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Judah ben David Hayyuj (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: ר׳ יְהוּדָה בֶּן דָּוִד חַיּוּג׳
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: أبو زكريا يحيى بن داؤد حيوج Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Dawūd Hayyūj) was a
Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews ...
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...
. He is regarded as the father of scientific grammar of the Hebrew language. He was born in
Fez, Morocco Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 m ...
, about 945. At an early age he went to Cordoba, where he seems to have remained till his death, which occurred about 1000 CE.


Career

Hayyuj was a pupil of
Menahem ben Saruq Menahem ben Saruq (also known as Menahem ben Jacob ibn Saruq, he, מנחם בן סרוק) was a Spanish-Jewish philologist of the tenth century CE. He was a skilled poet and polyglot. He was born in Tortosa around 920 and died around 970 in Cordob ...
, whom he later helped to defend against the attacks of Dunash ben Labrat and his followers. Later in life Hayyuj developed his own theories about Hebrew grammar, and was himself obliged to step forward as an opponent of the grammatical theories of his teacher. His thorough knowledge of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
grammatical literature led him to apply to the Hebrew grammar the theories elaborated by Arabic grammarians, and thus to become the founder of the scientific study of that discipline. The preceding scholars had found the greatest difficulty in accounting, by the laws of Hebrew morphology, for the divergences existing between the regular, or so-called "strong," verbs and the "weak" verbs. A hopeless confusion appeared to reign here in Hebrew; and much ingenuity was spent in endeavoring to discover the principles that controlled the
conjugation Conjugation or conjugate may refer to: Linguistics *Grammatical conjugation, the modification of a verb from its basic form * Emotive conjugation or Russell's conjugation, the use of loaded language Mathematics *Complex conjugation, the change ...
of the verbs. The weakness of Menahem's assertion that there are stems in Hebrew containing three letters, two letters, and one letter respectively was pointed out by Dunash; but, although the latter was on the road to a solution of the problem, it was left to Ḥayyuj to find the key.


His works

Hayyuj announced that all Hebrew stems consist of three letters, and maintained that when one of those letters was a "
vowel A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...
letter," such a letter could be regarded as "concealed" in diverse ways in the various verbal forms. To substantiate his theory he wrote the treatise upon which his reputation chiefly rests, the '' Kitab al-Af'al Dhawat Huruf al-Lin'' (The Book of Verbs Containing Weak Letters). The treatise is in three parts: the first is devoted to verbs whose first radical is a weak letter; the second to verbs whose second radical is weak; and the third to verbs whose third radical is weak. Within each division he furnishes what he considers a complete list of the verbs belonging to the class in question, enumerates various forms of the verb, and, when necessary, adds brief comments and explanations. Preceding each division the principles underlying the formation of the stems belonging to the division are systematically set forth in a series of introductory chapters. As a supplement to this treatise he wrote a second, which he called the '' Kitab al-Af'al Dhawat al-Mathalain'' (The Book of Verbs Containing Double Letters), and in which he points out the principles governing the verbs whose second and third radicals are alike. He furnishes a list of these verbs, together with their various forms occurring in the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
. Besides the two treatises on verbs Hayyuj wrote '' Kitab al-Tanqit'' (The Book of
Punctuation Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. A ...
). This work, probably written before his two chief treatises, is an attempt to set forth the features underlying the Masoretic use of the vowels and of the word-tone. In this work he deals chiefly with nouns, and its purpose is more of a practical than of a theoretical character. A fourth work, the '' Kitab al-Natf'' (The Book of Extracts), is known to have been written by Hayyuj, but only a fragment, unpublished as of the beginning of the 20th century, and a few quotations by later authors have survived. This was a supplement to his two grammatical works on the verb, and in it he noted the verbs omitted by him in the former treatises. In doing this he anticipated in a measure
ibn Janah Jonah ibn Janah or ibn Janach, born Abu al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ ( ar, أبو الوليد مروان بن جناح, or Marwan ibn Ganaḥ Hebrew: ), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in Al-Andalus, or Islamic ...
's '' Mustalhaq'' which was devoted to this very purpose. He arranged and discussed the verbal stems in question, not alphabetically, but in the order in which they occur in the Bible.


Influence

Hayyuj exerted an immense influence on succeeding generations. All later Hebrew grammarians up to the present day base their works on his; and the technical terms still employed in current Hebrew grammars are most of them simply translations of the Arabic terms employed by Hayyuj. His first three works were twice translated into Hebrew, first by Moses ibn Gikatilla and later by Abraham ibn Ezra. The following modern editions of his works have appeared: *Ewald and Dukes, "Beiträge zur Geschichte der Aeltesten Auslegung und Spracherklärung des Alten Testaments," Stuttgart, 1844. (i. 123, ii. 155; vol. iii. contains Ibn Ezra's translation of Hayyuj; linke
here
. *John W. Nutt, "Two Treatises on Verbs Containing Feeble and Double Letters by R. Jehuda Ḥayug of Fez: From a Hebrew Translation of the Original Arabic by R. Moses Gikatilla of Cordova; to Which Is Added the rabic text of theTreatise on Punctuation by the Same Author, Translated by Aben Ezra: Edited from Bodleian MSS. with an English Translation." London and Berlin, 1870 (linke
here
. *M. Jastrow, Jr., "The Weak and Geminative Verbs in Hebrew by . . . Hayyug, the Arabic Text Now Published for the First Time." Leyden, 1897. (Comp. Bacher in "J. Q. R." xi. 504-514.)


Editions

* Nasir Basal: '': כתאב אלנתאף לר׳ יהודה חיוג׳ itāb al-Nutaf le-R. Yehudah Ḥayyūj. A Critical Edition'' Texts and Studies in the Hebrew Language and Related Subjects 11. Tel Aviv 2001. * Daniel Sivan and Ali Wated: ''שלושת חיבורי הדקדוק של ר׳ יהודה חיוג׳ במקורם הערבי ובתרגום לעברית חדשה. מהדורה ביקורתית hree Treatises on Hebrew Grammar by R. Judah Ḥayyuj. A New Critical Edition of the Arabic Text with a Modern Hebrew Translation'' Beer Sheva 2011. * Aharon Maman and Ephraim ben-Porat: כִּתַאבּ אַלנֻּתַף: ‏פירושו הדקדוקי של ר׳ יהודה חיוג׳ לספרי נביאים בעיבוד עלי בן סלימן itâb al-Nutaf: R. Yehuda Ḥayyūj’s Philological Commentary to the Books of Prophets in ʿAli ibn Suleymân’s Compendium Texts and Studies, New Series 12. Jerusalem 2012.


Bibliography

*W. Bacher, ''Die Grammatische Terminologie, des ... Hajjug,'' Vienna, 1882 (comp. with this N. Porges in ''Monatsschrift, xxxii.285-288, 330-336); *W. Bacher, in Winter and Wünsche, ''Die Jüdische Literatur,'' ii.161-169; *Israelsohn, in ''R. E. J.'' xix.306; *J. Derenbourg, ib. xix.310; *Harkavy, ib. xxxi.288; *N. Porges, in ''Monatsschrift,'' xxxiv.321; *L. Luzzatto, in '' Il Vessillo Israelitico,'' xliv.385; *B. Drachman, ''Die Stellung und Bedeutung des J. Hajjug in der Geschichte der Hebräischen Grammatik,'' Breslau, 1885; *Morris Jastrow, Jr., ''Abu Zakarijja Jahja b. Dawud Hajjug und Seine Zwei Grammatischen Schriften über die Verben mit Schwachen Buchstaben und die Verben mit Doppelbuchstaben,'' Giessen, 1885.


References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayyuj, Yehuda ben David 945 births 1000 deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain 10th-century Jews of Al-Andalus Medieval Hebraists Grammarians of Hebrew Moroccan writers Linguists from Morocco People from Fez, Morocco 10th-century Jews 10th-century Moroccan people Medieval Moroccan Jews Hebrew linguists