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Medieval Hebrew
Medieval Hebrew was a literary and liturgical language that existed between the 4th and 19th century. It was not commonly used as a spoken language, but mainly in written form by rabbis, scholars and poets. Medieval Hebrew had many features distinguishing it from older forms of Hebrew. These affected grammar, syntax, sentence structure, and also included a wide variety of new lexical items, which were either based on older forms or borrowed from other languages, especially Aramaic, Koine Greek and Latin.Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Hebreeuwse taal. §1. Oud-Hebreeuws en Midden-Hebreeuws". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum. History In the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the grammarians of Classical Arabic. Important Hebrew grammarians were Judah ben David Hayyuj and Jonah ibn Janah. A great deal of poetry wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew (, or ), also known as Israeli Hebrew or simply Hebrew, is the Standard language, standard form of the Hebrew language spoken today. It is the only surviving Canaanite language, as well as one of the List of languages by first written account, oldest languages still spoken as a native language, native language, on account of Hebrew being attested since the 2nd millennium BC. It uses the Hebrew Alphabet, an Abjad, abjad script written from right-to-left. The current standard was Codification (linguistics), codified as part of the revival of Hebrew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and now serves as the Official language, sole official and national language of the State of Israel, where it is Languages of Israel, predominantly spoken by over 9 million people. Thus, Modern Hebrew is near universally regarded as the most successful instance of language revitalization in history. A Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic langu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written and spoken in different varieties for over three thousand years. Aramaic served as a language of public life and administration of ancient kingdoms and empires, particularly the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Neo-Babylonian Empire, and Achaemenid Empire, and also as a language of divine worship and religious study within Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism. Several modern varieties of Aramaic are still spoken. The modern eastern branch is spoken by Assyrians, Mandeans, and Mizrahi Jews.{{cite book , last1=Huehnergard , first1=John , author-link1=John Huehnergard , last2=Rubin , first2=Aaron D. , author-link2=Aaron D. Rubin , date=2011 , editor-last=Weninger , editor-first=Stefan , title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook , pub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piyyut
A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author. Many piyyuṭim are familiar to regular attendees of synagogue services. For example, the best-known piyyuṭ may be ''Adon Olam'' "Lord of the World." Its poetic form consists of a repeated rhythmic pattern of short-long-long-long (the so-called hazaj meter). It is so beloved that it is often sung after many synagogue services after the ritual nightly recitation of the Shema and during the morning ritual of putting on tefillin. Another beloved piyyuṭ is ''Yigdal'' "May God be Hallowed," which is based upon the thirteen principles of faith set forth by Maimonides. Scholars of piyyuṭ today include Shulamit Elizur and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses Ibn Ezra
Moses ben Jacob ibn Ezra, known as Ha-Sallaḥ ("writer of penitential prayers") (, ) was an Andalusi Jewish rabbi, philosopher, linguist, and poet. He was born in Granada about 1055–1060, and died after 1138. Ibn Ezra is considered to have had great influence in the Arabic literary world. He is considered one of Spain's greatest poets and was considered ahead of his time in his theories on the nature of poetry. One of the more revolutionary aspects of Ibn Ezra's poetry that has been debated is his definition of poetry as metaphor and how his poetry illuminates Aristotle's early ideas. The importance of ibn Ezra's philosophical works was minor compared to his poetry. They address his concept of the relationship between God and man. Biography Moses was born in Granada, Spain and received both a Hebrew education and a comprehensive education in Arabic literature. While living in Lucena, the "city of poetry", Ibn Ezra was a student of Isaac ibn Ghiyyat. He held a crucial adm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abraham Ibn Ezra
Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (, often abbreviated as ; ''Ibrāhim al-Mājid ibn Ezra''; also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, 1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167)''Jewish Encyclopedia''online; '' Chambers Biographical Dictionary'' gives the dates 1092/93 – 1167 was one of the most distinguished Jewish biblical commentators and philosophers of the Middle Ages. He was born in Tudela, Taifa of Zaragoza (now Navarre). Biography Abraham Ibn Ezra was born in Tudela, one of the oldest and most important Jewish communities in Navarre. At the time, the town was under the rule of the emirs of the Muslim Taifa of Zaragoza. However, when he later moved to Córdoba, he claimed it was his birthplace. Ultimately, most scholars agree that his place of birth was Tudela. From outside sources, little is known of ibn Ezra's family; however, he wrote of a marriage to a wife who produced five children. While it is believed four died early, the last-born, Isaac, became an influ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Hakohen
David Hakohen (also haKohen or Ha-Kohen) was a late thirteenth-century Hebrew liturgical poet from Avignon, who wrote from a Jewish perspective in the troubadouresque tradition. His most published work, "Silence and Praise" (''Hishtaḥavi u-birkhi''), is in the form of a ''muwashshah ''Muwashshah'' ( ' ' girdled'; plural '; also ' 'girdling,' pl. ') is a strophic poetic form that developed in al-Andalus in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. The ', embodying the Iberian rhyme revolution, was the major Andalusi inno ...'', a prelude to prayer. Ironically, the ode pledges that the prayer will be silent. It has been translated into English.The standard edition, in T. Carmi, ed. (1981), ''The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse'' (New York: Viking Press), 396–97, has been partly revised in Paden and Paden, 231–32, and Ettin, 37. It opens like this: :Bow down, my soul, and kneel before my rock of refuge; :Praise the Lord and bless Him! :My lips are too low to sing his high pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judah Halevi
Judah haLevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; ; ; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Sephardic Jewish poet, physician and philosopher. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets and is celebrated for his secular and religious poems, many of which appear in present-day liturgy. Judah haLevi was born in Tudela, in the region of Navarre, then part of Muslim Spain. Although little is known about his early life or education, it is clear that he was well-versed in Arabic, Hebrew, and classical sciences including medicine and philosophy. In his youth, he began composing Hebrew poetry, and his reputation eventually reached Moses ibn Ezra in Granada. After initial difficulties in traveling due to political shifts, haLevi was able to establish literary connections across major Jewish centers in al-Andalus. HaLevi's poetic corpus includes a wide array of genres, including panegyrics, friendship poems, wine songs, riddles, didactic verse, and wedding poems. However, he is best remembered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ethics and satire. One source credits ibn Gabirol with creating a golem, possibly female, for household chores. In the 19th century it was discovered that medieval translators had Latinisation of names, Latinized Gabirol's name to Avicebron or Avencebrol and had translated his work on Jewish Neo-Platonic philosophy into a Latin form that had in the intervening centuries been highly regarded as a work of Islamic or Christian scholarship. As such, ibn Gabirol is well known in the history of philosophy for the doctrine that all things, including soul and intellect, are composed of matter and form ("Universal Hylomorphism"), and for his emphasis on divine will. Biography Little is known of Gabirol's life, and some sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunash Ben Labrat
Dunash ha-Levi ben Labrat (920/925 – after 985) (; ) was a medieval Jewish commentator, poet, and grammarian of the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. He is known for his philological commentary, ''Teshuvot Dunash'', and for his liturgical poems D'ror Yiqra and D'vai Haser. Life Dunash was, according to Moses ibn Ezra, born in Fes, the name ''Dunash'' being of Berber origin. In his youth he travelled to Baghdad to study with Saadia Gaon. On returning to Morocco he wrote many poems and became famous, and there were even poems written about him. He taught grammar and poetry. Hasdai ibn Shaprut, who lived in Córdoba, invited Dunash to Spain. Córdoba was then the center of culture and poetry in the Islamic world, and Hasdai endeavored to bring the best minds there. In Córdoba, Dunash met Menahem ben Saruq, also an important grammarian, though the two did not get along because of their many grammatical disputes as well as Menahem's tough criticism of Saadia Gaon, Du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonah Ibn Janah
Jonah ibn Janah () or Abū al-Walīd Marwān ibn Janāḥ (), (), was a Jewish rabbi, physician and Hebrew grammarian active in al-Andalus (Muslim-ruled Spain). Born in Córdoba, ibn Janah was mentored there by Isaac ibn Gikatilla and Isaac ibn Mar Saul ben Levi before he moved around 1012 due to the siege and sack of the city by Berbers. He then settled in Zaragoza, where he wrote ''Kitab al-Mustalhaq'', which expanded on the research of Judah ben David Hayyuj and led to a series of controversial exchanges with Samuel ibn Naghrillah that remained unresolved during their lifetimes. His magnum opus, ''Kitab al-Tanqīḥ'', contained both the first complete grammar for Hebrew and a dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, and is considered "the most influential Hebrew grammar for centuries" and a foundational text in Hebrew scholarship. Ibn Janah is considered a very influential scholar of Hebrew grammar; his works and theories were popular and cited by Hebrew scholars in Europe and the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judah Ben David Hayyuj
Judah ben David Hayyuj (, ) was a Maghrebi Jew of Al-Andalus born in North Africa. He was a linguist and is regarded as the father of Hebrew scientific grammar. Judah was born in Fez, then part of the Fatimid Caliphate, about 945. At an early age, he went to Córdoba during the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain, where he seems to have remained till his death about 1000. He was the first to propose that Hebrew words stem from triconsonantal roots. Career Hayyuj was a pupil of Menahem ben Saruq, whom he later helped to defend against the attacks of Dunash ben Labrat and his followers. Later in life, Hayyuj developed his theories about Hebrew grammar and was obliged to step forward as an opponent of the grammatical theories of his teacher. His thorough knowledge of Arabic grammatical literature led him to apply the theories elaborated by Arabic grammarians to Hebrew grammar and thus become the founder of the scientific study of that discipline. Preceding scholars had fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classical Arabic
Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, elevated prose and oratory, and is also the liturgical language of Islam, "Quranic" referring to the Quran. Classical Arabic is, furthermore, the Register (sociolinguistics), register of the Arabic language on which Modern Standard Arabic is based. Several written grammars of Classical Arabic were published with the exegesis of Arabic grammar being at times based on the existing texts and the works of previous texts, in addition to various early sources considered to be of most venerated genesis of Arabic. The primary focus of such works was to facilitate different linguistic aspects. Modern Standard Arabic is its direct descendant used today throughout the Arab world in writing and in formal speaking, for example prepared speeches, some r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
