as from his own consultation of Arabic lexicons. Taß˙ìf, as previously discussed, is a “created” element in Ibn Barùn’s theory. This is an additional expression of the lenience and flexibility so conspicuous in Ibn Barùn’s theory of language comparison. Further evidence of this can be seen in the 33 comparisons founded on metathesis (including inflection interchanges) adopted by Ibn Barùn that are unattested in the records of former grammarians. Comparisons with Berber and with Latin (in Bacher’s opinion, ZAW 1894, p. 245, these come in the wake of R. Judah b. Quraysh) constitute further proof of Ibn Barùn’s level of flexibility in comparison, for Ibn Janà˙ (as an example) did not practise comparison with those languages. Indeed, Ibn Barùn suffered criticism for such flexibility from his contemporary R. Moshe b. Ezra (see Halkin, p. 40). Ibn Barùn’s comparisons (as these have survived in al-Muwàzana) total 271 of which his record is the first known documentation; these include one comparison by dadùxa (the semantic comparison hba/yba), 19 comparisons built on substitutions and interchanges (whether by taß˙ìf or by ta'àwur, by alphabetical juxtaposition of the mutual letters, and the like) that were disqualified by former scholars, as well as 33 comparisons established by metathesis (see previous par.).
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15.3.7 Summary “Kokowtzow (1893, pp. 48–49) thought that Ibn Barùn’s comparisons were immeasurably superior to those of his predecessors, Ibn Janà˙ included” (Téné, 1983, p. 267); Wechter (1941, pp. 173–74) assigned relatively little importance to pre-Ibn Barùn comparison. Having taking into consideration that the contributions of Ibn Barùn’s predecessors in full detail, it can be affirmed that the evaluations of Kokowtzow and Wechter are correct as regards the systematic nature of Ibn Barùn’s comparison, especially in the field of grammar. In the area of lexical comparisons, however, while his contribution is noteworthy it cannot be said to stand out over and above those of the earlier Hebrew philologists. What is more, according to Kokowtzow’s own view, the employment of taß˙ìf reveals a regression vis-à-vis his predecessors. But it goes without saying, that Ibn Barùn’s primacy is in his systematic comparisons practised in the area of grammar: in this sphere, he clearly stands above his predecessors. Since this sub-topic, however, is not treated in the present study, it may well be that Ibn Barùn’s status as reflected here appears to be reduced in the macro-field of language comparison.
SYNOPSIS AND CONCLUSION
Hebrew philologists in the epoch scanned and treated in the present study compiled many books and treatises devoted to grammar, lexicography, Bible exegesis, and Bible translation, as well as treatises devoted specifically to language comparison. All these works are replete with comparisons between Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic. These comparisons have as their rootstock a fully fledged comparative philology theory; nevertheless, only rarely does this theory surface in the works themselves in the form of a planned discussion; and even when such a discussion is encountered, it comprises no more than certain specific aspects of language comparison. Comparative philology as a theory and practice of medieval Hebrew philologists, in the form the present study has attempted to mold it, has evolved from the comparison activity itself, as recorded in the works of these scholars. The fourteen philologists whose works have been examined here flourished in a variety of geographical areas and eras. They lived in many places, from Babylon in the Orient, through the land of Israel in the Middle East and as far West as North Africa and Spain. These were giants, starting from R. Sa'adiah Ga"on in the early tenth century, right up to Ibn Barùn at the beginning of the twelfth century. Topographical as well as temporal factors proved decisive in molding the thesis of each and every grammarian; and to some extent those two factors played a part in shaping the several schools of thought. But the several conceptions were indubitably nurtured, additionally, by the fundaments of Jewish faith or by singular disciplines. The general picture that emerges is that in the Orient, the grammarians who recorded comparisons set no ideological restrictions on the subject, whether the comparison was with Aramaic or with Arabic. In Spain, however, certain circles in Jewry were entirely opposed to comparison practice throughout the period. There were some parties who endorsed the activity, but with certain reservations (above, 2.1). Mena˙em b. Saruq restricted himself to comparison with Aramaic and then only, with stringent reservations—i.e. disallowing letter interchanges, with the single exception of the yùùwha interchange (above, 2.4), and hardly ever postulating metathesis. Yet
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it was in the Occident, that language comparison gained a solid foothold and was systematized. Ibn Quraysh, whose home was Tahort in North Africa, at the early dawn of the epoch, composed the first treatise pertaining specifically to comparative philology. Essentially, this work is a comparative lexicon; whereas, in Spain, Ibn Barùn, at the close of this period, compiled an exhaustive comparative lexicon as well as a systematic comparative grammar for biblical Hebrew. He even succeeded in demolishing not only the ideological reservations that had been placed on comparison but also the scholastic limitations set by earlier authorities. This gave the green light for language comparison without any restriction; many comparisons previously ruled out were now validated, including many that the earlier scholars had never conceived of. This lenience was reflected (a) in that Ibn Barùn approved at least 49 letter interchanges (above, 2.4.1.1), about half of which (27 in all) were practically applied by him and by no one else; and (b) in that he initiated the taß˙ìf concept (above, 15.3.5). Thus at the ideological poles of language comparison stand the two linguists of comparison: Mena˙em and Ibn Barùn. A group of scholars who, aside from their unity by socio-political factors were also united by a common code of doctrine, were the Karaites. They, it appears, evolved their own particular school of thought, in whose framework they adopted the language comparisons that suited their own tendencies. The comparison çy/sya, for example, is a common heritage of the Karaites—namely, Salmon b. Yeru˙im, Alfàsi (9.12.1.3.7), Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn (14.2.4), and Yefet b. Ali. Moreover, the Hebraisms of Alfàsi and of Abù-l-Faraj: hfmiç, /hfms ,znf[ç/zwnfaç have more the appearance of some system than of being merely accidental. But if some line of demarcation can be pinpointed among the various schools of thought and comparison systems, it must be drawn at and from the works of Óayyùj. Once Óayyùj had determined the doctrine of the tri-literality of the root, comparative philology took a new turn (chap. 12). All the pre-Óayyùj comparisons, which had been founded on the equivalence of one or two radical letters [e.g. (b[r) hzm/(anwtal) azml], were altogether invalidated by Óayyùj’s doctrine. R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ was the first grammarian to apply the law of tri-literality of the root to the area of comparative philology (13.21). The heirs to his scholarship continued in his footsteps. Yet not all his contemporaries were aware of or adopted Óayyùj’s theory, either
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for their general philology or for their language comparison method. The Babylonian scholar R. Hai Ga"on did not apply the tri-literal theory of the root in his dictionary, probably because this dictionary was compiled earlier to diffusion of Hayyùj’s theory, and the Jerusalemite scholar Abù-l-Faraj, though aware of Hayyùj’s theory, was unable to abandon the linguistic Karaite tradition in favor of Óayyùj. Each and every one of the fourteen Hebrew philologists provided a quantitative or qualitative contribution to language comparison and its method. Clearly, the totality of the description herein provided is based on what has remained of the works of the Hebrew grammarians as well as on reliable testimonies of their original writings. It cannot be known to what extent the picture would appear differently, had additional materials survived. Nonetheless, the general depiction of the comparative method as well as the singular characteristics of the several grammarians separately would seem to have been satisfactorily represented. The most precise way of evaluating the contribution made by each separate philologist is to take a count of the lexical comparisons for which his documentation is the first—in other words, those that are unattested in the records of his predecessors. An enumeration along these lines reveals the following statistics: R. Sa'adiah Ga"on: 692; R. Judah ibn Quraysh: 366; Alfàsi: 437; Alfàsi’s Transmitter Copyists: 6; Mena˙em: 47; Dunash: 51; Óayyùj: 2; R. Hai Ga"on: 25; Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn: 7; R. Jonah ibn Janà˙: 342; Rouen MS: 25; R. Judah ibn Bal'am: 17; Ibn Gikatilla: 2; HaBavli: 3; Ibn Barùn: 271: anonymous disqualified comparisons: 6; total: 2299. However, the numerical data in themselves are insufficient for providing an accurate picture; in some cases, they are even likely to mislead. For instance, if we were to measure Óayyùj’s contribution to the history of language comparison on this score alone, his status would be seriously impaired, since the chart testifies that he established only two new lexical comparisons (even if we subjoin his grammatical comparisons, the total of his novel contributions amounts to only four!). The quantitative datum then constitutes merely one aspect of the general picture. The other aspect can be deduced only through an item-by-item inspection of every total comparison inventory, analyzing the relationship between each of the several grammarians and the others, and evaluating the standing of each, in the diachronic chain of transmission. One might then, say, for example,
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that one comparison of grammarian A is worth a hundred comparisons of grammarian B. Indeed, it cannot be denied that it is far easier to compare two basic vocabulary items, such as ba;/ba or μae/μa, than to propose a complex comparison of the type hrzEg (≈ra)/hzwrùgm, (ù≈ra) which necessitates (a) a letter substitution (g/ùg) and (b) metathesis ([ùùlp-lùù[p). Comparisons of the former type are readily available for any grammarian, from the stock of very frequent entry words that can be “spontaneously” compared in the two or three languages with which he is familiar. The latter type, in contrast, belongs to a category of comparisons that are totally and plainly the product of profound language study. Therefore, the comparison total of 692 for R. Sa'adiah, foremost in the line of grammarians of that epoch, quite naturally includes a comparison of many basic vocabulary items; the 342 comparisons recorded for R. Jonah ibn Janà˙, in contrast, include no basic vocabulary items at all. The following analysis is intended to append summarily various characteristic aspects to supplement the above statistics. The singularity of R. Sa'adiah is his position as the earliest authority (μyrbdmh çar), in the sphere of language comparison as well as in other spheres. R. Judah ibn Quraysh stands out for originating a scholarly treatise specifically geared to comparative philology. As regards the establishment of this academic science, in general, for both R. Sa'adiah and Ibn Quraysh, the comparison of basic vocabulary, was of prime importance. For these philologists, quantity implies quality. Alfàsi was the first lexicographer to make large-scale, systematic use of language comparison in the field of Bible lexicon. Mena˙em, and Dunash, and their respective disciples, enhanced the field of comparison, by stimulating discussion on matters of basic principle, e.g. if it is permissible to compare Hebrew with Arabic at all, and if so, to what extent. Óayyùj, despite the paucity of his comparisons, made a significant contribution to the field; his novel theory of the tri-literality of the Hebrew root implanted a principle for language comparison, too. Ibn Janà˙ made the most immense contribution to the evolvement of comparative philology: it is not surprising that scholars such as Poznanski (1916, p. 250) were so enthusiastic by his comparisons that they viewed Ibn Janà˙ as the “forerunner of modern comparative linguistics.” We have, in our time, the means to make a more precise evaluation of Ibn Janà˙’s contribution to the subject. Ibn Janà˙ made a practical and systematic application of Óayyùj’s theory in the area of comparative
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philology and thereby determined which of the comparisons of former scholars were valid and which were null and void. Even more Ibn Janà˙’s keen acumen not only revealed new semantic aspects in “radically” unique words, but even pinpointed the unique semantemes. For example, of all the 4,475 occurrences of yk in the Bible, he located two where the connotation of yk is identical with that of Arabic kay (above 13.21).11 The prominent feature of R. Hai Ga"on is that in his lexicon he systematically compared Rabbinic Hebrew entries, too, with Aramaic and with Arabic. The contribution of Abù-l-Faraj has yet to be fully evaluated. Research on the grammatical thought in his treatises, Kitàb al-Mushtamil and Kitàb al-Kàfi, is under way. From what has been published to date, it appears that the Abù-l-Faraj’s singular contribution in language comparison lies in his extensive comparisons of grammatical topics. Part 8 of the al-Mushtamil deals with the grammar of biblical Aramaic and, concomitantly, his contrastive comparison of Aramaic versus Hebrew grammar. The contributions of HaNagid, HaBavli and Ibn Gikatilla, once again, are hard to evaluate, because the remnants of their treatises are so scanty. As regards Ibn Gikatilla, R. Judah ibn Bal'am and R. Isaac Ibn Barùn, at any rate, it can be confidently stated that, (a) they proceeded further in the ways of comparison paved earlier by Ibn Janà˙, while simultaneously re-checking his comparisons one by one and even expressing their objections to his views wherever they saw fit to do so. Further, Ibn Barùn strove to fill in each and every comparison that Ibn Janà˙ had omitted. The extent, to which each grammarian was dependent on his predecessors, has been examined by a number of modern scholars. Becker (1984, pp. 74–77) discusses Ibn Quraysh’s reliance on Alfàsi, but his viewpoint is without foundation. Nor could he reach a clear conclusion on the link between Ibn Quraysh and R. Sa'adiah Ga"on! Undeniably, communication between contemporary scholars residing in far-flung countries was arduous and slow, at least insofar as the linguistic discipline was concerned. It would seem that exegetical works and Bible translations traveled much more readily and smoothly than did scholarly philological treatises. For example, R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ was acquainted with R. Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr as well as with R. Sa'adiah’s and R. Hai Ga"on’s commentaries on rabbinic literature, 11 See Becker 1998, §218. For a detailed discussion on this comparison, see Maman 1992a, pp. 27–31; 2000a, p. 273.
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whereas R. Sa'adiah’s treatises on linguistics12 and R. Hai’s lexicon Kitàb al-Óàwi13 were unknown to him. It is quite possible, then, that Ibn Quraysh had not heard of R. Sa'adiah, just as, in a later epoch, R. Hai had not heard of the theory of Óayyùj, who lived in his lifetime but in a distant land. However, from the explicit citations one can infer that all the relevant grammarians, with the possible exception of R. Judah ibn Quraysh, at least knew of R. Sa'adiah’s Bible translation. Mena˙em and Dunash also knew of the Risàla. Pinsker (p. 172) found evidence, at first sight, that Mena˙em knew of Alfàsi’s lexicon (as is evident, for example, from their similar interpretations of hnmsrky).14 But he did not conclude definitively on the matter on account of the possibility that Mena˙em gleaned his information from Alfàsi’s sources (in Bible exegesis) rather than from Alfàsi’s lexicon itself (as noted above 9.12.1.3.0, the very same interpretation for hnmsrky is encountered in the records of Salmon b. Yeru˙im, too); R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ was familiar with most of his predecessors’ works, yet surprisingly he did not know of Óayyùj’s Kitàb al-Nutaf (see Abramson, 1978–79, p. 229, ibid., p. 47). The whole issue of the demarcation between primary and secondary documentation of comparisons is complex and quite perplexing: even when one finds one philologist citing from an earlier scholar, in connection with a particular comparison, one cannot conclude therefrom that whenever the texts of their comparison statements are identical, the matter is indeed one of citation. Excepted from this reservation are only Ibn Bal'am and Ibn Barùn and also, possibly, Ibn Gikatilla, who are known to have thoroughly and systematically cross-checked every record of Ibn Janà˙. Thus a much more objective parameter for weighing up the records of any grammarian and determining his “novelties” in comparative philology, is the relative dating of the several grammarians, in other words: the historical criterion. Logic demands that the originality of a comparison encountered in the records of two or more grammarians be attributed only to the grammarian who anteceded the others chronologically, even if it can be definitely established that the later grammarian did not know of the 12
See Allony, 1970, p. 23. See Steinschneider, 1901, p. 130; against him: Bacher 1885, p. 88; Poznanski, 1901, p. 597. 14 On this word see Maman 2003, pp. 280–82, 286 and the literature quoted there. 13
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former. The “origination” of a given comparison can be attributed to only one grammarian. Nevertheless, one speaks here in relative rather than absolute terms; for the totality of documentation is far from being complete. Regarding the quantitative statistics recorded above, the scope of language comparison of a scholar depends on the structure and purpose of his work. Because R. Judah ibn Quraysh in his treatise adduced comparisons for purposes of exemplification only; he did not endeavor to be exhaustive. Likewise Dunash, in his excursus (yn[fm: Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 88ff.), recorded comparisons merely as samples. In all the rest of his entries, he set out merely to criticize the comparisons of R. Sa'adiah and of Mena˙em, in accordance with the polemical character of his treatises. In Bible commentaries, comparison is used only for selected words and for certain specific expressions. Prima facie, the lexicons might have been expected to incorporate systematic language comparison, yet Ibn Janà˙ consciously disregarded a good many comparisons at entries that he thought to be “well known,” or at locations where he found it sufficient to give a cross-reference to the works of Óayyùj or to other of his own treatises. As to comparison doctrines, the philologists investigated here reveal a considerable measure of common ground. They all believed that Aramaic has a greater affinity with Hebrew than does Arabic (above, 2.2). These languages did not borrow words from each other (2.3). Even Ibn Quraysh, who emphasized “geographical proximity” as a factor in language comparison, apparently did not go so far as to postulate word loan in Hebrew from Aramaic and/or Arabic (2.3.4). Though the philologists had some inkling of the concept of loan from one language to another, they failed to define the conditions and circumstances in which this phenomenon would take place. The grammarians established comparisons of two cognate translation synonyms if and only if these had basically equivalent meanings (nowadays termed “on the synchronic plane”; 2.6). They would not compare heterosemic cognates on the grounds of some equivalent connotation, as it were, on the “diachronic plane.” Their aims of comparison are fairly well defined. One aim that can be traced, as an uninterrupted “dynamic” through all the works is the use of comparison for determining the connotation of unique or very rare biblical entry words and, in Ibn Janà˙’s comparisons, for isolating unique semantemes. Other traceable aims include: clarification of a grammatical
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issue (5.3.5.2) or of an etymological question (5.3.5.4) or to illustrate a matter of principle in comparison theory (this is the case in works and excursuses geared specifically to language comparison; 5.1.1). These all incorporate many comparisons “for comparison’s sake” (5.3.5), in contrast, to “inevitable comparisons” (5.3.1). Ibn Barùn would even seem to have endeavored to provide the Bible translator with a handy comparative Hebrew/Arabic lexicon (5.3.4). Comparison was carried out by means of various “formulae” (3.5). Biblical entry words were compared sometimes with their Aramaic cognates and sometimes with their Arabic cognates. Some were placed in “direct” comparison (e.g. Bib. Heb./Bib. Aram.; 3.6.1), others were compared by an additional intermediary (e.g. Bib. Heb.1/Bib. Heb.2/Targ. Aram.: 3.6.4). Formulae classification makes for efficiency in the arrangement of entry words vis-à-vis the text sources, pertaining to several linguistic strata, from which they are taken over (i.e., Hebrew or Aramaic; biblical or post-biblical, etc.). It is useful also for the purpose of summing up the quantity of entry words, under one comparison unit and for determining the aim of the comparison, as well as its nature, as perceived by the grammarian adducing it—namely, whether etymological or other (3.5). The philologists, furthermore, used a variety of terms for comparison. In earlier times, the terms are multifarious (3.1.2.4); toward the latter end of the epoch, a consolidated, uniform character can generally be discerned in the terminology. The climax is reached when Ibn Barùn denotes almost all his comparisons by the single term hsnaùgm (15.3.3). Many comparisons were recorded with no comparison term (3.1.2.6); some can be identified only by the discussion itself (3.2; 3.3) or when the grammarian is known to have discussed the issue elsewhere as an explicit comparison. (3.4). In chapter 4 I attempted to demonstrate that the rendition of a Bib. Heb. by an Arab. cognate when no comparison term is used implies an “implicit comparison.” This category necessitates an expansion of the range of language comparison far beyond the limits set by earlier philologists, for they assumed explicit comparisons only. Apart from general issues, I have also treated questions of specific pertinence as relating to one or other of the philologists. Of the treatises examined, some were originally composed in Arabic (e.g. the Kitàb al-Ußùl by R. Jonah Ibn Janà˙ and the grammatical treatises of Judah ibn Bal'am) and subsequently translated into Hebrew. The substance of the comparison in the “original” and in the “transla-
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tion” proves to be non-identical. The question is then: Which of the two more objectively represents the comparisons penned by the grammarian, those appearing in the Arabic original or those contained in the Hebrew translation? If the former, what caused the Hebrew rendering to be no longer a true reflection of the original documentation? I reached the conclusion that the comparisons in the “original” are to be taken as authentic, and only these are to be treated as the text substance penned by the author himself, whereas the translator made many alterations and omissions on account of the constraints of tautological expression. For example, if the translator wished to literally translate into Hebrew the implicit comparison zwga/zwùg, he would arrive at the rendition zwga/zwga. Two shortcomings present themselves in this sort of rendering: (a) the comparison itself is lost; and (b) what results is a tautological definition, worthless for the lexicographer. Thus the translator felt compelled to make changes in the “structure” from its form in the original. In principle, he had available three different options (and instances of all three are, in fact, encountered): to convert the implicit comparison into an explicit one; to entirely omit the definiens or to leave the tautological rendering/definition as it stood. In chapters 7–15, I discussed the comparison method of each grammarian and treated the problems associated with each; I collated the list of comparisons emanating from his various works and dwelled on his various sources and terminological usage. To highlight the specific issues pertaining to some philologists I shall now note down a few comments. For R. Sa'adiah Ga"on (chap. 7) and for Abù-l-Faraj (chap. 14), I attempted to prove that a rendering by a cognate translation synonym, in the context of an uninterrupted Bible translation, can definitely reflect real language comparison. As for Mena˙em, I have shown that the term w[mçmk does not intend or imply a comparison with Arabic. In the chapter on Dunash (chap. 11), I rechecked the listing of Arabic cognates proposed by Gross (1872, pp. 105–12), collating them in contrast with the entry words recorded by Dunash at entry yn[fm. Most of those proposed translation synonyms are probable, but a few are definitely far-fetched and I put forward alternative cognates, in their stead. In the chapter on Ibn Janà˙, I attempted to demonstrate conclusively that the comparisons embedded in the Rouen MS were not produced by Ibn Janà˙ and proved, tentatively, contrary to the opinion of other recent scholars, that Ibn Janà˙ did not reckon with taß˙ìf.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
THE CHART OF COMPARISONS
In the following chart, I have assembled and set out all the comparisons presently known to occur in the works examined in the present study. In the right-hand column, the comparison itself appears, in a condensed form, as necessitated by the format of this chart and in the columns to the left, I have allocated one column for each grammarian, in chronological order. The grammarians from whose works little has survived, or who recorded relatively few comparisons ab initio, are placed together in one column—col. 8: Various Hebrew Grammarians. In these columns, some symbol appears for each comparison encountered in the records of that grammarian: the symbols used are: +, =, or some other mark. These markings enable the reader to obtain a bird’s-eye view of the materials recorded anew by that grammarian vis-à-vis his predecessors (as well as what he failed to record), which of the comparisons he endorsed or objected to, etc. But perusal of the chart is not to be taken by the reader as a dispensation from referring in detail to the study of the Hebrew grammarians itself; in the chart, I could include neither the connotation emanating from the comparison nor (in most cases) the noncognate adduced by the grammarian together with the cognate. It also goes without saying that the chart cannot reflect, the comparison method of the grammarian. Sigla used in the chart: * before the comparison signifies comparison with Aramaic. x before the comparison signifies that the entry word treated (i.e., to the right of the comparison diagonal) derives from rabbinic Hebrew. = in the columns for the grammarians signifies that the comparison entered in col. 1 is recorded by the respective grammarian, verbatim. + in the columns for the grammarians signifies that the comparison entered in col. 1 is recorded by that grammarian with a formulaic alteration or a variant citation. ? in the columns for the grammarians signifies that the comparison entered in col. 1 is an “uncertain comparison.”
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≠ in the columns for the grammarians signifies that the comparison entered in col. 1 is disapproved of by that grammarian. ≠ in col. 6, signifies that the “Rouen MS” conflicts with the opinion of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙. + in col. 1, after a cognate translation synonym, signifies that the (respective) Hebrew grammarian adduced, additionally, one or more non-cognate translation synonym(s). (+) or (=) signifies that the comparison is an implicit one. (=) in col. 3 signifies that Ibn Quraysh does not expressly spell out the cognate translation synonym with which he sets up the comparison. (=) in col. 2 signifies an implicit comparison in the Egron. T in col. 2 signifies that the comparison (or the rendering) appears as a cognate in Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr. B in col. 8 signifies Abraham HaBavli. D in col. 8 signifies Dunash. F in col. 8 signifies Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn. FT in col. 8 signifies Abù-l-Faraj, Bible translation. G in col. 8 signifies Ibn Gikatilla. H in col. 8 signifies R. Hai Ga"on. J in col. 8 signifies R. Judah Óayyùj. L in col. 8 signifies R. Judah ibn Bal'am. M in col. 8 signifies Mena˙em b. Saruq. N in col. 8 signifies Samuel Ha-Nagid. TD in col. 8 signifies Disciple of Dunash. TM in col. 8 signifies Disciples of Mena˙em. X, Y, etc. in col. 4 signifies Alfàsi’s transmitters/copyists and abridgment redactors. B in last col. signifies Ben-Yehudah. K in last col. signifies the lexicon of Koehler-Baumgartner (3rd edition). = in last col. signifies Brown, Driver, and Briggs’ lexicon (BDB). One column is allocated to the Rouen MS (= MS-R), the main aim being to try to identify the sources of that glossator. I did not trouble to enter in this column the mark signifying that the comparison is an implicit one. The few comparisons recorded by Rouen MS as explicit have been enumerated above, 13.19, under the rubric “Comparison terms in marginal glosses of the MS-R.” In order to collate the comparisons for all Hebrew grammarians, including those who compared only with Aramaic or only with Arabic,
the chart of comparisons
415
I have listed comparisons with Aramaic or with Arabic respectively, as distinct and separate entries in the chart, even in those cases where the relevant philologist adopts both Aramaic and Arabic comparisons within one record. Every separate comparison is given a serial number, from 1 to 2299, this being the total number in the works discussed here. An entry word that is found to be a component of several different comparisons, each comparison assigning it a different connotation, is allocated chart entries in accordance with the total number of connotations. A few isolated comparisons appear without a serial number; these are listed merely for some specific aspect of significance that they seem to show, but they do not represent a totally new meaning. The biblical or rabbinic literature source references are given for the entry words treated in the comparisons, but references to the source(s) in the grammatical treatises, etc., are not provided. Comparisons recorded by Ibn Quraysh and by Ibn Barùn can be located in their respective works by the root of the relevant entry word. For Ibn Quraysh these can be obtained from the index in Becker’s ed. (1984, pp. 363–79); for R. Sa'adiah Ga"on, by the Bible verse, if the source is in his Bible translation; for the remaining grammarians, the source can be located by the materials assembled in the chapters of this study, allocated respectively to those grammarians (chaps. 7–15). The order of comparisons is alphabetical, by the root of each entry word treated, the arrangement according with that adopted in modern lexicons (generally this accords with the BDB lexicon). (But I have not arranged v and c separately; third yod verbs are arranged accordingly, i.e. as yùùl and not as hùùl). When two or more roots appear in a comparison, the first of these as set out in our comparison “formulation” is what determines the alphabetical arrangement. Explicit comparisons and implicit comparisons are presented in the chart unclassified, because what is an implicit comparison for one philologist may be an explicit comparison for another. The philologists elucidated the entry words incorporated in this chart, by comparison with Aramaic and/or Arabic but also additionally by other means of interpretation. It has not been possible to extend the scope of the footnotes to set out the wealth of connotations recorded for this or that entry word; the annotations are restricted to remarks on connotations stemming directly from the comparison, and this will have to suffice.
416
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When the philologists bring together various entry words bearing the same connotation and pertaining to the same root and set them up for comparison with Arabic, I have listed only one entry word in the chart, and this will generally be the verbal form. For example, from root abj/ybùk, R. Judah ibn Quraysh (C1, p. 489) records 6 entry words, 5 of them verbs and one a noun. In the chart, only the instance jabjn (Gen. 31:27) is listed. On the other hand, when a specific form is of special interest, as e.g., when its connotation was subject to dispute, it is listed separately as well. For example, ybj (Isa. 26:27) is listed, because both Alfàsi and Ibn Barùn assign it to the same sense as tabjn, comparing it with ybtùka. This presentation serves to stress that R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ omitted to record this comparison; in fact, Ibn Janà˙ derives the form from another root and assigned it a different connotation (these data naturally could not be incorporated in the chart and not even in the footnote apparatus, for lack of suitable space). For certain comparisons, secondary numberings are marked (1) and (2) standing for different parts of a comparison. If a given grammarian recorded only “part 2” of the comparison, the digit 2 is marked in the pertinent column opposite the relevant comparison and so on. If the grammarian recorded all parts, no digit is entered at all: the siglum used is merely the = sign or the + sign. Certain data in this chart, i.e. the positive data, are unchangeable. As for the data missing from the chart (i.e. in the “empty slots”)— some data, for instance what relates to the materials lacking in the records of Mena˙em and Dunash, are not subject to any future change, whereas some data, for instance what pertains to R. Hai Ga"on and R. Judah ibn Bal'am, are liable to be eventually supplied. It is obvious that if and when the remaining parts of Kitàb alÓàwi or of Kitàb al-Mushtamil are published or, if the epoch of investigation is extended so as to reach the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, very many more comparisons will have to be subjoined and, further columns would then have to be added to the chart, especially with reference to all the entry words from rabbinic Hebrew and from Aramaic. The column for R. Sa'adiah Ga"on only serves to determine the sources for the other grammarians; it must not be deduced from that column that R. Sa'adiah in fact established comparisons at each and every instance, even when he can be assumed to have been the source for the comparisons of others. For example, R. Sa'adiah rendered hkdmb (Num. 11:8)/qdm; and çydg (Exod. 22:5)/
the chart of comparisons
417
sydk. See also ˚rb, πf, wjbf, but it was Ibn Barùn, who converted these renderings into explicit comparisons. In some other cases, it is extremely doubtful if R. Sa'adiah postulated a comparison at all, e.g. hydd/ydùt, rjb/ryùkt, bgn‚/bwnùg, gwsn/gyz, wdqrw/txqr. All these are, for Ibn Barùn at least, etymological comparisons. I have listed these in the column of R. Sa'adiah merely to allude to a possible source for Ibn Barùn. Thus in the various calculations that one might work up from the chart and its data, the aforementioned instances for R. Sa'adiah should be excluded from the count. In the last column (moderns), I have recorded data from the BDB lexicon, from Koehler-Baumgartner (3rd ed.), and from Ben-Yehudah’s thesaurus, as regards entry words documented in Rabbinic Hebrew. The aim of this column is chiefly to ascertain whether the comparisons customarily applied in the works of the Hebrew grammarians are reckoned with by modern linguists or rejected by them. In these data I have ignored the aspect of interlingual loans, for obvious reasons. The main point of interest here is the etymological identification of an entry word in two or three of the given languages. For example, if the grammarians compared lkyhe/lkyh, and if this identification is admissible in present-day linguistics, this is considered sufficient for marking and I did not consider it necessary to take into account that modern grammarians determine, for these words, a chain of word loan from one language another, reaching back to the Sumerian e-gal, the Akkadian ekallu, and from these to Aramaic and to Arabic (see, e.g., Kaufmann 1974, pp. 27, 40, 155). The data in the chart of comparisons can be subjected to several forms of statistical processing. The most important of these forms have been set out above (in the “Synopsis and Conclusion”)—namely, the total number of initially documented comparisons for each grammarian. In what follows I merely subjoin a few further data. Of the 2,299 comparisons, 569 are comparisons with Aramaic, representing about 25 percent of the total. The rest are comparisons with Arabic. Various reasons can be suggested for the small quantity of comparisons with Aramaic: (a) the corpuses are relatively restricted; (b) some of these corpuses were viewed by certain scholars or scholarly circles, as “extraneous to the literary source field” for one reason or another. For instance, talmudic Aramaic was not resorted to by the Karaites; in the relevant period, Aramaic had ceased to be a spoken language, for which reason, many of its entry words were by that time probably not semantically transparent. For
418
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Arabic in contrast, many lexicons existed apart from the fact that Arabic was a living language with an uninterrupted speech tradition. As a general rule, comparison with Aramaic was extremely selective. Of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on’s comparisons, 19 are specifically his own, several of these because the entry words treated in them derive from rabbinic Hebrew (sbgn rgn, hqn, lyjn, rçn, hkws, πys) and the remaining ones being comparisons with Aramaic. To the list of comparisons documented initially in the records of Ibn Quraysh (see Becker 1984, pp. 77–80), comparisons for the following entry words should be added: (Heb./Aram.): bwd, twgrdm, [wrz, ˆqz, w[l (occurs in the framework of Bib. Heb./Rab. Heb. comparisons), hpwqt, μtpqhw (to be added to whpqtt); Heb./Arab.: gwrta, htrhzhw, hrzm, ˆyglwm, çjn, hbq¨h, ˆymçmç. The entry ytjpf should be marked with an asterisk to signify it is a comparison unique to Ibn Quraysh. The comparison hdn/atynwdn should be shifted from section Bib. Heb./Rab. Heb. to the Heb./Aram. section. In my listing, 11 fewer comparisons for Ibn Quraysh appear than in Becker’s list. The reason for this is that Becker supplied a separate serial number for each comparison, as it occurs in the Risàla; even when the same comparison is reiterated several times in various locations, it is given several numbers, in accord with the total of its occurrences. On the other hand, in some instances only one number appears, although several Hebrew entry words were compared with, one Arabic word or one Aramaic word. My system of charting requires that each Hebrew entry word be given a separate number, as a separate comparison., for example, Becker’s entry C1, 91 incorporates, according to my numbering system, the comparisons zg/zùg, zgyw/zaùga, whereas in my listing of what corresponds with Becker’s list entry C1 393, I reckon two comparisons, i.e.: bçj/(hbçjm) bsj, twnwbçj/tanabsj (μyxj), the grand total for Ibn Quraysh in my reckoning, being 698 comparisons. For David b. Abraham Alfàsi, the grand total of comparisons in my chart is 1092, approaching one half (48 percent) of all the comparisons charted. (As noted earlier, of this total, 437 were comparisons of Alfàsi’s own initiation). For R. Jonah ibn Janà˙ I have counted a total of 902 comparisons, these amounting to about 40 percent of all the comparisons charted. Each of these 342 is a primary documentation of comparison. The comparisons recorded by Ibn Barùn that are part of the stock of his predecessors can be classified as follows: 290 are identical with comparisons of R. Sa'adiah Ga"on; 90 with “original” com-
the chart of comparisons
419
parisons of R. Judah ibn Quraysh (i.e. the initial documentation is in the records of Ibn Quraysh); 49 with comparisons of Alfàsi; 11 with comparisons of Dunash; 1 with a comparison of R. Hai Ga"on; 71 with comparisons of R. Jonah ibn Janà˙; and 7 with comparisons of the Rouen MS. (As noted above, it may well be that Ibn Barùn himself served as a documentary source for the Rouen glossator.) As noted above 271 of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons exhibit the first documentation of comparison. The grand total of Ibn Barùn’s comparisons is 790.
N
M
=
M,H
= B B
H L (H) (H)
B
F
= K
G
F
Q
S
= = = =
= = =
R
+ = = = =
= = (+)
(=) = (+)
= = =
T T
= =
K =
= =
(=)
=
=
= = =
= = (=)
(=)
=
+T
(=)
=
(=)
(≠) =
=
= = =
D
B =
ML
(=)
+ =
≠
= =
= =
= = =
;(Cant 6:11) aba/yrp/hbna/ybab* (Dan 4:9; Deut 26:2) (ùyrpù=) ba/(Cant ibid.) ybab (y[rm+) ba/ybab x (+) bwbna/(Arak 2, 3) bwba x (+) bwbna (Kelim 2,3) bwba x (+) hdaba (Deut 12:2) dba aba/( Job 9:26) hba* ba/(Isa 8:4) yba (dadùxa) yba/(Deut 25:7) hba +hjabtsa/(Ezek 21:20) tjba (ˆzjt+) lbat/(Gen 37:34) lbatyw + lb/(2Kings 4:14) lb;a /(1Sam 6:18) anba/ˆba (=lba)* (son) ˆwnb ,ˆba/(Exod 1:16) μynba; rbw/(Ezek 17:3) rba zwùg/(Cant 6:11) zwga (≈wj+) lùgam ( Job 38:28) ylga hmùga/(Ps 114:8) μga 1 (μyrxbm=) μaùga/( Jer 51:32) μymgah (Exod 24:6) twngab, (Cant 7:3) ˆga hnaùga/ ≈aùga/ˆysga x 2 (Dan 7:4) ˆypgw/(Ezek 12:14) ˆypga* (h[amòg+) h^pùg (ibid.)/wypga arga/rkç (1Sam 2:36) trwgal* (Deut 15:18) hrùga/(1Sam ibid.) trwgal (h[amg+) rag/(Prov 6:8) hrga hùgara/(Esth 9:29) trga hbaùda/(1Sam 2:33) bydalw
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
1 Ibn Quraysh includes this entry in the meaning “place where reeds and papyrus grow.” 2 Ibn Barùn refutes the meaning stemming from the comparison to Aramaic and it seems that he refutes the comparison itself.
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420 (cont.) N
M
B
+ = +
= = =
= (=) = =
1,3= = =
R
2=
G
F
Q
S
(=)
(=) (=)
= =
(y)mda/(Gen 1:26) μda 3 h⁄md⁄a⁄ (Gen 4:2) hmda qwp+) μda (1Sam 16:12) ynwmda (. . . rmsa 4 hh:3 hha ,h^ha:2 ha (2Kings 6:5) hha lalha lha/( Job 25:5) lyhay 5 T wa/(Lev 5:22) wa (Deut 4:17) μymçb/(Ahal 4, 1) rywa x* . . . [yqr rywa/ (bwa) “fbn” (Tos. Ber. 2, 15) twbwa x* (˚lh+) ydw ;yùda/( Job 53:31) dya 6 ywa ˆba/(Deut 14:13) hy:a wywy/(Deut ibid.) hy:a hwa:2 ;wa⁄:1/(Num 21:29) ywa (da[+) ù≈yay ù≈a/( Josh 10:13) ≈a 7 rawa/(Isa 50:11) rWab] (Dan 3:32) ayta/twa* T hya/(ibid.) ayta-(Deut 13:2) twa htawm/(Gen 34:22) wtway T ùda/za T a» +ùdaì/(Ps 124:3) y+z"a ùd+n(m/(Exod 5:23) za;+me (rt[x+) bza/(Exod 12:22) bwzae 8 (=) lza/˚lh/(1Sam 9:7) lza* laz/(ibid.) lza ^lz/(Deut 32:36) tlza T ˆùda/(Prov 15:31) ˆza ([mtsa+) ˆùda/ˆyzah (Isa 40:15, Dan 5:27) aynzam/μynzam* T ˆazym/(ibid.) μynzam (+) ˆzw/(Eccl 2:9)/ˆza ˚nyz/˚ylk/(Deut 23:14) ˚ynza* 9 (Gen 23:3) (Dan 3:5) ynz/(Deut ibid.)/˚ynza* ˆza/(id.) ˚ynza 10 razym ,raza/( Jer 13:1) rwza
2=
1= =
=
H H = + = 2= = =
= = = =
FT
=
= = =
H H L
= = =
=
H,M,F
? 1= = = ? = (+) ? = =
= K = = = +
(G) H M H≠
+ = = = = = =
M,H
=
(=)
(=) =
= =
H =
=
3
(=)
=
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
Ibn Barùn alone adds a restriction to the meaning, saying “and it is its face”. Ibn Janà˙ at this entry, MS-R in hha as well. 5 Ibn Barùn includes [nky za wa (Lev 26:41) in this meaning, which Ibn Janà˙ translates as if it were [nky zaw. 6 Ibn Barùn adduces it at entry ya, where he refers to μyyal (Isa 34:14). 7 For twrwEa cf. hra. 8 Alfàsi and Mena˙em add a Biblical Aramaic reference from Ezr 4:23. 9 In fact Alfàsi compares μynzw (2Chron 16:14) with ynzw (Dan 3:5) and generally equates it to μylk (‘ustensils’) while he includes ˚ynza with μynz. Cf. Becker 1984, p. 124, n. 5. Mena˙em juxtaposes ˚ynza with twnzhw (1Kings 22:38) and defines them ‘war and charriots’ instruments’ and it is not clear whether he has in mind two different comparisons and meanings or only one. 10 qza cf. qqz. 4
the chart of comparisons
421
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
= K
2= =
=
2=
3+
2= ≠
= + + = =
(=)
= (=)
= (=) = (=) (=) (=) = =
= =
=
Q
= (=) (=) = = = = + = = =
G,FT
(=)
FTx (H) (H) = = M = = = D(+F) =
= (=)
= (=) (=)
K K =
11
1= = =
= =
S
1=
T T1 T T T T
T
=
= =
T
= = = +M
=
=
= = =
=
= = K + = =
=
= = = (+FT) = = = =
T T
(=) (=)
(=)
= = =
T T
(ˆya[:2 ;ddç 1+) rza/( Jer 1:17) rzat 12 ja/(Ps 35:21) ja(h) yù^kat/(ibid.) jah dj^ta:3 djaw:2 ;dja 1 (Deut 6:4) dja ˆwnydja/wmzjay/(Gen 3:22) dhak* (Exod 15:15) 13 ù˚a/ja ùdùka (Exod 15:14) zja hzaja ,zwj/(Gen 48:4) tzj¨a rù^kat/(Gen 34:19) rjae ryùka/(Exod 4:8) ˆwrja rùka/(Eccl 7:8) tyrja ˆrj’a/(2Sam 18:26) rj'a*' rùka/(2Sam ibid.) rja hrarj/rrwj-rjwa x (ù≈pùk+) ayfaftm/(2Kings 21:27) fa' fyfa/(Isa 19:3) μyfiaih ˆwhynwfya/μhyrtym/(Prov 7:16) ˆwfa* (Exod 35:18) rafa ,rfat (Ps 69:16) rfat (tsbtja ya) trfat/( Judg 3:15) rfeai 14 ya/yae ˆya ˆm/(Gen 29:4) ˆyame anh/(1Kings 5:25) hnaw hna ana/(Deut 1:28) hna apw/(1Sam 1:24) hp;ya lya(kym), lya/lah ˆlya/≈[ ,jyç/(Isa 1:29) μylyam* twlya/twma/(Ezek 40:10) μylyal* (Isa 6:3) 15 l^ya/(Deut 14:5) ly:a' alya/(Deut ibid.) lya* (Dan 7:7) yntmya/(Gen 15:12) hmya* ˆasna/çya (ˆy[la) ˆasna/(Deut 32:10) ˆwçya (qyafla) h^ysya/(Prov 30:1) (la) ytya μlkay/(Gen 49:27) lkay (ranla) tlka/(Deut 4:24) hlkwa (ça) alykm/(1Kings 5:25) tl OKm' ^πùk/(Prov 16:26) πka ra^ka ( Jer 51:23) rkai
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96
11 Ibn Barùn refers to the metaphorical meaning only from ynrztw : rza (2Sam 22:40). 12 ja cf. hja. 13 ytwja cf. hwj; ydjath cf. djy. 14 At entry ya Ibn Barùn adduces ˚l ya (Ecc 10:16)/˚lyw and it is unclear whether yw/ya is an intentioned or incidental Heb./Ar. comparison. For hy:a cf. hwa. 15 Alfàsi adduces this comparison at entry wqa (p. 143).
chapter sixteen
422 (cont.) N
M
B
=
M,H, FT H M,L
=
= + = =
L
= = +
R
G
F
(=)
=
=
T
= =
=
= =
T
=
=
+T T
=
= =
+ =
= = = = =
=
L
= = = 1,3=
(=) 3=
+
(=) (=) 3= =
= = = =
= =
(+)
=
= =
(G) (G)
= = +
M (G)
=
(G)
= = =
F
(=)
(=) (=)
= + = = =
hl;a/( Job 12:4) hwlal*
(=) + = (=) =
97
hala/( Job ibid.) hwlal 98 (h)la/(h)lae(h)* 99 yalwh/hlah 100 wla/Wl/(Esth 7:4) Wlaiw* 101 (Isa 48:18; Num 22:29) yla/( Job 15:22) ylea‘ yla/lae 17 ayla/hnyq/( Joel 1:8) ylia*‘ /(1Sam 14:24) la OYw" ;(Lev 5:1) hl;a;
ala hyla/(Lev 3:9) hyl]a' (pain) lyla/( Job 13:4) lyla (pain) lyla/(Mic 7:1) ylla 18 atlia/' ( Josh 24:26) hl;a*' ,^μl/(Gen 37:7) μymla μymlam (h[amùg) hml (=) T hlmra/(Exod 22:21) hnmla T πla/(1Chron 21:5) πl,a, T hplwm ,πala ryxt/(Ps 147:14) twpylam 1,2= πlawm:2 πla:1/( Jer 3:4+) πyla πyla:3 + /( Job 35:11) wnplm/(Prov 22:25) πlat* (Num 22:35) πlymh/ˆkshh πlat/(ibid.) πlat T ˆ(a/i (Exod 21:3) μai = T μa'/(Num 11:12+) μai ˆ(a/' (Gen 24:33) μai ^ˆai (Prov 24:11) μai = T hma/(Gen 21:13) hm;a; , = T ^μ a/(Gen 28:5) μae (qrfla) μa/(Ezek 21:26) (˚rdh) μa (Dan 3:4) ayma¨/(Num ,25:15) twma¨* +T μm⁄ a (ibid.) twma¨ = ˆmwa/çr:t/; (Cant 7:2) ˆm;a*; T
=
+
16
=
=
=
S
=
=
=
Q
102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125
(Deut 27:15) =
(+) =
= =
=
= =
+T T
ˆama ,ˆamya/+(2Sam 7:16) ˆman ˆyma/(Num 5:22) ˆmea; (Dan 2:4) rma/rma* r⁄m⁄a⁄ (1Kings 11:18) rma 2= 19 ˚r^ma:2 ˚rmaÉ:1/(Deut 26:18) ˚rymah
126 127 128 129 130
Ibn Quraysh notes the Arabic form "alùh as well. The Muwàzana manuscript is damaged here and from the remnants we can only learn that Ibn Barùn quotes Ibn Janà˙ and opposes Óayyùj’s view, though he supports his grammatical analysis. 18 Ibn Janà˙ notes that he does not unterstand the Targum’s view. 19 The second meaning Ibn Barùn proposes fits with Sa'adiah’s view. However, Ibn Barùn does not adduce Sa'adiah’s definer ryma (‘high branch’) but rather jrma (‘hill’). 16 17
the chart of comparisons
423
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
D≠
S 20
=
=
ryma/(Isa 17:6) ryma 131 arma/(ibid.) ˚rymah* 132
=
(TB Shabbat 105a) = = =
= = = =
T =
= = =
T T
=
=
= ≠TM,D = L
=
=
= =
= = =
M
=
=
= =
=
= =
(+)
= =
=
(=)
= =
ˆwrmatt/(Isa 61:6) wrmytt (Gen 19:34) sma/çma jna (Isa 24:17) wjnan ˆjn/wnjna ˆjn/(Num 32:32) wnjn (Dan 7:28) hna/yna ˆyna . . . wnay/(Isa 19:8) wnaw ˚na/(Amos 7:7) ˚na
= = L M
= =
+ = =
= = K = K
(+) =
=
= = = =
= +M (=) (=) (=) (=)
+
= = =
= = =
= (=) K
= = = N≠ N≠
= =
(=) =
= = =
=
=
ˆ^naty/(Lam 3:39) ˆnwaty (Dan 4:6) sna/(Esth 1:8) snwa* πnay/(Ps 2:12) πnay (ytymjw) ytpna/(Exod 22:23) ypa (hrjw) (Dan 3:19) yhwpna/(Prov 11:22) πa* T πna/(Prov ibid.) πa (ibid.) yhwpna/(e.g. 2Sam 18:28) ypeal* (Dan 2:46) yhwpna/(1Sam 1:5) μypa* T san ,ˆasna/(Ps 103:15) çwna (Dan 4:14) çna/(ibid.) çwna* hnasna/(Gen 2:23) hç;ai T anasn/(Num 14:3) wnyçen: ta/(Num 11:15) T]a*' +T tna/(ibid.) hta-ta' (hbqn) tna/(Gen 12:11) ta' πasa/+( Jer 8:13) πwsa πasps/(Num 11:4) πwspsa (Dan 6:13,14) rsa/(Num 30:3) rsa* (Ezra 7:26) ˆyrwsalw/(Gen 40:3) rwsa* T rwsam/(ibid.) rwsa T rysa/(Ps 79:11) rysa rsa/(Num 30:4) rS;ai 22 ˚p^tm, ˚pa/˚pa +T lpa/(Amos 5:20) lpea; T talpa/(Exod 9:32) t Olypa atlpa/(ibid.) twlypa* (TB RoshHash 8a) ˆa^pa/(Ps 88:16) hnwpa hnyp/(ibid.) hnwpa ynp/(ibid.) hnwpa tnpa ,tynp (ibid.) hnwpa 21
133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167
20 Dunash attributes this comparison to Sa'adiah. See, however, Allony’s remark in HaEgron, p. 195. 21 Ibn Quraysh adduces this comparison in a reversed order in part B, entry 4, and in different formula in part A, entry 14. 22 The comparison appears in Riqmah p. 22. For wndpa cf. ˆdp below.
chapter sixteen
424 (cont.) N
M
+ K
B
R
= =
=
G
F
Q
=
= = = =
= = =
= =
= = =
+ = = = = = + = =
=
=
=
(=) =
(=) =
= =
(=) (=)
=
= = = =
= = (+) +
=
= =
= =
= D FT
K
= = =
(=) =
(=)
= = =
= =
+ =
=
= =
=
= = =
=
= =
= (=)
+ =
= = + +
=
=
(=)
= =
(=) =
(=)
=
= FT M,D
23 24 25
(=) =
= (=)
= =
S 23 (Dan 5:5) sp/(Ezek 47:3) μyspa* (dlùgt+) hqapa/(Ezek 31:12) yqypa qywapa/(Ps 126:4) μyqypak (am [mtùgm+) (dlùgt+) hqapa/(Esth 5:10) qpatyw arp[m (1Kings 20:41) rpah rpgm/(ibid.) rpah lyxa/(Exod 24:11) ylyxa (fabala) lwxa/( Jer 38:12) twlyxa hbrawm/( Josh 8:2) brwa /(Exod 26:1; 2Chron 2:6) ˆwgra-ˆmgra* (Dan 5:7) anwgra T ˆawùgra/(ibid.) ˆwgra ayrwa/swba/(1Kings 5:6) twwrwa* (Isa 1:3) yrawa/(ibid.) twwrwa yrawa/(2Chron 32:28) twrwEa} (Dan 6:8) atwyra-ayra/hyra* +T zra/(1Kings 6:18) zra≤ jrwa/˚rd/(Gen 18:11) jra* 24 (ibid. 31:35) (Dan 4:24) hkra/(Prov 25:15) ˚rab ˆara/(Gen 50:26) ˆwra T bnra/(Lev 11:6) tbnra T ù≈ra/(Gen 1:10) ≈ra tyl/lkwt al/(Ps 21:3) tçraw* (Deut 17:15) wçr ˚l sr[a/(Deut 20:7) çra (ibid.) tyah/(Mic 6:10) çaih* (Dan 7:11) aça/(Deut 4:36) wçai* dçym/˚pç/(Num 21:15) dçaw* (Lev 4:12) /(Ezra 4:2) ayçaw/( Jer 50:15) hytwyça* (Ezek 13:14) ahçwa/wdwsy hysa/(ibid.) hytwyça (Syriac ,al[t) ykça/(Lev 21:20) ˚ça* ˆwks/(ibid.) ˚ça lwkùta/(Mic 7:1) l OKça lùta/(Gen 21:33) lça lsa/(ibid.) lça T μùta/(Gen 26:10) μça 25 (pardon) μù^tat/(Ezra 10:19) μymçaw (ibid. 4:4) aypça/(Dan 2:2) μypç;alw* T hyras/(Deut 16:21) hrçea (Ezra 4:12) ayçaw/(Isa 16:7) yçyça*
For h[pa cf. h[p below. For jyra cf. hra Alfàsi adduces the comparison at entry ˚rd. For ˆmça cf. ˆmç.
168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205
the chart of comparisons
425
(cont.) N
M
B
R
≠ = = = =
D
= =
G
F
Q
=
= = =
= + +
(=) =
S
+T T
=
= = = = =
= = = = =
= +
(=) =
(=) (x)
= = =
T T T
= = = =
=
=
=
tasasa/(Isa ibid.) yçyça (Ezra 5:16) ata/(Isa 21:12) hta* yta/(Isa ibid.) hta ˆata/(Num 22:33) ˆwta ^ùgrta/(Bikkur 2:6) gwrta x b yb/+(Gen 31:7) yb ryb/(Gen 26:19) rab ryb/( Jer 6:7) ryIb' ryb/(Exod 21:33) rwb sab/(1Sam 27:12) çyabh +) çwb/(Isa 5:2) μyçwab (sanla falùka+) wbwb/(Zech 2:12) (wny[) tbb ydba/(1Kings 12:33) adb [dtba ,[db/(ibid.) adb dadbtsa/(Lev 13:46) ddb ˆydb/twbah/( Jer 50:36) μydbh*
206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221
(1Sam 20:3) = = = = = =
D D
= = = = = =
(=) (=)
(=) (=) K(=) =
T T T
= = = = =
hlwdbm/( Josh 16:9) twldbmh hhwb/(Gen 1:2) whbw hmyhb/(Gen 1:24) hmhb μahb(a)/(Lev 8:23) ˆhb qhb/(Lev 13:39) qhb rhb/( Job 37:21) ryhb hrhb/(Lev 13:2) trhb (smçla) tbay/(ibid. 22:7) abw (htrùgab) ab/(Exod 22:14) (wrkçb) ab llb/(1Kings 6:38) lwb (jry) y[wp[p/(Exod 9:10) tw[wb[ba*
222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232
(TB Shabbat 109a) = = = = +
= + = = = =
= = =
(=) = ?
= =
= (=) (=)
= =
= = = =
T T
axwb/μytçp ,çç ,db/(Esth 8:15) ≈wb* ≈wb/(ibid. 1:6) ≈wb ù≈wb/(Deut 22:6) μyxyb hqyab/(Nah 2:11) hqwb ^ztby/(Ezek 29:19) zzbw qrb/(Ezek 1:14) qzbh rùdb/(Ps 68:31) rzb tlùkb/(Zech 11:8) hljb tl[b/(ibid.) hljb 26 ˆjtma ,ˆjm/( Jer 11:20) ˆjb μytnjbw/(Isa 48:10) ˚ytrjb* 27 (Zech 13:9) ˆwbyrjba/
233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243
26 Ibn Janà˙ uses ˆjm to render ˆjb. However, there is no indication whatsoever of a comparison. 27 Ibn Janà˙ renders this entry ˚trbtùka and hypothetically one could assume a comparison by a metathesis. However, one would expect such a comparison which involves both a metathesis and letter interchange ùk/j to be expressed explicitly.
chapter sixteen
426 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
= = = =
S T
(=) =
T
M
= = =
= = = =
=
FT
= =
= = (=)
= = =
(=) (+) 2=
=
=
= = (=)
FT
= +
=
= (=) (=) = (=)
= = =
T
1= (=) = (+) (=)
+T =
(+) (+) (=)
= = =
(=2)
(=) = =
+ = =
+K = +D = = =
= = + = = = = + =
(=) = ?
+T T 1T T T T
+
(=)
=
=
(+) (=) (+)
=
(=) =
T T
=
T T
+T
ratùka ,r^yùkt/(Exod 17:9) rjb (+) jfbnm/( Jer 12:5) jfwb ù˚yfb/(Num 1:5) μyjyfbah (Ezra 4:24) hlfb/(Eccl 12:3) wlfbw* (Exod 12:15) ˆwlfbt/wtybçt/ lfbt/(ibid.) wlfbw ˆfb/(Gen 30:2) ˆfb μfb/(Gen 43:11) μynfb (ibid. 26:28) ˆyb/(Gen 1:4) ˆybe* ˆyb/ˆyb ˆynybla (wùd) (1Sam 17:4) μynybh (çya) 28 ˆ^ybt ,ˆayb/(Prov 23:1) ˆybt ˆyb (Ezra 6:2) atrybb:1/(Est 2, 3) hrybh* ( Jer 9:20) anatynrbb/wnytwnwmrab:2 tyb/(Gen 17:12) tyb (wife) tyb/(Deut 14:26) ˚tybw akb/(Lam 1:2) hkb rkb/(Deut 15:19) rwkb (Gen 27:36) ytrwkb hyrwkb:2 ,hrwkb:1 rkby/(Lev 27:26) rkby rykawb/(Lev 2:14) μyrWKBi hrkb/( Jer 2:23) hrk]Bi yrbk/(Gen 19:31) hrykbh gwlb/(Ps 39:14) hgylbaw (r^yjt+) h^lbt/(Isa 17:14) hhlb yalb/(Gen 18:12) yt OlB] ([fq+) μhtlb/(Isa 10:25) μtylbt ad[ am/(Gen 14:24) yd[lb tllb/(Ps 92:11) yt OLB' (t^tç+) lblb/(Gen 11:9) llb (+) yn[lb/( Jer 51:34) yn[lb qlba ,hqwlb/(Nach 2:10) hqlbumw
244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258
259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269
(close, destroy) L
qlba/(ibid.) hqlbmw 270
=
= = =
= = = =
+ =
L 2+M
= =
= =
28 29
(=) =
=
T
(+)
= =
T T
2+
=
2=
(cause for troubles) ([fq+) tlb/( Job 14:12) ytlb ˆba/(Gen 4:25) ˆb 29 (alùg-)ˆba/(1Sam 14:52) (lyj-) ˆb tnb/(Gen 34:3) tb anb/(Deut 20:5) hnb rsb/(Ezek 18:2) rsb ,a[b/çqb/:1 (Isa 21:12) ˆwy[bt* (Dan 6:8) a[b/:2 ygtba ,ygb (ibid.) ˆwy[bt (+) f[ba/(Deut 32:15) f[byw fy[btmd/ytkrd/(ibid.) f[byw* (Isa 63:3)
For ryb cf. rab and for hxyb cf. ≈wb. I.e. in a metaphorical meaning of ˆb in several phrases.
271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279
the chart of comparisons
427
(cont.) N
M
= = =
L
B
R
= = = =
G (=) (=) =
F = = =
= (=) =
+L
= K =
F
(=) = = =
Q
S
=
T
= = =
T
L = =
K
=
= K K = + K =
=
(+) = (2=) (=)
+FT M,TM = 2+M 1L +D L
= = = =
=
=
T
=
T
1=
2=
= 2=
+ (=) (+) (=)
= (=)
= = =
1=
B
= + = = =
(+) (+) L
= = = = = =
= =
L+M
= = =
≠ (=) +
= = (+) =
= =
30
=
T
= =
= =
(L) L,+FT D
(=) + = (+)
? = = (+)
T (=) +T T
= =
+
=
=
=
(=)
(=) (+)
= = = =
T +T
(ùgwz+) l[b/(Exod 21:22) l['b' (bjax ,br+) l[b/(Exod 22:14) wyl[b (-b qaùx+) l[b/( Jer 31:31) ytl[b (μnx+) l[b/(1Kings 18:26) l[bh (hjaba+) ra[ba/(Isa 5:5) r[bl ry[b/hmhb/(Gen 45:17) μkry[b* lxb/(Num 11:5) μylxbh [xb/twtp/(Amos 9:1) μ[xbw* (Lev 2:10) ([fq+) [ùxb/μ[xbw (^qç+) [xb/( Judg 5:10) [xb htaxyb/(Ezek 47:11) wyta Oxbi* ˆyxb/(Isa 14:23) ymgaw/(TB BB 73a) atrwxb/( Jer 17:8) trxb (TB Ketub 97a) h[qb/(Gen 11:2) h[qb (Dan 3:1) t[qbb/(Isa 63:14) h[qbb* rqb bjax:2 ,ra^qb/(Amos 7:14) rqwb rqb/(Gen 26:14) rq;b; (Ezra 4:15) rqby/(Ps 27:4) rqblw* hrkb/(Gen 1:5) rq bO ,rb/ˆb:1/(Prov 31:2) yrb* (Dan 3:13) rbk/:2 arb/(Gen 1:1) arb ([fq+) μhyrby/(Ezek 23:47) arebw drb/(Exod 9:24) drb drw/(Zech 6:3) μydrub alzrp/lzrb* hyjyr (bkarm)/(Isa 43:14) μyjyrb hkrb/(Gen 12:2) hkr;b (Dan 4:31) tkrb/(Ps 103:3) wkrb hkrb/(2Sam 2:13) hkreb ˚rba/(Gen 24:11) ˚rby"w" yhwkrb l[ ˚rb;/(Isa 45:23) ˚r
280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320
Sa'adiah renders ytwrb and cf. Dérenbourg’s note. Alfàsi renders ˚wqtpy and it is unclear whether he practises a comparison assuming the interchanges p/b and ùt/t. 31
chapter sixteen
428 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
=
Q =
S
rtbw/(Gen 15:10) rtbyw 321 g
M = K
(2=) 1= 2=
= K K = =
= 1=
= = = D (=)
=
=
=
1+
+
=
=
(+)
+ + = = = = =
= = K K = = K =
M
= =
+ L,G
= = = = = =
=
= (=) +
(=)
=
(F)D
1D =
K +2=1M M K
= = (2+)
M
(=) = (=) = = (2=) (1=) 1= (=) ?+ ?= (=) (=) = =1 1= 2= +2 1= 2= (=) = = =
(Dan 6:13) abg/(Isa 30:14) abg<m* (1=) hybaùg:2 bùg:1/(ibid.) abgm bgl:2 ;abwg/rwb:1/(2Kings 3:16)/μybgE* (Dan 6:8) bùg/(ibid.) μybg (Dan 7:6) Hbg"/(Ps 129:3) ybg* (abwg/hbra/(Nach 3:17) yb; Og* Exod 10:4) 32 lbùg (Exod 39:15) twlbg (=) hnbùg/( Job 10:10) hnybg (=) sbùg/(Miqv 4:3) sbgn x /(Dan 3:12) ayrb:1/(Deut 22:5) rbg<* 33 (Gen 24:22) arbg/çya:2 T ra^bùg/(Gen 10:8) rwbg (Dan 3:20) yrbg/(Isa 13:3) yrwbg* (1=) hwrbùg:2 ;hywrbùg:1/(Exod 32:18) hrwbg (=) (twqay ˆm) sbùg ( Job 28:18) çybg dùg/(Deut ibid.) wddgtt (Dan, ibid.) wdg/(Gen 49:19) dwgy* ^dùg/(Gen 49:19) dwgy T Gen 30:11) adg/(Isa 65:11) dgl* (Palest. Targ. dùg/(Isa ibid.) dgl ˆydgn/(Ps 65:11) hydwdg* (Targ. Isa 44:4) ahdyadùg/(Ps ibid.) hydwdg hddùg/( Josh 3:15) wytwdg T ydùg/(Gen 38:17) ydg T lydùg/(Deut 22:12) μylydg +T ldùgm/(Isa 5:2) ldgm T [dùg/(Lam 2:3) [dg [ùdùg/(Lam ibid.) [dg 1T rydùg:2 ˚, radùg/(Num 22:24) rdeg: T (qlga=) r^dùg/( Job 19:8) rdgI T sydk/(Exod 22:5) çydg hhùg/(Ezek 47:13) hgE hhùg/(Prov 17:22) hhgE haùg/(Prov ibid.) hhg (Dan 3:6) awgl:1/( Job 30:35) wg* (Gen 6:14) wgm/tybm:2 ibid.:2, ibid.:1/( Job 20:25) hwgm ^wyùg/(ibid.) hwgm-(ibid.) wgE (Dan 4:34) hwgb/( Jer 13:17) hwgE*
322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358
32 Ibn Janà˙ renders μt b O gw (Ezek 1:18) by bnùg and banùga and it is unclear whether he thought of a comparison. 33 Ibn Janà˙ compares rb'g“/rb'g“ in Riqmah, p. 241.
the chart of comparisons
429
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
^zùg/(Ps 90:10) zg zaùg/(Ps ibid.) zg (=) = zaùga/(Num 11:31) zgyw = ^zùg/( Job 1:20) zgyw = ˆwpyùgy/(Neh 7:3) wpygy = ^pùg/,(ibid.) wpygy = (Num 19:15) tpwgm/dymx/(ibid.) wpygy* = hpyùg/(1Chron 10:12) tpwg (=) + hrwaùgm/(Gen 26:3) rwg (2=) 1= hrwaùgm:2 ,hraùg:1/(Deut 1:16) wrgE (=) = wrùg/(Gen 49:9) rwg (TB Shabbat 15b) açwga/( Job 7:5) çwg* = çùkw/(ibid.) çwg = (ibid. 7:21) ayrbzg/(Ezra 1:8) rbzgh* (=) = T ^zùg/(Deut 18:4) zgE = atzgm/twrb[mh/(Nach 1:12) wz Ogn* zaùg/( Josh 2:7) +T lzwùg/(Gen 15:9) lzwg = + (Dan 2:27) ˆyrzg/(1Kings 3:25) wrzg* = wrzùga/(ibid.) wrzg hzwrùgm/(Lev 16:22) hrzEg (TB BM 59a) ˆyjg:1 (Gen 3:14) ˚nwjg* (1Kings 18:42) ˆyjgw/rhgyw:2 = dyùg/(Ezek 37:6) dyg = = (Dan 5:5) aryg/(Isa 27:9) ryg* = = T ryùg/(Isa ibid.) ryg = = T ydlùg/( Job 16:15) ydlg = (Ezek 23:24) ˆydlg/(ibid.) ydlg* (+) = +T ylùgny alùg/(Amos 5:5) hlg = (Dan 2:22) alg/(1Sam 9:15) hlg* = a^lùg/(ibid.) hlg 34 = a^lùga/(Zech 10:11) μylg" (Ezra 6:4) llg/(Prov 26:27) llgw* (˚^rj+) lùglùg/(Gen 29:3) wllgw h^lùglak/(Zeph 1:17) μyllgk (lùga ˆm+) lalùg ˆm/(Gen 39:5) llgb ( Josh 22:10) ylylgl/twlylgb* (Dan 7:9) yhwlglg/(Isa 17:13) lglgkw* = = amylg/(Ezek 27:24) ymwlgb* =
= =
=
= K
?D ?D +K M = = =
+
(=) =
= = = K = = = K = = = = = = = = = = K K =
= +D + = M = =
1H L,M L,D F
= =
M (=) (=) (=) =
L
+K L =
=
359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395
(TB Shabbat 114b) =
çwlg/jrq/(Cant 6:5) wçlgç* 396
(=) =
slùg/(ibid.) wçlgç ( Judg 3:16) adymrg/dmg* lmùg/(Isa 21:7) lmg axmwk/tjp/(Eccl 10:8) ≈mwg*
(Lev 13:40) = = = +
(=) = = B
= =
T =
397 398 399 400
(Isa 24:18)
34 Alfàsi attributes this comparison to the Aramaic Targum. However, it is unclear whether Alfàsi compares μylgl ( Jer 51:37) too.
chapter sixteen
430 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
+
+
=
+
=
S
arymg/μrjh ,hlk/(Ps 3:10) rmg* 401 (Deut 20:17 ;Gen 18:21)
=
2=
= = =
= +D M
= = K =
M
=
L
= = (=) = (=)
= =
= 2+
1= (=)
+ =
? (=) (=)
(=)
(+) (=)
= =
+
1=
T
T T
(=) =
=
lylk/(Ezra 7:12) rymg/(Ps 57:3) rme Og* rymg/(Lev 6:15) ( Jer 51:13) twrxa:1/(Esth 3:9) yzng* (Deut 33:21) zyng/ˆwps:2 ayzng/ ˆanùg/(Gen 2:8) ˆg ^ˆùg/(2Kings 20:6) ytngw ^ˆkm/(Gen 14:20) ˆGEmi asùg/(TB Bekh 1a) hsg x (μrk+) hnpùg/(Deut 8:8) ˆpgw 35 (Dan 7:4) ˆypg/(Prov 9:3) ypeg* brùg/(Deut 28:27) brg 36 (˚tjy+) drùgy/( Job 2:8)/drgthl ˆzrk/(Deut 20:19) ˆzrg yhwmrg/wytwmx[:1/( Job 40:18) wymrg* (Dan 6:25) ˆwhymrg:2 (1Kings 13:31) amrg/μx[/(Zeph 3:3) wmrg* (ˆyrskt+) ˆymrùgt/(Ezek 23:34) ymrgt μrùg/(2Kings 9:13) (twl[mh) μrg
402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416
(themselves) K = = = =
= = +
(=) (=)
= (=) =
= = =
T
μyrùg/(Gen 49:14)/μrg (rwmj) 37 ˆyrùg/(Num 15:20) ˆrwg [rùgy/( Job 36:27) [r"g:y} 38 (μhb ^rm+) μhprùg/( Judg 5:21) μprg rartùga/(Lev 11:7) rgy al hrgE arga/rkç/(Exod 30:13) hrg*
417 418 419 420 421 422
(Num 18:31) =
= (=)
= = =
J D L
= =
=
=
=
(=) = = (=)
= T =
T
= = = + +
(+)
= =
= =
+
T
rarùgna/( Jer 30:23) rrwgtm h^rùgm/(1Kings 7:9) hrgEmb ùgrawm/(2Sam 12:31) hrgEm çyrùg/(Lev 2:14) crg μsùg/(Isa 44:14) μçg (Dan 4:30) hmçg/(ibid.) μçg* ssùgn ,ssùgtn/(Isa 59:10) hççgn
423 424 425 426 427 428 429
d awaùd ,ayaùd/(Deut 28:49) hady abwd/(Prov 17:2) bd* ^bd/(Prov ibid.) bd hlbd/(2Kings 20:7) tlbd ˆwnyqbdaw/μgyçyw/(Gen 31:23) qbdyw*
430 431 432 433 434
(Gen 44:6) +
=
=
qbd/(Isa 41:7) qbdl 435
35 Alfàsi and Ibn Janà˙ render tyrpg (Gen 19:24) by tyrbk and it is doubtful whther they intended to practise a comparison. 36 For hrg cf. rrg. 37 Cf. Becker 1980, p. 297. 38 In Muwàzana the text is corrupt and no reference survived.
the chart of comparisons
431
(cont.) N
M
+
+M D,M1
+ = =
(L)
B
R
= + +
G
F
Q
+
= +
1=
= (=) =
=
+ =
K
1=L
1=
K = L,D +K
(=) (=) =
= +
M D
+
M
= K = =
+
+ = =
= = +D =
(=) (=) D
= = + = = = =
+FT
+ + =
D =
S
(Dan 4:14) trbd/(Eccl 3:18) trb]d*i rbd/ghn:1 (Mic 2:12) wrbD:h*' (Dan 3:24) yhwrbdh:2 (2Kings 4:24) 39 rbad/(2Chron 22:10) rbdtw (=) (ljn+) rbd/(Isa 7:18) hrwbd 40 sbd/(Gen 43:11) çbd = ˆùgd/(Deut 28:51) ˆgd = = ˆyrwgd/μyrmj/( Jer 17:11) rgd* (Exod 8:10) T ydùt/(Prov 5:19) hydd 2= = bhd:2/bhd/bhz:1/(Isa 14:4) hbhdm* (Dan 2:32) K = bhùd/hbhdm μwhdm ,μhd/( Jer 14:9) μhdn (1=) T2 hdwm:2 ,˚d^dwt:1/(Cant 1:2) ˚yd" Od dydw/(Cant 2:16) ydwd (=) = T (+) awdala ˆm ad/(Ps 41:4) yw:d ^ dm/(Num 11:8) hkdmb wkd = T q 2= 1= ≈yd/çwçm:1/( Job 41:4)/≈wdt* wçyç/(Isa 54:1) ylhxw:2 (Isa 80:15) ≈wd/(ibid. 66:10) = (Dan 5:21) hrwdm/(Ps 84:11) rwdm* = Qeri) ˆyryyd/(Isa 38:12) yrwd* 41 (Dan 2:38 rdw rd/(Exod 3:15) rwd rwdl* (Dan 3:33) (+) = T swdt (Isa 41:15) çwdt (=) = T yntyjd/(Ps 118:13) yntyjd hjd = ˆùkd/(Ezek 4:9) ˆjd = ( Judg 4:3) qjd/≈jl/( Joel 2:8) ˆwqjdy* (=) +T ù˚dùkdm/(Ps 74:21) ˚d = (time) ad/(Hab 2:13) (ça) ydEb = ˆyd/( Jer 5:28) ˆyd = ˆad/(Gen 30:6) ynn"d: = (pour water) jld/(Ezek 32:2) jldtw = T wld/(Isa 40:15) yld]mi = lald/(Cant 7:6) tldw K(=) = πld/(Prov 27:15) πld 1= 2= /(Dan 7:9) qld:1/(Ezek 24:10) qldh* (Exod 22:5) qylda/ry[bmh:2 = = T μd/(Lev 17:14) μd = amdty/(Ps 89:7) hmdy (+) = T h[md/(Isa 25:8) h[md [md/(Exod 22:28) ˚[mdw qpd/(Gen 33:13)/μwqpdw qpd/( Judg 19:22) μyqpdtm
436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472
39 Dunash explains rbdy" (Ps 47:4) from the meaning of wrbdh (Mi 2:12) and so did Ibn Gikatilla, according to Ibn Barùn. However, Ibn Barùn and others explain it from the meaning of rbdt'w (2Chron 22:10). 40 In Muwàzana there is a lacuna here.
chapter sixteen
432 (cont.) N
M
= + =
+M
B
R
G
+
F
Q
S
(+) =
=
T
=
=
=
K
= =
= = +
=
+
= =
qyqdt/(Isa 41:15) qdtw (Dan 2:34) tqdhw/(Deut 9:21) qd* ˆygrd/twl[m/(Ezek 38:20) twgrdmh* (1Kings 10:19) ùgrd ,ùgdadm/(Ezek ibid.) twgrdmh μwrad/(Eccl 1:6) μwrd (μwrd)/bgn/(Deut 33:23) μwrd* ardrd/(Gen 3:18) rdrd* (TB Gittin 70a) (Dan 4:12) hatd/(Gen 1:12) açd* hmwsd ,μsd/(Ps 65:13) ˆçd (Dan 6:9) tdk/(Esth 3:8) μhytdw*
42
=
+T
= (+) =
=
T
+
1=
=
=
473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482
h =
L2,M2
=
D L
K = =
L
= = = = 2= = = = =
1= =
= =
= = = =
= =
=
=
T
+M
= = = =
= K
= =
H L
= =
= +
=
+
T
(+) = = =
=
F
41
+
=
T +T
(Gen 19:8) ah/hnh:1/(Gen 47:23) ah* (Dan 2:43) ah:2 ah/(ibid.) ah ^ybhbh/(Hos 8:13) ybhbh swnba/(Ezek 27:15) μynbh; 43 ([fq+) rbh/(Isa 47:13) yrb Oh ùgatha ,ùgyha:2 ;ù^gh:1/(Ps 77:13) ytyghw ˆaùgh/(Ezek 42:12) hnygh ^dh ,dyh/( Jer 25:30) ddyh wdh/(Isa 11:8) hdh ˚th/( Job 40:12) ˚wdhw sdh/(Isa 41:19) sdh (Dan 4:34) rdhmw/(Ps 96:6) rdhw* anardwh/(Isa 45:2) μyrwdhw* yah yah/(Amos 5:16) wh wh wh/(Gen 41:28) awh (Dan 2:20) awhl/(Gen 27:29) hwh* (adnll) ah/(Isa 10:5) ywh (hbdnll) hwht ,hwhw/( Jer 22:18) ywh μyha/(Ps 55:3) hmyhaw thth ,^th (Ps 62:4) wttwht zhzh/(Isa 56:10) μyzwh yh/(Gen 24:44) ayh 44 (rzq+) lkyh/(1Sam 1:9) lkyh ynhtn . . ./[xb/(Deut 1:41) wnyhtw* (Gen 37:26) (bùg[t+) ˆwrkht/( Job 19:3) wrkht (moroseness) rhk/( Job ibid.) wrkht (Dan 4:26) ˚lhm/(Ps 104:3) ˚lhm]*
483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509
Dunash assigns this comparison to Sa'adiah. Cf. Schroeter, retort 83. For rdrd cf. rrd. 43 Though Muwàzana has a lacuna here, I reconstructed the Ar. translation synonym rbh as a conjecture. As a matter of fact, Ibn Barùn’s discussion may support that. 44 This seems to be the completion of the lacuna in Muwàzana, s.v. lkh. 42
the chart of comparisons
433
(cont.) N K = = =
M
B
R
G
F
+
Q =
L
= = = +
= =
= = =
S
T T T
= L = =
= =
(=) (=)
T
K
= =
=
M D
K = = = =
(=) (+)L D D
(+) =
=
+ (=) = +
(=) = +
=
= (+)
= = =
=
= =
510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525
w bhw/ˆtn/(Num 21:14) bhw* 526 bhw/(Num ibid.) bhw 527
= = T T
= +
= = = = =
(+) (=)
^lhy/(Ezek 32:37) lhey: (voice raising) lalha/(Ps 75:5) wl Oht; ^μlh/(Exod 3:5) μlh amh ,μh/(Exod 6:27) μh wmah/(Ps 46:7) wmh 45 μaha (Exod 14:24) μhyw (be shed) rmh/(Ps 140:11) twrmhmb ˆyai/(Gen 30:34) ˆh* (e.g. TB Ketubot 65a) (Dan 3:18) ˆhw/(ibid.) ˆh* ˆ(a/i (Gen ibid.) ˆh anh/(Gen 15:16) hnh —l¤h/( Jer 2:10) ˆh sh/(Zech 2:17) sh hxhx/(Num 13:30) shyw (Dan 4:2) ˆyrhrhw/(Isa 29:13) wrh* srh/(Lam 2:2) srh
T T T T
z byùd/(Gen 49:27) baz babùd/(Eccl 10:1) ybwbz dbz/(Gen 30:20) dbz hjybùd/(Exod 23:18) jbzt ^gz ,ˆyùgz/(Num 6:4) gz aùd/(Gen 5:29) hz wùd/(Isa 43:21) Wz abhd/(Exod 25:3) bhz* bhùd/(ibid.) bhz atmwhz/htalj/( Job 33:20) wtmhzw*
528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537
(Ezek 24:6) = = = = = =
D D
T =
D =
= = = = =
=
(=) 2= M
(=) 1= = =
= =
=
(=) +T
μhzt/( Job ibid.) wtmhzw 46 rhdza (Exod 18:20) htrhzhw rhz/(Dan 12:3) wryhzy (Dan 5:6) yhwyz/(1Kings 10:1) wzI* baùd ,(baz)/( Jer 49:4) bz bwùd/(Ps 78:20) wbwzyw dwaùdm/(Ps 144:13) wnywzm (ˆakra+) ayawz/(Zech 9:15) twywzk ˆwlyaz:2 ;ˆylyzm:1/(Isa 46:6) μylzh (Dan 4:9) ˆwzm/(Gen 45:23) ˆwzm* (Dan 5:19) ˆy[yz/(Esth 5:9) [z* (Isa 6:4) w[zw/w[wnyw/(Eccl 12:3) w[wzyç* [z[zt/(Esth 5:9) [z
538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549
45 Ibn Janà˙ renders μysmh (Isa 64:1) by μyçh, but it is doubtful whether he meant to practise a comparison by metathesis. 46 Risàla, C2, p. 338.
chapter sixteen
434 (cont.) N
M
(=) (=) K
B
R
L ≠L
G
F
Q
(=)
= = = =
= =
T T T
(=) =
=
S
= K
#TM,D
= =
K = + =
+L,D
=
(=)
=
2=
1=
= = =
= K
= =
(=)
+T T
= = = = = = = +
+
+
= =
+T T
(=)
=
T
= + =
=
T
+ =
+FT
+ = +
= =
+D,M +M
= (=)
=
+
(=)
+T
(=) = K
=
= #
=
=
+T
= +M
47
+
=
(Exod 15:14) w[z/ˆwzgry/(Isa 28:19) h[wz [z[zt/(Isa ibid.) h[wz h[z[z/(Hab 2:7) ˚y[z[zm rrùdt/(Isa 1:6) wrz hrùdm/(Isa 59:5) hrwzhw wrùd/(Exod 32:20) rzyw (Num 16:20) wrwz/wrws/(Isa 1:4) wrzn* zrzw/çmjiw/(Prov 30:31)(μyntm-) ryzrz* (Gen 41:34) jzjzty/(Exod 28:28) jzy jzn/(ibid.) jzy tyljd/ytary:1/( Job 32, 6) ytltz* (Dan 2:31) lyjd:2/(Gen 31:31) ljz/(ibid.) ytljz (Dan 5:20) hdzhl/(Deut 17:13) ˆwdyzy* 47 ˛ˆyqwqz)/(Isa 50:11) twqyz* (TB Hul 137b ˆwtyz/( Jer 11:16) tyz wkz/( Job 25, 4) hkzy (Dan 6:23) wkz/( Job 33:9) ˚z* (Deut 24:13) atwkz/hqdx/ ykùd/(Exod 27:20) ˚z rkùd/(Exod 17:14) rkz (ibid.) ˆwtrkdad/(Ezek 21:29) μkrkzh* rkùd (Gen 1:27) rk;z: ˆyrkd (çdqt)/(Exod 34:19) rk;W:t*i ahw^lùda/(Lam 1:8) hwlyzh 48 ˆamz/(Eccl 3:1) ˆmz ˆwhtnmdzh/(Ezra 10:4) μynmzm* (Dan 2:9) (Dan 7:12) ˆmz/(Esth 9:31) μhynmzb* (Ezra 7:24) ayrmz/(Ps 9:12) wrmz* rmazm/(1Kings 7:50) twrmzmhw bnùd/( Judg 15:4) bnz (+) ˆwbnùdtst/( Josh 10:19) μtbnzw ˚nyz/˚ylk/(1Kings 22:38) twnzhw* (Gen 27:3) /(Dan 3:5) ynz/(2Chron 16:14) μynz“W* 49 (Gen 1:12) yhwnzl/whnyml hynaz/(Lev 21:14) hnwz ([wzn+) anz/(Deut 31:16) hnzw jzn/(Lam 3:17) jnztw w[z/ˆwzgry/(Deut 28:25) hw[zl* (Exod 15:14)
550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584
Cf. Becker, 1984, p. 148, n. 55. Becker (1984, C1, entry 138) remarks that Dunash compared ˆmz with Arabic, which is approved by Philipowski’s ed. (1855). However, in Sáenz-Badillos (1980)’s edition, p. 21*, Dunash’s comparison is rather with Aramaic. 49 MS-R adduces this comparison at enrty wytm ("Ußùl, p. 396). 48
the chart of comparisons
435
(cont.) N (=) = = = = = = =
M
B
R
F
(+)
(=) = = =
= =
S
= T =
(+) =
M1
(=) =1
= =
= + = =
= = = =
+FT +FT
=
? = +
= (=)
T T
(=)
= + =
(=)
= = =
=
(=)
+ = =
= = = (=) (=) K =
Q =
D
=
= = = =
G
= + =
= = (+)
= 1+M
(=) + = = = 1=
T
+T T T
= = = = 2=
[z[zt/(Deut ibid.) hw[zl (fùks+) μgz/(Num 23:8) μ[z (Gen 18:4) ry[z/f[m/(Isa 10:25) r[zm* (Gen ibid.) ry[z/f[m/( Job 36:2) ry[z* tpz/(Exod 2:3) tpz anqd/(Lev 13:30) ˆq;z*: ˆqùd/(ibid. 29) ˆqzb /(Ezra 6:11) πyqzw :1 (Ps 145:14) πqwzw* (Gen 13:14) πqz/aç:2 çjn yd ˆyqzl/μytçjnl/(Ps 149:8) μyqizbI * (2Sam 3:34) qzam ,qza/( Jer 40:1) μyqzab wbrzy/( Job 6:17) wbrzy (TB Yoma 78a) byrdzmd/(ibid.) wbrzy* arùdm/( Jer 15:7) hrz“mi 50 hyrùdt/(Ezek 5:2) hrzt jyrx/(Lev 16:29) jrza [rz/(Lev 11:37) [rz a[wrd/(Deut 33:20) [wrz* [arùd/(Exod 6:6) [wrz qrzy/(Isa 28:25) qrz“yI qrùd ,qrz/(Ezek 36:25) ytqrzw j tybtùka/(Gen 31:27) ytabjn yybaùkm ,yabtùka/( Job 31:33) ybjub ybtùka/(Isa 26:20) ybij} bybj/(Deut 33:3) bbj fbaùk/( Judg 6:11) fbwj lbj/(Zech 2:5) lbj lbj bjax/( Jon 1:6) lbjh br +lbj (Prov 23:34) lbeji lbj/(Cant 8:5) hlbj ,(Ps 7:15) lbjy /(Cant 2:15) μylbjm ;(Eccl 5:5); lbejiw* lbjmw/tjçw :2 (Dan 6:23) hlwbj:1
585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613
(Gen 38:9) = K +D = = =
= = = = + = =
= (=)
= +
+
=
T
labùk ,lbùk ( Job 17:1) hlB;ju (qlùk+) labj/(1Sam 10:5) (μyaybn) lbj (lxawt+) lbj/(Hos 11:4) (μda) ylbjb hlyj/(Prov 24:6) twlwbjtbw rbj/(Exod 28:7) rbjuw (r[ç+) hrbrbj/( Jer 13:23) hrwbrbj (rbw+) rybùk/(ibid.) hrwbrbj sbj/( Job 34:17) çbjy swwr+) ˆytbùgj/(Eccl 12:5) bgjh bùgaj ;(ˆykrwla ^ùgj/(Exod 12:14) gj
614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623
50 In Muwàzana the text here is corrupted. However, according to the remnants of the entry the reconstruction seems possible. For ryzrz cf. rwz.
chapter sixteen
436 (cont.) N
M
=
B
R
+ D H
= =
G
F
= =
=
2=
=
1=
(=) (=) (=)
= =
=
K =
= =
=
Q
=
= = = = =
+D
= =
2M 1M
+ = =
(=) (=)
= =
+ =
1=
+ 2=
= =
K2 +L +K
2=
= =
+
+H
1=
1= =
=
(+) =
M B (H) +B (H) =
=
K
= = 1= =
=
1=
1M
=2
1M
=
K K
= =
=
S
^ùgj/(Ps 107:27) wgwjy (Lev 21:18) arygj/jsp/(2s 22:46) wrgjyw* (Deut 32:25) tgrj/hmya/(ibid.) wrgjyw* (Gen 1:5) dj/dja:1/(Ezek 33:30) dj* (Dan 6:3) dj:2 51 h^daj (Ezek 5:1) hD;j' T ^dawj/hdadj hdwdjm/( Job 41:22) ydwdj T ^djny ^dtjy ,djy/(Prov 27:17) djy ydjw/jmçyw/(Exod 18:9) djyw* ( Judg 19:3) +T rdùk/(1Kings 20:30) rdj (hnmak+) hrdaùk/(Ezek 21:19) trdjh +T ùtdjt/( Job 10:17) çdjt (Lev 19:17) hbwj/afj (Ezek 18:7) bwj* (μùta=) bwj/(Dan 1:10) μtbyyjw +T ùtydj/( Judg 14:12) hdyj (Gen 29:15) ywj/hdygh:1/(Ps 19:3) hwjy* (Dan ibid.) tywja:1/( Job 13:1) ytw:j]a'w* (Lev 5:1) ywjy/dygh:2 awj:2 ,^yj:1/(Num 32:41) t/j /(Ezek 19:9) μyjjb ,(1Sam 13:6) μyjwj
ò˚^wòk fyùk/(Gen 14:23) fwjmi (Exod 28:37) afwj/lytp/(Cant 4:3) fwjk* (Ezra 4:12) wfyjy/(Cant ibid.) fwjk* fyùkm/(Shab 6:1) fjm x fa^yùk/(1:3 ibid.) fY:j' x = lwjm/(Ps 150:4) lwjmw = ^ljy/(2Sam 3:29) wlwjy/( Jer 23:19) lwjy (μùtw+) laj/(ibid.) llwjtm ,(ibid.) lwjy T jlaj/(Eccl 5:12) hlwj 2= T μymj:2 ;μwmjy ,^μja:1 (Gen 30:32) μwj (^qr+) ^sj/(Ps 72:13) swjy /ˆbl:2/(Dan 7:9) rW:j:i 1/(Esth 1:6)/rWj* (Gen 30:35) rwj (Eccl 10:7) μyrwj ˆb:2 ,(Isa 19:19) yrwh:1* =
T
T =
D =
= = =
=
= =
=
F
=
= =
51
For ydjath cf. djy.
+
ibid./ (ù≈yba qyqd+) yrawj/(Gen 40:16) yrwj rwja/(Esth ibid.) rwj (?) ^çj/(Deut 32:35) çjw ^sjy/(Eccl 2:25) çwjy ([aùgç+) swj/(Eccl ibid.) çwjy ^ùtjy/(Eccl ibid.) çwjy aydj/(Lev 8:29) hzj* hùdj ,jzj/(Exod 29:27) hzj atyzj/tyar/(Prov 22:29) tyzj* (Gen 20:10) yzaj/(2Sam 22:11) hzwj
624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664
the chart of comparisons
437
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
= (=) = =
+FT
= + = + =
=
+
=
= (+)
(?=) = =
=
H = K
D
B
H H
(=) =
= = = =
(H,J) H (H) H H
= =
= =
+
(=) (=)
= =
(=)
(+)
=
=
+
= = =
=
+
(+) =
M,D≠ = (=) K
(=)
M =
(=) = +K K + = = = +K K H
= = =
= = + = 2= +
= +
=
52
=
=
(=)
2= +
=
(=) (=) (=) = = =
S (Dan 4:8) hytwzjw/( Job 8:17) hzjy* (thicket) zwj/(ibid.) hzjy 52 (zyza/? ( Job 28:26) zyzj) wqzjt/( Josh 17:13) wqzj ryznùk/(Lev 11:7) ryzjh T (+) afùk/(Lev 19:17) afj (ˆaxqn+) ^fj/(Gen 31:39) hnfja (Ezra 4:12) wfyjy/(Gen ibid.) hnfja* fyaj/ (+) bftja ;bafj/(Deut 29:10) bfjm tbfj/trmah/(Prov 7:16) twbwfj* (Deut 26:17) fafj/(TB Yoma 77b) ˆyffj x fjfjm-(Tos. Hul. 7:4) ffjm x* (cf. Yerush. Orla 5, 63a) (TB Pesachim 28a) fj/ μfùk/(TB Yeb 16:3) μfwj x (+) μftùka/(Isa 48:9) μfja μafùk/(TB Shabbat 5:1) μfj x πfùk-/( Judg 21:21) μtpfjw πfjm/πfwjm* (Exod 4:2) arfwj/hfm/(Isa 11:1) rfj* rfùk/(Isa ibid.) rfj +T μtyyjaa/(Num 31:15) μtyyjh 53 (Dan 5:19) ajm/(Isa 35:19) yj* hyj/(Gen 37:20) hyj ˆawyj/(Gen 8:17) hyjh (Dan 7:7) hwyj/(Gen 1:21) hyjh* (Exod 12:9) yj/an/(1Sam 2:15) yj* ^yjla/(Lev 13:15) yjh ^yh/(2Sam 23:11) hyjl (h^wq+) lwj/(Ps 118:15) lyj (Deut 3:29) atlyj/ayg/(Lam 2:8) lje* wqj/(Exod 4:6) ˚qyjb T μ^kjt/(Prov 23:15) μk'j; (ˆbl+) blj/(Exod 3:8) blj bljm/(Exod 30:34) hnblj (=) hdlùk:2 dlùk:1/(Lev 11:29) dlj +T d^lùkt ,dlùk/(Ps 49:2) dlj ^lja/(Deut 29:21) hL;ji /twtymxl/(1Kings 20:33) wfljyw* (Lev 25:23) ˆyfwljl flj/(ibid.) wfljyw 54 T ylj/(Prov 25:12) yljw
665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702
The text is corrupted here, and the comparison is only a conjecture. But Alfàsi says that Aramaic does not prove whether the root is ùj or yj. 54 Ibn Quraysh (B 22) makes a restriction on the semantic identification of these entries, and he might have refuted the comparison. 53
chapter sixteen
438 (cont.) N
M
=
+L
B
R
= =
G
F
Q
=
=
=
lylj/bwbn/(Isa 2:19) t/Ljimbw* 703
=
(Exod 27:8) (r^yg+) ^ljy/(Num 30:3) ljy 704 ˆwmljy/( Joel 3:1) ˆwmljy 705
= +
D+FT +1
=
+
S
+T
= = (?=)
=
=
(=) =
= =
(=)
(=)
(=)
(+) (=)
M
= = +K (=)
≠L D
= = = = = ≠ = = =
=
=
T
=
=
=
=
= = =
=
=
(=) =
1=
=
T T
2= (=)
= =
= = (=) (=)
=
= =
= = =
(=)
= 2=
= = 1=
2=
=
=
=
N = =
=
K
1M
=
=
T
= M D
= 2+K
55 56 57
1L
T T T
= 1=
= =
(Dan 2:26) amlj/(Gen 37:9) μwlj* (ydùg+) μalj/( Job 6:6) twmlj swbmlj/(Ps 114:8) çymlj πlj/ˆ[y/(Num 18:21) πl,j*e (Gen 22:16) πlùk/(Num ibid.) πlj (+) πlòky/(Ps 90:5) πljy (Dan 4:13) ˆwpljy/( Job 9:11) πljyw* hpltùkm (bayùt)/( Judg 14:12) twpylj (μsrla) awplùk/(Isa 24:5) wplj πlùk/(Cant 2:11) πlj ynx^lùk/(Ps 140:2) ynxlj ≈^lùky/(Isa 58:11) ≈yljy lùxùky/(Isa ibid.) ≈yljy qylj/(Gen 27:11) qlj (slma+) qlùka/(Gen ibid.) qlj lqj/(2Sam 14:31) hqljh çlj/hprh/( Joel 4:10) çljh* (Num 13:18) dmj/(Ps 68:17) dmj 55 (lwj rad+) hmwj/(Exod 14:22) hmwj wmj/(Gen 38:13) ˚ymj ymtja ,ymj/(Ps 39:4) μj 56 wmj:2 tmmj:1 (Isa 44:16) ytwmj tamamj/(Isa 17:8) μynmjhw (ˆadrq+) ˆanmj/(Isa ibid.) μynmjhw ù≈mj/(Exod 12:15) ≈mej; (yhç+) hùxmj/(Isa 30:24) ≈ymj (hypytla) hxwmjll (Num 6:3) ≈mj ù≈^mjty/(Ps 73:21) ≈mjty hùxmaj spn (ibid.)/ybbl ≈mjty ramj/( Job 24:1) rwmj rwmjy/(Deut 14:5) rwmjy* rwmjy/(Deut ibid.) rwmjy (Dan 5:1) armj:1/(Deut 32:14) rm,j*; (Lev 10:9) armj/ˆyy:2/ rmùk/(Deut ibid.) rmj (Dan ibid.) armj/(Ps 75:9) rm'j*; rmùk/(Ps ibid.) rmj ^rmja/(Ps ibid.) rmj (rçq+) rmj:1/( Job 16:16) wrmrmj 57 (^rj ^dç+) hramj:2
706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742
For hmje cf. μjy. Alfàsi adds: wmjla yn[ml alw. It is amazing that Ibn Barùn quotes here (Muwàzana 49) from Ibn Bal'am and
the chart of comparisons
439
(cont.) N
M
+K = +K
B
R
G
F
Q
S
(=)
(=) (=) (=)
= =
T T
= = = =
= + K
D
= = =
= =
(+) + = = = = + + = = = =
D,H +M H
(=) (=)
= =
(=) (=)
T
= = = =
+ (?=) (?=)
= = =
T (=)
(=) = = =
(=) =
(=) =
=
ramj/(Gen 14:10) rmj hsmùk/(Gen 18:28) hçmj smùk (la ùdùkay)/(Gen 41:34) çmjw ([mùg+) çmj/(Gen ibid.) çmjw ([mùg+) smùk/(Gen ibid.) çmjw (^dç+) smj/(Exod 13:18) μyçwmjw tymj/(Gen 21:14) tmjw ^lj/(Exod 13:20) wnjyw tynawj/( Jer 37:16) twywnjh ayanj/( Jer ibid.) twywnjh (+) fnj/(Gen 50:2) wfnjyw hfnaj/(Cant 2:13) hfnj (Ezra 6:9) ˆyfnj/(Exod 9:32) hfjhw* hfnj/(Isa 28:25) hfj ˚nj/( Job 34:3) ˚j hykntm/(Gen 14:14) wykynj (+) hnj/(Gen 39:21) wnj ˆanj ,ˆynj ,^ˆj/(Amos 5:15) ˚njy (lym+) πnj/(e.g. Jer 23:11) πnj qntùta/(2Sam 17:23) qnjyw adsj/hprj/(Lev 20:17) dsj*
743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763
(Gen 34:14) = K
L =
= =
lysj/(Deut 28:38) wnlsjy* 764 sjl/(Deut ibid.) wnlsjy 765 58
=
?D +M1
=
≠D
1=
1+ =
=
= 1K = = = =
= =
= =
= D
(damage caused by locust) μçykt/(Ezek 39:11) tmsjw (Dan 2:37) ansj:1/(Ps 89:9) ˆysj* (Gen 43:31) ˆysjtaw/qpatyw:2/ (Num 18:23) ansja/hljn /(ibid.) ˆysj* , (lamùg+) ˆs j/( Jer 20:5) ˆs Oj aynswj/twrwgmm/(Isa 23:18) ˆsjy* ( Joel 1:17) rsj/(1Kings 17:16) rsj (Num 9:15) apj/hsk/( Jer 14:4) wpj* (afg+) awpùka/( Jer ibid.) wpj 60 zpj/( Job 40:23?) zpjy 59
= =
+T
766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774
not directly from Ibn Janà˙. This might imply textual problems in "Ußùl or in Muwàzana. 58 Ibn Barùn expresses the meaning by an example from which ‘eating by a worm’ is alluded. This meaning is close to, but not identical with Ibn Janà˙’s one. 59 Gross (1872) attributes to Dunash the comparison with μsj. However, Dunash possibly had in mind Ibn Quraysh’s comparison. 60 Philipowski (1855, p. 68) and Sáenz-Badillos (1980, pp. *89, 99) refer to wbnz zpjy ( Job 40:17) noting no variant readings. However, the same verse reads ≈wpjy in the Bible, without variant readings. Neither Philipowski and Sáenz-Badillos nor Gross (1872), who completed zpj/zwpjy, noticed that. Two solutions can be given to this problem: 1) It is possible that Dunash intended to compare wbnz ≈wpjy to ≈pj or ù≈pùk but the copyists were mistaken because of the affinity of ≈ to z of wbnz, or because of its relationship to zwpjy in the following verse (23). [Ibn Janà˙ ("Ußùl
chapter sixteen
440 (cont.) N
M
B
R
D
+ +
= =
=
G
F
Q
S
(=)
= =
T
+K
zapjna ,zpj/(2Sam 4:4) hzpjb 775 hynpj/(Lev 16:12) wynpj 776 πpwjtm/πjry/(Deut 33:12) πpj* 777 (Deut 32:11)
= = (1+) = =
= = 1= +D L
+ = = = = =
(=)
(+)
(+)
= = = =
(=) = =
= = Tamim,≠N N =
+ = = =
K = = = + =
= = =
= =
+
D #D
=
htpaj ,apapj/(Deut 33 ibid.) πpj (πaf+) ^pj ,hpjm/(Isa 4:5) hpwj 2+ ;(bnaùg) πapj:1/(Gen 49:13) πwjl (ljas) πwj:2 = T rpj/(Gen 26:22) rpjyw (lùgùk+) rpùk/(Isa 54:4) yrypjt 61 = açpj/(1Kings 15:5) tyçphj çpj (Ezek 27:20) çpj yxajt ,≈xaj/(Num 31:27) tyxjw 62 = ˆùxj/(Isa 49:22) ˆxjb axj/(Prov 20:17) ≈xj axjla rapj/( Judg 5:11) μyxxjm h^dç+) ≈axj/( Judg ibid.) μyxxjm (wd[la ˆayb+) hxjxj/( Judg ibid.) μyxxjm (qjla ≈axj/(Ps 77:18) ˚yxxj ≈axùk (id.)/˚yxxj = hrùxùk/(1Kings 18:5) ryxj ywat [ùxwm+) ryxj/(Isa 34:13) ryxj (çwjwla hyla (radla hjas+) hjrx/(ibid. 42:11) rxj qj/(Isa 24:5) qj arùk/(2Kings 10:27) twarjml barùk/(Ezek 25:13) hbrj hbrj/(Ezek ibid.) hbrj brj/( Job 39:22) brj; hbrj/(Zeph 2:14) br jO = tgrh/hmwa/(Ps 18:46) wgrjyw* 63
D
778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802
(Deut 32:25)
arygj/jsp/(Ps ibid.) wgrjyw* 803 (Lev 21:18)
= K
(=) = =
T
lùgrj/(Lev 11:22) lgrjh 804 drj/(Gen 27:33) drjyw 805 ^rtja/(Neh 3:20) hrjh 806
241) compares it to zwpjy assuming the interchange z/x, and based on the common meaning ‘speed of movement’.] 2) It is possible that Dunash intended to compare zwpjy (verse 23) [zpjy alw rhn qç[y ˆh], while quoting a single word only, zpjy, and a later copyist completed the quotation confusing the two verses. 61 Cf. Becker 1984, part C1, entry 161, and the note on the semantic nuance of these words, as to Ibn Quraysh and Ibn Janà˙. 62 Ibn Janà˙ makes a restriction on the semantic equivalence. 63 Alfàsi translates wgrjyw by wùgr[ny, which might imply a comparison with two interchanges, [/j and ùg/g. However, such a comparison needs to be expressed explicitly.
the chart of comparisons
441
(cont.) N
M
B
= = +
(H) ((H
= +
R
(=)
= + K = =
G
= M
F
Q
E(=) (=) (=) = =
= = =
=
S
zrùk/(Cant 1:10) μyzwrjb fyarùk/(2Kings 5:23) μyfyrj hfyrùk/(Isa 8:1) frjb (Dan 2:10) μfrj/(Gen 41:8) ymfrj* akrj/ˆwlj/(Cant 2:9) μykrjh*
= =
= = +
(=)
(=) (=)
=
T
(L) = =
+D
= +
=
+T
=
+
= =
K K + =
= = = +
(=) (=)
+
(H) + K
(=) (=)
=
(=)
(=) =
=
=
= =
+
=
(=) =
= (=) = =
= = +
(+)
=
(+)
=
T+
= =
T
=
= (=) = = =
+
+D,L +
+
=
(Gen 26:8) (Dan 3:27) ˚rjth/(Prov 12:27) ˚rjy* qrj/(ibid.) ˚rjy μrùka ,μwrùkm/(Lev 21:18) μwrj hmarj/(Lev 27:29) μrjy (+) μarùka/(Lev ibid.) μrjy 64 μartùka/(Exod 22:19) μrjy yprùk/( Job 29:4) yprj ˆyprjm/μynwnç/(2Sam 23:9) μprjb* (Isa 49:2) hnwnç/hdj; (Isa 5:28) πrjny/( Job 27:6) πrjy ù≈rjy/(Exod 11:7) ≈rjy ≈rjt/(2Sam 5:24) ≈rjt ([fq+) ≈rj/(Isa 10:23) hxrjnw (sarùxa) qrj/(Ps 37:12) qrwjw hrarj/(Ezek 24:10) wrjy hrarj/rrwj-rjwa x ^rtjy/( Jer 6:29) rjn rùkn/( Jer ibid.) rjn ^rtjt/(Ps 37:1) rjtt ˆyrwh rb/yçpj/(Neh 4:18) μyrwjh* (Deut 15:12) rarja ,^rj/(Neh ibid.) μyrwjh awryyjt ,wraj/(Isa 24:6) wrj ˆy^rtjm/( Jer 17:6) μyrrj taùd ù≈ra+) h^rj/( Jer ibid.) μyrrj (hqrjm hraùgj ayçrj/μypçkm/(Isa 3:3) μyçrj* (Exod 7:11) srùka/(Lev 19:14) çreje srùka/(Gen 34:5) çyrjhw ùtrjy (Isa 28:24) çwrjy hfwrùkm/( Jer 17:1) hçwrj açrj (Ezek 31:3) çr< jO hùtarj/(1Sam 22:5) trj ˆytyrh/[q[q/(Exod 32:16) twrj* (Lev 19:28) ùtwrjm/(Exod ibid.) twrj tanabsj/(2Chron 26:15) twnwbçj (ùμyxjù=) (dd[+) bsj/(1Sam 18:25) bçj
807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844
64 It seems that Ibn Barùn made a differentiation between μrjy whose subject is μr,j to be compared with μyrjt and μrjy whose subject is man (Exod. 22:19), which he compares with (bhùd ,tam+) μartùka.
chapter sixteen
442 (cont.) N
M
+
B
R
+
G
F
Q
(=) =
S +T
(b lab+) bstjy/(Ps 40:18) bçjy 845 aykyçj/μyldh/(Ps 74:20) ykçjm* 846 ( Jer 39:10)
+
M,B
=
=
lçjw/(Deut 25:18) μylçjnh* 847 (Dan 2:40)
= 1K
=
= = (=)
=
D =
= K K K = = =
+
+D +D +D
= ?= = = = = + =
+
+ = =
=
= (=) +
= (+) (=) =
T = = =
K
=
K K
=
+
= =
(=) = (=)
= T
K + = = =
+T
+ +D
+ = +
= =
(+) =
(+) (=)
T
= = = (H) = = =
K = = K = = = = = =
= = (H) (H)
+
+
(+) (=)
= (=)
=
= = =
= =
T
ˆçwùg/(Exod 28:4) ˆçj πçùk/(1Kings 20:27) ypçij} ˛πsùk ˛πsjt/(Isa 52:10) πçj πçk/(Isa ibid.) πçj qç[/(Gen 34:8) hqçj ([mùg+) rçj/(2Sam 22:12) trçj (qqr+) rçj/(1Kings 8:33) μhyrwçjw çyçj (Isa 5:24) ççjw (dqwa+) çj (ibid.) ççjw (wtjt.gùùsr) yùtj/(Prov 25:22) htj ˚fjy/(Ps 52:7) ˚t]j]y" (Dan 6:8) hmtjw/(Esth 8:8) μwtjnw* μtaùk/(Ezek 28:12) μtwj ˆtùk/(Gen 19:12) ˆtj (twm+) πtj/(Prov 23:28) πtjk
848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862
f afafw/(Isa 14:23) hytafafw* 863 (TB Meg 18a) (ù≈pn+) afaf/(Isa ibid.) hytafafw ayjbf/(Gen 41:12) μyjbfh* (Dan 2:14) ù˚ybf/(1Sam 9:24) jbfh jbùd/(Exod 21:37) wjbfw (smg+) hlabf/(Num 19:18) lbfw w[bfa/(Exod 15:4) w[bfu [baf/(Exod 35:22) t[bf (πùfn+) rhf/(Lev 14:8) rhfw rhf/(Lev ibid.) rhfw* byf baf (Num 24:5) wbwf (bhùd ,ybp+) jaf/(Isa 44:18) jf (fsb+) jf/(Lev 14:42) jfw jfn/(TB BK 28b) jyfhx lfn/[sn/( Job 41:1) lfy¨* (Dan 7:4) tlyfnw/(1Sam 18:11) lfyw* lflfm/[n/(Isa 22:17) ˚lflfm* (Gen 4:12) rafa/(Ezek 46:23) rwfw (Hab 1:8) çyaf/çj/( Job 9:26) çwfy* çaf/( Job ibid.) çwfy yj^wfm/(Gen 21:16) ywjfmk wnjfw/(Num 11:8) wnjfw (ˆansa+) ˆjawf/(Eccl 12:3) twnjwfh ryjf/(1Sam 5:6) μyrwjf atpfwf/hd[xa/(Deut 6:8) tpffl* (2Sam 1:10) alf/(Isa 65:25) hlfw aylf/(1Sam 7:9) hlf*
864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889
the chart of comparisons
443
(cont.) N
M
= +
2M
K K =
B
R
G
F
Q
S
+
+
+ =
(+) =
= 2=
T
(=)
(=) (=)
= +D
=
=
+
= = (=) = =
= =
(=) (=)
+M D
=
=
K
+
= +
(=)
=
= =
K K =
= =
= =
T
=
?= +
= K = = K = =
=
?= =
T
= (=)
=
= M L L,M
= = = = =
= =
= = = +
=
= = +
y htawm/( Jer 10:7) htay sya/(Eccl 2:20) çayl say/(Eccl ibid.) çayl abby/h[wrt/( Judg 5:28) bbytw*
= (=)
= K
= L
= K = =
(=) +
=
2+
1=
= F +F
65
+ =
+ (+) (=)
(=) (+)
^lf/(Num 11:9) lfh (Dan 4:9) llft:1/(Neh 3:15) wnllfyw* (Gen 9:8) alwf/lx:2/ (πqs+) ^lùf/(ibid.) wnllfyw amfty/(Lev 21:3) aM;F'yI ˆynwmf/μwmts/( Job 18:3) wnymfn* (Gen 26:15) t[fw/[ttw/(Ezek 13:10) w[fh* (Gen 21:14) (Dan 5:21) hnwm[fy/( Job 34:3) μ[fy* (lka+) μ[f/(1Sam 14:40) ytm[f (Dan 2:14) μ[ef/ ] (Ps 119:66) μ[f* ˆ[fml/taçl/(Gen 45:17) wn[f (ibid. 44:1) (ˆyùgw[bm+) ˆynw[fm/(Isa 14:19) yb[ Ofm] jpfw/˚hw/(Lam 2:22) ytjpf* (Ezek 21:19) (hdalw+) jpf/(Lam ibid.) ytjpf πyfad/πyxh/(Isa 3:16) πpfw (Deut 11:14) (hdayz+) πypft/(Isa ibid.) πpfw lpf/(Esth 3:13) πf atwçpf/ˆw[gç/(Ps 119:70) çpf* (Deut 28:28) (Isa 6:10) spf/ˆmçh/(Ps ibid.) çpf* (. . . μhzw rùdq+) spf/(Ps ibid.) çpf dr^fm/(Prov 27:15) drwf (Dan 4:22) ˆydrf/(Prov ibid.) drwf* drf/(Prov ibid.) drwf hyrf ( Judg 15:15)/hyrf (Gen 3:7) yprf/hl[/(Ezek 17:9) yprf* aprfym/μ[ptw/(Gen 8:11) πrf* (ibid. 41:8) (bls+) πrf/(Gen 49:27) πrfy (. . . ynf[a+) ynprfa/(Prov 30:8) ynpyrfh
= =
T +T
(Lev 23:24) (Ezra 6:5) lbyhw:1/(Zeph 3:10) ˆwlbwy* (Ezek 17:12) lybwaw/abyw:2 65 (Arab.) albwy/( Josh 6:4) μylbwyh (πapùg+) sbay/(Isa 19:7) çbyy dy/(Prov 18:21) dyb (^hwq+) dya/( Josh 8:20) μydy
Ibn Janà˙ quotes this comparison from R. Aqiba (BT).
890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925
chapter sixteen
444 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
= = = = + =
= =
F
=
1M
(=)
T = =
= = K
1=
2+
=
+ =
K =
D, +FT
2= = +
1=
T = (+)
= =
=
(=) (=) =
(=)
T T
=
(+hrdq) dy/( Josh ibid.) μydy (hm[n+) dy ydya/(Neh 2:8) dyk ydyala (yf[a)/(1Chron 29:24) dy (wntn) (h[af+) dy/( Joel 4:3) WDy" (bybj+) dydw/(Deut 33:12) dydy ˚^dwa/( Job 40:14) ˚dwa (Ezra 7:25) [dy/(Gen 31:32) [dy* [dwa/(1Sam 21:3) yt[dwy ˆw[yùdm/(2Chron 23:14) μy[ydwmw (Dan 3:28) wbhyw:1/(Prov 30:15) bhy* (Num 27:4) bh/hnt:2 bhw/( Judg 1:15) hbh ˚ybhy/(Ps 55:23) ˚bhy* 66 (Megilla 18:21) dah:2 ^dwht:1/(Esth 8:17) μydhytm rhy/(Prov 21:24) ryhy μwy/(Gen 1:5) μwy
926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940
hnyzm/( Jer 5:8) μynzym 941 ˚dyjw/(Gen 22:2) ˚dyjy 942 ˆwnydja/wmzjay/(Ezek 21:21) ydjath* 943 (Exod 15:15)
= = = K K = =
= =
= = =
(=) = =
(=) = (+) (+)
+ (=)
(=) +K =
= =
ydj^ta/(Ezek ibid.) ydjath (drpna+) ydjatsa/(Ezek ibid.) ydjath T μjwt/(Gen 30:39) wmjyw (Dan 3:19) amj/(Deut 29:27) hmjbw* +T (fùks ,bùzg+) hymj/(Isa 27:4) hm;je (μs+) hmj/(Ps 58:5) tm'j} +T ypj/(2Sam 15:30) πjy byflab tnsj/(2Kings 9:30) bfytw bfya/(Esth 2:9) bfytw jkwtaw/hfpçaw/(2Kings 19:4) jykwhw*
944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953
(1Sam 12:7) =
+FT
+
(+)
+K =
D
+ =
=
=
=
+
(+) ≠ (=)
(=)
(+)
=
= (=)
T
(=)
(=)
D =
= =
66
dlwy/(Gen 17:20) dylwy hlwlw/(1Sam 4:19) tll hlwlw/(Deut 32:10) lly (rjb+) ^μy/(Ps 24:2) μymy ˆmyt/( Josh 15:1) ˆmyt hnmy ,ˆymy/(Deut 5:29) ˆymy (oath) ˆymy/(Ps 77:11) ˆymy (Lev 16:4) rsyy/rgjy/(Hos 7:15) ytrsy* rsa/(Hos ibid.) ytrsy 67 dad[tsa+d[awt/(Exod 21:8) hd[y
954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963
Ibn Quraysh quotes this comparison from the Rabbis (BT Megilla 18a). The Ar. word ajd[w is completed by Becker (1984, note to entry 180), based on Ibn Barùn’s comparison. However, Ibn Barùn did not refer specifically to hd[y and the possibility that Ibn Quraysh had in mind d[tsa or d[awt, attested in Alfàsi’s lexicon, should not be excluded. 67
the chart of comparisons
445
(cont.) N
M
= =
B
R
G
= = = =
= =
=
= (=)
(=)
= + = + 2=
= = = (=)
= +
= + =
(=) 2+
= = + = K (=) =
+ = + =
= = +FT + G+FT = = (G)
=
=
= L
(=)
1=
=
=
(+)
=
= (=)
(+) = =
(+)
(=)
(+) (=)
=
=
=
(=) = (=) (=) (=)
(=)
(=)
(=)
+
=
=
= +
+D
= = =
68
T
+ =
= =
S
T
L,D
= = = 1=
Q
+
= = = =
= K =
F
+
+
= = = = = =
+ +
Sa'adiah renders: t[wrt.
T T
T
hd[w/(2Sam 20:5) wd[y awd[awt/( Judg 20:38) wd[wyw dy[wt ,dy[w/(2Kings 17:13) d[yw day[a/(Lev 23:2) yd[wm (Deut 14:5) al[y/wqa/( Job 39:1) yl[y* lw[w ,l[w/( Job ibid.) yl[y hwptt/( Jer 4:31) jpytt (πrça+) [pya/(Deut 33:2) [ypwh (πrça+) [apy/(Ezek 28:7) ˚t[py yaùxyùx/(Isa 48:19) yaxaxw bxn ,bxtna/(Gen 33:20) bxyw [ùxw/(Gen 33:15) hgyxa rywxt/( Job 17:7) yrwxyw (rpj+) bqw/(Hos 9:2) bq,y<w: (Dan 7:11) tdqyl/(Isa 10:16) dwqy* dyqw/(ibid.) rwqy (h[af+) hhqy:1/(Gen 49:10) thqy haq:2 ryqyta/dbkn/(1Sam 3:13) rqy*
(2Sam 6:20) raqw/(Ps 36:8) rqy T dwrw/(Gen 11:5) dryw T hyrwt ,harwt/(Deut 33:4) hrwt (Dan 4:26) ˆyjry:1/(Deut 21:13) jry* (Gen 29:14) jry/çdj:2 T f^rwt/(Num 22:32) fry (h[ydùk+) farw/(Num ibid.) fry T ˚rw/(Num 4:22) ˚ry 68 (ˆbgna+) [rw/(Isa 15:4) h[ry qwry/(Exod 10:15) qry* qrw/(Exod ibid.) qry ˆaqry/(1Kings 8:37) ˆwqry T ùtry/(Gen 21:10) çryy sya/(Prov 14:12) çy bùtw/(Ps 110:1) bç (dwùgw+) sya/(Isa 28:29) hyçwt fyçwaw/jlçyw/(Esth 5:2) fçwyw* (Gen 8:9) hnsw/(Cant 5:2) hnçey“ (Dan 6:19) htnçw/(Ps 90:5) hnç* T πsy/(Exod 39:13) hpçy T dtw/(Deut 23:14) dtyw T μyty/(Deut 10:18) μwty (. . . hrùkx+) ˆata/(Num 24:21) ˆtya (+) rtw/(Ps 11:2) rty hròta/(Eccl 1:3) ˆwrty rùtwt/(Gen 49:4) rtwt
964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006
chapter sixteen
446 (cont.) N
M
= K = =
B
= + = = = = =
= = =
R
G
F
Q
S
(=) = = =
=
=
(=)
+T T
(=) =
T
(=)
T
= K =
= D
= =
(=)
(=)
=
=
k byyk ,bak/(Isa 17:11) bak (π[ùx+) yyk/(Ps 109:16) harnw bkwk/(Amos 5:26) bkwk dbk/(Exod 29:22) dbk wbòk/(1Sam 3:3) hbky hybak/(1Sam ibid.) hbky lbk/(Ps 102:18) lbkb 69 μylbk/μytçjn/(Ps 149:8) ylbkb* lbùka ,lbùktsa/(1Kings 9:13) [abqa/( Jer 46:4) μy[bwkb rbka/( Job 15:10) rybk rbùk/(Isa 28:2) μyrybk wçbkw/wdklyw/(Gen 1:28) hwçbkw*
1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019
(Num 21:32) = K K
+
(+)
D
= =
hwsbka/(Gen ibid.) hwçbkw 1020 sbk/(2Chron 9:18) çbkw 1021 çbkw/qçjw/(2Chron ibid.) çbkw* 1022
=
(Exod 38:28) K = + = K
= = D D L
=
(=)
= =
(=) =
T T =
çbk/(Lev 4:32) çbk ywknt ,ywtkt hyk/(Isa 43:2) hwkt 70 alykm/hdm/(Isa 40:12) lkw lyk ,lak/(Isa ibid.) lkw ˆkbw/za/(Esth 4:16) ˆkbw*
1023 1024 1025 1026 1027
(Exod 12:45) = = = K K
= = = =
(=)
+M
= K = =
DL
= = K
+ = = =
=
= = = # (=)
= = =
=
69
= (=)
=
(=) = (=) =
T (=) (=)
(=) =
(=)
=
(=) (=)
(=)
(=)
ˆwk/( Job 31:15) wnnwkyw sak/(Gen 40:13) swk rwk/(1Kings 8:51) rwk (laykm+) rk/(1Kings 5:2) r k O rk/rmj/(1Kings ibid.) r Ok*
(Ezek 45:11) (rks[+) rùgm/(Gen 49:5) μhytwrkm T bùdk/(Isa 28:15) bzk djùg/(Ps 40:11) ytdjk tljk/(Ezek 23:40) tljk yK'/(Ps 16:8) yk ykh/(2Sam 23:19) ykh* (Nedarim 22b) ˆawyk/(Amos 5:26) ˆwyk +T syk/(Prov 1:14) syk ryk/(Lev 11:35) μyryk (. . . hrpj+) hrka/(Exod 30:18) rwyk T blk/(Exod 11:7) blk
1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043
Cf. Becker’s note, on Risàla, part A, entry 85. The noun alykm is not found in the rendering of hdm. Probably Dunash intended to generally compare the notion of ‘measuring’ with the root lwk such as wdmyw (Exod 16:18)/wlkw, but it is also possible that he had in mind names of measuring ustensils, e.g. hpya (Deut 25:14) and hrwçm (Lev 19:35), which are rendered atlykm. 70
the chart of comparisons
447
(cont.) N
M
B
K +K = (=) +FT
= =
K =
= = =
≠D,TM, N≠
R
G
F
Q
S T
= (=)
= =
=
=
(+)
(=)
(=)
(=) +
(=) =
(=)
+ =
+
=
N = =
=
=
hwlk ,hylk/(Exod 29:13) twylkh lalk ,lkt/( Job 1:20) hnylkt (Dan 4:25) alk/(Gen 43:34) μlKu* h^ylklab/(Lev 6:15) lylk lkalk/(1Kings 21:27) wlklkw (ta[amùg+) (ùgat+) lylka/(Ezek 16:14) lylk hnk/(1Sam 4:19) wtlkw 71 πlk ,πwlk/(Ps 74:6) twplykw
1044 1045 1046 1047 1048
μk/( Job 13:23) hmk amk (Ps 73:15)/wmk ˆwmk/(Isa 28:25) ˆ Omk'w ˆwmky/braw/(Dan 11:43) ynmkmb*
1052 1053 1054 1055
1049 1050 1051
(Deut 19:11) =
ayrmk/μynhk/(Zeph 1:4) μyrmkh* 1056 (Gen 47:26)
(=) = = = B
=
(=)
T
=
ramk/(Zeph ibid.) μyrmkh trmaùkt/(Hos 11:8) wrmkn (Ezra 4:23) ˆwhtwnkw/(Isa 45:4) ˚nka ˚ynka/(Isa ibid.) ˚nka atçwnk/td[/(Cant Rabba 1:4) tsnk*
1057 1058 1059 1060 1061
(Exod 12:3) = =
D
= = =
D,F
(=) = +
(=) = =
?= =
= = = =
(+)
(=) (=)
=
(=) (+)
M = +K = = #D,TM = =
M
=
D,L
=
= = = =
=
(=) = =
=
tznk/(Eccl 2:8) ytsnk [nka/(Lev 26:41) [nky ([ùxùk+) [nùk/(Lev ibid.) [nky 72 πnk/(Gen 1:21) πnk (rts+) πnk/(Isa 30:20) πnky ra^nk/(Gen 4:21) rwnk ˆark/(Gen ibid.) rwnk (=) ysrk/(Exod 17:16) sk +T ysrk/(1Kings 7:7) ask (=) hwsk/(Gen 20:16) twsk +T ˚yska/(Ezek 16:10) ˚skaw = atskn/jbz/(Ps 81:4) hskb* (Exod 34:25) swkt/fjçt (Prov 7:20) ask/gj/(Ps ibid.) hskb* (ryùka μwy+) ask/(Ps ibid.) hskb (=) hjwskm/(Ps 80:17) hjwsk jskt/rmzt/(Isa 32:12) μyjwsk* +
1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077
(Lev 25:4) (Dan 2:35) apsk/(Num 22:18) πsk* 1078 apyk/[ls/( Jer 4:29) μypkbw* 1079 (Num 20:8) πwhk/( Jer ibid.) μypkbw 1080 lpk/( Job 11:6) μylpk 1081
71 Neubauer ("Ußùl, p. 321) transliterated the Arabic word πlùk. However, it is possible that rather πlk is meant here, as Ibn Barùn actually quotes. 72 Sa'adiah renders by πnk only in the context of dgb-πnk, such as Num 15:38, or of qyj, such as Deut 23:1.
chapter sixteen
448 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
=
aypwnk/(Ezek 17:7) hnpk* 1082 (TB Shab 60b)
=
M
=
=
=
+
(=)
=
= =
anpk/b[r/( Job 8:22) ˆpklw* 1083 (Gen 12:10)
= =
=
+ = (=) = +
+K =
(=) (=)
^πk/(Gen 32:26) πk πk/(Mic 6:6) πka rpq/(Gen 6:14) trpkw rapka/(Cant 7:12) μyrpkb ynrpk/twj/(Cant ibid.) μyrpkb*
1084 1085 1086 1087 1088
(Num 32:41) ?= = K
D L
=
M
T
=
(=) =
=
rpgtsa/(Lev 14:31) rpkw r^pk/(Deut 21:8) rpk rpk/(Cant 1:14) rpkh bwrk/(Exod 25:20) μybwrkh ˆwhtlbrkw/(1Chron 15:27) lbrkm*
1089 1090 1091 1092 1093
(Dan 3:21) = +
= = K =
(2=)
(=) (=) (1=)
(=) (=) (+)
(=) (=) = (=)
(=) T
(=)
(+)
=?
=
=
=
D
(=) = =
rk/(Ps 7:16) hrk μrk/(Lev 19:10) ˚mrkw ˆa[rk:2 ,[rawk:1/(Lev 1:9) wy[rkw [wkr/(Gen 49:9) [rk 73 (?sabrk) sprk/(Esth 1:6) sprk rk/(Gen 31:34) rkb hçrk/( Jer 51:34) wçrEk twsùg/(Deut 32:15) tycik ˆylyçk/twmdrq/(Ps 74:6) lyçkb*
1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102
( Jer 46:22) = =
+ M
= =
= L
= + =
+ + = =
(=) (=) (+)
btk/( Josh 8:32) btk; (Dan 5:5) ltk/(Cant 2:9) wnltk* μtk/(Isa 13:12) μtkm μwtkm/(Ps 16:1) μtkm (+) πtk/(Num 7:9) πtkb (Mic 5:6) rtkm/ljyy/( Job 36:2) rtk* wtykn/wkçnyw/(Num 14:45) μwtkyw*
1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109
(Num 21:6) = = = + =
L
(+) =
(=)
(=) (=)
T (=)
= =
= (=) 1=
73
D,L
(=) (=) =
+
(=)
(=) T (=)
l yl/(Ps 60:9) yl al/(Deut 16:3) al (çf[+) bal/(Hos 13:5) twbalt (adwk+) balt/(Hos ibid.) twbalt yalw/[gyw/(19:11 qrb) walyw*
1110 1111 1112 1113 1114
(Deut 25:18) (h) wbl/(Isa 30:3) aybl 1115 bblty ,(lq[+) ^bl/( Job 11:12) bbly 1116 ;([rxy+) fbly:1/(Hos 4:14) fbly 1117 (ùgr[+) fbtly:2 74
Cf. Becker, 1984, p. 267, note to entry 209. It is unclear whether Ibn Janà˙ only refutes the comparison with wbl, or he totally refutes the comparison with aybl, hwbl included. 74
the chart of comparisons
449
(cont.) N
M
= = = =
L
B
R
= + =
= =
K
=
G
F
= (=) (=) (=)
(+) (=) (=)
Q
S T T (=)
(+) (=)
=
(=) Abs (=) =
(=)
T (=)
=
+K + =
(=) (=)
=
(=) (+)
+
(=) = (=)
= + (=) = = =
D
+D D
= =
D
(=) = (=) =
= = (=)
+
(+)
=
=
= (=) (=) =
=
=
= (+)
+ = T (=) = (=) (=) T (+)
=
= D + 2=
(=) D?,L
(2=)
D? = = = =
(1=) = (+) X (=)
= =
1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125
yhaltm/(Prov 26:18) hlhltmk 1126 yhlçm/πy[/(Gen 47:13) hltw* 1127
=
= = = =
(bwf+) hnbl/(Gen 11:3) μynbel ˆabl/(Lev 24:7) hnwbl anbl/(Gen 30:37) hn
(=)
(=)
=
(=)
(Deut 25:18) ([lb+) μhl/(Prov 18:8) μymhltmk whl/(Prov ibid.) μymhltmk w— ¤l/(Isa 48:11) awl zwl/(Gen 30:37) zwl (. . . lawz+) ùdwl/(Prov 3:32) zwln jwl/(Isa 30:8) jwl ywtlm/(Ps 74:14) ˆtywl [wl/(Prov 23:2) ˚[ lO b* 75 yùtl/(Gen 18:6) yçwl 76 (flesh) μjl/(Zeph 1:17) μmjulw hmjlm/( Judg 5:8) μj,l; (Dan 2:19) aylyl/(Deut 28:66) hlyl* lyl/(Deut ibid.) hlyl ùtyl/( Job 4:11) çyl ùdymlt/(1Chron 25:8) dymlt μl/(Gen 31:27) hml b[l/(2Chron 36:16) μyby[lm b[ltmk/[t[tmk/(ibid.) μyby[lm* (Gen 27:12) (^μùd ,by[+) zgal/(Ps 114:1) z[e lO (commit adultery) z[l/(ibid.) z[l 77 (? ;ra)/( Job 6:3) w[l* tpl:2 ;tptla:1/(Ruth 3:8) tpl;yw (ywl+) ltpna (ibid.)/tplyw fql/(Lev 19:9) fqlt qly/( Judg 7:5) q lO y: syql/(Amos 7:1) çql, /μypwf[h/(Deut 11:14) çwqlm* (Gen 31:42) ayçyql
1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154
75 Alfàsi renders ytl and Becker (1984, note to C1, entry 467) assumes that it should be yùtl as attested in Risàla. 76 This comparison is already attested in the Rabbinic literature (Exod Rabba, 42:2). Cf. Wechter, 1964, p. 2 and n. 18. 77 Cf. Becker, l.c., B, note to entry 34.
chapter sixteen
450 (cont.) N
M
= (=)
B
= =
= K = = =
R
+
G
F
=
=
= +
+
= = =
S
adyç/˚ry/(Ps 32:4) ydçl* 1155 (=)
(=) = = + = =
L
+ =
Q
(=)
(=)
(=) = + = =
+
=
(=)
T T +T (=)
(Exod 40:22) (ydn+) yds/(ibid.) ydçl ˆasl/(Prov 18:21) ˆwçl ˆslt/(Prov 30:10) ˆçlt
1156 1157 1158
m hyam/(Exod 27:9) ham 78 (dspa+) sam/( Job 7:5) samy (Ezra 6:12) rgmy/(Ps 89:45) htrgm* (lwf+) ddm/( Job 7:4) ddmw (Ezra 4:13) hdnm/(Neh 5:4) tD"mil*] rxbla ^dm/(Hab 3:6) ddwmyw am/(e.g. Gen 21:29) hm (Dan 4:32) hm/(Exod 32:1) hm* Exod 4:25) atlwhm/(Isa 1:22) lwhm*
1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167
(Targ. = = = = (=) = = =
+D +D
= =
+ (=) ≠ = = (=)
= (K) = =
K(=)
+M1
2=
(=)
(=) = =
= (=) = =
= =
=
O(=) O
D≠
=
= =
+
= =
= = B
(+) (=)
(=) =
(=) =
(=)
=
T
(=) (=)
(=)
(=) (=)
=
=
(H)
= = = =
+ +
78
(+) (+)
(=)
For lgm cf. lgn and for ˆgm cf. ˆng.
(=) (=)
rham/(Prov 22:29) ryhm rhm/(Exod 22:16) rhmk amk/(Gen 19:15) wmkw (+) ù^gwmt ,ùgam/(Exod 15:15) wgmn ùgwm/(Ps 65:11) hnggwmt ≈wm/(Ps 1:4) ≈wmk tam/(Gen 42:38) tm ùgazm ,ùgzm/(Cant 7:3) gzmh (Dan 3:19) hzml/(Deut 32:24) yzm* lzanm/(2Kings 23:5) twlzmlw lzanm/( Job 38:32) twrzm dsap+) rùdm/(Deut 23:3) rzmm (hbsnla (Dan 4:32) ajmy:1/(Ezek 26:9) yjmw* (Exod 2:12) ajmw/˚yw:2 (ajmw)/˚yw/(Prov 31:3) twjml* (Exod 2:12) aùkaùkm/(Prov ibid.) twjml wjm/(Ps 69:29) wjmy (Ezra 6:11) ajmty/(Isa 25:8) hjmw* (ù≈qtny ,jstmy+) zwjam/(Ps 107:30) zwjm zwj/(Ps ibid.) zwjm ^ù˚m/( Job 21:24) jwm (ˆms+) h^ùkmm/(Ps 66:15) μyjm fùkm/(TB Beiza 32b) ˆyfjwm x (ùgarsla) tqjm/( Judg 5:26) hqjm lwfm/açm/( Job 40:18) lyfmk* (Num 4:15) rfm/(Deut 11:17) rfm am/(Gen 1:6) μym
1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193
the chart of comparisons
451
(cont.) N
M
B
R
D
F
Q
+ (=)
(+)
= (=)
+
+ =
(=)
= = B≠ = =
G
+ M
= =
K
= (=) = (=) (=)
= + = + = =
= =
+ 1M +2D
+ = +
1=
(=)
=
S 79 ^≈m/(Isa 16:4) ≈mh skm/(Num 31:28) skm alm/(Exod 40:34) alm (hspn) htalm/(Esth 7:5 wbl) walm (htrma+) ùglm/(TB Beiza 34a) ˆyglwm x (=) jlm/(Gen 19:26) jlm (Ezra 4:14) jlm/(Lev 2:13) jlm* (Ezra ibid.) jlm/(Ps 107:34) hjlml* T (ù≈mj tbn+) ja^lm/( Job 30:4) jwlm jwlm (ˆ^yz ,πù^fn+) jlm/(Exod 30:35) jlmum 81 (ytwn+) jalm/(Ezek 27:15) μhyjlmw (dlw+) flm/(Isa 66:7) hfylmhw (ˆyf+) falm/( Jer 43:9) flmb T (property=) lmu/(Gen 33:14) hkalmh (=) ˚lm/(Gen 14:1) ˚lm (Dan 2:11) hklm/(e.g. ibid.) ˚lm* = yklm:1/(Neh 5:7 ;ybl) ˚leM;yw* ˚nyklma/˚x[ya :1/ ;(Dan 4:24)
(=) T
(Exod 18:19) (ˆyklm)/twx[/(Prov 31:3) ˆyklm* (Deut 32:28) (Dan 7:8) llmm/(Gen 21:7) llm* 82 (Deut 22:14) ˆylm/μyrbd/ (=) ˆm/(Gen 8:2) ˆmi (Dan 2:47) ˆm/(Gen 7:8) ˆmi* (Dan 3:15) ˆm'/(Exod 16:15) ˆm;* (=) ˆm/(Exod ibid.) ˆm; (Dan 3:12) tynm/(Ps 61:8) ˆm'* tynm:1/(2Chron 9:29) μynmum* (Deut 20:9) ˆwnmy/wdqpw:2 (Dan ibid.) (Dan 5:25) anm/(Num 23:10) hn:m*; 83 hjnm/(Num 16:15) μtjnm (+) w[nmt/(Prov 3:27) [nmt +T (ˆabwùd+) ysamt/( Josh 14:8) wysmh T ùgzm/(Isa 19:14) ˚sm 84 hnksm/(Deut 8:9) tWnksmb anyksm/ˆwyba/(Deut ibid.) tWnksmb* (Deut 15:4)
= =
=
= + = =
F
+
+ =
=
D 1+M
= = =
2=
+M
= 1= =
= +
(+) (=) +
79
(+) (=)
= (=)
=
=
? +D =
80
1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1201 1202 1203 1204 1205 1206 1207 1208 1209 1210 1211 1212 1213 1214 1215 1216 1217 1218 1219 1220 1221 1222 1223 1224
According to Ratzabi (1966, p. 278), MS A (Alsheikh, San'a) to "Ußùl reads
ù≈mla which corrects the comparison to ù≈m/≈m. 80 For tlkm cf. lka and for μhytwrkm cf. rwk. 81 Alfàsi relates this noun with jlm in its usual meaning (‘salt’), and so jlmm. 82 In fact Alfàsi uses here the general expression rwbd, but according to his suggestion ˆylm from the Targum, μyrbd suggests itself. 83 For μlnm cf. hln. 84 Becker, ibid., notes in entry C1, 256 (twnksmb Deut 8:15) that Ibn Barùn compares with Arabic. In fact this entry did not survive in Muwàzana. What Ibn Barùn really compares is twnksm (Exod 1:11) in a different meaning (‘living, dwelling’) from a different root, ˆks.
chapter sixteen
452 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
+D =
F
Q
S
(=) =
(=) +T
(bwùd+) ysamt/( Josh 7:5) sM'yIw" 1125 ˆyrysm/μynwtn (Num 31:5) rsml* 1126 (Num 3:9)
=
rsmml/tt/(Num 31:5) Wrs]M;YIw*" 85
=
(Num 2:31)
tsm/ydE/(Deut 16:10) tS'm*i 1227
+D
=
= (=) (=)
= =
(+)
D+ L
(=) (=) = =
(=) A,B,Y AbS
=
T
(ibid. 15:8) = = K K (=) = = +K
(=) = = =
(+H)
= =
D
=
D
= (=)
(=) =
= (=) = =
= = = K
D
(=)
= (=) (=)
= = = =
(+) T T
(+) (+)
= =
(=) +T
(=)
=
(=) L
= =
+D D
+ (+) =
L
=
= = =
=
= = =
L +D
=
D
(=) +
= ≠
= =
=
85 86
T T
(=)
Cf. Ben Hayyim, 1958, p. 244. For dxm cf. dwx.
=
(=)
a[m(a)/( Jer 4:19) y[m (+) ˚w[mm/(Lev 22:24) ˚w[mw daxm/(1Chron 11:7) dxm] daxm/(2Sam 23:14) hdwxm] 86 w^xmy/(Ps 75:9) wxm]yI hyxmt ,axmty/(Lev 5::9) hx,M;yI
1228 1229 1230
^≈m/(Isa 66:11) Wx Omt; (dwdj+) raxma/(Lam 1:3) μyrxmh (ògrwn+:G) ,ùgrwm/(Isa 41:15) grwm ygyrwmb/≈wrjb (Isa ibid.) grwm (Isa 28:27) drm/(Ezek 17:15) drmyw wùkrmy/(Isa 38:21) wjrmyw jwra/(Lev 21:20) jwrm] far^ma ,frm/(Lev 14:40) frmy twrm/(2Kings 14:26) hr, Om* (cf. Targ. Ezek 16:9) qrm/( Judg 6:20)/qr;M;h' rm/(Isa 38:17) rm (˚^rjt+) rmrmt/(Dan 8:7) rmrmtyw h^rm ,rarm/( Job 16:13) ytrrem] μara/( Jer 31:20) μyrwrmt jsm/(Num 35:25) jçm lùtm/(1Kings 5:2) lçm tw[y[ç/tqlj/(Ezek 16:4) y[çml* (Gen 27:16) (πù^fn+) [çm/(Ezek ibid.) y[çml ^sm/(Gen 27:12) ynçm¨y“ tjt/(Gen 44:2) tjtma jtm/(Isa 40:22) μjtmyw* (cf. Targ. Lam 2:4) (^dm+) jtm/(ibid.) μjtmyw ytm/(Gen 30:30) ytm ˆtm/(Deut 33:11) μyntm
1232 1233 1234 1235
1231
1236 1237 1238 1239 1240 1241 1242 1243 1244 1245 1246 1247 1248 1249 1250 1251 1252 1253 1254 1255
n y^ n/(Exod 12:9) an 1256 yhn ,hwhn ,hahn/(Exod ibid.) an 1257 amy^yn ,μan/(Num 24:3) μan 1258
the chart of comparisons
453
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
B
S (=)
= = = =
L
= =
= =
= = = =
K = =
+M
K =
H,L
(=) (=)
=
≠ (=) +
K(=) = (=) =
=
(=) T
+T T T T
= +
=
=
=
=
(=) (=) (=)
+B = K
= ?= = (=)
= = FT
+
T
=
= M
K
=
K = +K
=
(+) (+)
= = =
(=) (=)
= = = = = = =
(+) = 1+M
=
2=
K = (=) = = 1=
= (=) =
87 88
= (=)
(+) T (+)
hqan/(Shab 5:1) hq;n: x (haybn:K) aybn/(Gen 20:7) aybn* (Ezra 5:1) ybn/(Gen ibid.) aybn jbn/(Isa 56:10) jbnl jbn/(Isa ibid.) jbnl* (Aram. e.g. Exod 11:7) lbant ,lbn/(Ps 14:1) lb;n: hlybn/(Deut 21:23) hlben [ban/(Prov 18:4) [bwn (ˆy[+) [wbny/(Isa 49:10) y[wbm wbwgn/wbrj/(Exod 27:9) bgn* (Gen 8:13) bwnùg/(Exod ibid.) bgn wdwgn/wkçm/(2Sam 6:21) dygn* (Exod 12:21) (abrq) yjygm/(Exod 21:28) jG"y*I (e.g. Targ. Exod 17:8) algm/çmrj/( Joel 4:13) lgm* (Deut 16:9) lùgnm/( Joel ibid.) lgm tamgn/(Ps 4:1) twnygnb ^rùg/( Jer 18:21) μrEGIh'w“ yrùg/(2Sam 14:4) μyrg:nIh raù^gn/(Tos. BK 10:8) rG:nx" (Dan 6:19) tdn/(Gen 31:40) dD"Tiw*" atynwdn/(Ezek 16:33) hd
Blau (1965, p. 166) notes that this word is a Hebraism in Arabic. See previous note.
1259 1260 1261 1262 1263 1264 1265 1266 1267 1268 1269 1270 1271 1272 1273 1274 1275 1276 1277 1278 1279 1280 1281 1282 1283 1284 1285 1286 1287 1288 1289 1290 1291 1292 1293 1294 1295 1296
chapter sixteen
454 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
=
F
Q
=
S (=)
= = =
= D
=
(=)
T
= (=)
+
(+) =
D = = (=) =
= =
T
M M
= B = =
=
(+) (=)
= =
(+) (=) +T
(=) = =
+ +
= = = =
(=) 1=
+
(=) 1=
= (=) = 2=
= K L =
89 90 91 92
= =
(=)
=
=
(=)
=
L
= = = = = = = = = (+)
1=
= (AbS) (=) =
L = (=) =
For For For For
= = = = = = (=) (=)
= =
+T
(=) (=)
(=) (=)
(=)
(+) (+)
(hlwùgla rarp+) dyan/(Gen 4:12) dn:w hh^wna/(Exod 15:2) whw"n“a'w (q^l[+) fwn/(Ps 99:1) fwnt μan/(Ps 121:4) μwny (sby+) ^sn/(Deut 34:7) sn: (barfùxa+) [n[nt/(Isa 24:20) [wnt hpwnt/(Exod 29:24) hpwnt πan/(Isa 30:25) hpnhl (sby+) ^sn/(Eccl 12:5) ≈anyw rwn/(Exod 27:20) rnE 89 hranm/(Exod 25:31) tr Onm] (Ezra 4:15) tqznhmw/(Esth 7:4) qznb* wrwz/wrws/(Lev 15:31) μtrz"hiw* (Gen 19:20) ljn( Josh 14:1) wljn: ljn/(BK 10:2) lyjn x 90 hyrùknm ,hryùkn/( Job 39:20) /rj]n" (bad luck) sjn/(Num 23:23) çj'n" s^jnt/(Num ibid.) çjn (seek knowledge) sajn/(Gen 4:22) tçjn twj/dr:1(Ps 65:11) tjn* (Dan 5:20) tjnh:2/(Exod 19:24) (Dan 7:4) tlyfnw/(Isa 63:9) μlfnyw* (ˆalys ,rfq+) ˆapfn/(Cant 5:5) wpfn (hfrq ,wlwl+) hpfn/(Isa 3:19) twpyfnh /(Dan 7:28) trfn:1 (Cant 1:6) hrfe On* (Gen 26:5) rfnw/rmçyw:2 91 hrwfan/(Cant ibid.) hrfn rnml/çrjlw/( Jer 4:3) wryn* (1Sam 8:12) ryn/(Prov 13:23) ryn ryn/l[/(1Kings 11:36) ryn* (Deut 28:48) (. . . hbçùk+) ryn/(1Kings ibid.) ryn hrwanm/(1Sam 17:7) rwnmk ([ùxawtm+) ykan/(Isa 66:2) hknw (Ezra 7:26) ˆyskn/( Josh 22:8) μysknb* hrkntm/(1Kings 14:6) hrKen"t]mi μhlanm/( Job 15:29) μl;n“mi lyn/(Isa 33:1) ˚;t] Oln“K' hlmn/(Prov 6:6) hlmn rmn/( Jer 5:6) rmen: 92 (Ezra 6:11) jsnty/(Prov 15:25) jsy* l[n/(Exod 3:5) ˚yl[n (+) hm[nm/(Isa 17:10) μynm[n
jzn cf. jjz; for twlzm cf. lzm and for twrzm cf. rzm. rjn cf. rrj. byn cf. bwn. sn cf. swn and for qsn cf. qls.
1297 1298 1299 1300 1301 1302 1303 1304 1305 1306 1307 1308 1309 1310 1311 1312 1313 1314 1315 1316 1317 1318 1319 1320 1321 1322 1323 1324 1325 1326 1327 1328 1329 1330 1331 1332 1333 1334 1335
the chart of comparisons
455
(cont.) N
M
= K = =
B
R
G
=
= = (+)
F
Q
S
=
+ = (=) = = = = = =
+ +FT
(+)
(+) (=) (=) (=) =
(=) (=) + (+) = (+)
T (=) + =
T
= T
(=2) 1= = M
= =
L =
= = = =
(=) = = ?= =
= = ?= (=) (=)
T T T
(=) +
(=)
(=) =
μygn/(Ps 81:3) μy[n ù≈[n/(Isa 55:13) ≈wx[n (jax+) r[n/( Jer 51:38) wr[n: ù˚pn/(Gen 2:7) jpyw fpn/(Shab 2:2) fpnE x ù≈pn/(1Kings 5:23) μytxpnw spn/(Gen 1:20) çpn (jartsa+) s^pnt/(Exod 31:17) çpn:yw baxn/( Judg 3:22) bX;NIh' hbxn/(Gen 19:26 ;jlm) byxn (Dan 6:4) jxntm/(Ezra 3:9) txnl* jùxntsy:2 ;μhjùxn:1/(Isa 63:3) μjxn l^xnt/(Gen 31:9) lXeY"w" (Dan 6:28) lxmw/(Amos 3:12) lyxy* bqny/( Job 40:24) bqny (μsab) bqn/(Num 1:17 ;twmçb) wbqn dqn ,daqn/(2Kings 3:4) dqe On f^qnm/(Gen 30:32) d Oqn: tfnq/( Job; 10:1) hfqn yqn/(Ps 24:4) yqn (lxatsa+) y^qn/( Jer 30:11) hqnw μqtna ,μqn/(Gen 4:24) μqy¨ πqm/bybs/(2Kings 11:8) μtpqhw*
1336 1337 1338 1339 1340 1341 1342 1343 1344 1345 1346 1347 1348 1349 1350 1351 1352 1353 1354 1355 1356 1357 1358
(Lev 25:31) = +L
= (=) = =
= =
apyqnd/hpwr[h/(Isa 29:1) wpqny* 1359 (=) +
(=)
# +K =
= M
= =
(+) =
(=) (=)
=
N K N =
= =
=
(+) (=) =
=
(=) + (=)
= =
=
93
For μyçn cf. çrna.
=
(Deut 21:6) (rsk+) πqn/(Isa ibid.) wpqny (rpj ,[lq+) rqn/(1Sam 11:2) rwqnb (Dan 5:6) ˆçqn/(Bekhorot 7:6) çyqh*x tçqnw/[qttw/(Ps 9:7) çq On* ( Judg 4:21) (Dan 5:6) ˆçqn/(Ps ibid.) çq On dran/(Cant 4:14) drn (Ezra 5:15) aç/(Ps 32:1) ywçn* = yçn/jkç(Ps 55:16) twmyçy T ynasna/(Gen 41:51) ynIç'nO " T ysnla ,ysnala/(Gen 32:33) hçnh açn (Ps 74:3)/twaV¨m (=) (credit) hyysn/(Deut 24:11) hç,t O ' 93 asnm (Ps 88:13)/hyçn lçny/(Deut 7:1) lç'n:w“ ^lsy/(Deut ibid.) lçnw (=) hmsn/(Deut 20:6) hmçn πa^sn/(Lev 11:17) πwçny (TB Ber. 3b) ypçn/( Job 3:19) wpçn* π^wçt/(Isa 21:4) πçn qstna ,qsn/(Ps 85:11) wqçn ^˚fxt/(Ezek 3:13) twqyçm
1360 1361 1362 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 1368 1369 1370 1371 1372 1373 1374 1375 1376 1377 1378 1379
chapter sixteen
456 (cont.) N
M
= B = K K =
B
R
=
+
= = =
G
= +
Q
(=) (=) =
S (=) (=)
=
=
M K =
F
=
= (=) = (=) =
= (=) (=)
s hysaws ,aws/(Isa 27:8) hasasb ˆaç/(Isa 9:4) ˆas ybs/(Deut 21:20) abwsw (ywr+) bas/(Isa 56:12) habsnw (rmùkla yrtça+) abs/(Isa ibid.) habsnw bbs/(1Sam 22:22) yt OBs (b^[çt+) ˚abç/(Gen 22:13) ˚bsb (Ezra 6:3) ˆylbwsmi/(Exod 6:6) t lO bs* /(Dan 3:12) ˆydgs:1/(Isa 44:17) dgsy* (Gen 23:7) wdygsw/wwjtçyw:2 dùgs/(Isa ibid.) dgsy (Dan 3:2) ayngs/(Isa 41:25) μyngs* (Dan 6:23) rgsw/( Josh 6:1) trgs* rwùgas/(Ezek 19:9) rgwsb dyç/( Job 13:27) rsb ˆyrds/twkr[m/( Job 10:22) μyrds*
= =
#L +D
= =
= =
= = = = =
= = = +M
= = = =
D = +M +M,F H =
(=) 2=
(=) (=) = =
=
= = + (=) = +
+
=
=
= = = =
= (=)
=
= =
rsn/(Deut 14:12) rçnh rùttna/(Eduyot 5:6) rç'nx: raçnm/(1Sam 10:15) rwçmh (ibid. 18) anwtçn/(Ezra 4:7) ˆwtçnh* ù˚tn/(Lev 1:12) jtnw (bùdùg+) qtn/(Lev 22:24) qwtnw (Dan 4:11) wrT'a/ ' ( Job 37:1) rtyw* wrùttna/( Job ibid.) rtyw r^twt/(Lev 11:21) rtnl (ˆw)rfn/( Jer 2:22) rt,n< çtn/(Deut 29:27) μçtyw
=
=
1380 1381 1382 1383 1384 1385 1386 1387 1388 1389 1390 1391 1392 1393 1394 1395 1396 1397 1398 1399 1400 1401 1402 1403 1404 1405
(Lev 24:6) K
M
arhs/jryhw/(Cant 7:3) rhsh* 1406 (Gen 37:9)
= K
(=)
= = = = =
M L +L
=
=
= =
= = +
=
+
=
=
rwhasla/(Cant ibid.) rhsh T (^ds+) hùg^ysm/(Cant 7:3) hgws T (lym+) gyz/(Ps 44:19) gwsn daws/(Prov 11:13) d/s (=) hkaç/(Makhsh 1:3) hk;/s x πaws ,πasa/( Jer 8:13) μpysa rys ,rysa/(Exod 3:3) hrwsa yrs/(Gen 38:14) rstw (=) hwsk/(Gen 49:11) h Otws (^rùg+) bjs/(2Sam 17:13) wnbjsw (Ezra 6:11) jsnty/(Ezek 26:4) ytyjsw* (drùg ,rçq+) wjs/(Ezek ibid.) ytyjsw (drùg ,yb bhùd+) πjs/(Prov 28:3) πjs rwjs/bybs/(Ps 91:4) hrje Osw*
1407 1408 1409 1410 1411 1412 1413 1414 1415 1416 1417 1418 1419 1420
(Ezek 8:10) K
rwjs/bybs/(Ps 38:11) rjrjs* 1421 (Ezek ibid.)
B
(=) = =
πys/(Shab. 6:4) πys x 1422 (TB BB 166b) ˚sym/(Ps 42:8) ˚sb* 1423 ˆwks/( Job 34:9) ˆksy 1424
the chart of comparisons
457
(cont.) N
M
K D =
B
R
= = + +
G
F
= =
=
=
=
=
1M
D
+
1=
2=
(=) (=)
?D ?D M+ D
K(=)
(=)
= =
= = (=)
+
AZ = (=) AbS = = (=) = = =
= = =
M,D L,≠
1440 1441 1442 1443 1444 1445 1446
hnyps/( Jon 1:5) hnyps qpx/(Num 24:10) qpsyw qps/(Num ibid.) qpsyw (Ezra 4:15) rp's/ ] (Neh 8:1) rpse* rps/(Deut 31:26) rpse rps (Ezra 7:12)/(Gen 15:5) r OpsW* (yxaj+) swrypas/(Exod 28:18) ryps ˆybrsm/μyrmm/(Ezek 2:6) μybr;s*;
1451 1452 1453 1454 1455 1456
(+) (=)
= + =
= = = = +K
+
=
= K K =
([pr+) ˚ms/(Cant 2:5) ynwkms rymasm/(1Chron 22:3) μyrmsml yns/(Exod 3:2) hnsh ˆsans/(Cant 7:9) wynysnsb (=) sws ,sas/(Isa 51:8) ss; (=) ˚d[sy/(Ps 20:3) ˚d[sy ˆaxga+) hp[s/(Isa 27:10) hypy[s (hlùkn (TB Pes 3b) wps/( Judg 19:19) awpsm* T (wùxrqna+) wpasna/(Ps 73:19) wps ˆajyps/(Ezek 13:21) μkytwjpsm lps/( Judg 6:38) lpsh
(=)
X, AbS
L
1436 1437 1438
(=) T
(=) XZ (=) AbS 1=
= + = = =
(. . . japx+) [alx/(Num 20:10) [lsh (lbg yp ^qç+) [ls/(Ps 104:18) μy[ls (Dan 6:24) hqsghl:1/(Ps 139:8)/qS'a*, (Gen 44:34) qsa/hl[a:2/ T rdnms/(Cant 2:15) rdms
=
= =
D
1425 1426 1427 1428 1429 1430
=
=
= = = K = = =
ˆkasm/(Exod 1:11) t/nksmi (tml[+) tnkz/(Ps 139:3) tnksh ˆùks/(Eccl 10:9) ˆkS;yI (+dads) rks/(Ps 63:12) rksy (alm+) rùgs/(Ps ibid.) rksy yktsa/hpyqçh/(Deut 27:9) tksh* (ibid. 26:15) (gxa+) tksa/(Deut ibid.) tksh als/(Ezek 28:24) ˆwlsi lals ,h^ls/(Gen 40:17) lsbw h^lsm/(Ezek 21:27) hll Os μ^ls/(Gen 28:12) μls¨
X(=)
X
= =
S
= = =
=
Q
+
=
T T T
94
1431 1432 1433 1434 1435
1439
1447 1448 1449 1450
1457 1458
(Deut 9:7) =
ynjrws/yafj/( Jer 49:7) hjrsn* 1459 (Gen 41:9)
94 Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr has a variant reading. The Dérenbourg’s ed. reads qpx while the Tàj reads qps.
chapter sixteen
458 (cont.) N
M
B
R
L = = =
G
F
Q
S
= =
D
=
=
+
= = =
+ =
(=) =
+
=
(=)
(+) +
+F
(=) =
+ + =
T +T
(=)
T T
= = +K
D+, +F L
+
+
(+)
=
+T
=
ˆyrsn/(1Kings 7:30) ynrs* syrs/(Isa 56:3) syrs (awtç+ :ˆwrb) atç/(Cant 2:11) wt;sh awts/πrj/(Cant ibid.) wtsh*
1460 1461 1462 1463
(Gen 8:22) (hnayx+) rts (Ps 17:8) ynrytst 1464
[ db[/(Gen 9:25) db[ 1465 hdab[/(Exod 10:8 ,ùh ta) wdb[ 1466 wdb[/wç[yw/(Eccl 9:1) μhydb[w* 1467 (Exod 12:28) (ˆwmjdzy+) ˆwfbùky/( Joel 2:7) ˆwfb[y 1468 rb[/(Gen 33:3) rb[ 1469
arb[w/jyrbhw/(1Kings 6:21) rb[yw* 1470 (Exod 26:28)
= =
T
+
+
K =
L
= K
+F
=
+F
K
M,D
= =
= = + =
= = =
(=) (=) = =
(=) (=)
= = = =
M = = = K
+ +
+ +
= = =
= =
= =
= = = = = = =
=
(=) (=)
=
(=) K
= =
=
hrb[/(Ps 78:49) hrb[, 1471 (rmùkla) htrmg/( Jer 23:9 ;ˆyy) /rb;[} 1472 arwb[i/lk Oa/( Josh 5:11) rWb[}m*e 1473
(Gen 41:35) (lagbla) tsb[/( Joel 1:17) Wçb][; (sby+) sb[/( Joel ibid.) wçb[ (b[l+) tb[/(Mi 7:3) hwtb[yw T lùg[/(Lev 9:2) lg[e +T hlùg[/(1Sam 6:7) hl;g:[} t^mtga( Job 30:25) hmg[; (al) d[/μrf/(Prov 8:26) (al) d[* (Gen 2:5) had[/llç/(Gen 49:27) d[* (Deut 20:14) (Dan 4:14) d[/(Num 21:30) d[* ( l[=) T dùx[y/(Ps 146:9) ddw[y ayd[/tjps/(Isa 64:5) μyDI[*i (Lev 13:2) (Dan 4:28) td[/(Isa ibid.) μyd[* = hd[/rs/( Job 28:8) hd[* = (Dan 2:21) ad[hm/(Prov 25:20) hd[m* ad[/( Job ibid.) hd[ (speed) aùdg/(Ezek 16, 7) μyd[ yd[b (raùxja+) wd[/(Ps 32:9) wyd[, ˆwrd[y/(Isa 7:25) ˆwrd[y T sd[/(Gen 25:34) μyçd[ (bajs+) bwb[y/(Exod 19:9) b[b hùg[/(1Kings 19:6) tgw[ ˆùg[/(Ezek 4:12) hngw[t (hynùtt+) dw[/(Gen 8:21) dw[ wt[ ,at[/(Esth 1:16) htw[ lwk ,(rwùg ,lym+)/(Lev 19:15) lw<[; (?lyay[) lylay[/(Gen 33:13) twl[; (rar+) yngm/( Jer 9:10) ˆw[m (lznm+) ˆa[m/( Jer ibid.) ˆw[m
1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 1480 1481 1482 1483 1484 1485 1486 1487 1488 1489 1490 1491 1492 1493 1494 1495 1496 1497 1498 1499 1500
the chart of comparisons
459
(cont.) N
M
B
H
=
R
G
F
Q
S
=
ˆm hlps+) agwg/(Isa 19:14) μy[w“[i 1501 95 (sanla πy[t/tlpkw/(Zech 5:1) hp[* 1502
=
πa[ ,πw[/(Gen 1:21) πw[ 1503 aq[/hrx/(Ps 55:90) tq[* 1504
(Exod 26:9) = =
=
(1Sam 26:24) = L = L = =
= = =
= = D,(L) = +D + ≠M,D =
= = +
= = +
=
=
(+)
= + = =
qy[t/(Ps ibid.) tq[ r[n/(Zech 2:17) rw[n +T rw[ ,rw[a/(2Kings 25:7) rw[ (. . . [bta+) tg/(Isa 50:4) tw[l T (hblx ù≈ra+zaz[/(Lev 16:8) lzaz[ bz[/(Gen 24:24) bz[ +T z[/( Judg 6:2) z[tw zn[/(Deut 14:12) hynz[ T hqz[/(Isa 5:2) whqz[yw rz[/(2Sam 21:17) rwz[yw (Dan 2:14) af[/(Ezek 21:20) hfw[m* ˆaf[a ,ˆfa[m/( Job 21:24) wynyf[ π^f[t ,πaf[/(Isa 3:22) twpf[mh πf[nm/(Gen 30:42) πyf[hbw (+) πf[tsa/(Ps 102:1) πf[y (lym+) πf[/(Isa 57:16) πf[y wrf[/wrs/(1Sam 23:26) μyrf] O[*
(=)
=
(=) (=) (=) (=) (=) +
=
(=)
=
=
T
= = (=)
(=) =
T T
(=)
=
T
1505 1506 1507 1508 1509 1510 1511 1512 1513 1514 1515 1516 1517 1518 1519 1520 1521
(1Kings 22:44) =
≠M,D
= = =
FT,L
=
= + =
= = =
=
=
(=) (=) (=)
(G)
T T
(=)
T
(=) (=)
T
= = =
F =
= (+) =
= =
= =
K
D = =
95
saf[/( Job 41:10) wytçyf[ (Dan 2:14) af[/(Isa 46:11) fy[* μyg/(Isa 11:15) μy[b ˆy[/(Exod 21:24) ˆy[ ˆy[m ˆy[/(Gen 16:7) (μymh) ˆy[ (Cant 4:15) ˆy[ ,ˆy[m/ ry[/( Job 11:12) ryI['w (tw)bkn[l/(Isa 59:5)/çybk[ ska[ ,sak[/(Prov 7:22) sk[kw (. . . hd[r+) zl[/( Jer 51:39) wzwl[y yl[/(Lev 1:8) l[' (e.g. Dan 3:15) l[/(cf. Lev ibid.) l[* (hùgw) yl[/(Num 3:4 ;ynp) l[ (in the lifetime of ) ([aptra+) wl[/(Deut 28:1) ˆwyl[ hyl[/(2Kings 4:10 ;ryq) tyl[ wl[la ˆm/(Prov 27:22) yl[‘b lg/(Deut 28:48) l [O (Dan 5:10) tll[/(Ps 12:7) lyl[b* /(Dan 6:5) l[/( Job 16:15) ytllw[w* (Exod 12:25) ˆwl[yt/wabt ([aptra+) tyl[/(ibid.) ytllw[w (eradicate) talal[/(Isa 17:6) twllw[
R. Hai Ga"on’s comparison is adduced by Ibn Barùn.
1522 1523 1524 1525 1526 1527 1528 1529 1530 1531 1532 1533 1534 1535 1536 1537 1538 1539 1540
chapter sixteen
460 (cont.) N
M
(=)
M FT
B
R
G
F
Q
=
D G F
(=)
(=) +D (+F)
= (=) (=) (=) = = = (=)
(=) (=) (=)
=
=
D =
= (=)
=
(=) (=) (=)
=
= =
= = +K
+
(=) =
L = = = = = ≠
?= = =
M
= (F)
= XZ+ =
M
= =
= = = =
L (?=) = +FT
= =
(?=)
=
(=) (=)
= =
(?=) (?=)
=
= = = = = = (=) K (=) +
L D
(Dan 6:5) hl[i/(Deut 22:14) twlyl[* ll[/(Deut ibid.) twlyl[ ,whl+) l^l[t/( Judg 19:25) wll[tyw (jakn (Dan 7:18) aml[/(Ps 90:2) μlw[* +T (+) μla[/(Ps ibid.) μlw[ μalg/(1Sam 17:56) μl,[, (eat, drink) sl[/( Job 20:18) sl[y (hyfgt+) πylgt/(Gen 38:14) πl[ttw hql[m ,hql[/(Prov 30:15) hqwl[l (Dan 3:4) aymm[/(Neh 9:22) μymm[* (y^fg+) ˚w^mgy/(Ezek 28:3) ˚wmm[ (Lev 13:6) am[/hhk/(Lam 4:1) μ[wy* (lpstm+) qymg/(Lev 13:25) q mO [; +T hqwm[/(Ezek 23:32) hqm[h T rmg/(Lev 23:15) rm,[ T bn[/(Deut 32:14) bn[e hn[/(Hab 2:11) hnn[y* +T zn[/(Lev 3:12) z[ hyan[ ,yn[m/(Eccl 1:13) ˆyn[ hyn[m/(Ps 129:3) tyn[m (d[q+) yn[a/(Hos 2:23) hn[t (tbn+) yn[/(Hos ibid.) hn[t ^yng/(Exod 15:21) ˆ[tw (Dan 4:24) ˆyn:[/(Exod 22:22) hn[t]* T hnan[/( Job 37:15) wnn[ T μamg/(Gen 9:14) ˆn[ (Dan 4:9) yhwpn[bw/(Lev 23:40) πn[* tn[a/(Prov 17:26) çwn[ (Dan 4:9) hyp[/(Ps 104:12) μyap[* T rpg/(Cant 2:9) rp, O[l] rp[t/(2Sam 16:13) rp[w (Dan 6:21) byx[/(Gen 3:17) ˆwbx[b* hbw[x/(Gen 3:16) bx[b bùx[ (bx[)/( Job 10:8) ynwbx[ T ≈[x[/(Lev 3:9) hx,[,h, T (ù≈ag :Saadiah) ^ù≈g/(Prov 16:30) hxw[ T μùf[/(Gen 2:23) μx[ T μùf[/(Gen 26:16) tmx[ (hmaùf[ rsk+) hmù^f[/( Jer 50:17) /mx][i T μkmwxùk/(Isa 41:21) μkytwmx[ ù≈mg/(Isa 33:15) μx, O[w T ù^≈g/(Isa ibid.) μx, O[w T (. . b[x+) hbq[/(Isa 40:4) b Oq[h T ynb^q[t ,hbwq[/(Gen 27:36) ynbq[yw T bq[/(Gen 25:26) bq[b hbqa[m/(Ps 41:10) bq[ (ùπwsù=) bq[/( Josh 8:13) /bq[ dq[/(Gen 22:9) d Oq[yw dq[/(2Kings 10:12) dq[ (swytla ˆm) dq[a/(Gen 30:40) dwq[ hwq[/(Deut 22:8) hq[m (. . ùgw[a+) lwqa[/(Hab 1:4) lq[m T
= = = = K K = = = + K = = = = = (=)
S
=
(=)
+
(=) =
(=) K(=) +
=
= K(=)
= = =
1541 1542 1543 1544 1545 1546 1547 1548 1549 1550 1551 1552 1553 1554 1555 1556 1557 1558 1559 1560 1561 1562 1563 1564 1565 1566 1567 1568 1569 1570 1571 1572 1573 1574 1575 1576 1577 1578 1579 1580 1581 1582 1583 1584 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592
the chart of comparisons
461
(cont.) N
M
B
K
D
=
R
G
F
(=)
(=)
Q
T
=
=
rqa[/(Deut 7:14) hrq[ bqr[/(Gen 49:6) WrQ][ rq[/( Josh 11:6) rq[t (Dan 7:8) wrq[ta/(Zeph 2:4) rq[t* (Dan 4:12) rQ'[/ i (Lev 25:47) rq,[el* rq[/(Lev ibid.) rq[l T brq[/(Deut 8:15) brq[w çq[tm/(Deut 32:5) çQe[i (Dan 4:16) ˚yr;[l/(1Sam 28:16) ˚;r,[*,; br[/(Ezek 27:21) br'[} ˆybr[tm/(Ps 106:35) wbr[tyw*
(=) (=)
(=) (=)
+T T
= = = =
= M = =
=
+
= (=) =
K K =
M
=
= =
+F,+D (F)
+ =
=
F,+D
=
+
(=)
M,F
S 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600 1601 1602 1603
(Dan 2:43)
=
(=) =
= =
= =
M1
=
= = =
=
(+)
+K
=
(=) =
= = =
=
(F)
=
= = = = =
= (=) =
=
=
= = = =
= +M,+D
=
= = (=)
bwrg/(Ps 55:18) br[, brg (Lev 23:40 ;ljn) yber]['w 96 (πaxpx+) T barg/(Lev 11:15) bre O[ hprg/(Ps 68:5) twbr[b (ˆsjla yp) byrg/(Cant 2:14) bre[; ˆwbr[ ,ˆabr[/(Gen 38:17) ˆwbr[ aydr[:1/( Job 39:5) dwr[* (cf. Jer 2:24) dr[/arp:2/(Dan 5:21) T ar[/(Lev 20:18) hr[h T hrw[/(Gen 9:23) hwr[ hwr[/(Gen ibid.) hwr[ (Ezra 4:14) twr[w/(Gen ibid.) hwr[* hkr[m/(1Sam 17:20) hkr[m lrga/(Gen 17:14) lr[w +T ˆayr[/(Ezek 16:6) μwr[ T tmr[t/(Exod 15:8) wmr[n lùkn+) rm[/(Ezek 31:8) μynwmr[w (rksla amr[/(Gen 30:37) ˆwmr[w ahpar[a/(Isa 5:30) hypyr[b πa[r/(Deut 32:2) πwr[y πr[/( Josh 7:12) πr, O[ qr[w/snyw/( Job 30:3) μyqr[h*
1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624
(Exod 4:4) D
=
(=)
=
≠L
= =
=
K =
(F)
=
D
=
T
T =
=
qwr[/( Job 30:17) yq'r] O[w ayar[/(Lev 20:20) μyryr[ r[r[/( Jer 17:6) r[r[k ra[t/(Ps 102:18) r[r[h hragm/(Gen 23:9) tr[m asr[/hfm/(Deut 3:11) çr[*
1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630
(2Kings 4:10) =
= =
= =
D
96
= +
=
Dérenbourg reads here br[.
çr[/(Deut ibid.) çr[ /(Dan 4:12) abç[/(Deut 11:15) bç[* T bç[/(Deut ibid.) bç[ ˆaùt[/(2Sam 22:9) ˆç[
1631 1632 1633 1634
chapter sixteen
462 (cont.) N
M
B
=
(F)
+
R
G
F
Q
S
(+) (=) (=)
(=)
+
T T T
=
= = =
= =
= (=) (=) (=)
= =
=
M1
=
1= =
= K =
#L
1=
(=)
= = =
= (=)
= (=) (=) =
= =
(=) =
rç[/(Num 15:4) ˆwrç[ arwç[/(Gen 24:55) r/ç[ taùd :yraç[/(Ps 92:4) rwç[/hrç[ ratwa hrç[ (ibid.) artw[/(1Sam 17:25) rç O[* (tp[ùx+) tç[/(Ps 6:8) hçç[ T ùtù[/(Ps ibid.) hçç[ (hmlùf+) aç[/(Ps ibid.) hçç[ (rahnla) h^yç[/( Job 4:19) ç[ T ù^t[/(Isa 51:8) ç[ T ç[n tanb/( Job 9:9) ç[ /(Dan 6:4) tyç[:1/( Jon 1:6) tç[ty* ( Jer 11:19) ˆynwtç[/twbçjm:2 (d[a+) dt[a/(Prov 24:23) hdt[w ^d[a/( Job 15:28) dt[th +T ˆadt[/(Gen 31:10) μydt¨[h (μlùfa+) μt[na/(Isa 9:18) μt[n hqyt[/(1Chron 4:22) μyqyt[ (+) hrt[/(Ezek 8:11) rt[w (rabg) ryùt[/(Ezek ibid.) rt[w
1635
1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650
p = = =
≠TM, D,L
= =
= =
= (=)
=
(=) =
+
= +
(=)
+
=
K
= = +
=
(+) 1= = = (=)
= (=) K = =
= = =
= =
(=) (=) (=)
M =
=
97 98
Ibn Janà˙ translates ù˚pny. For hnwpa cf. ˆpa.
=
(^qç ,[fq+) yap/(Deut 32:26) μhyapa ù^gp/(Cant 2:13) hygp argp/srh/(1Sam 30:10) wrgp* (Exod 23:22) T ydp/(Ps 111:9) twdp andp/hdç/(Gen 25:20) ˆdpm* (Hos 10:10) andpa/(Dan 11:45) wndpa* (TB Ber 56a) (rxq+) ˆdp/(Dan ibid.) wndpa hrdp/(Lev 1:8) rdph 1T μp:2 ,ap:1/(Isa 9:11) hp gp/taxb/(Gen 45:26) gpyw* (1Sam 25:37) (content) awjpty/(Prov 14:5) jypy ù˚pny/(Cant 2:17) jwpy:ç, jyp/(Cant ibid.) jwpyç (drf+) ù˚pn/(Prov 29:8) wjypy 97 T jyp/(Exod 9:10) jyp 98 lwp/(2Sam 17:28) lwpw T ù≈yp/(Prov 5:16) wxwpy T qpaw ,qypwt/(Prov 8:35) qpyw (Dan 7:10) qpnw/(Prov ibid.) qpyw* arwp trap/(Isa 24:19) hrrwpth (ˆaylg+)
1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670
the chart of comparisons
463
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
= = (=) = (=) = =
D
(=) =
M
= =
=
(=) =
M (?=)
= = K +
+D +D
=
(+)
= =
= = +D ≠D,M +L,D M
(=)
= (=)
=
= = = = = =
= =
=
+ = =
(=) (+) =
= = +D
= = =
M
=
D
+ = = =
=
(2=) 1= (=2)
= (=) =
= =
K = = =
= = +F +D
K = = =
D L D
+ = =
D
=
+
=
(=) (+) (=)
(=) (=)
+
(+)
=
(=) (=) =
= =
(=)
=
(+)
(=) (=)
= =
S (rçtna ,rhùf+) açp/(Mal 3:20) μtçpw wçwp/WrP]/(Mal ibid.) μtçpw* (Gen 1:22) rùdb/(Ps 53:6) rzp (q^qçt+) trzpt/(Ps 141:7) wrzpn ˆydjp/˚ça/( Job 40:17) wydjp* (Lev 21:20) T ùdùkp/( Job ibid.) wydjp (Dan 3:2) atwjpw/(Esth 8:9) twjphw* ˆyzpjnm/( Judg 9:4) μyzjpw +T ù^˚p/(Hos 9:8) jp T μjp/(Isa 54:16) μjp (Dan 3:2) atwjp/(Neh 5:14) μjp* ˆtjp/twrwr[qç/(2Sam 17:9) μytij;p]h* (Lev 14:37) rafpna/(Exod 13:2) rfp wrfpta/wjlç/(1Chron 9:33) μyrwfp* (Gen 44:3) syfp/( Jer 23:29) çyfpkw (Dan 6:23) μp/( Job 15:27) hmyp* (. . . rhn+) ùglp/(Ps 65:10) glp ˆwhtglpb/( Judg 5:15) twglpb* (Ezra 6:18) (tmsqna+) tùglpna/(Gen 10:25) hglpn ˆwhtglpb/(Gen ibid.) hglpn* (Gen 14:15)/glptaw/qljy/(Ezra 6:18) jylpt:2 ,hjalp:1/(2Kings 4:39) jlpyw 2T tlp(a):2 ,flpa:1/(Ps 17:13) hflp' ( Jon 2:11) flpw/aqyw/(Ps 56:8) flp* yklpbw/twpnbw/(Neh 3:9) ˚lp* ( Josh 11:2) ˆalp/(1Sam 21:3) yn lO p (πlt+) ynp/(Ps 90:9) wnp yqwnpt/ynd[m/(Prov 29:21) qnpm* (Gen 49:20) qnp/(Prov ibid.) qnpm (disdainful) lsp/( Judg 17:3) lsp /(Dan 5:5) sp/(Gen 37:3) μysp* (2Kings 9:35) tspw/twpkw T a[pa/(Isa 30:6) h[pa T ([nx+) l[p/(Ps 44:4) tl[p T (tjtp+) (t)rgp/(Isa 5:14) hr[pw ù≈p/( Job 35:16) hxpy (ˆl[a+) jxpa/(Isa 54:1) yjxp (. . rsk+) ù˚ùxp/(Mic 3:3) wjxp lxp/(Gen 30:37) lxpyw = μyxpw/[rqw/(Ps 60:4) htmxp* ( Jer 22:14) μyxpa:2 ,μxp:1/(Ps ibid.) htmxp (trskt+) tùxpna/(Hab 3:6) wxxwptyw (ynrsk+) ynùxp/( Job 16:12) ynxpxpyw T ynùxpn/( Job ibid.) ynxpxpyw +T daqtpa/(Exod 3:16) ytdqp
1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712
chapter sixteen
464 (cont.) N = = = + + = = = =
M
B
R
G
F
(=) =
+
Q
S
D = = = (=) (=) =
(=)
=
T T
=
+
=
=
(=) ?=
(=)
T
(1=) = (=) (=)
2T
1= = =
(=) =
K = = (=) = = (=) = = = =
= = M = = D +
(=) (=) (=) (=) (=) =
+
T + = = T =
+T
=
T
=
=
1+M
= (=) =
G(=) = 1= 1=
=
(=) (?=) =
+
G =
(+)
(+)
= = =
(+)
K =
M
K =
=
T
+M +D,1M
=
=
=
T
= =
T
L (=) = (=) (=) K = =
(=) FT D
= = = = =
(=) (=)
=
(ˆaxqn+) dqp/(2Sam 2:30) Wdq]P;yIw" (Lev 24:2) dyqp/wx/(Ezra 1:2) dqp jqp/(2Kings 6:17) jqp (rfp+) [qp/(2Kings 4:39) tw[wqp y[qwp/(2Kings ibid.) tw[wqp* arp/(Gen 16:12) arp (lz[na+) drpna/(Prov 18:1) drpn swdrp/(Cant 4:13) sdrp /twçrgm/(2Kings 23:11) μyrwrpb* (Ezek 27:28) ayrwrp jrpd/πnk/(Ezek 13:20) twjrpl* (Gen 7:14) ù˚arp/(Deut 22:6) μyjrpa [yrpt/(Ezek 17:24) ytjrph fwrpm:2 ,frpt:1/(Lev 19:10) frpw /(Dan 5:28) tsyrp/(Isa 58:7) srp* [rp/(Num 6:5) prp ùtwgrb/(1Sam 24:15) ç[rp ([fq+) ù≈rp/(Ps 60:3) wntxrp (ynùxpn+) ynrprp/( Job 16:12) ynrprpyw qrpw/[çwyw/(Ps 136:24) wnqrpyw* (Exod 14:30) qrpm/(Obad 1:14) qrph qrpy/(Zech 11:16) qrpy ùtrp/(Lev 4:11) /çrpiw ùtrp/( Judg 3:22) hndçrph srap/(Nah 3:3) çrp (Ezra 4:18) çrpm/(Num 9:34) çr Op* (rçtna ,rhùf+) wçpy/(Lev 13:35) hçpy jçpw/πsçyw/(Lam 3:11) ynjçpyw* (1Sam 15:33) ynùksp/(Lam ibid.) ynjçpyw qçab/(Prov 13:3) qçp (Dan 5:12) rçpm:1/(Eccl 8:1) rçp* (Gen 41:13) rçp/rtp:2 ryspt/(Eccl ibid.) rçp çytpt/( Job 35:15) çpb μgtp/rbd/(Eccl 8:11) μgtp* (Gen 18:14) (Ezr 4:17) amgtp/(Eccl ibid.) μgtp* (Dan 3:1) hytp:1/(Gen 9:27) tpy"* (Exod 26:16) aytwp/bj Or:2/ jtpa/(Prov 31:8) jtp] (˚pys) jtpa/(Ezek 21:33) hjwtp (brj) jatpm/( Judg 3:25) jtpmh lwtpm/(Exod 28:37) lytp ltpnm/(Deut 32:5) ltltpw latpna/(Gen 30:8) ylwtpn (Ezra 4:11) ˆgçrp/(Esth 3:14) ˆgçtp* ( Josh 8:32) ˆgçrp/hnçm ([fq ,rsk+) ^tp/(Prov 24:28) tytphw ^tp/(Lev 2:6) twtp
1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751
the chart of comparisons
465
(cont.) N
M
= =
B
R
G
F
Q
= = +
D L
S
= =
= = = = = = = = = K =
(=) + M =
(F),D
(=) = (=) = =
D +M
=
D D +D
T T
(=) = (=) + =
T
=
=
+M
K = = = = = = = = = 2=
= =
= +
=
= =
+
= +
(=) (=) (+) (+) (+) (=)
(?+) = +
=
= =
(=) (+) (=) (+)
= = = = = =
(?=) (=) (=) ?=
= +
+T T +T T T T T T+ T
?= = = = = =
+ =
(=) (=)
+ = =
T T
=
K K
+ L
= = (=)
K
= =
=
(?+)
99
For axax cf. axy.
(?=)
=
+T
x laùx/( Job 40:21) μylax 99 ˆaùx/( Jer 50:6) ˆax (Dan 4:29) abxy/(Dan 10:1) abxw* ˆybxtnm/(Isa 29:7) h;yb, Ox bùx/(Lev 11:29) bxhw ybùf/(Deut 14:5) ybx aybf/(Deut ibid.) ybx* (Dan 5:19) abx/(Ezek 7:20) ybxw* [bxa/(Lev 14:27) w[bxab (Dan 5:5) ˆ[bxaw/(Lev ibid.) w[bxab* tag^bxm/( Judg 5:30) μy[bx (ˆynw[bx)/( Judg ibid.) μy[bx* gabùx/(1Sam 13:18) μy[bxh (sdk ;[mùg+) rbx/(Exod 8:10) wrbxyw ahtbx/hyjqlm/(Ruth 2:16) μytbxh* (Num 4:9) (Dan 7:25) dxl/(Deut 31:26) dX'm*i dyxt/(Num 35:22) hydIx] aydx/hmmç/(Zeph 3:6) wdX]n*I (Exod 23:29) qydx/(Exod 9:27) qydxh qdx/(Ps 19:10) wqd]x; bhxa/(Lev 13:30) b Ohx; (hrm+) lhx/( Jer 5:8) wlhxy hryhùf ,rhùf/(Isa 16:2) μyrhx dx ,rafxa/(Gen 27:3) hdwxw hdyxm/(Ezek 12:13) hdwxm yxwa/(Gen 28:1) whwxyw wjyxy/(Isa 42:11) wjw:xy μyax/(2Sam 12:23) μx :Saadiah:2) ,^πf:1/(Deut 11:4) πyxh (πafa ù≈yp/(Lam 3:54) wpx hraùgj+) ˚tapx/(Ezek 32:6) ˚tp;x; (hmkùx qyùx/(Deut 28:53) qyxy μhtrwxw/(Ps 49:15) μrwxw rywxt/(Ezek 43:11) trwx yjx/ytamx/(Isa 5:13) hjxi* ( Judg 4:19) jaùxjùx/(Ezek 24:8) jyjx jùxajùx/(Isa 58:11) twjxjxb jùxwa/(Lam 4:7) wjx (smç+) jùx/(Isa 18:4) jx wjxjx/wqrm/(Isa 32:4) twjx* ( Jer 46:4) ˚jùx/(Gen 21:6) qwjx
1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790
chapter sixteen
466 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
(=) + = =
L L
K
L
yrajx/(Ezek 27:18) rjx rjxa/(Ezek ibid.) rjx awxa ,h^wx/( Jer 31:20) μynwyx ˆyxyx/rypns/( Jer 48:9) ≈yx*
= = =
=
1791 1792 1793 1794
(Lev 11:9)
ˆyryx/twdy/(Prov 26:14) Hr;yxi* 1795
=
(Exod 26:17) K =
(=)
= =
(+) =
T =
+M
=
(+) =
=
=
= = = =
+ (=) (=) (=)
L = = = =1 =
(=) (=)
= = =
(=) (=) = (L2)D
2= = =
N = =
+
+
+D J
(+) (=)
=
(=) (=) (?=) = = L +L L
K = = = = =
= = = (=) (=) (=)
(=) = =
K =
M M
100
For ˚tpx cf. πwx.
= =
ryx/(Prov ibid.) hryx 1796 ˆyjlxmw/(Gen 39:3) jylxm* 1797
(Ezra 6:14) (jùgn+) jalx/(Num 14:41) jlxt jlxw/[qbyw/(2Sam 19:18) wjlxw* (Gen 22:3) tyjwlx/tnxnx/(2Kings 2:20) tyjwlx* (Exod 16:33) alx/(Exod 12:8) ylx ylxa/(Isa 44:19) hlxa +T ^lùf/( Judg 9:36) lxe (+) tlùfa ,tllùf/(Neh 13:19) wllx (ˆynf+) lylx/( Judg 7:13) lylx T hl^lùfm/(Isa 18:1) lxlx tamlùf/( Job 28:3) twmlxw twm ^lùf/( Job ibid.) twmlxw (Dan 3:19) μlxw/(Ps 39:7) μlxb* μalòf:2 μlx:1/(Ps ibid.) μlxb (Dan ibid.) μlxw/(Num 33:52) ymlx* T μnx/(Num ibid.) ymlx hmalx/(Ps 73:20) μmlx +T [lùx/(Ezek 41:6) [l;xe amùf/( Judg 15:18) amxb hdmùxm/(2Sam 20:8) tdmxm amùf/( Job 5:5) μymx' (hblx ù≈ra+) wamx/( Job ibid.) μymx /(ibid. 3:23) twpynx-(Isa 22:18) ˚pnxy (rwk ,rwd+) πyxn ˚nùx/( Jer 29:26) qnyxh (. . . ˆaxqn+) ygx/( Jer 48:12) whw[xw (q^rp+) gùxgùx/( Jer ibid.) whw[xw (lyam=) gax/(Isa 63:1) h[ Ox T (lqtna+) ˆ[ùf/(Isa 33:20) ˆ[xy 100 T rygx/(Gen 25:23) ry[x πaxpx/(Ezek 17:5) hpxpx (Dan 4:9) yrpx/(Lev 14:4) μyrpx* rypx/ry[ç/(Dan 8:21) rypxhw* (Gen 37:31) πrxny/( Judg 7:3) rpxyw (Gen 1:5) arpx/rqb/(ibid.) rpxyw* arpx/rqb/(Isa 28:5) trypxlw* (Gen 1:5)
1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830
the chart of comparisons
467
(cont.) N
M
= FT = +K = K K
B
R
G
=
= (=) = (=) (=)
L D
= =
F Ha (=)
(=) (=) (=) (=)
=
Q
S
T +T = T = =
+T
= = =
D
= =
= = (=) +
M
= (=) =
+M
+
= (=)
Y= AB (=) = (=) (=) = (=)
= =
= = D + K+
+ =
= K = = = K
+
(=)
+
= +
(+)
=
(+)
(=) (=) (=) (=)
T T
=
(?=) +Z,+FT M +FT,+D M
K (K)
+
L
(=) (+) (=) =
(=) (=)
= (=)
=
=
=
=
=
+M
= =
D
(=) = + +
(=) (=)
hrypùf/(Isa ibid.) trypxlw rapùfa/(Deut 21:12) hynrpx [dpùx/(Ps 78:45) [drpx abrxl/r[bl/(Prov 16:27) tbrx*
1831 1832 1833 1834
(Isa 5:5) (jyx+) ù˚rax/(Zeph 1:14) j're Ox jrx/( Judg 15:49) jyrxh ^rx/(Deut 14:25) T;r]x'w“ hrarx/(Amos 9:9) rwrx h^rùx/(1Sam 1:6) htrx h^rùx/(1Sam 26:24) hrx
1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840
q habq/(Num 25:8) hbq¨h 1841 hbq/(Num ibid.) hbq¨h 1842 hbq/(Deut 18:3) hbqehw 1843
(Dan 7:18) ˆwlbqyw/(Esth 9:23) WlB]qwi * lwbq/(Esth ibid.) wlbqw hlbaqtm/(Exod 26:5) t Olybqm ˚lbql/(2Kings 15:10 :μ[-) lbq* (Dan 2:31) hlabq/(2Kings ibid. ;μ[-) lbq (ùdùka+) lbqt/(Ezra 8:30) wlbqw T rbq/(Deut 34:6) wtrb¨q T (ranla) jadqna ,jdq/(Isa 64:1) jdqk μydq/(Deut 33:27) μdq μ^dqta/(Mic 6:6) μdeqa rdk/( Job 6:16) μyrdqh T s^dq/(Isa 8:13) wçydqt = (ibid. 4:10) çydq/(Dan 8:13) çwdq* (Dan 4:28) lq/(Ps 29:7) lwq* +T lwq/(Deut 21:20) wnlwqb T μtmq/(Num 32:14) μtmq (Dan 6:27) μyqw/(Esth 9:27) wmyq* T ˆymwaqm/(Ps 17:7) μymmwqtmm T hmaq/(Isa 10:33) hmwqh μyaq/(Gen 7:4) μwqyh wlk/(1Sam 4:15) hmq (wyny[w)* ( Jer 14:6) tmq/(μhyny[) hmyaqla (ˆy[la)/(1Sam ibid.) hmq (ahrxb bhùd+) μyaq ([rz)/( Judg 15:5) hmq πqm/bybs/(Exod 32:24) tpwqt* (Lev 25:31) ˆwxwqt/wsamt/(Gen 27:46) ytxq* (Lev 26:15) (t[fq+) t(x)xq/(Lev 20:23) ≈q¨aw (Dan 3:22) lfq/( Job 13:15) ynlfqy* (Exod 20:13) lwfqt/jxrt/ T ynltqy/(ibid.) ynlfqy T πfq/(Deut 23:26) tpfqw T T
1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872
chapter sixteen
468 (cont.) N
M
=
L
B
= K =
R
G
F
=
=1
Q
yrfqw:1/(Ezek 46:22) twrf¨q* 1873
= = +
= (=)
= = = = = =
?D +
= = =
(=) (=) (=)
= = =
(=) (=)
= = +
(=) (=) = = = =
#D = = D
= = K =
= =
(=) (=)
= = = B (K) B
(+)
= (=) + +
D
=
M
= =
D
= = = K K = = (K)
(+)
=
(?=) =
=
(=)
=
= = =
= (=) =
(=)
= (=) (=)
= +
= =
= + 1M
(+)
(+) (=) (=)
= = (=)
S
=
(Dan 5:6) (Gen 28:38) trfqw/rçqtw:2 ratq/(2Kings 23:8) wrfq hrfqm/(2Chron 26:19) trfqm hayqtt/(Prov 25:16) wtwaqhw T hanq/(2Sam 21:16) wnyqe ùfyq/(Isa 18:6) ≈qw T ùfyq/(Ps 74:17) ≈yq +T ùfqytsa ,ùfqy/( Jer 31:25) ytwxyqh T (wlqm) ,ylq/(Lev 2:14) ywlq tlqna ,t^lqt/(Ps 38:8) hl,q]nI (πùxwlab) [lq/(1Sam 17:49) [L'q'y“w" T (. . . [arç+) [wlq/(Exod 27:9) μy[lq lqlq/(Ezek 21:26 ;μyxjb) lqlq (˚rj+) jmq/(Gen 18:6) jmq (fbr+) fmq/( Job 16:8) ynfem]q]Tiw" (bstka+) yntqa ,ynq/(Exod 21:2) hnq]ti (Ezra 7:16) anqt/(Exod ibid.) hnqt* T aùxqna/( Job 18:2) yxnq T μsq/(Deut 18:10) μsq ^ˆyqy/(Ezek 17:9) sswqy hr^[qm/(Lev 14:37) twrwr[qç (h[^xqm+) trpqta/hrxq/(Isa 38:12) ytrpqi* (Isa 50:2) dqnq/(Zeph 2:14) r pO qi dpwq/(Zeph ibid.) d pO q* dpwq/(Isa 34:15) zwpq* T ù≈bqt/(Deut 15:7) ≈pqt axpql/rtnl/(Cant 2:8) ≈pqm* (Lev 11:21) T zpqtm ,(bùtw+) zpqm/(Cant ibid.) ≈pqm (^dq ,[fq+) bxq/(2Kings 6:6) bxqyw +T axqa/(Exod 26:28) hxq;h (ibid. 4:26) txql/(Dan 1:18) txqmlw* dqn/(Lev 14:41) wxqh at[yxq/hdq/(Ps 45:9) tw[yxq* (Exod 30:24) πaxqna/( Joel 1:7) hpx;ql T ([fq+) ^≈q/(Exod 39:3) ≈xqw T ( lùga+) aùxqna ,aùxq/(Gen 6:13) ≈qe T ryxq/( Job 14:1 ;μymy) rxq arq/(e.g. 2Kings 19:14) arq +T (wnd+) brqa/(Lev 9:7) br'q] T ˆabrq/(Lev 17:4) ˆbrq T hbarq/(Lev 21:2) brqh /(Dan 7:21) brq:1/(Zech 14:3) br;q*] (Gen 14:2) abrq/hmjlm:2 T hyrq/(Isa 29:1) tyrq hyrq/(Prov 11:11) trq
1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914
the chart of comparisons
469
(cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
K
=
+K = M =
=
Q
atrq/ry[/(Prov ibid.) trq* 1915
= +
=
=
(=) (=) = = =
K = +
(=) D
= =
=
= = = =
+L
=
D 1M
+ = (=) +
(=) = =
=
= =
= = =
+D 1L
=
(=)
= =
=
( J)
=
=
=
+
+
=
+
(=)
= = = =
(=) (=) (=) = =
+
+
(=)
+
(+)
=
(=) = (=) (+)
(=) + =
101
=
(=)
S
(Gen 4:17) (afg+) hmrqm/(Ezek 32:6) ytmrqw (Dan 7:20) aynrq/(Amos 6:13) μynrq* +T ˆrq/(1Sam 16:13) ˆrq ù≈rq/(Isa 46:1) sr Oq ˆylwsrq/μy[rk/(2Sam 22:37) yls¨rq* (Lev 11:21) (μalklab) ˆ[rq/(Ps 35:15) w[rq ˆwhyxrq (wlkaw)/( Jer 46:20) ≈rq,* (Dan 3:8) ([fq+) ù≈rq/( Jer ibid.) ≈rq T rq/(Gen 8:22) r Oqw yryrq/(Gen ibid.) r q O w* 101 (TB Hul 49b) T aùtq/(Num 11:5) μyawçqh hwçq/(Exod 25:29) wytwçqw jsqt/(Isa 63:17) jyçqt (Dan 2:47) f v O q:1/(Ps 60:6) fç Oq* (Deut 25:15) fwçq/qdx:2/ 102 T+ (ld[+) fsq/(Ps ibid.) fç Oq (cassia) fsq/(BT Kerit 6a) fçwq x ysaq/(1Sam 25:3) hç,q; T ç^çqt/(Exod 5:12) ççe Oql açyçq:1/(Zeph 2:1) wççwqth* (1Sam 12:2) tyçq/ytnqz:2 (TB BM 60b) wsatqa/(ibid.) wççwqth aytçq/μyrwmh/(Gen 21:20) tç;q O *' (1Sam 31:3) T swq ymar) sa^wq/(Gen ibid.) tçO;q' (Saadiah: T T
=
1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937
r ˆwry/(Gen 12:12) War]yI 1938 blqla hywr/(Eccl 1:16) har (thought) yar/(1Kings 19:3) aryw ayarm/(Exod 38:8) twarmb 1939 μyar/hbg/(Zech 14:10) hmarw* 1940
(Ezek 28:2) (Deut 14:5) amyr/ˆçyd/( Job 39:9) μyr* T (ˆdkrk+) μyr/( Job ibid.) μyr T sar/(Gen 3:15) çar T syar/(Num 14:4) çar +T hwbr/(Ezek 16:7) hb;b;r hbr:2 ;babr:1/(Ezek ibid.) hbbr
1941 1942 1943 1944 1945
For trq cf. hyrq. Becker (1984, entry C1, 402, n.) notes that Ibn Janà˙ compares with Arabic (at entry [xq). Indeed, Ibn Janà˙ compares there fsq/fçq but in a totally different meaning (h[yxq), which has no connection to the entry discussed here. 102
chapter sixteen
470 (cont.) N
M
=
+M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
=
ˆw:b]ri wbr/(Ezra 2:69) twa OBri 1946 (Dan 7:10)
L +
=
babr/( Jer 3:3) μybybr 1947 atwbr/(Prov 29:2;16) t/br]b*i 1948 (Dan 5:18)
+ =
= = =
+ =
(=) (=) =
= = = =
= (F) (+F) (F) (F) M,F (F) +D L
= = = = = =
=
= + =
+ = =
(=) + +
= (=) (=) (=) (=) = (=)
(=) (=) =
= + = =
=
=
=
2M
= =
L
+ (=) =
(=) = +
2=
(2=)
= =
= +
=
= = =
= =
+ 3= = 1=
= =
#
= =
(=) (+) (+)
(=) =
(=)
(=) = + +
=
103
+
(+) =
(=)
= T T
hybrt/(Num 32:14) twbrt abr/(Lev 25:37) tybrm (tybr) tbbr/(Lam 2:22) ytybrw aybr/r[nw/(Gen 21:20) hb, Or*
( Judg 13:24) (drùt+) hkwbrm/(Lev 6:14) tkbrm (Dan 7:17) [bra/(Lev 11:23) [bra* = T h[bra/h[bra +T h[bar/(1Kings 6:1) ty[ybrh T [br/(Exod 29:40) [br, T [^brm/(Exod 39:9) [Wbr; a[ybr/txbr/(Ps 139:3) y[b]riw* (Deut 22:6) (swlùg lwa+) y[^brt/(Ps ibid. ibid.) y[brw T ù≈bar/(Exod 23:5) ≈be rO = qbr/(1Sam 28:4) qbrm (+) hbùgr/( Job 21:33) ybeg“ri (Isa 34:2) azgwr/hmj/(Hab 3:2) zgrb* (baùd[+) zùgr/(Hab ibid.) zgrb = T zùgr ,ˆwzùgtry/(Exod 15:14) ˆwzgry = T lùgr/(Exod 21:24) lgr +T lùgar/(Exod 12:37) ylgr ([pr+) lù^grt/(Hos 11:3) ytlgrt = T μùgr/(Lev 24:16) wmgry hmùgr:2 ,hmùgrm:1/(Prov 26:8) hmgrmb 1= 1T hyp μwùgrm [ùxwm :3 μgr/(Ps 68:28) μtmgr (dsp+) ˆùgtra/(Deut 1:27) wngrtw (πrf+) [ùgr/(Ps 30:6) [gr tçwgrtak/tmhnk :1 (Ps 2:1) wçgr* (Dan 6:12), wçgIrh:2/(Isa 5:30) (Exod 39:3) wdydrw/(Ps 144:2) ddwrh* wdydrw/w[qryw/(1Kings 6:32) dryw* 103 (Exod ibid.) hydra ,adr/(Isa 3:24) μydydrhw ˆwdrtt/ˆwrswt/(Lev 26:17) wdrw* (Lev 26:23) (˚lhy+) ydry/(Isa 41:2) dry πdr/(Gen 35:5) wpdr ([zp+) bhr/(Isa 3:5) wbhry (d^lbt+) awhrwtt/(Isa 44:8) whrt T ywra/(Ps 65:11) hWEr' (hbyyf jyr) ayr/(Ps 66:12) hywrl
Ibn Bal"am’s comparison is quoted by Ibn Barùn.
1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980
the chart of comparisons
471
(cont.) N
M
+ =
L = = (=) = = = = = =
B
R
+ + = = = = ≠ = = =
G
F
(+) (+) (=) (+)
(=) (=) (=) (=)
(=) =
=
Q
T T
=
(+) jwr/(Gen 41:38 ;μyh lO a) jwr jyr/(Gen 8:1) jwr jawr/(Gen 3:8) jwrl hjar/(Exod 8:11) hj;w:r]h; μra/(Ezek 16:25) ˚tm;r; (twx+) jyzrm/( Jer 16:5) jzrm (Dan 4:6) zr/(Isa 24:16) yzr* (lyww+) zr/(Isa ibid.) yzr zmr/( Job 15:12) ˆwmzry (μylj+) ˆyzr/(Ps 2:2) μynzwrw +T hbjr/( Judg 19:20) bwjrb bjr/( Job 36:16) bjr ([sw+) hbjr/(Ps 119:45) hbjrb T (+) hyjra ,ajr/(Num 11:8) μyjreb T hlùkr/(Isa 53:7) ljrkw +T μjr/(Exod 13:12) μjr, T hmjr/(Deut 13:18) μymjr = μjrw/bhayw/(Ps 18:2) ˚mjra* (Gen 6:28) T μùkr ,hmùkr/(Lev 11:18) μjrh +T (lsg+) ù≈jry/(Lev 1:9) ≈jry açjyr/çmr/(Ps 45:2) çjr* (Gen 1:25) (TB Meg 27b) ˆçjrm/(Ps ibid.) çjr* jçr/(Ps ibid.) çjr T jar ,hjar/(Isa 30:24) tjrb
= =
T
jawrm/(Isa ibid.) tjrb 2002 bfr/( Job 8:16) b Ofr; 2003 ˆybyfr/μyjl/( Job ibid.) bfr* 2004
=
atytr/d[r/( Jer 49:24) ffrw* 2005
= (=)
D D D+ D
= = =
+ + = = = +
(=) = =
(=)
+ =
= =
(=) (=) +
(=) (=) =
=
= = (=) G =
= =
=
=
(=) =
S 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
(Num 6:3) =
(Exod 15:15) =
+J
+
(+)
=
+T
= (=) (=) = D
T
= = =
= = = =
D M D
=
+ = =
+
= = =
= = =
= = = =
+
(+)
=
(+)
=
T
(=) =
(=) T =
T T T
=
T
=
(L) = = =
= =
+
(=)
= T
hjyar/(Gen 8:21) jyr (twm+) qyry/(Ps 18:23) μqyra qwwrm ,qywrt/(Cant 1:3) qrwt qrt/(Isa 29:8) hqrew qyry ,qar/(Zech 4:12) μyqyrmh rar/(Lev 15:3) rr; ù^tr/(1Sam 18:23) çr; (whose clothes are worn out) hbkar/(Exod 15:1) wbk Orw ù˚r/(Gen 18:7) ˚r jmr/(Num 25:7) jm Or (Dan 3:21) wymrw/(Exod 15:1) hmr* amr ,ymr/(Exod ibid.) hmr ˚amr ,˚mr/(Esth 8:10) μykmrh (dwr+) h^mr/( Job 21:26) hM;riw ˚tmr/(Ezek 32:5) ˚twmr (h)na^mr/(Num 20:5) ˆwmrw (bart+) smr/(Ps 7:6) smryw bnra/(Lev 11:6) tbnra ˆanra ,^ˆra/( Job 39:23) hn
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
chapter sixteen
472 (cont.) N
M
B
=
,+D +L
+
= =
R
+ =
G
F
Q
S
(=)
(=)
+
+T (. . . dydç twx+) ^ˆr/(Deut 32:43) WnnIr]h' 2024
(=) (=)
=
T
(=) =
ˆsr/( Job 41:5) wnsr 2025 ç^ r/(Ezek 46:14) s Orl; 2026 aysysr/μybybr/(Cant 5:2) ysysr* 2027 ( Jer 3:3)
(?=) = = =
≠D
=
M
=
= +
= +
(=) (=)
= =
T T =
= = +
= ?=
= =
= =
+M
=
= +
= = (=)
= = = =
+ = = = = = =
D
(=)
=
= (=)
M
T T
= = = = =
T =
=
= +
= = = = = =
= =
= + = = L L+ D+
= = D D = =
= = = = = = =
(+)
K (=) GHb X = (+) =
T
=
(=)
=
T
+
(=)
= =
=
(=) =
=
+
(=)
T T T
T =
=
= D
=
=
(Deut 33:23) (Dan 2:29) ˚nwy[r/(Eccl 4:16) ˆwy[r* (rkp+) hya[r/(Eccl ibid.) ˆwy[r μgr/(1Sam 1:6) hm[iR]h (h^z[+) hmar[/( Job 39:19) hm[r (Dan 4:1) ˆn[rw/(Deut 12:2) ˆn[r* (Dan 2:40) [[rm/(Ps 2:9) μ[wrt* wp[ry/(Ps 65:13) wp[ry (brfùxa+) ≈[r/(Exod 15:6) ≈[rt tç[tra/(2Sam 22:18) ç[rtw (brfùxa+) (amn ,hkrb+) sgr/(Ps 72:16) ç[ry (bwùtla) wpry apr/( Jer 17:14) ynapr (ywwq ,dnsa+) ynwdpra/(Cant 2:5) ynwdpr bçùk+) hdapr/(Cant 3:10) wtdypr (πqsla (Dan 7:7) hspr/(Ps 68:31) sprtm* (ù≈ùkr+) spr/(Ezek 32:2) sprtw πrprt/( Job 26:11) wppwry (πflt+) hqprtm/(Cant 8:5) tqprtm ahqprm tqla/(ibid.) tqprtm (Dan 7:7) hspr/(Prov 25:26) çprn* swprm/(Prov 25:26) çprn
2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034 2035 2036 2037 2038 2039 2040 2041 2042 2043 2044 2045 2046 2047 2048 2049 2050 2051
tpr/(Hab 3:17) μytprb 2052
= =
ù^≈r/(Amos 6:11) μysysr hd[r/(Ps 48:7) hd[r y[ar/(Gen 4:2) h[,wr aw[r/ˆwxr/(Ps 139:17) ˚y[r*
T
([^qwt+) dxr/(Ps 68:17) ˆwdxrt yùxr/(Ps 147:10) hx,r]yI (ˆ[f+) [xr/(Exod 21:6) [xrw πxr ,πyxr/(Esth 1:6) tpxr hpùxr/(ibid.) tpxr πùxr (1Kings 19:6) μypxr tùxùxr/(Ps 74:14) txX'ri ≈qr/(Ps 114:4) wdqr (çqn+) μqr/(Exod 26:36) μq Or [qr/(Ezek 6:11) [qrw [yqr/(Gen 1:6) [yqr qyr/( Job 30:10) q Or qaqr ,h^qr/(Exod 29:2) yqyqrw ˚l tyl/lkwt al/(Ezra 3:7) ˆwyçrk* (Deut 17:15) wçr (ibid. 5:25) μyçr/(Dan 10:21) μwçrh* μsr/(Dan 10: ibid.) μwçrh
2053 2054 2055 2056 2057 2058 2059 2060 2061 2062 2063 2064 2065 2066 2067 2068
the chart of comparisons
473
(cont.) N = = = = =
M
B
D
= + =
R
G
F
(=)
(=)
Q
S
+T
= L
= =
=
(Exod 15:15) (lxapmla [ùgw+) hyùtr/(Hos ibid.) ttr
=
=
μwçrm/(Dan ibid.) μwçrh μtr/(1Kings 19:4) μt Or μtr/(Mic 1:13) μ Otr] ˆyb llùk+) qtr/(Eccl 12:6) qtry ([baxala atytr/d[r/(Hos 13:1) ttr*
2069 2070 2071 2072 2073 2074
ç façw/zbyw/(Ezek 25:15) façb* 2075
=
(Gen 25:34) L
façw/zbyw/( Jer 16:57) twfaçh (Gen 25:34)
= =
+
(=)
= = = = =
(=)
(=)
F
= + = =
+
(=)
M
= = = +
+
+ =
= =
= (=)
F = (=) = =
+L
= = =
=
D
= =
=
+F
+ + +
= = =
(=) (=) (=) (=) (=)
(+) (+) (=)
(=)
(+) (+) + =
F
(=) = (=) (=) = =
+
+T
las/(1Sam 25:8) laç laç/(1Sam ibid.) laç* (?=) ^πs/( Jer 14:6 ;jwr) wpaç T (raùftna+) πywçt/( Job 7:2) πaçy (ù≈gb+) apaç πyç/(Ps 56:2) ynpaç (rhaùf+) π^wçtm/(Eccl 1:5 ;jrwz) πawç (yqb+) ras ,rws/(1Sam 16:11) raç hyç/(Lev 13:28) taç (Dan 7:9) ˆybybç/( Job 18:5) bybç* (dqwa ,l[tça) ^bç/( Job ibid.) bybç (rsk+) bs/(Hos 8:6) μybbç + T jybst/(Ps 117:1) whwjbç (Dan 4:34) jbçm/(Ps 145:4) jbçy* + T fabsa/(Ps 122:4) μyfbç + T ybs/(Num 21:1) B]ç]YIw" abs/( Jer 30:18) twbç = hkbç/(1Kings 7:17) hkbç + +T hlbns ,hlwbs/(Ruth 2:2) μylbçb hrùtk+) lbs/(Ps 69:16 ;μym-) tlbç (amla + +T (qyrf+) lybs/( Jer 18:15) ylybç (mustache) hlbs/(Isa 47:2) lb, Ov lbsala yçla/(ibid.) lbç + T (h)[bs/(Gen 26:33) h[bç T [ybasa ,[ybaws/(Deut 16:9) tw[wbç T [abç ,[bç/(Gen 41:29) [bç (Dan 7:25) rbsyw/(Neh 2:15) rbc* rbs/(Neh ibid.) rbç arbtm/μynbah/(2Kings 19:3) rbçm*
2076 2077 2078 2079 2080 2081 2082 2083 2084 2085 2086 2087 2088 2089 2090 2091 2092 2093 2094 2095 2096 2097 2098 2099 2100 2101 2102 2103
(Exod 1:16) = =
=
+T
= = =
(=) = M
=
= =
=
T
rbùtm/(2Kings ibid.) rbçm (sbj+) rbùt/( Job 38:10) rbçaw (˚lh+) rbt ,rbùt/( Jer 17:18) ˆwrbç tbs/(Exod 16:30) wtbçyw (Ezra 4:22) hgçy/( Job 8:11) agçy* (Dan 5:2) htlgç/(Neh 2:6) lgçhw* /ˆrgçy/hndrt/(Exod 13:12) rgç*
2104 2105 2106 2107 2108 2109 2110
( Jer 14:17) (ùgatn+) ù˚rç/(Exod ibid.) rgç
2111
chapter sixteen
474 (cont.) N
M
B
= =
R
G
=
F
Q
S
(+) =
=
T
104
ayadùt ,ˆyydùt/(Gen 49:25) μyd'ç; 2112 ards/rwf/(1Kings 6:9) twrdçw* 2113 (ibid. 36)
= = =
= +F
+ =
T (=) 2+
= = =
= = = =
1M
=
I (=) = L
=
=
= =
=
= = = = M
= =
=
= = (=) =
= M
= (=)
=
+FT
+ = =
= = =
D D
+ = (=) (=) = =
= =
=
= = = =
=
(=) (=) =
=
104
For ydçl cf. dçl.
^hts/(Gen 30:20) hçç haç/(Deut 14:4) hc, atwdhç:1/( Job 16:19) ydhçw* atwdhs/twd[:2 (Gen 31:47) dhç/(ibid.) ydhçw (Dan 4:31) bwty/(Lev 13:16) bwçy* /(Dan 5:21) ywç:1/(Ps 89:20) ytywç* (Gen 4:15) ywçw/μçyw:2 yws/(Ps ibid.) ytywç awtsa/(Esth 3:8) hwç (hm^yq+) hawasm/(Esth ibid.) hwç ;jas)/(Gen 24:63) jwçl
(walking between the trees (=) T fws/(Prov 26:3) fwç (2=) 1= hkaç:2 ,hkwç:1/( Judg 9:48) tkwç (Ezek 31:3) hykwsw/çr Ojw/(ibid.) tkwç* (=) = T μwùt/(Num 11:5) μymwçh (Lev 14:42) [wçyw/jfw/(Isa 6:10) [çh* (ˆyyf+) [yys/(Isa ibid.) [çh (. . . [ptra+) [çw/( Job 34:19) [wç (Dan 2:33) yhwqç/(Exod 29:22) q/ç* (=) T qas/(Exod ibid.) qwç (=) T qawsa/(Cant 3:2) μyqw:çb (rpas+) ras/(Isa 57:9) yrwçtw yrçnw/wnjnw/(Ezek 27:25) ˚ytwrç* (2Sam 17:12) (Ezra 4:22) ayrwçw/(Gen 49:22) rwç* = arwç/hmwj/(Gen ibid.) rwç* (Exod 14:22) (=) + T rws/(Gen ibid.) rwç (=) = T rwùt/(Exod 21:29) rwç (leader, patron) rwùt/(Gen 49:6) rwç = rçn/(1Chron 20:3) rc'Y:w" (=) = T hnsws ,ˆasws/(Cant 2:2) hnçwçk = (ibid.) ryzç/(Exod 21:1) rzçm* T (ltp+) rzç/(Exod ibid.) rzçm = (Lev 15:13) yjsy/≈jrw/(Ps 6:7) hjça* (ajn+) jaça/(Isa 51:23) yjç ˆyjçw/μjyw/(Exod 9:10) ˆyjç* (Isa 44:15) (^ls+) πajs/(Deut 28:22) tpjçb (=) = T qjst/(Exod 30:36) tqjçw (+) = T+ rjs/(Gen 19:15) rjçh afsw/fyw/(Num 5:20) tyfç* (Exod 32:8) wfs/wrs/(Gen 38:16) (=) = T fns/(Exod 25:10) μyfçi
2114 2115 2116 2117 2118 2119 2120 2121 2122 2123 2124 2125 2126 2127 2128 2129 2130 2131 2132 2133 2134 2135 2136 2137 2138 2139 2140 2141 2142 2143 2144 2145 2146 2147 2148 2149
the chart of comparisons
475
(cont.) N
M
B
R
=
G
F
=
(=) (=) (=) (=)
D = = = =
+D D
= = =
+F
= =
(=) =
= (=) (=) = = =
(+) = +
(=) = =
D L
= = =
≠L
= =
M F D
= (=) = = =
= +
+
K (=)
(=) (=) (=) = = =
=
=
=
=
= =
= = = +
= =
+ =
K (=) (=) ≠
= +F D
= (=)
(=) =
(=) =
=
= =
= = = =
(=)
+ = (=)
S T
L
= = = = = = =
Q
+ =
wjfs/(Num 11:32) wjfçyw πfç/(Lev 6:21) πfç (ˆafls+) rfysm/(Deut 16:18) μyrf] Oçw ryfst/(Ketub 9:9 ;bwj) rfç x T ytbyç/(Gen 42:38) ytbyç dyç/(Deut 27:2) dyçb jyç/( Job 30:4) jyç (hdlw+) hlyls/(Gen 49:10) h Olyç (Dan 3:10) tmç/(Exod 4:11) μc* T bks/(Exod 16:13) tbkç (Ezra 6:2) jktçhw/(Eccl 8:10) wjktçyw* jktçaw (Gen 44:12) axmyw/ ˚wç/( Job 40:31) twkcb ˚wç/(Num 33:55) μyKicli ˆyks/(Num ibid.) μyKicli
2150 2151 2152 2153 2154 2155 2156 2157 2158 2159 2160
T
2164 2165 2166 2167 2168 2169 2170 2171 2172 2173 2174 2175 2176 2177 2178
(h)lkùtm/(Exod 23:26) hlkçm (mix up) lkç/(Gen 48:14) lKeci (Dan 7:8) lktsm/(Ps 41:2) lyKic]m*' + +T ˆksa/(Gen 26:2) ˆ Okv] (Ezra 6:12) ˆKiç/ ' (Lev 17:4) ˆkçm* (twmlab) ˆwks/(Nah 3:18) wnkçy (=) T ˆyks/(Prov 23:2) ˆyKic' T rksm/(Lev 10:9) rk;çew T (amla dars+) rks/(Isa 19:10) rk,c, (ibid.) arkys/(Isa ibid.) rkç* (ˆalm+) rwùgsm/(Isa ibid.) rkç = T ùglùt/(Ps 148:8) glç T ylas/( Job 16:12) wleç; T ywls/(Num 11:32) wl;çh] (Dan 6:5) wlç/(Prov 1:32) twlçw* (Dan ibid.) wlç/(2Chron 29:11) Wlç;t*i (Dan 3:2) jlç/(Exod 4:13) jlç* = jals/( Joel 2:8) jlç,h ajlç/( Joel ibid.) jlçh jlçyw/fyçphw/(Neh 4:17) /jl]ç*i (Lev 1:6) ù˚ls/(Neh ibid.) wjlç wùkls/( Job 30:11) wjlç ù˚lùtm/(Isa 7:25 ,rwç) jlçml = +T ˆafls/(Eccl 8:4) ˆwflç (Dan 4:14) fylç/(Eccl ibid.) ˆwflç* = (hmyçm+) als/(Deut 28:57) htylçbw atylsw/(Deut ibid.) htylçbw* (TB Shab 134a) = (qrs+) ^lsa/(Ruth 2:16) wlçt; (yf[a+) ^lza/(Ruth ibid.) wlçt; = μylç/μt/(Ps 91:8) tmwlçiw* (Num 32:13) T μ^ls ,ˆymlsm/(Prov 16:7) μylçy = μlstsa/(Prov ibid.) μylçy T μlas/(Gen 33:18) μleç; T μ^lsy/(Exod 21:36) μleçy
2161 2162 2163
2179 2180 2181 2182 2183 2184 2185 2186 2187 2188 2189 2190 2191 2192 2193 2194 2195
chapter sixteen
476 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
=
F
Q
S
(+)
=
T
T;ç]L'çiw ;hùtalùt/(Gen 6:10) hçlç 2196 (1Sam 20:19)
(=) = =
G
+
= (=)
=
T T
(=)
=
T
(+)
=
T T =
=
T
+ +
T T
(=) = + = = =
FT FT
+ =
=
ùtlaùtla μwyla yla rbxt/ (Ezr 5:10) μç¨/(Gen 2:11) μçe* μsa/(Gen ibid.) μçe ;taùdla μsa ˆ[ hyank/(Lev 24:11) μçOeh' μsala ^μùt/(Gen 2:8) μç; hfms/(Deut 15:2) hF;miçh']O tawams ,ams/(Gen 1:8) μymç lamç/( Job 23:9) lwamç μmwtça/(Isa 63:5) μmwtçaw*
2197 2198 2199 2200 2201 2202 2203
(Dan 4:16) = = = = +
+
(+) (=) (=) (=)
+ +
+F =
hnyms/(Gen 49:20) hnmeç ˆams/(Isa 59:10) μynmçab ynamùt/(Exod 26:2) hnmç [msa/(Deut 5:1) [mç hrmasm ,rms/(1Sam 11:11) trmça
2204 2205 2206 2207 2208
(deep night) =
+G
+
+
(=) =
+T
M
smç/( Joel 2:10) çmç 2209 (Dan 6:15) açmç/( Joel ibid.) çmç* 2210 hnwçmçy/(Isa 54:12) ˚ytçmç* 2211 (Dan 7:10)
B = = = = = = =
= = FT,G
(+) (=) (=)
= +
(+) (=) (=)
=
T T +T T
(=) FT =
=
M
T T
=
μsms/(Shab 2:2) ˆymçmç x (ù≈gb+) anç/(Ps 139:21) ˚yançm hns/(Deut 11:12) hn:ç; ˆanùta/(Exod 2:13) ynEç] ^wnùty/( Job 29:22) wnç]yI (+) ynùt/(Esth 10:3) hn<ç]mi y^ns ,jnns/(Deut 32:41) ytwnç ^ˆs/(Exod 21:24) ˆç hynùtt/(Deut 6:7) μtnnçw y[tçaw/rpsyw/(Isa 41:23) h[tçnw*
2212 2213 2214 2215 2216 2217 2218 2219
(Gen 24:66) = = = =
(+F) (F)
=
?= +
(+) (+)
= =
=
(=) +T
+
=
zwnfaç/(Lev 19:19) znf[ç bl[ùt/(Neh 3:35) l[wç r[ç/(Gen 28:25) r[ce ahwr[çy/(Deut 32:17) μwr[;c] ry[ç/(1Kings 5:8) μyrw[ç πçw/ˆjfyw/( Job 33:21) wpç¨w*
2220 2221 2222 2223 2224 2225
(Exod 32:20) (=) = = =
+L,G
+
+D L
= = =
(=) (+) + = =
+
(=) (+)
(=)
M
=
1M
=
1=
(+)
(=)
=
+T +T
T
T
πywçt/(Num 23:3) ypç, ypaùta ,hypùta/(Ps 68:14) μytpç hpç/(Prov 22:18) ˚ytp;ç] (hamd) ˚psy/(Lev 4:7) ˚pçy (μd) jps/(1Kings 2:31) ˚pç ˚aps/(Ps 102:1 ,wjyç) ˚pçy (μalklab) l^pstm/(Lev 13:20) lpç ;ˆwhykrx) qps/(Isa 2:6) wqypçy*
2226 2227 2228 2229 2230 2231 2232
(Targ. Deut 32:10 (Dan 4:24) rpçy:1/(Ps 16:6) hrpç* 2233 (Gen 29:17) arypç/tp'y:“ 2/ yqs/(Exod 2:19) qçyw 2234
the chart of comparisons
477
(cont.) N
M
B
= = =
R
G
F
= +
(=) (+) =
(=) (=)
Q
T T
= = (?=) = =
= = =
L +
(=) =
= =
= =
= =
= +D D
(=) = =
X(=) AbS,Z (=) = =
=
S
( Jer 38:22) (brç . . . rùtka+) [qç/(ibid.) h[qçw ypqçbw/yqyqnbw/(1Kings 6:4) μypwqç* (Isa 7:19) h^pksa/(Exod 12:23) πwqçmh (. . . yçm+) ^qtça/( Joel 2:9) WQ Oçy: rqçn/dgbn/(Lev 19:11) wrqçt* (Mal 2:10) bars/(Isa 49:10) br;ç; abrç/brwj/(Isa ibid.) brç* (Gen 31:40) /μyfwçb/(Esth 4:11) fybrç* (1Kings 12:11) ˆyfybrçb ˆygyrç/μykbç/(Lam 1:14) wgrtçy* (1Kings 7:17) (dtma bxqla) [rs/(Lam ibid.) wgrtçy +T dyrç/( Josh 8:22) dyrç
= = =
(=) (=) = =
M = L
(=)
T
(?=) (=)
T
= = = =
= = = =
M
= + = = =
= K (=)
M M
= =
(?=) = (=)
hyqas ,aqsm/(Gen 30:38) twtqçb 2235 laqùtm/(Gen 23:15) lqç 2236 w[qtça/wllx/(Amos 9:5) h[qçw* 2237 a[qtça/[bfh; (Exod 15:10)
T
2238 2239 2240 2241 2242 2243 2244 2245 2246 2247 2248
ˆwfrçy/(Lev 21:5) wfrçy (Dan 5:6) ˆyrtçm/(Num 6:3) trç]m*I (Dan 5:12) arçmw/( Jer 15:11) ˚ytyrç* ( lhs+) wrs/(Cant 2:1) ˆwrçh ˚arç/(Gen 14:23) ˚wrç hk^rçm/( Jer 2:63) tkrçm (Dan 3:5) atyqwrçm/(Isa 5:26) qrçw* ˆwhtqyrsb/μt[rb/(Isa 19:19) twqyrç* (Hos 7:3) (ryrjla dwùga+) qrs/(Isa ibid.) twqyrç qy^rs/(Isa 5:2) qrec (μrkla dwùga+) qyrç/(Isa ibid.) qrç rqç/(Zech 1:8) μyqr¨ç h^rs/(Cant 7:3) ˚rrç ^rç/(Deut 29:18) twryrçb ˆyryç/jj/(Isa 3:19) t/rçehw* (Exod 35:22) hrwsa/(Isa ibid.) t/rçehw
2249 2250 2251 2252 2253 2254 2255 2256
(Ezra 7:26) yçwrçl/(Ps 52:7) ˚çrçew* atyrsm/tbjmh/(2Sam 13:9) trçmh* (Lev 2:5) lsals/(Exod 39:15) trçrç ˚ç^wça/(Ezek 39:2) ˚ytaçeçwi 105 lwtçm/(Ps 1:3) lwtç
2265 2266
2257 2258 2259 2260 2261 2262 2263 2264
2267 2268 2269
105 Cf. Margulis, 1884, p. 1, n. 1. and Qàfih, 1966, 55. The reading hlwtçm is only attested in this occurrence and in only one manuscript of Sa'adiah’s Tafsìr to Psalms, while other manuscripts and in other occurrences of ltç the verb is rendered srg. Possibly it is a Karaite gloss.
chapter sixteen
478 (cont.) N
M
B
R
G
F
Q
S
N
ttç/(Ps 73:9) wtç 2270
M,D
t hbyat/hçby/(Ps 119:174) ytbat* 2271
=
(Num 11:6) = = = =
D
(=) (=)
= + = = = =
= = = =
FT+
=
D
= = = = = =
=
= (=) + =
D
+
(=) = K(=) = = (+) =
+T T
(=)
T
=
(=) (=) = = (=) = (=) ≠ =
(+) +1M
=
T T T T +T
T
+T =
= = = = +
= = + =
(+) (=) (=)
=
T
M D
= =
= (=) 2= =
1=
= 2+ ≠
T T +T
μwt/(Gen 38:27) μymwat μwt tawùd/(Cant 4:2) twmyatm ˆymat ,ˆamwt/(Gen 25:24) μymwt hnyt/(Gen 3:7) hnat twbat/(Gen 6:18) hbteh ˆbt/(Gen 24:25) ˆbt (a)hyt/(Gen 1:2) wht hmaht/(Ps 71:20) twmwhtmw tjt/(Gen 49:25) tjt swyt/(Gen 32:15) μyçyt ˆqta/(Isa 40:13) ˆKeTi ^lt/(Deut 13:17) lte (μdh+) llùt/(Ps 137:3) wnllwtw lyla/(Ps ibid.) wnllwtw μalta/(Ps 65:11) hymlt (ibid.) ylmT]aim/ e (1Sam 10:11) lwmT]am* ( lmk+) ^μt/(Lam 4:22) μt (anpa+) μamta/(Ezek 24:10) μth rmt/(Ex 15:27) μyrmt hynùtt/( Judg 5:11) wnty ynùt/hnç/( Judg ibid.) wnty* ˆynt/(Isa 51:9) ˆynt r^wnt/(Lev 11:35) rwnt hjapt/( Joel 1:12) jwptw (ibid.) wlpT'a/ i (Deut 1:1) lp TO * (Dan 3:1) hytp:1/(Isa 30:33) ht,p]T*; (Ex 21:16) aytwp/bj Or:2/ (Dan 4:33) tnqth/(Eccl 12:9) ˆqt* (μkja+) ˆqta/(Eccl ibid.) ˆqt (Dan 2:37) apqtw:1/(Esth 9:29) πq t O * (Num 13:18) πyqt/qzj:2 a[rt/r[çh/(1Chron 2:55) μyti[;r]T*i ( Josh 2:5)
2272 2273 2274 2275 2276 2277 2278 2279 2280 2281 2282 2283 2284 2285 2286 2287 2288 2289 2290 2291 2292 2293 2294 2295 2296 2297 2298 2299
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Abraham Habavli—see below: Neubauer (1863), pp. 195–216 Abramson (1954)—ùm[ ,(rùùyçt) jùùy wnnwçl ,ù ˆwag hyd[s brl hnçmh ˆwlmùù ,ˆwsmrba ùç 50–49 Abramson (1963)—,ˆwly ˚wnj rps ‚ù μ[lb ˆba hdwhy brl synùgtla rpsùù ,ˆwsmrba ùç
rùùkçt μylçwry Abramson (1974)—dùùlçt μylçwry ,μynwagh twrpsb twnyyn[ ,ˆwsmrba ùç Abramson (1975)—1975 μylçwry ,μ[lb ˆb hdwhy br lç μyrps hçlç ,ˆwsmrba ùç Abramson (1977)—wnnwçl ù ˆwan yyah brl (πsamh rps) ywajla batk ˆmùù ,ˆwsmrba ùç 116–108 ùm[ ,(zùùlçt) am Abramson (1978–1979)—,ù ùb lawmçl ùgwyj hdwhy brl ùπtnla batkù ˆmùù ,ˆwsmrba ùç 51–29 (fùùlçt) nm ;236–203 ùm[ ,(jùùlçt) bm wnnwçl Abù Mashal—See Kitàb al-Nawàdir Abù-l-Faraj—See Hirschfeld (1892, 1922, 1923), Poznanski (1895, 1908) and Zislin (1962, 1965) Al Óàwi—see Kitàb al-Óàwi Alfàsi—see Skoss Allony (1949) ,(fùùçt) dk ynys ,ù ùtynatlaw rykùdtla batk ,hlyfqyùg ˆhkh ùmù ,ynwla ùn zs-dl Allony (1952–1958)—see Saadia, AlfàΩ al-Mishna Allony (1958)—see Sab'ìn LafΩa Allony (1962)—- ù ùblgù ˚r[b twddwbh μylmhw μjnm ùtrbjmùb twyarq twpqçhùù ,ynwla ùn 54–21 ùm[ ,bùùkçt μylçwry ,ùh ,drps ydwhy rxwa Allony (1969)—see ha-Egron Allony (1970a)—lwap yùù[ hnwçarl rwal axy ,μyynybh ymyb tyrb[h twnçlbh yrpsm ùrl ù hjrqh rpsùùm çdj [fq tpswtb çdjm spdwhw μlwx ,1916 grwbrfp ,bwxbwqwq lùùçt μylçwry ,ù μdqùù taxwh ,ynwla hymjn tam ùgwyj hdwhy Allony (1970b)—67–19 ,lùùçt arqm tyb ,ù ˆwag hyd[s brl dwqynh rpsùù ,ynwla ùn Allony (1970)—rps ,ù (qùùay =) çyrq ˆba hdwhyl ùhlasrùb twddwb μylm μy[bçùù ,ynwla ùn 425–409 ,lùùçt ,ˆybyy lawmç Al-Munjid—1969 twryb ,ˆwrç[la h[bfla ,μal[alaw hglla yp dùgnmla Al-Mushtamil—see Kitàb al-Mushtamil Ankori (1959)—Z. Ankori, Karaites in Byzantium, New York-Jerusalem 1959 Arukh ha-Shalem—wùùfçt qrwy-wyn (fwhaq ùa ùdhm) μlçh ˚wr[ rps ,layjy ˆb ˆtn Bacher (1882)—W. Bacher Wilhelm, “Notes sur Abou’l Walid,” RÉJ 4 (1882), 273–274 Bacher (ZDMG 1884)—W. Bacher, “Berichtungen zur Neubauer’schen Aufgabe des Kitàb al-"Ußùl,” ZDMG 38 (1884), 620–629 Bacher (1884)—W. Bacher, Die hebräisch-arabische Sprachvergleichung des Abùlwalid Merwan Ibn Ganah, Sitzungsber. Der Kais. Akad der Wissensch.; Phil. Hist. Classe 106 (1884), 96–119 (special reprint, with Bacher 1885, Amsterdam, Philo-Press 1970) Bacher (1885)—W. Bacher, “Die hebräisch-neuhebräische und hebräisch-aramäische Sprachvergleichung des Abùlwalid Merwan Ibn Ganah” Sitzungsber. der kais. Akad. der Wissenschaft, Phil. Hist. Classe 110 (1885) Bacher (1885)—W. Bacher, Leben u. Werke des Abùlwalid Merwan Ibn Ganah u. die Quellen seiner Schrifterklärung, Leipzig O. Schulze ( jetzt Berlin, Felber) 1885 Bacher (1888)—W. Bacher, “Weitere Berichtungen zur Neubauer’schen Ausgabe des Kitàb al-"Ußùl,” ZDMG 42 (1888), 307–310
480
abbreviations and bibliographical references
Bacher (1892)—W. Bacher, Die hebräische Sprachwissenschaft vom 10 bis 16 Jahrhundert, Trier 1892 (reprint 1974, in: Studies in the History of Linguistics, Vol. 4, 1–120) Bacher (ZAW 1894)—W. Bacher, “Die hebr. arab. Sprachvergleichung des Abù Ibrahim Ibn Barùn”, ZAW, 14 (1894), 223–249 Bacher (REJ 1895)—W. Bacher, Le Grammairien anonyme de Jérusalem, Paris 1895 (= REJ 30, n. 60, pp. 232–256) Bacher (1895)—W. Bacher, Die Anfänge der hebräischen Grammatik (1895) (reprint 1974, in: Studies in the History of Linguistics, Vol. 4, 133–235) Bacher (1896)—see Shorashim Bacher (1898)—,ù hnwy ùrl rça μyçrçh rpsm μyfwqyll twhghw twr[hùù ,rkab zùùb 95– 92 ,(jùùnrt) 1 ˆrgh Bacher (1899)—fùùnrt syrap ,gùùsrl hjrçw bwya rps ryspt ,r[kab zùùb Bacher (1907)—see Ben Tamim Bar Bahlule—R. Duval, Lexicon syriacum auctore Hassano Bar Bahlule I–III, Paris 1901 Barges (1861)—J.J.L. Barges, Libri Psalmorum David . . . Yaphet ben Heli, Paris 1861 Barges (1884)—J.J.L. Barges, Yaphet . . . in Canticum Canticorum, Paris 1884 Barges-Goldberg (1857), J.J.L. Barges, D.B. Goldberg, R. Jehuda ben Koreisch Epistula de Studis targum Utilitate Risala, Paris 1857 Baron (1900)—S. Baron, Saadya al-Fajjumi’s arabische Psalmenübersetzung und Commentar, Psalm 50–75, Berlin, 1900 Basal (1992)—,twrwxh trwtw hghh trwt ,awbm ,ùgwyj hdwhy ùr lç tyqwdqdh wtrwt ,lsab ùn bùùnçt byba lt ,hyxfrsyd Basal (1998)—ˆwrh ùgrpla wbal ùlmtçmla batklaù lç ˆwçarh qljhùù ,lsb rsan 191–209 ùm[ ,(jùùnçth) as wnnwçl ,ù ùgarsla ˆbal ùwjnla yp lwxala batkùb wtwltw Basal (1999)—N. Basal, “The Concept of Óàl in the Al-Kitàb Al-Mushtamil of Abù Al-Fara[ Harùn in comparison with Ibn Al-Sarrà[”, Studies in Memory of Naphtali Kinberg (1948–1997)—Israel Oriental Studies 19 (1999), pp. 391–408 Basal (2001)—aùùsçt byba lt ,ùgwyj hdwhy ùrl πtnla batk ,lsab ùn Bauer-Leander (1922)—H. Bauer & P. Leander, Historische Grammatik der hebräische Sprache des A.T., 1922 Max Niemeyer/Verlag (Holms, Hildesheim 1965) Bauer-Leander (1927)—H. Bauer, & P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch Aramäischen, Tübingen, 1927 (Hildesheim 1966) BDB—F. Brown, S.R. Driver, C.A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Oxford 1955 Becker (1977)—lt tfysrbynwa ,rwfqwd rwbyj ,çyrq ˆb hdwhy lç ù hlasrùùh ,rqb ùd See also Risala zùùlçt byba Becker (1980)—,ˆwrb ˆb qjxyl (hawwçhh rps =) hnzawmla batkl twmlçh ,rqb ùd 298–293 ùm[ ,(μùùçt) dm wnnwçl Becker (1984)—dùùmçt byba lt ,tytrwqyb hrwdhm ,çyrwq ˆb hdwhy lç ù hlasrùùh ,rqb ùd Becker (1988)—hdw[t ,ù μyynybh ymyb μyydwhyh ˆwçlh ymkj ybtkb ùtybr[h ˆm hnwçùù ,rqb ùd 158–139 ùm[ ,(jùùmçt) w Becker (1998)—fùùnçt byba lt ,janùg ˆba hnwy ùr lç wqwdqdl μyybr[ twrwqm ,rqb ùd Becker (2001)—qwdqdh ˆyb ˆwrb ˆb qjxy lç twawwçhl μyybr[h twrwqmhùù ,rqb ùd 201–183 ùm[ ,(aùùsçt) j ˆwçlb μyrqjm ,ù ybr[h qwdqdl yrb[h Ben Hayyim (1958)—twlygm lç ˆwçlh trwsml htqyzw μynwrmwçh trwsm ,μyyj ˆb ùz ùa , jùùlb μyrmam ≈bwq) 245–223 ùm[ ,( jùùyçt) bk wnnwçl , lùùzj ˆwçllw jlmh- μy (bùùlçt μylçwry ,rça rb ùm tkyr[b Ben Shamai (1977)—ynasqrqla bwq[y πswy wba lç tytdh hbçjmh twfyç ,yamç ˆb ùj jùùlçt μylçwry ,rwfqwd rwbyj ,yl[ ˆb tpyw Ben Yehuda—byba ltw μylçwry ,zùùf-a ,hçdjhw hnçyh tyrb[h ˆwçlh ˆwlm ,hdwhy ˆb ùa fùùyçt-zùù[rt Berliner (1884)—(1557 =) çmwjb a jswn yp l[ hrwth l[ swlqnwa μwgrj ,rnylrb ùa 1884 zùùyç hfnwybs swpd Birnbaum (1942)—P. Birnbaum, The Arabic Commentary of Yefet ben 'Ali the Karaite of the Book of Hosea, Philadelphia 1942
abbreviations and bibliographical references
481
Birnbaum (1971)—P. Birnbaum (ed.), Karaite Studies, 1971 Bland (1966)—R.M. Bland, The Arabic Commentary of Yephet ben Ali on the Book of Ecclesiastes 1–6, Univ. of California Ph.D., 1966 Blau (1965)—J. Blau, The Emergence and Linguistic Background of Judaeo Arabic, A Study of the origins of Middle Arabic, Oxford, University Press, 1965 Blau (1973)—wnnwçl ,janùg ˆb hnwy ùrl ù lwxala batkùù lç dyh ybtkl hr[h ,walb ùy 233–232 ùm[ ,(gùùlçt) ,zùùl Blau (1977) —J. Blau, “Weak Phonetic Change and the Hebrew 'Sin,” Hebrew Annual Review I (1977) Blau (1984)—hydpwlqyxnah tyyrps ,awbm yqrp-arqmh ymwgrt ,ù μyybr[ μymwgrtùù ,walb ùy 163–156 ùm[ ,dùùmçt μylçwry ,tyarqmh Blau-Löwenstamm—1968–1957 μylçwry ,arqmh ˆwçl rxwa ,μfçnwyl aùùçw walb ùy Brockelmann (1910)—C. Brockelmann, Précis de Linguistique Sémitique, traduit par W. Marçais et M. Cohen, Paris, 1910 Brockelmann—idem, Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der semitischen Sprachen (Verlag von Reuther & Reichard) Berlin 1908–1913 (Olms 1966) Dalman (1938)—G. Dalman, Aramäisches-neuhebräisches Wörterbuch zu Targum etc. Göttingen 1938 De Saussure (1983)—F. de Saussure, Cours de linguistique générale (édition critique Tullio de Mauro), Payot, Paris 1983 Del Valle—C. Del Valle, Sefer Sahot de Abraham Ibn Ezra, Salamanca 1977 Dérenbourg (1880)—J. et H. Dérenbourg, Opuscules et traités d’Abù l-Walid Merwan Ibn Djanah, Paris 1880 Dérenbourg (1886)—see Luma Dérenbourg (1893–1896)—see Tafsir Dérenbourg (1895)—J. Dérenbourg, “Contributions à l’histoire de la philologie hébraïque et de la littérature juive-arabe au moyen-âge, I, Le livre de le Comparaison de l’hébreu avec l’arabe d’Abou Ibrahim ibn Baroun par P. de Kokowzoff,” REJ 30, 1895, pp. 155–158 Dotan (1977)—A. Dotan, “Wilhelm Bacher’s Place in the History of Hebrew Linguistics,” HL 4:2, 135–157 Dotan (1981)—212–163 ùm[ ,(aùùmçt) hùùm wnnwçl, ù ˆwrga rpsm çdj [fqùù ,ˆtwd ùa Dotan (1993)—62–49 ùm[ ,(gùùnçt) 54 μym[p ,ù çdjm ˆçlb ˆwag hyd[sùù ,wtwd ùa Dotan (1997)—hyd[s brl μyrb[h ˆwçl twjx rps ,ˆwçlh tmkjb ˆwçar rwa ,ˆtwd ùa zùùnçt μylçwry ,ˆwag Dozy (1967)—R.P.A. Dozy, Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes, Leiden-Paris 1967 Drachman (1885)—B. Drachman, Die Stellung und Bedeutung des Jehuda Hajjug in der Geschichte der hebräischen Grammatik, Breslau, 1885 Dukes (1843)—L. Dukes, “Dunasch ben Librat,” Literaturblatt des Orients IV, 1843 Dukes (1844)—rps ,lpkh yl[p rps ,jwnh twytwa rps ,[ùùbar ,(rydhm) sqwd ùl 1844 mùùn[ frwpqnrp ,(ùgwyj yrps μwgrt-), dwqynh Dunash ben Labrat—see: Dukes (1843), Philipowski (1855), Schröter (1866), SáenzBadillos (1980) Dunash ben Tamim—W. Bacher, ZDMG 61 (1907), 700–704 Ecker (1962)—R. Ecker, Die arabische Job Übersetzung des Gaon Saadia, München 1962 Eisen (1934)—E. Eisen, Sa'adya al-Fajjumi’s arabische Übersetzung und Erklärung des Psalmen, Psalm 90–106, Leipzig 1934 Eldar (1979)—,( fùùlçt ) gùùm wnnwçl ùùrç[ yrtl . . . πtnla batk ˆm [fqùù , rdla ùa (240 dùùm ,μç ,μynwqytw) 259–254 ùm[ Eldar (1996)—dygnh lawmçl janùg ˆba ˆyb tyqwdqdh tqwljmh twdlwtlùù ,rdla ùa tyrb[h ˆwçlb μyrqjm ,ùùjanùg ˆbal ùhmlkhh rpsùm hzyng [fq lç wywlyg twbq[b 61–41 ùm[ ,wùùnçt μylçwry ,(rça-rb ùm ˚rw[) grwm hmlçl μyçgwm μydwhyh twnwçlbw Eppenstein (1900)—S. Eppenstein, “Die hebr.-arabische Sprachvergleichung des Jehuda Ibn Koreisch,” MGWJ 44 (1900), pp. 486–507
482
abbreviations and bibliographical references
Eppestein S. (1900–1901)—“Ishak Ibn Baroun et ses comparaisons de l’hébreu avec l’arabe,” REJ 41 (1900), pp. 233–249; 42 (1901), pp. 76–102 Epstein (1921–1922)—J.N. Epstein, “Post-Talmudic-Aramaic Lexicography, II, sheelot,” JQR N.S. 12, pp. 299–230 Epstein (1982)—μylçwry ,dmlm xùù[ ydyb ˚wr[ twrhf rdsl μynwagh çwryp ,ˆyyfçpa nùùy
bùùmçt byba ltw Feuerstein (1898)—Der Commentar des Karaers Salmon Ben Jerucham zu den Klageliedern von Salomon Feuerstein, Krakau 1898 Filipowski (1854)—1854 grwbnyd[ ,μjnm trbjm ,yqswwapylyp laqwjy ˆb ybx Filipowski (1855) ùx ùdhm ,μjnm brh trbjm rps l[ . . . frbl ˆb çnwd twbwçt rps 1855 ,grwbnydaw ˆwdnwl ,yqswwapylyp Fränkel (1886)—S. Fränkel, Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen, Leiden 1886 Friedlander (1902)—I. Friedlander, Der Sprachgebrauch des Maimonides Ein lexikalischer und grammatischer Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Mittelarabischen, I Lexikalischer Teil, Frankfurt a.M., Verlag von J. Kauffmann, 1902 Fuchs (1893)—S. Fuchs, Studien über . . . ibn Bal"am, Berlin 1893 Galliner (1903)—S. Galliner, Saadia al-Fajjumi’s arabische Psalmübersetzung und Commentar, (Psalm 73–89), Berlin 1903 Gesenius—Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar edited by E. Kautzsch, second English Edition, by A.E. Cowley, Oxford 1910 (= 1976) Gikatilla—see: Nutt (1870), Kokowtzow (1916), 59–66, Allony (1959) Goldenberg (1973–1974)—zl wnnwçl ,ùùˆwag hyd[s brl ˆwrgab μynwy[ùù ,grbndlwg ùa 90–78 ùm[ ,(dùùlçt) jl ;290–275 ;136 117 ùm[ ,(gùùlçt) Goldenberg (1974)—,tyrb[h hydpwlqyxnah ù ynwçlh wl[pm – ˆwag hyd[sùù ,grbndlwg ùa 201–199 μyrwf dùùlçt aùùtw μylçwry ,wk Goldenberg (1979)—83–98 ùm[ ,(fùùlçt) gm wnnwçl ,ù ˆwçarh yrb[h hyyfnh jwlùù rtsa ,grbndlwg ùa Goldenberg (1980)—,(mùùçt) dm wnnwçl ,ù yrb[h çrwçhw qljh ˆkwçh l[ùù ,grbndlwg ùg 292–281 ùm[ Goshen (1992)—see Maman (1996a) Gottheil (1910–1928)—R.J.H. Gottheil (ed.), Bar 'Ali, The Syriac-Arabic glosses II, Roma 1910–1928 Gross (1872)—S. Gross, Menahem ben Saruk mit Berücksichtigung seiner Vorgänger und Nachfolger, Breslau 1872 Guiraud (1965)—P. Guiraud, Les mots étrangers, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1965 (‘Que sais je’, no. 1166) HaEgron—,ynwla ùn ùdhm ,ˆwag hyd[s br tam ynarb[la r[çla lwxa btk-ˆwrgah
fùùkçt μylçwry Halkin (1975)—rps) hrkaùdmlaw hrùxajmla batk ,arz[ ˆb bq[y ˆb hçm ˆwrh wba hmlç μhrba twr[h πwryxb μgrtw hygh ,˚r[ (tyrb[h hryçh l[ μynwydhw μynwy[h hùùlçt μylçwry ,ˆyqlh Haneberg (1840)—D. Haneberg, Über die Münchener Handschrift aufbehaltene arabische Psalmenübersetzung des Saadia Gaon (in Abhandlungen der philosophisch-philologischen Classe der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften III 354–410, München 1840 Harkavy (1895)—μynçy μg μyçdj ,ù ˆwag yyah ùrl ywajla batk lç μy[fqùù ,ybkrh aùùa 5–3 ùm[ ,(wùùnrt-hùùnrt) 7 Harkavy (1895a)—A.E. Harkavy, “Un quatrième ouvrage de Juda Hayyoudj”, REJ 31 (1895), pp. 288–89 Harkavy (1896)—96–94 ùm[ ,wùùnrt ˆ[yww ,br[mmw jrzmm ,ù lù wmh la btkmùù ,ybkrh aùùa Harkavy (1898)—larçy tmkjl πsam ,ˆrgh ,ù ˆwag hyd[s brm μyfwqlùù ,ybkrh aùùa 91–89 ùm[ ,jùùnrt bwçfydrb ,ˆwçar rps ,yqx[darah aba lawmç yùù[ lùùwy ,br[b Harkavy (1906)—. . . hyd[s ˆwagh lç tyrb[ ˆwçl twjx rpsm amgwd ,ybkrh aùùa 38–30 ùm[ ,(wùùsrt) w ˆrwgh Hàwi—see Kitàb al-Hàwi
abbreviations and bibliographical references
483
Óayyùj—,ˆyltmla tawùd la[pala batkw ˆylla πwrj tawùd la[pala batk ,ùgwyj hdwhy 1897 ˆdyyl ,lyrb ,bwrfsay syrwm ùdhm Ha-Nagid, Kitàb al-"Istighnà"—see Kokowtzow (1916), 205–224 Hirschfeld (1892)—H. Hirschfeld, Arabic Chrestomathy in Hebrew Characters, London 1892, pp. 54–60 Hirschfeld (1922–1923)—H. Hirschfeld, hglla πraxt yp dwq[ la batk ,ˆwrah ùgrpla wbaùù ù hyynarb[la, JQR (1922–23), pp. 1–7 Hirschfeld (1926)—Literary History of Hebrew Grammarians and Lexicographers, Oxford Univ. Press, 1926 Hofmann (1891)—T. Hofmann, Mitteilungen aus Saadias arabischer Übersetzung und Erklärung der Psalmen: Die korachitischen Psalmen, Stuttgart 1891 Hope (1971)—T.E. Hope, Lexical borrowing in the Romance Languages I–II, Oxford 1971 Ibn Barùn—see Kokowtzow Ibn Gikatilla—see Gikatilla Ibn Tibbon—μyçrç ,hmqr :(μgrtm) ˆwbyt ˆba hdwhy ùr IMHM—Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts Jàmi', or: Jàmi' al-AlfàΩ—see Alfàsi Jastrow (1903)—M. Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, etc., N.Y. (1886; 1903) Kàfi˙—see Tafsir Kaufman (1974)—S.A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic, Chicago and London, 1974 Kaufmann (1886)—D. Kaufmann, “Das Wörterbuch Menachem Ibn Saruk’s nach Codex Bern 200,” ZDMG 40 (1886), pp. 367–409 Kaufmann (1887)—idem, “Die Schüler Menachem’s und Dunasch’s im Streite über w[mçmk jmq,” ZDMG 41 (1887), pp. 297–301 Kitàb al-Óàwi—MS TS Ar. 31.129; see also Harkavy (1895–1896), Steinschneider (1901), Poznanski (1901), Abramson (1877), Maman (2000) Kitàb al-"Istighnà"—see S. HaNagid Kitàb al-Mushtamil—see Abù-l-Faraj Kitàb al-Muwàzana—see Kokowtzow Kitàb al-Nawàdir—,rdawnla batk ,çbrj ˆb bahwla db[ ybar[ala ljsm yba 1961 qçmd ,ˆsj hz[ qyqjtb Kitàb al-Nutaf—see: Kokowtzow (1916), pp. 193–204; Allony (1970), Abramson (1978–1978), Basal (2001) Kitàb al-Sab'ìn LafΩa—rps ,(ynwla ùn ùdhm), ù ˆwag hyd[s brl hùfpl ˆy[bsla batkùù 48–1 ùm[ ,ùb qlj ,(jùùyçt) rhyxdlwg ùy dwbkl ˆwrkyz Kitàb al-Tashwìr—see Dérenbourg (1980) Kitàb al-Taswia—see Dérenbourg (1980) Kitàb Al-"Ußùl—see "Ußùl Klar (1954)—dùùyçt byba lt ,μynwy[w μyrqjm ,ralq ùb Köhler-Baumgartner—Hebräisches und aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament, von L. Köhler und W. Baumgartner, dritte Auflage, Leiden I 1967, II 1974, III 1983, IV 1990, V 1995 Kokowtzow (1890)—P.K. Kokovcov, hynarb[la hglla ˆyb hnzawmla batk ˆm hfylph rty rz[yla swpdb grwbrfp fùùs ,ydrpsh ˆwrb ˆb qjxy μyhrba wba wrbj rça hybr[law 1893 bwxbwqwq μ[ djy μsrptn ,1890 ≈fywwanybar ybxw ˆamrh[b Kokowtzow (1913)—P.K. Kokovcov, Kniga sravnenija evrejskogo jazyka s arabskim Abù Ibragima (Isaaka) Ibn Barùna ispanskago evreja konca XI i nachala XII veka (= K istoru srednevekovoj evrejskoj filologu i evrejsko—arabskoj literatury, vol. l). Petrogard: Akad. Nauk 1890, 1893 Kokowtzow (1916b)—Kokowtzow (1916) yswrh qljb 194–74 ùm[ Kokowtzow (1916)—P.K. Kokovcov, hglla ˆyb hnzawmla batk ˆm μyçdj μyfwql hzya ˆwrb ˆb μyhrba ybal-hybr[law hynarb[la Novye materialy dlja kharakteristiki Iekhudy Khajjudzha Samuila Nagida i Nekotorykh drugikh predstavitelej evrejskoj filologiceskoj nauki v
484
abbreviations and bibliographical references
X, XI i XII veke (= K istoru srednevekovoj evrejskoj filologu I evrejsko arabskoj literatury), Vol. 2. Petrogard: Akad. Nauk 1916 Kopf (1976)—[yys ,ˆyyfçfwg-ˆçwg hçm ˚r[ ,tyrb[w tybr[ twanwlymb μyrqjm ,πpwq ùl wùùlçt μylçwry ,πysa agrç wdyb Kosowsky (1916–1960)—˚ùùçt-zùùfçt μylçwry ,hnçmh ˆwçl rxwa ,yqswwasaq yùùj Kosowsky (1933–1961)—aùùkçt-gùùxrt μylçwry ,atpswth ˆwçl rxwa ,yqswasaq yùùj Kosowsky (1954–1982)—bùùmçt-dùùyçt μylçwry ,dwmlt ˆwçl rxwa ,yqswwasaq ˆymynbw yùùj Kosowsky (1980–)—bùùmçt ùb ,mùùçt ùa ,μylçwry ,ymlçwry dwmlt ˆwçl rxwa ,yqswswq ùm Kutscher (1970)—tyllkh twnçlbh [qr l[ tyrb[h ˆwçlh rqjm twdlwt ,rçfwq ùy lùùçt μylçwry ,(tlpkwçm trbwj) Kutub al-Lugha—see Skoss: (1942–1943, 1951, 1955); Harkavy, Hagoren (1906), pp. 31–32; Dotan (1997) Lammens (1890)—H. Lammens, Remarques sur les mots français dérivés de l’Arabe, Beyrouth 1890 Lane (1863–1893)—E.W. Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1863–1893 (reprint 1955–6) Lauterbach (1903)—Saadja Al-fajjumi’s arabische Psalmenübersetzung und Commentar (Psalm 107–124) von J.Z. Lauterbach, Berlin 1903 Lehmann (1901)—S. Lehmann, Saadia al-Fajjumi’s arabische Psalmenübersetzung und Commentar (Psalm 21–41), Berlin 1901 Levin (1928–1943)—gùùçt-jùùprt μylçwry ,by-a ,μynwagh rxwa ,ˆywl mùùb Levita—see Meturgeman Levy (1867)—J. Levy, Chaldäisches Wörterbuch über die Targumim, Leipzig 1867 (Neuhebräisches und chaldäisches) Levy (1924)—J. Levy, Wörterbuch über die Talmudim und Midraschim, Berlin und Wien 1924 Liebermann (1915)— wùùfçt qraywn ,μy[rz rdsl atpswt ,ˆmrbyl ùç Lisàn al-'Arab—1956–1955 twryyb ,μykrk 15 ,br[la ˆasl ,rwùfnm ˆba Luma’—J. Dérenbourg, Le Livre des Parterres Fleuris, Grammaire Hébraïque en Arabe d’Abou’l-Walid Merwan Ibn Djanah de Cordoue rywjnla πylat ,jyqntla batk ˆm lwala zùgla whw [mlla batk qdqdmh hnwy ùrb zwbnmla ybfrqla janùg ˆba ˆawrm dylwla wba rwhçmla , Paris 1886 Malter (1942)—H. Malter, Saadia Gaon, His Life and Works, Philadelphia 1942 Maman (1989–90)—A. Maman, “Rabbi Jonah ben Janah”, Leshonenu La'am 40–41, Jerusalem, 1989–1990, pp. 125–131 (in Hebrew) Maman (1992)—A. Maman, “The Lexical Element in David Alfàsi’s Dictionary Definitions”, Genizah Research after Ninety Years: The Case of Judeo-Arabic (eds. J. Blau and S.C. Reif ), Cambridge 1992, pp. 119–125 Maman (1992a)—A. Maman, “The contribution of Aramaic and Arabic to the philological exegesis of the Bible in the Middle-Ages”, 'Am Vasefer VII, Jerusalem 1992, pp. 25–37 (in Hebrew) Maman (1993–4)—A. Maman, “Meor 'Ayin and the Karaite grammatical thought: Review-Essay of: Meir Zislin (ed.), Meor 'Ayin, Moscow 1990,” Leshonenu 58 (1993–1994), pp. 153–165; IV–V; (in Hebrew; English abstract) Maman (1995)—A. Maman, “Medieval grammatical thought: Karaites versus Rabbanites,” Mehqarim Belashon 7 (1995) pp. 79–96 (in Hebrew; English abstract) Maman (1996)—A. Maman, “The infinitive and the verbal noun according to Abùl-Faraj Harun,” Studies in Hebrew and Jewish Languages, Presented to Shelomo Morag, Jerusalem 1996, pp. 119–149 (in Hebrew; English abstract) Maman (1996a)—A. Maman, “Goshen’s Judah Ibn Bal'am’s Commentary on Isaiah,” Review of M. Goshen-Gottstein, R. Judah Ibn Bal'am’s Commentary on Isaiah: The Arabic Original according to MS Firkovitch (Ebr-arab I 1377), With the assistance of Ma'aravi Perez, Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1992, JQR LXXXVI, January-April 1996, 468–476 Maman (1997)—A. Maman, “The 'amal theory in the grammatical thought of Abùl-Faraj Harun,” Massorot 9–10–11: The Gideon Goldenberg Festschrift, pp. 263–274 (in Hebrew; English abstract)
abbreviations and bibliographical references
485
Maman (1998)—A. Maman, “To what extent have medieval Hebrew grammarians made linguistic comparisons?”, Te"uda 14 (1998) [Proceedings of the Fourth World Conference of the Judeo-Arabic Society], pp. 81–93 (in Hebrew) Maman (1999)—A. Maman, “Hai Gaon’s method in his lexicon ‘Kitàb al-Óàwi’,” Studies in Ancient and Modern Hebrew in Honour of M.Z. Kaddari, ed. S. Sharvit, RamatGan 1999, pp. 235–249 (in Hebrew) Maman (2000)—A. Maman, “The remnants of R. Hai Gaon’s dictionary Kitàb alÓàwi in the Adler and Taylor-Schechter Geniza Collections”, Tarbiz 69 (2000), pp. 341–421 (in Hebrew, English abstract) Maman (2000a)—A. Maman, “The Flourishing Era of Jewish Exegesis in Spain: The Linguistic School: Judah Óayyùj, Jonah ibn Janah, Moses ibn Chiquitilla and Judah ibn Bal'am”, Hebrew Bible—Old Testament: The History of its Interpretation I/2: The Middle Ages (ed. Magne Saboe), Göttingen (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) 2000, chapter 31.1, pp. 261–281 Maman (2001)—A. Maman, “The Hebrew alphabet as a grammatical mnemotechnic framework: Introduction to Al-Kitàb al-Mushtamil, Part III,” Mehqarim be-lashon 8 (2001), pp. 95–139 (in Hebrew, English abstract) Maman (2002)—A. Maman, “Order and meaning in radical letters: Abù l-Faradj Harun’s Al-Kitàb al-Mushtamil, Part VII,” Pe'amim 89 (2002), pp. 83–95 (in Hebrew) Maman (2003)—A. Maman, “The compound words in the eyes of Medieval Hebrew philologists,” Yaakov Bentolila Jubilee Volume (eds. D. Sivan & P.I. Halevy-Kirtchuk), Eshel Beer-Sheva 8 (2003), pp. 277–295 (in Hebrew) Maman (Hassaga)—A. Maman, “Introduction,” Sefer Ha-Hassaga, the Obadia HaSefardi translation of R. Yona b. Janah’s Kitàb al-Mustalhaq, annotated critical edition by D. Téné (in Hebrew, 12 pp. in press, Publication of the Academy of Hebrew Language, Jerusalem) Margulies (1884)—Saadia Al-fajjumi’s arabische Psalmenübersetzung von S.H. Margulies, Breslau, 1884 Marouzeau (1961)—J. Marouzeau, Lexique de la Terminologie Linguistique, Paris 1961 Marwick (1956)—L. Marwick, The Arabic Commentary of Salmon ben Yeruham the Karaite on the Book of Psalms, Ch. 42–72, Philadelphia 1956 Meillet (1937)—A. Meillet, Introduction à l’étude comparative des langues Indo-Européennes, Paris 1937 Meturgeman—1541 ynsa ,ˆmgrwtm ,(rwjbh) yznkça ywlh whyla Mi-sifrei ha-balshanut—see Allony (1970) Morag (1981)—24–1 n ≈ybrt ,ùùμ[lb ylçmb μyynwçl μynwy[-twmdq ydbwrùù ,grwm ùç ùm[ ,(aùùmçt) Moscati (1964)—S. Moscati (ed.), An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of the Semitic Languages, Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1964 (= Porta Linguarum Orientalium, N.S. 11. 1964) Moznayim—aùùnqt μyyhndyyh ùw ùdhm ,arz[ ˆb μhrba ùrl çdqh ˆwçl ynzam MS München BT—H.L. Strack, Talmud Babylonyium Codicis Hebraici Monacencis 95, Leiden 1912 Munjid—see Al-Munjid Munk (1851)—S. Munk, Notice sur Abou’l-Walid Merwan Ibn Djanah, etc., Paris 1851 (= JA, 1850.1, 297–337; 1850.2, 5–50, 201–247; 353–427; 1851.1, 85–93) Munk (1858)—S. Munk, Notice sur R. Saadia Gaon, Paris, 1858 Mushtamil—see Kitàb al-Mushtamil Mustal˙aq—J. et H. Dérenbourg, janùg ˆba ˆawrm dylwla ybal qjltsmla batk ybfrqla Opuscule et Traités d’Abou’l-Walid Merwan Ibn Djanah de Cordoue, Paris (1880), 1–246 Muwàzana—see Kokowzow Netzer (1983)—-rbynwah ,rwfqwd rwbyj ,bùùhmyb μyyrb[h μyqdqdmh ybtkb lùùzj ˆwçl ,rxn ùn gùùmçt μylçwry ,tyrb[h hfys
486
abbreviations and bibliographical references
Neubauer (1863)—A. Neubauer, Notice sur la lexicographie hébraïque avec des remarques sur quelques grammairiens postérieurs à Ibn Djanah, Paris 1863 (= JA 1861, 441–476; 1862 47–81, 359–416; 1863, 195–216) Neubauer (1875)—see "Ußùl Nir (1978)—jùùlçt byba-lt ,hçdjh tyrb[h lç hqyfnms ,ryn ùr Nitzanei—A.Z. Rabinowitz, yrb[h qwdqdh twynwmdqb tyrwfsyh hryqj ,qwdqdh ynxn zùùprt byba lt ,(1895 rkab lç yrb[ μwgrt) Nutt (1870)—J.W. Nutt (ed.), Two Treatises on Verbs Containing Feeble and Double Letters by R. Jehuda Hajjug of Fez, Translated into Hebrew from the Original Arabic by R. Moses Gikatila of Cordova to which is Added the Treatise on Punctuation by the Same Author, Translated by Aben Ezra, London-Berlin 1870 Otzar ha-Geonim—see Levin Payne Smith—R. Payne Smith, Thesaurus Syriacus, Oxford, 1879–1901 Perez (1978)—,rwfqwd rwbyj ,μ[lb ˆba hdwhy ùr lç tygwlwlyph wtwnçrp ,≈rp ùm jùùlçt ,ˆg tmr ,ˆlya-rb tfysrbynwa Perez (1981)—,ù μ[lb ˆba hrwhy ùr yçwrypb ˆçrwçb twyadyjy μylmb lwpyfhùù ,≈rp ùm 232–213 ùm[ ,(aùùmçt) hm wnnwçl Perez (2000)—çwryp ˚wtb dygnh lawmç ùr lç ùangtsala batkù ˚wtm twabwmùù ,≈rp ùm 287–241 ùm[ ,(sùùçt) by ,μwdqh jrzmhw arqmh rqjl ˆwtnç ,ù μylht rpsl ymynwna Perez 2000—aùùsçt ˆg tmr ,(≈rp ùm rydhm) ,laqzjy rpsl μ[lb ˆba hdwhy ùr çwryp Pinsker (1860)—μhlç rwfar[fylhw arqm ynb td twrwql ,twynwmdq yfwql ,rqsnyp ùç ˚ùùrt hnyw ,μyybr[w μyyrb[ dy-ybtk pùù[ Pottier (1973)—B. Pottier (ed.) Le Language, Paris, 1973 Poznanski (REJ 1909)—S. Poznanski, Les Ouvrages linguistiques de Samuel Hannaguid, Paris 1909 (= REJ 1909, 253–267) Poznanski (1895)—S. Poznanski, Moses B. Samuel Hakkohen Ibn Chiqatilla nebst den Fragmenten seiner Schriften (1895) Poznanski (1896)—S. Poznanski, “Aboul-Faradj Haroun Ben Al-Faradj le grammairien de Jérusalem et son Mouschtamil”, REJ 33 (1896), 24–39; 197–218 Poznanski (1901)—S. Poznanski, “Zu Hai Gaons Kitàb al-Óàwi,” ZDMG 55 (1901), pp. 597–604 Poznanski (1908)—S. Poznanski, “Nouveaux renseignements sur Aboul-Faradj Haroun Ben Al-Faradj et ses ouvrages,” REJ 55 (1908), 42–69 Poznanski (1916)—S. Poznanski, “Hebräisch-arabische Sprachvergleichung bei Jehuda Ibn Bal"am,” ZDMG 70 (1916), pp. 449–476 Poznanski (1925–26)—S. Poznanski, “New Material on the history of Hebrew and HebrewArabic philology during the X–XII centuries,” JQR 16 (1925–6), pp. 237–66 Poznanski (1969)—ùa yrb[h qljh ,ybkrhl ˆwrkz rps ,ù ˆawryq yçnaùù ,yqsnnzwp aùùç 220–175 ùm[ (fùùsrt grwbrfp =) fùùkçt μylçwry Poznanski (1971)—S. Poznanski, “The Karaite Literary Opponents of Saadia Gaon,” in Ph. Birnbaum (ed.), Karaite Studies, N.Y. 1971 Rabbenu Tam— ˆwdnwl ,yqswwapylyp ùdhm (çnwdl μjnm ˆyb) tw[rkh ,(tùùr) ryam ˆb bq[y (çnwd twbwçt μ[) 1855 Radaq—Bisenthal-Lebrecht (eds.), 1847 ydrpsh yjmq πswy ˆb dwd ybrl μyçrçh rps Ratzhabi (1964)—aùùt ,ˆyrgnrwql ˆwrkzh ùs ,ù arqml hyd[s br ryspt l[ùù ,ybhxr ùy (250–237 ùm[) dùùkçt Ratzhabi (1966)—ytlb ynmyt yùùk ˚wtm μynwqytw ,μyawlym-gùùbyrl ùlwxala ùkù ù ,ybhxr ùy 295–273 ùm[ ,(wùùkçt) l wnnwçl ,ù [dwnRatzhabi—125–6 (fùùyçt) gk ,45–41 ùm[ ,(zùùfçt) k wnnwçl ,ù hnçmla ùfaplal twpswnùù Rieder (1974)—yçmwj hçmj l[ layzw[ ˆb ˆtnwy μwgrt hnwkmh ymrah μwgrth ,rdyr ùd dùùlçt μylçwry ,hrwt Riqma—ˆba hdwhy ùr lç yrb[h wmwgrtb janùg ˆba hnwy ùrl ù([mlla batk) hmqrh rps ˆaybh ,rydhmh lç wnwbzy[m twçdj twr[h hbw hyynç hrwdhm (fùùprt) ùyqsnlyw ùdhm ,ˆwbt dùùkçt μylçwry ,μyyj ˆb baz μ[ hx[b anf dwd swpdl
abbreviations and bibliographical references
487
Risàlat al-Tanbìh—see Dérenbourg (1880) Rubens (1881)—D. Rubens, Traité de Grammaire Syriaque, Paris 1881 Saadia, AlfàΩ al-Mishna—,hùùyçt (bùùk); 178–167 ,48–31 (dùùyçt) jy wnnwçl ynwla ùrhm 172–147 Sab‘ìn LafΩa—see Kitàb al- Sab'ìn LafΩa Sáenz-Badillos (1980)—A. Sáenz-Badillos, Teshubot de Dunash ben Labrat, Granada, 1980 Sáenz-Badillos (1981)—A. Sáenz-Badillos, “Les Teshubot de Dunas Ben Labrat Contre Le Mahberet de Menahem, Matériaux Nouveaux,” Mélanges D. Barthélémy, édité par P. Casseti, O. Keel et A. Schenker, (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 38) Fribourg-Göttingen 1981) Sáenz-Badillos (1986)—A. Sáenz-Badillos, Menahem Ben Saruq, Mahberet, Granada 1986 Safa Beroura—fùùxqt ,˚ampyl hùùn ùdhm ,arz[ ˆba μhrba ùrl hrwrb hpç Salmon ben Yeruhim—Commentary to Psalms 62–69, MS Oxford Bodley 29/2626; Psalms 1–89, ll. 1a–359b with Arabic translation, MS St. Petersburg, Firkowitch 1555; Psalms 1–72, MS St. Petersburg, Firkowitch II 1345 (= IMHM P 3316, F 10584/5) See also: Marwick (1956), Vajda (1971) Schreier (1904)—Saadia Al-fajjumi’s arabische Psalmenübersetzung und Commentar (Psalm 125–150) von Bernard Schreier, Berlin 1904 Schröter (1866)—frbwr ùxwh ,ˆwag hyd[s ybr l[ frbl ˆb ywlh çnwd twbwçt rps 1866 walsrb ,rfrç Sefer ha-Hassaga—MSS Casanatensa 2, 202, Rome (IMHM F 80, P 3350); see also: Maman Hassaga and Dérenbourg (1880); Mustal˙aq Sefer ha-Riqma—see Riqma Sefer ha-Shorashim—see Shorashim Shai (1975)—ymlçwryh πswy ùrb μwjnt ùrl (qypsmh ˚yrdmh) ypakla dçrmla ,hsdh ùç hùùlçt μylçwry ,rwfqwd rwbyj (ç-l twytwa) Shorashim—ˆb hnwy ùr br[ ˆwçlb wrbj qwdqdh trbjmm ynçh qljh awh μyçrçh rps wùùnrt ,r[kab zùùb ùdhm ,ˆwbt ˆb hdwhy ùr çdqh ˆwçl la wqyt[hw janùg MS Vatican 1 54/Ar. (IMHM F 693); MS El-Escorial G 1–6 1 (IMHM F 10352) Skoss (1933)—S.L. Skoss, Fragments Unpublished . . . Philological Works of Saadia Gaon, Philadelphia 1933 (= JQR N.S. 23 pp. 329–336) Skoss (1936–1945)—S.L. Skoss, The Hebrew-Arabic Dictionary of the Bible Known as Kitàb Jàmi' Al-AlfàΩ (Agron) of David ben Abraham Al-Fàsi the Karaite (Tenth Century), vol. I–II, Yale University Press, 1936–1945 Skoss (1942/3)—S.L. Skoss, “A Study of Inflection in Hebrew from Saadia Gaon’s Grammatical Work ‘Kutub al-Lughah’,” JQR, N.S. 33 (1942/3), pp. 171–212 Skoss (1951)—, gùùsrl hglla btk rpsm tyrb[b tw[wnth l[ rmamh , swqs . l. z. ç 184–174 bùùk ≈ybrt JQR 42, pp. 283–317 Skoss (1955)—S.L. Skoss, Saadia Gaon, the Earliest Hebrew Grammarian, Dropsie College, Philadelphia, 1955 (= Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 21 (1952), 75–100; 22 (1953), 65–90; 23 (1954), 59–73 Sperber (1959)—;hrwtl swlqnwa μwgrt :ùa ˚rk (1959) tymrab çrqh ybtk ,rbrpç ùa μynwrja μyaybnl ˆtnwy μwgrt :ùg ˚rk ;μynwçar μyaybnl ˆtnwy μwgrt :ùb ˚rk Steinschneider (1901)—M. Steinschneider, “Das Wörterbuch (al-Óàwi) des Gaon (Schulhauptes) Hai (gestorben 1038)” ZDMG, 55 (1901), pp. 129–134 Stern (1870b)— ydymlt yrbd l[ byçh rça frbl ˆb ywlh çnwd dymlth twbwçt ,ˆrfç ùz b qlj, 1870 hnywù) ,qwrs ˆb μjnm Stern (1870)—ˆb çnwd twbwçt l[ qwrs ˆba bq[y ˆb μjnm ydymlt twbwçt ,ˆrfç ùz 1870 hnyw ,μbr μjnm l[ qlj rça ywlh frbl Tafsìr 1. (gùùnrt) grwbnyryd ùhw ùy ùdhm ,hybr[lab hyrwtla ryspt ,hrwtl gùùsr μwgrt μ[ μylht .3 (wùùnrt) grwbnyryd ùhw y ùdhm ,hy[çy rps ryspt ,hy[çyl gùùsr μwgrt .2 ryspt ,ylçml gùùsr μwgrt .4 (wùùkçt) jpaq ùy ùrhm ,hyd[s wnbr ˆwagh çwrypw μwgrt
488
abbreviations and bibliographical references
hpaq ùy ryspt ,bwyal gùùsr μwgrt .5 (dùùnrt) frbml ùmw grwbnyryd ùy ùdhm ,hjrçw ylç rps ryspt ,twlygm çmjl gùùsr μwgrt .6 (fùùnrt) r[bab zùùb ùdhm ,hjrçw bwya .7 (bùùkçt) ùdhm ,twlygm çmjl Tafsìr to Psalms: see Margulies (1884), Lehman (1901), Hofman (1891), Baron (1900), Galliner (1903), Eisen (1934), Lauterbach (1903), Schreier (1904) Taj—μwgrt μ[ hrwt yçmwj hçmj awhw ùgat wnynwmdq ˆwçlb arqnh hrwt rtk rps hrwdhm , πadn μyyj ˆb μhrba-≈ùùk yqar[ πswy ˆb μwlç . . . μyhygmh . . . swlqnwa jùùkçt) tnqwtm Talmid Dunash—ydymlt yrbd l[ byçh rça . . . frbl ˆb ywlh çnwd dymlt twbwçt 1870 ˆrfç ùz ùdhm ,ywlh frbl ˆb çnwd twbwçt l[ . . . qwrs ˆb μjnm Talshir (1981)—aùùmçt μylçwry ,μynwrmwçh lç ymrah μwgrtb μyyjh yl[b twmç Téné (1972a)—47 rps tyrq ,ù (fùùkçt) ynwla l[ trwqyb ,ymwypla πswy ˆb hyd[sùù ,anf ùd ùm[ ,(bùùlçt) 553–545 Téné (1972)—D. Téné, “Linguistic Literature, Hebrew”, EJ 16, pp. 1352–1390 Téné (1980)—D. Téné, “The Earliest Comparisons of Hebrew with Aramaic and Arabic” in K. Koerner (ed.), Progress in Linguistic Historiography (= Studies in the History of Linguistics vol. 20, Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science, III, Amsterdam—John Benjamins B.V. 1980, pp. 355–377 Téné (1983)—ùyh twamb ybr[h rwbydh rwzab) ˆwçlh t[ydyw twnwçlh tawwçh ,anf ùd tkyr[b hbyçl w[yghb μyyj-ˆb bazl μyçgwm ù ˆwçl yrqjmùù ˚wtb ,(lbwqmh ˆyynml aùùyhw 287–237 m[ ,nùùmçt μylçwry ,ytprx [ùùbg ,anf ùd ,ˆtwd ùa ,rça-rb ùm Téné (1984)—see Willensky-Téné Teshubot Dunash on Sa'adia—see Schröter Teshubot Dunash—see Filipowski (1855), Sáenz-Badillos (1980) Teshubot Menahem’s students—see Stern (1870) Troupeau (1976)—G. Troupeau, Lexique-Index du Kitàb de Sibawayhi, Paris 1976 Tzahot—zùùpqt ˆampyl hùùn ùdhm ,arz[ ˆba μhrba ùrl twjx rps and see: Del Valle Ukashi (1999)—fùùnçt μylçwry ,(hyxfrsyd) wtryç yp l[ dygnh ˆwlym ,yçqw[ ùx "Ußùl—A. Neubauer, The Book of Hebrew Roots by Abù’l Walid Marwan Ibn Janah, Called Rabbi Jonah, dylwla ybal lwxala batk whw jyqntla batk ˆm ynaùtla zùgla, janùg ˆb ˆawrm, Oxford 1875 "Ußùl, Manuscripts—The British Library, Margoliouth; London, Or. 953 4837 (IMHM F 6457); Rouen, the Municipal Library 2 (IMHM F 6652, F 7336, P 881–4) Vajda (1971)—G. Vajda, Deux Commentaires Karaites sur l’Ecclésiastes ˆb ˆwmls çwrypm tlhql μyjwry, Leiden 1971 Varela Moreno—Ma Encarnacion Varela Moreno, Te“ubot de Yehudi ben ”e“et, Granada 1981 Watad (1994)—ybr[h μrwqmb wyjnwml d[bm ùgwyj yùùr lç tynwçlh wtnçm ,dtw ù[ 1994 hpyj ,(ynwyxndrwqnwq ˆwlym llwk) yrb[h μmwgrtbw Wechter (1941)—P. Wechter, “Ibn Barùn’s Contribution to Comparative Hebrew Philology”, JAOS 61 (1941), pp. 172–187 Wechter (1947)—,f-j ,hqyrma ydwhyl hnçh rps ù tyrb[h twnçlbh twdlwtlùù ,stnp rfkww 389–371 ,ùm[ ,zùùçt qrwy wyn Wechter (1964)—P. Wechter, Ibn Barùn’s Arabic Works on Hebrew Grammar and Lexicography, Philadelphia, The Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Languages, 1964 Wensinck (1936–1939)—Wensinck, Concordance de la Tradition Musulmanne, Leiden, 1936–1939 Willensky-Téné—see Riqma Yastrow (1897)—M. Yastrow, The Weak and Geminative Verbs in Hebrew by Abù Zakarijja Yahya ibn Dawid of Fez known as Hayyug, Leiden 1897 Yellin (1942)—lawmçlw qalwg rçal ˆwrkz rps ,ùùfrbl ˆb çnwd twqbathùù ,ˆyly ùd 114–104 ùm[ ,bùùçt μylçwry ,lùùz ˆyylq Yellin (1945)—hùùçt μylçwry ,yrb[h qwdqdh twjtpth twdlwt ,ˆyly ùd
abbreviations and bibliographical references
489
Zarfati (1978)—jùùlçt μylçwry ,tyrb[ hqyfnms ,ytprx ym[-ˆb dg Zislin (1962)—ùgrpla wbal hynarb[la hglla yp ypakla batkla ˆm [fq ,ˆylsyz ùm ,ˆwrah Palestinskiy Sbornik 7 (70) (1962), pp. 178–184 Zislin (1965)—hynarb[la hglla yp ypakla batkla ˆm [fq ,ˆylsyz ùm, Kratkiye Soobashcheniya 86 (1965) 164–177 Zucker (1915)—˚ardtsala batk ,ywlh ysn ˆb rçbm ,rqwx ùm Zucker (1959)—fùùyçt ,ˆylqwrb hrwtl gùùsr μwgrt l[ ,rqwx ùm
GENERAL INDEX
Abraham b. Shelomo 392 Abraham HaBavli 38, 53, 54, 56, 382, 383, 405, 414 Abraham ibn Ezra see: Ibn Ezra Abramson 55, 144, 169, 282, 296, 297, 368, 371, 386, 387, 388–390, 408 Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn 53, 57, 102, 367, 368, 375–380, 383, 404, 405, 407, 414, 419–478 Abù Mas˙al al-"i'rabiy 98 Accent 196, 197 Accusative 187 Akkadian 417 Alancabuth 154 Alfàsi xv, 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 17, 18, 20–27, 34–39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 51–53, 55–59, 61–66, 70, 71, 77, 81, 84, 85, 87, 89–91, 95, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104–112, 116–119, 121, 126, 127, 129, 131, 133, 135–137, 173, 177, 182–275, 328, 356, 367, 368, 377, 383, 397, 400, 404, 405, 407, 408, 419–478 Alhandal 155 Al-Khalìl 400 Allony 93, 169, 170, 291, 296, 297, 302, 316, 384, 385, 386, 408, 423 Almargen 154 Al-Murshid al-Kàfi see: Tan˙um Yerushalmi Alvarde 154 'amal 376 Ankori 255 Arabicez Hebrew 160 Aramaism 175 Artificial words 173, 379 Arukh see: Nathan Assimilation 19 Assyrian 54 Babylonian Talmud see: Talmud Babylonian Tradition 332, 335 Bacher 2, 16, 22, 27, 32, 34, 54, 65, 72, 81, 85, 138, 140, 144, 148, 149, 152, 156, 163, 180, 277, 278, 281,
296, 299, 301, 302, 305, 317, 321, 335, 337, 339, 342–345, 348, 364, 365, 367, 368, 375, 376, 378, 384, 396, 400, 401, 408 Ballote 155 Bar 'Ali 336 Bar-Asher xvii Bar Bahlul 336 Bargès 257 Bargès-Goldberg 3 Baron 172, 257 Basal 10, 296, 297, 376 Basic vocabulary 406 Bauer-Leander 332 Baumgartner 202–204 BDB 414, 419–478 Becker xvi, 3, 10, 14, 17, 24, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 51, 55, 65, 81, 82, 100, 101, 106, 124, 137, 174, 180, 181, 257, 272, 278, 283, 299, 308, 323, 327, 329, 346, 349, 396, 407, 418, 420, 430, 434, 440, 444, 446, 448, 449, 451, 469 Ben Óayyim 452 Ben Labrat 1, 5, 14, 15, 18, 34, 35, 36, 42, 53–58, 86, 100, 127–129, 133, 135, 168, 169, 276, 281, 283, 289–295, 367, 398, 405, 406, 408, 409, 411, 414, 423, 419–478 Ben Saruq 1, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 18, 20, 22, 25, 32, 33, 37, 38, 41–43, 51, 53–55, 63, 64, 70, 71, 76, 86, 100, 101, 104, 106–109, 112, 119, 133, 168, 276–289, 331, 332, 367, 403, 404–406, 408, 409, 411, 414, 419–478 Ben Saruq’s disciples 14, 53, 276, 277, 282, 414, 419–478 Ben-Shammai 91, 260 Ben Sheshet 1, 14, 15, 40, 101, 276, 414, 419–478 Ben Yehuda 15, 155, 156, 335, 414, 417 Berber 31, 58, 401 Berliner 335 Birnbaum 173, 255
492
general index
Bismuth 155 Bland 174, 255 Blau 174, 452 Bois de corail 156 Brill 98 Brockelmann 136 Brody 13 Cairo Genizah xvii, 381 Chrisitan translation of the Bible Cimterre 154 comparative grammar see: grammatical comparisons Conjugations see: verb
209, 212, 215, 216, 267, 280, 317, 319, 323, 329, 337, 349, 350, 353, 355, 356, 357, 360, 361, 373, 382, 398, 401, 410 Even-Shoshan 211 Excursuses 62, 84, 127, 197, 200, 222, 228, 278, 410 388
Dagesh 33 Dalman 332 David b. Abraham see: Alfàsi David Qim˙i see: Qim˙i Declarative 164 Deliberate comparison 64, 115, 196 Denominative verb 186, 351, 378, 387 Dental 37 Derenbourg 31, 166, 172, 174, 175, 176, 310, 342, 352, 427, 457, 461 De Saussure xvi Descriptive 28 Diachronic xvi, 28, 29, 135, 409 Diacritical 321, 343, 399, 400 Dialectological 159 Diglossia 8, 9 Dotan 3, 165, 169–171, 283 Dozy 173, 320 Dunash ben Labrat see: Ben Labrat Dunash b. Tamìm 5, 11, 18, 21, 180, 381, 382, 388 Duval 336 Edomite 155 Egron see: Sa'adiah Ecker 172 Eisen 172, 257 Eldar 296 Ema 154 ENA 296 Eppenstein 2, 4, 15, 58, 174, 388, 396, 397 Epstein 54, 55, 72, 77, 142, 172, 191, 336 etymology/etymological xv, xvi, 21, 23, 28, 40, 41, 42, 43, 49, 59, 63, 66, 67, 74, 75, 76, 80, 97, 103, 106, 108–111, 114, 115, 118, 123, 137, 157, 197, 201, 202, 204, 208,
Firkowitch 296 Foreign words 22 Fraenkel 175 French 152–156 Frequency 123 Fuchs 86, 101, 120, 173, 388, 389, 390 Galliner 172, 175, 257 Garbell 164 Gender 185, 327, 384 Gesenius 164 Ginzburg 194, 212 Girafe 154 Goldenberg 39, 163–165, 169, 172, 296, Goshen-Gottschtein 386 Goldziher 255 Gottheil 336 Grammatical comparisons 103, 114, 128, 163, 183, 185, 197, 199, 208, 251, 294, 296, 297, 299, 312, 353, 375, 376, 381, 382, 383, 386, 392, 405 Greek xv, 339, 373 Gross 277, 279, 281, 290, 291, 411, 439 Guiraud 153 Guitare 154 HaBavli see: Abraham HaBavli HaBa˙ur see: Levita Óadìth 91, 98, 99, 401 Hai Ga"on 1, 3, 16, 17, 18, 63, 68, 70, 73, 82, 115, 282, 337, 367, 371–374, 383, 396, 405, 407, 408, 414, 419–478 Hagiographia see: Ketuvim Halakha 175 Halkin 58, 401 HaNagid 18, 380–382, 385, 414 Haneberg 172 hapax legomena 108, 119, 279 Harkavy 164, 177, 296, 371, 372, 373, 384 Óayyùj xvi, 5, 16, 39, 40, 53, 88, 103, 104, 193, 284, 296–298,
general index 305–307, 309–312, 360, 368, 372, 375, 376, 377, 383, 384, 385, 404, 405, 406, 408, 409, 414 Hebraism 174, 404, 452 Heterophonic letters 189, 203 Óimyar 47 Hirschfeld 162, 376, 378 historical 28, 202 Hofmann 257 Homoioteleuton 321 Homonymy 123, 193 Homophony 124 Hope, T.E. 154 Ibn al-Sarràj 376 Ibn Bal'am 1, 2, 7, 16, 17, 18, 21, 28, 34–37, 38, 53, 54, 57, 82, 85, 86, 101, 120, 138, 139, 140, 144, 172, 173, 310, 385–391, 388, 405, 407, 408, 414, 419–478 Ibn Barùn xvii, 1, 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 21, 28, 34–37, 40, 41, 46–49, 53, 58, 59, 82, 91, 100, 124, 134–136, 166, 173, 174, 177, 192, 299, 317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 392–402, 403, 404, 405, 407, 408, 419–478 Ibn Ezra 1, 2, 4, 13, 15, 32, 162, 173, 181, 302, 307, 332, 375, 380 Ibn Gikatilla 1, 16, 102, 381, 384, 385, 388, 394, 405, 407, 408, 414 Ibn Janà˙ xv, 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18–23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34–48, 53–58, 61, 62, 65, 66, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 81–83, 85, 87–95, 101–105, 107, 109, 110, 112–116, 118–123, 129, 130, 137–146, 148–152, 156, 158–160, 166, 168, 169, 172, 193, 212, 273, 299–370, 375, 385, 387, 388, 396, 397, 398, 400, 401, 402, 404–411, 414, 419–478 Ibn Quraysh xvi, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 11, 17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 27, 28, 30–32, 34–41, 46, 51, 53, 58, 65, 66, 72, 76, 81, 82, 100, 101, 123, 124, 134, 137, 174, 177, 180–181, 193, 257, 272, 283, 367, 368, 381, 396, 397, 401, 404–407, 408, 409, 414, 419–478 Ibn Tibbon 7, 48, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 78, 139–142, 144, 145, 148, 152, 153, 155–161, 300, 330, 341, 350, 357, 361, 364, 365
493
Inevitable comparisons 64, 104, 196, 203, 206, 283 Indo-European 23 Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew MSS, The National and University Library, Jerusalem 6, 146, 257, 301 Iraq 403 Isaac ibn Barùn see: Ibn Barùn Israel 403 Italian 152 Jamharat al-lughah 394 Japhet see: Yefet Jàmi al-AlfàΩ see: Alfàsi Jastrow 273, 334–336, 360 Jewish languages 40, 98 Jonah Ibn Janà˙ see: Ibn Janà˙ Jonathan see: Targum Yonathan Judah Óayyùj see: Óayyùj Judah ibn Bal'am see: Ibn Bal'am Judah ibn Quraysh see: Ibn Quraysh Judah ibn Tibbon see: Ibn Tibbon Judeo-Arabic 174, 175 Kadif, kataif 155 Karaites 93, 162, 173, 177, 191, 212, 255, 258, 259, 262, 264, 267, 367, 376, 397, 398, 404, 405, 417, 477 Kaufmann 277–279, 281, 283, 417 Ketib 377 Ketuvim’s Targum 109, 252, 339, 367 Kitàb al-Af 'àl "al-Mushtaqqa min al-"Asmà" 386 Kitàb al-'ayn 400 Kitàb al-"istighnà" see: HaNagid Kitàb al-Kàfi see: Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Kitàb al-Mushtamil see: Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Kitàb al-Muwàzana bayn al-Lugha al-'Ibràniyya wal-'Arabiyya see: Ibn Barùn Kitàb al-Luma' see: Ibn Janà˙ Kitàb al-Nutaf see: Óayyùj Kitàb al-tadhkìr wa-l-ta"nìth 384 Kitàb al-"Ußùl see: Ibn Janà˙ Kitàb al-'uqùd see: Abù-l-Faraj Hàrùn Kitàb al-Tanqì˙ see: Ibn Janà˙ Kitàb Óurùf al-ma'ànì 386 Kitàb Jàmi al-AlfàΩ see: Alfàsi Kittle-Kahle 332 Klar 172 Kutub al-lu©ah see: Sa'adiah
494
general index
Koehler-Baumgartner 203, 414, 417, 419–478 Kohut 334 Kokowtzow 2, 3, 9, 37, 58, 139, 140, 174, 296, 297, 298, 317, 380, 382, 384, 386, 388, 392, 396, 398, 402 Kopf 173, 303, 317, 318, 371 Kosowski 334, 336 La'az 153, 155, 156 Labials 37 Lammens 154 Lane 321 Laryngeals 37 Latin 155, 156, 401 Latin translation of the Bible 155 Lauterbach 172, 257 Lehmann 257 Letter interchanges 32, 33, 34, 36–38, 188–192, 201, 210, 214, 233, 234, 291–293, 316, 317, 321, 322, 333, 357, 373, 387, 392, 399, 400, 403, 423, 427 Letter substitutions see: letter interchanges Levi 336 Levita 207, 273, 286, 335, 341 Lexicology-lexicography 119, 127, 128, 138–161, 196–197, 204, 210, 254, 309, 310, 312, 316, 321, 326, 328, 330, 331, 344, 395, 411 Lieberman 334 Limpidity see: transparency Linguals 37 Liqqutei Qadmoniot see: Pinsker Luma' see: Ibn Janà˙ Ma˙beret see: Ben Saruq Malter 106, 172 Maman 87, 137, 164, 165, 259, 296, 299, 369, 371, 373, 376, 377, 384, 385, 386, 388, 407, 408 Mandille 155 Mappiq 20 Margaliouth 320 Margulies 257, 477 Marouzeau xv Mastic 155 Maßdar 130, 376 Masora 19, 345, 377 Mekhilta 334 Mena˙em ben Saruq see: Ben Saruq Mena˙em’s disciples see: Ben Saruq’s disciples
Meillet 23 Metaphor 42, 49, 200, 282, 350, 423 Metathesis 194, 204, 232, 297, 322, 323, 324, 334, 343, 344, 388, 400, 401, 403, 433 Metonymy 361 Meturgeman see: Levita Mevasser Ha-Levi 165 Middle Arabic 182 Middle East 403 Mishnah 55, 371 Moreh Nevukhim 58 Morpheme 185, 294, 297, 332, 377, 384 Morphology 296, 332, 353, 355, 377 Moscati 136 Mosheh HaKohen ibn Gikatilla see: Ibn Gikatilla Moshe ibn Ezra 58, 401 MS Alsheikh, San'a 451 MS Bern 277, 283 MS British Library 320, 321 MS El-Escorial 144, 149, 306, 348 MS Hamburg 283 MS Leiden 334 MS Munich 334 MS Oxford 300, 306, 321, 342, 346, 367 MS Peterburg 375 MS Rome 144, 146, 306 MS Rouen see: Rouen MS MS Vatican 149, 334 Munk 106, 162, 172, 380 Muraoka xviii Mustal˙aq see: Ibn Janà˙ Muwàzana see: Ibn Barùn Nahawendi 255 Narkissos 339 Nathan ben Ye˙iel 142, 273, 335, 336 Natron 155 Netzer 14, 212, 251 Nir xvi Neubauer 6, 149, 152, 255, 300, 312, 319, 320, 321, 337, 341, 342, 344–346, 348, 383, 447 North Africa 403, 404 Number 185, 187, 384, 385 Numeral 187 Obadiah Ha-Sepharadi 146 Onqelos 55, 176, 206, 207, 212, 252, 286, 335, 341
general index Opuscules see: Ibn Janà˙ Otiyyot ha-'inyanim 386 Palatals 37 Palestinian Targum 252, 254 Papegai 154 Partridge 156 Payne-Smith 336 Perdix 156 Perez 16, 21, 23, 28, 81, 101, 172, 278, 280, 283, 381, 386, 388, 389, 390 Permutation 371 Persian words 27, 202 Philipowski 42, 277, 284, 286, 434, 439 Phonetics-phonology 40, 59, 122, 189, 210, 215 Pinsker 1, 3, 81, 255, 277, 283 Polysemy 43 Possessive pronoun 294 Pottier xvi Poznanski 1, 2, 5, 81, 85, 101, 102, 162, 255, 301, 371, 372, 373, 375, 376, 377–379, 384, 385, 386, 388–390, 406, 408 Preposition 187, 215, 310, 387 Provençal 152, 153 Peshitta 207 Pseudo-Jonathan 207, 252, 254, 335 Qàfi˙ 164, 166, 167, 191, 257, 261, 262, 271, 477 Qeri 294, 377 Qim˙i 20, 153 Qirqisani 255 Qumisi 255 Qur"àn 79, 98, 173, 175, 401 Rabbenu Óanan"el 334 Rabbenu Tam 42 Rabbinic Hebrew 74, 205, 212, 360, 372, 407, 449 Radaq see: Qim˙i Rabbi Aqiba 443 Rabinovitsch 281 Rashi 281, 332, 334 Razhabi 2, 172, 175, 343, 346, 347, 451 Resh Laqish 369 Realia 96, 120, 152, 154, 175 Rieder 207, 335 Riqma see: Ibn Janà˙ Risàla see: Ibn Quraysh
495
Risàlat al-tanbìh see: Ibn Janà˙ Risàlat al-taqrìb wa-t-tashìl see: Ibn Janà˙ Risàlat al-taswi"a see: Ibn Janà˙ Root theory xv, 39, 117, 309, 322, 404, 405, 406 Rouen MS 7, 174, 273, 299–316, 345, 346, 364, 365, 367, 405, 411, 414, 419–478 Rubens 54 Sa'adiah Gaon 1, 4, 5, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 41, 54–57, 65, 68, 70, 71, 72, 81, 85, 86, 93, 102, 162–179, 181, 191, 193, 217, 255–257, 259, 262–264, 266–271, 273, 281, 289, 291, 310, 311, 316, 324, 365, 367, 375, 379, 386, 388, 396, 397, 398, 403, 405–409, 411, 414, 419–478 Sab'ìn lafΩa see: Sa'adiah Gaon Sacre 154 Sáenz-Badillos 6, 41, 42, 128, 129, 276, 278, 281, 283, 284, 290, 291, 293, 295, 409, 434, 439 Safah Berurah see: Ibn Ezra Safran 154 Sahin 155 Salmon b. Yeru˙im 1, 11, 86, 93, 255, 256, 258–260, 263–273, 275, 404, 408 Sandal, Santal 154 Schreier 257 Schroeter 15, 163, 281, 289, 293, 294, 295, 432 Sarfatti xvi Schwartz 58 Second Targum to Esther 341 Sefer Ha-Ma'aneh 342 Sefat Yeter see: Ibn Ezra Sefer haRiqmah see: Ibn Janà˙ Sefer HaShorashim see: Ibn Janà˙ Sefer Moznayim see: Ibn Ezra Semanteme 42, 407, 409 Semantics/semantic comparisons 40, 41, 42, 47, 59, 66, 67, 80, 103, 128, 200, 203, 204, 217, 219, 220, 229, 348–350, 353, 360, 361, 373, 388, 390 semantic transparency xvi, 115, 123, 130, Shay 81 Shemuel HaNagid see: HaNagid Sherira Ga"on 72, 114, 333, 334, 336, 339, 341, 358 Shift 29
496
general index
Shorashim see: Ibn Janà˙ Sibawayhi 98 Sibilant 19 Signifiant-signifié 31, 120, 122, 141, 145, 216–219, 303, 344, 351 Skoss 3, 5, 88, 163, 164, 182, 185, 188, 194, 203, 212, 233, 236, 251–253, 255, 272, 367 Solomon b. Joseph b. 'Iyyob 342 Spain 403 Spanish 152 Sperber 207, 273, 335, 340, 341 Steinschneider 3, 371, 372, 408 Stern 40 Stevenson 332 Storax 155 Strack 334 Stylistic comparisons 165 Substitution see: letter Sumerian 417 Syntax 164 Syriac 53, 72, 336 Syrian 53 Ta"àwur 401 Tafsìr see: Sa'adiah Gaon Tajnìs see: Ibn Bal'am Talmud 9, 55, 72, 113, 114, 121, 212, 334, 336, 369, 371 Tan˙um Yerushalmi 4 Targum Yonathan (b. Uzziel) 55, 188, 192, 194, 207, 286, 340, 356, 357 taß˙ìf 33, 37, 317, 318, 320, 322, 398–400, 404, 411 tauto-etymological 60, 222, 225, 326, 343 tautological definition 147, 411 Téné xvi, xvii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 32, 33, 34, 37, 38, 81, 84, 86, 106, 136, 138, 163, 177, 180, 181, 188, 215, 278, 280, 284, 317, 375, 384, 392, 399, 400, 402 Teshubot de Dunash b. Labrat see: Dunash b. Labrat Teshubot Dunash 'al Sa"adiah 133 Tosefta 334, 371 Transparency see: semantic transparency Troupeau 98 Tur-Sinai 106 "Ukashi 381 "Ußùl see: Ibn Janà˙
Varela-Moreno 40 variant readings 26, 52, 94, 192, 194, 210, 213, 233, 235, 249, 250, 262, 265, 283, 331, 335, 340, 341 Verbs: Conjugations 19, 20, 163, 164, 183, 184, 187, 197, 297, 332, 346, 382, 387 I–n 193 I–y 39, 117 II–y 103 III–aleph 39 III–y 39, 310, 322, 415 Geminates 39, 103, 193, 311 Tenses 164, 184, 185, 332 Vowels 193, 210, 215 Watad 296 Wechter 13, 32, 58, 106, 172, 180, 278, 283, 296, 317, 318, 392, 394, 396, 398, 401, 402, 449 Wensinck 91, 98 Wilensky 2, 318, 321, 340, 367 Wilensky-Téné 2, 367 Word loan 25–27, 30 Yefet 93, 257–272, 404 Yehuda"i Ga"on 339 Yehudi b. Sheshet see: Ben Sheshet Yeivin 332 Yellin 164, 280 Zero term 51, 58, 59, 83, 196, 236, 245, 246, 250, 286, 391, 395 Zislin 377 Zucker 165, 172, 175
[, j, h, a 19 yòòwha 33, 65, 280, 403 μynagh rxwa 54, 336 ˆrtçja 27 tw[dw twnwma see: Sa'adiah hra[tsa 27, 52 lxa 296 ò≈artqa 27, 52 tyrwça 53, 54 qaqtça see: qtçm ˚artça 58 qapta 25, 58 hrwg 32 hlyòkd 27 twlwdg twklh 339 yqyqj 223
general index [wdy 143, 303, 312 w[mçmk 41, 42, 51, 58, 86, 249, 250, 276–283, 290, 291, 295, 411
ò≈jmla çdwqh ˆwçl 29 h/snaògm 25, 40, 58, 59, 322, 343, 360, 366, 396, 410
lmhm 371 hqbafm 40 [wmsm 282 ra[tsm 282 yn[m 40 μwl[m 395 πwr[m 88, 143, 159, 302–304, 312, 316, 325, 326
μòkpm 165 hnçm 242, 245, 325 qtçm 23, 57
yfbn 54 ryòfn 26, 27 ysrws 54 twawpr yrps 72 swk[la qyrf ˆm :swk[ 32 h[wmsm yl[ 213–215, 250 ò≈jm ybr[ 21, 24 yntl[p/ynytyç[ 163 rwp 27 twrhf rdsl μynwagh çwryp 72, 77, 334
hjaxp 296 blqlab :blq 32 twjtpw twxmq 19 μyrbdmh çar 178, 406 dwmlt 246 gòòsr l[ twbwçt 85, 163, 281
497
STUDIES IN SEMITIC LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS 3. Corré, A.D. The Daughter of My People. Arabic and Hebrew Paraphrases of Jeremiah 8.13-9.23. 1971. ISBN 90 04 02552 9 5. Grand’Henry, J. Les parlers arabes de la région du Mza¯ b (Sahara algérien). 1976. ISBN 90 04 04533 3 6. Bravmann, M.M. Studies in Semitic Philology. 1977. ISBN 90 04 04743 3 8. Fenech, E. Contemporary Journalistic Maltese. An Analytical and Comparative Study. 1978. ISBN 90 04 05756 0 9. Hospers, J.H. (ed.). General Linguistics and the Teaching of Dead HamitoSemitic Languages. Proceedings of the Symposium held in Groningen, 7th8th November 1975, on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Semitic Studies and Near Eastern Archaeology of the State University at Groningen. 1978. ISBN 90 04 05806 0 12. Hoftijzer, J. A Search for Method. A Study in the Syntactic Use of the Hlocale in Classical Hebrew. With the collaboration of H.R. van der Laan and N.P. de Koo. 1981. ISBN 90 04 06257 2 13. Murtonen, A. Hebrew in its West Semitic Setting. A Comparative Survey of Non-Masoretic Hebrew Dialects and Traditions. Part I. A Comparative Lexicon. Section A. Proper Names. 1986. ISBN 90 04 07245 4 Section Ba. Root System: Hebrew Material. 1988. ISBN 90 04 08064 3 Section Bb. Root System: Comparative Material and Discussion. Sections C, D and E: Numerals under 100, Pronouns, Particles. 1989. ISBN 90 04 08899 7 14. Retsö, J. Diathesis in the Semitic Languages. A Comparative Morphological Study. 1989. ISBN 90 04 08818 0 15. Rouchdy, A. Nubians and the Nubian Language in Contemporary Egypt. A Case of Cultural and Linguistic Contact. 1991. ISBN 90 04 09197 1 16. Murtonen, A. Hebrew in its West Semitic Setting. A Comparative Survey of Non-Masoretic Hebrew Dialects and Traditions. Part 2. Phonetics and Phonology. Part 3. Morphosyntactics. 1990. ISBN 90 04 09309 5 17. Jongeling K., H.L. Murre-van den Berg & L. van Rompay (eds.). Studies in Hebrew and Aramaic Syntax. Presented to Professor J. Hoftijzer on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday. 1991. ISBN 90 04 09520 9 18. Cadora, F.J. Bedouin, Village, and Urban Arabic. An Ecolinguistic Study. 1992. ISBN 90 04 09627 2 19. Versteegh, C.H.M. Arabic Grammar and Qur"a¯ nic Exegesis in Early Islam. 1993. ISBN 90 04 09845 3 20. Humbert, G. Les voies de la transmission du Kita¯ b de SÊbawayhi. 1995. ISBN 90 04 09918 2 21. Mifsud, M. Loan Verbs in Maltese. A Descriptive and Comparative Study. 1995. ISBN 90 04 10091 1 22. Joosten, J. The Syriac Language of the Peshitta and Old Syriac Versions of Matthew. Syntactic Structure, Inner-Syriac Developments and Translation Technique. 1996. ISBN 90 04 10036 9 23. Bernards, M. Changing Traditions. Al-Mubarrad’s Refutation of SÊbawayh and the Subsequent Reception of the Kita¯ b. 1997. ISBN 90 04 10595 6
24. Belnap, R.K. and N. Haeri. Structuralist Studies in Arabic Linguistics. Charles A. Ferguson’s Papers, 1954-1994. 1997. ISBN 90 04 10511 5 25. Talmon R. Arabic Grammar in its Formative Age. Kita¯ b al-"Ayn and its Attribution to ]alÊl b. Ah.mad. 1997. ISBN 90 04 10812 2 26. Testen, D.D. Parallels in Semitic Linguistics. The Development of Arabic la- and Related Semitic Particles. 1998. ISBN 90 04 10973 0 27. Bolozky, S. Measuring Productivity in Word Formation. The Case of Israeli Hebrew. 1999. ISBN 90 04 11252 9 28. Ermers, R. Arabic Grammars of Turkic. The Arabic Linguistic Model Applied to Foreign Languages & Translation of #Abu- ayya-n al-#AndalusÊ’s Kita-b al-"Idra-k liLisa-n al-"Atra-k. 1999. ISBN 90 04 113061 29. Rabin, Ch. The Development of the Syntax of Post-Biblical Hebrew. 1999. ISBN 90 04 11433 5 30. Piamenta, M. Jewish Life in Arabic Language and Jerusalem Arabic in Communal Perspective. A Lexical-Semantic Study. 2000. ISBN 90 04 11762 8 31. Kinberg, N. ; Versteegh, K. (ed.). Studies in the Linguistic Structure of Classical Arabic. 2001. ISBN 90 04 11765 2 32. Khan, G. The Early Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought. Including a Critical Edition, Translation and Analysis of the Diqduq of "Abå Ya#qåb Yåsuf ibn NåÈ on the Hagiographa. 2000. ISBN 90 04 11933 7 33. Zammit, M.R. A Comparative Lexical Study of Qur"§nic Arabic. ISBN 90 04 11801 2 (in preparation) 34. Bachra, B.N. The Phonological Structure of the Verbal Roots in Arabic and Hebrew. 2001. ISBN 90 04 12008 4 35. Åkesson, J. Arabic Morphology and Phonology. Based on the Mar§È al-arw§È by AÈmad b. #AlÊ b. Mas#åd. Presented with an Introduction, Arabic Edition, English Translation and Commentary. 2001. ISBN 90 04 12028 9 36. Khan, G. The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Qaraqosh. 2002. ISBN 90 04 12863 8 37. Khan, G., Ángeles Gallego, M. and Olszowy-Schlanger, J. The Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought in its Classical Form. A Critical Edition and English Translation of al-Kit§b al-K§fÊ fÊ al-LuÇa al-#Ibr§niyya by "Abå al-Faraj H§rån ibn al-Faraj. 2 Vols. 2003. ISBN 90 04 13272 4 (Set), ISBN 90 04 13311 9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 90 04 13312 7 (Vol. 2) 38. Haak, M., De Jong, R., Versteegh, K. (eds.). Approaches to Arabic Dialects. A Collection of Articles presented to Manfred Woidich on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13206 6 39. Takács, G. (ed.). Egyptian and Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) Studies in Memoriam W. Vycichl. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13245 7 40. Maman, A. Comparative Semitic Philology in the Middle Ages. From Sa#adiah Gaon to Ibn Barån (10th-12th C.). 2004. ISBN 90 04 13620 7 41. Van Peursen, W.Th. The Verbal System in the Hebrew Text of Ben Sira. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13667 3 42. Elgibali, A. Investigating Arabic. Current Parameters in Analysis and Learning. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13792 0 43. Florentin, M. Late Samaritan Hebrew. A Linguistic Analysis of Its Different Types. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13841 2 44. Khan, G. The Jewish Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Sulemaniyya and \alabja. 2004. ISBN 90 04 13869 2
