The Grammatical Composition of the Early Hasidic Hebrew Tale
This paper constitutes an analysis of selected characteristic morphological and syntactic features attested in two formative collections of early Hasidic Hebrew tales, In Praise of the Ba‘al Shem Tov (1814) and The Tales of Nahman of Braslav (1815). The analysis attempts to reevaluate the common per...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2011
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| In: |
Journal of Semitic studies
Year: 2011, Volume: 56, Issue: 2, Pages: 327-343 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This paper constitutes an analysis of selected characteristic morphological and syntactic features attested in two formative collections of early Hasidic Hebrew tales, In Praise of the Ba‘al Shem Tov (1814) and The Tales of Nahman of Braslav (1815). The analysis attempts to reevaluate the common perception that Hasidic Hebrew is largely a blend of ungrammatical Rabbinic Hebrew and Yiddish, proposing instead that its grammar exhibits a more nuanced synthesis of Biblical Hebrew, Rabbinic Hebrew, Medieval Hebrew and Yiddish elements. The paper begins with an examination of key rabbinic elements in the corpus. These consist of qal inifinitives construct from I-nun and I-yod roots such as לידע and לישא, the particles - כש and - ש, and qaṭal chains in narrative. It continues with an assessment of biblical features, which frequently appear in close proximity to their rabbinic counterparts. Such features include the qal infinitive construct forms of I-nun and I-yod roots such as לדעת and לשאת , the particles כאשר and אשר, and the wayyiqṭol. It then scrutinizes the Yiddish influence visible in the corpus, consisting chiefly of lexical items and the formation of definite construct chains. The paper concludes by investigating the corpus’ frequent omission of the definite direct object particle את which may be traceable to both Yiddish and Medieval Hebrew. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-8556 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Semitic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jss/fgr006 |