Aaron D. Rubin
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Aaron David Rubin (born June 30, 1976) is an American
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
researcher. He is currently the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at
The University of Georgia ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
. From 2004 to 2023 he was Malvin and Lea Bank Professor of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, and Linguistics at
Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...
. His main area of study is the Semitic language family, focusing on
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
,
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 a ...
, and the modern languages of Southern Arabia, especially
Mehri Mehri or Mahri may refer to: * Mehri people, an ethnic group of Oman and Yemen * Mehri language, the Modern South Arabian language spoken by them * Mahri, Jammu and Kashmir, a village in India People * Abdelhamid Mehri (1926–2012), Algerian r ...
and
Jibbali Shehri (), also known as Jibbali ("mountain" language in Omani Arabic), is a Modern South Arabian language; it and the three island varieties of Soqoṭri comprise the eastern branch of Modern South Arabian. It is spoken by a small native popu ...
. He has also worked extensively on non-Semitic Jewish languages, as well as on Hebrew and Jewish manuscripts. At Penn State, he has taught numerous language courses (on Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, and
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
), as well lecture courses on the Bible, Jewish and Ancient Near Eastern literature, and the history of writing systems. He received a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
in 2016.


Education

Rubin received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in linguistics from the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
(1998, 1999), and Ph.D. degree in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
(2004). His M.A. thesis was titled "An Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of Egyptian and Semitic", and his PhD dissertation was titled "Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization".


Career


Work on Modern South Arabian

Some of Rubin's most significant contributions to the field of Semitics have been focused on the Modern South Arabian languages of Oman. His books, ''The Mehri Language of Oman'' (2010) and ''The Jibbali (Shaḥri) Language of Oman: Grammar and Texts'' (2014), were both the first grammars of those languages. The latter volume also included many texts, which were the first Jibbali texts published in over a century. His 2010 grammar of Mehri has been superseded by his ''Omani Mehri: A New Grammar with Texts'' (2018), which also includes over 100 texts. In addition to his grammars, he has published numerous articles on the Modern South Arabian languages.


Work on Jewish languages

In 2016, Rubin co-edited (with Lily Kahn) the ''Handbook of Jewish Languages.'' It includes descriptions of around 25 different Jewish languages, some of which (such as Israeli Amharic, Jewish Russian, and Jewish Malayalam) had been the subject of little to no previously published scholarship. Rubin's contribution on
Judeo-Italian Judeo-Italian (or Judaeo-Italian, Judæo-Italian, and other names including Italkian) is a group of endangered and extinct Jewish dialects, with only about 200 speakers in Italy and 250 total speakers today. The dialects are one of the Italia ...
is the most comprehensive reference available on that language. Rubin and Kahn also wrote ''Jewish Languages from A to Z'' (2020), including chapters on more than 40 different languages, and aimed at a more general audience. Rubin has also published the first work on Judeo-Urdu, namely, an edition and study of a 19th-century Hebrew–Urdu glossary, all written in Hebrew characters.


Publications


Books written

*''Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization'' (2005) *''Samuel David Luzzatto, Prolegomena to a Grammar of the Hebrew Language'' (2005) *''The Mehri Language of Oman'' (2010) *''A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages'' (2010) *''The Jibbali (Shaḥri) Language of Oman: Grammar and Texts'' (2014) *''A Unique Hebrew Glossary from India: An Analysis of Judeo-Urdu'' (2016) *''Omani Mehri: A New Grammar with Texts'' (2018) *''Jewish Languages from A to Z'' (with Lily Kahn, 2021)


Books edited

*''Studies in Classical Linguistics in Honor of
Philip Baldi Philip Baldi (born 1946) is an American linguist and classical scholar specializing in Indo-European studies. He is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Classics at Pennsylvania State University. Biography Baldi was born in Scranton, Pennsylvan ...
'' (with B. Richard Page, 2010) *''Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics'' (with Geoffrey Khan, et al., 2013) *''Epigraphy, Philology, and the Hebrew Bible'' (with Jeremy Hutton, 2015) *''Handbook of Jewish Languages'' (with Lily Kahn, 2016) (revised and updated paperback edition published in 2017) *''Linguistic and Philological Studies of the Hebrew Bible and its Manuscripts: In Honor of Gary A. Rendsburg'' (with Vincent D. Beiler, 2023)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Aaron D. 1976 births Living people Pennsylvania State University faculty University of Pennsylvania alumni Harvard University alumni Linguists from the United States