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The Linguistic Classification of the Reading Traditions of Biblical Hebrew: A Phyla-and-Waves Model

  • Benjamin Paul Kantor (author)
Metadata
TitleThe Linguistic Classification of the Reading Traditions of Biblical Hebrew
SubtitleA Phyla-and-Waves Model
ContributorBenjamin Paul Kantor (author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0210
Landing pagehttps://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0210
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
CopyrightBenjamin Kantor
PublisherOpen Book Publishers
Publication placeCambridge, UK
Published on2023-08-30
Series
  • Semitic Languages and Cultures vol. 19
  • ISSN Print: 2632-6906
  • ISSN Digital: 2632-6914
ISBN978-1-78374-953-9 (Paperback)
978-1-78374-954-6 (Hardback)
978-1-78374-955-3 (PDF)
Short abstractIn recent decades, the field of Biblical Hebrew philology and linguistics has been witness to a growing interest in the diverse traditions of Biblical Hebrew. Indeed, while there is a tendency for many students and scholars to conceive of Biblical Hebrew as equivalent with the Tiberian pointing of the Leningrad Codex as it appears in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), there are many other important reading traditions attested throughout history.
Long abstractIn recent decades, the field of Biblical Hebrew philology and linguistics has been witness to a growing interest in the diverse traditions of Biblical Hebrew. Indeed, while there is a tendency for many students and scholars to conceive of Biblical Hebrew as equivalent with the Tiberian pointing of the Leningrad Codex as it appears in Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS), there are many other important reading traditions attested throughout history. Origen’s Secunda reflects a late Roman reading tradition of Biblical Hebrew transcribed into Greek letters. Occasional transcriptions of Biblical Hebrew into Latin letters in Jerome’s commentaries similarly reflect a reading tradition from early Byzantine Palestine. In the medieval period, alongside Tiberian Hebrew we also find the Babylonian tradition and the Palestinian tradition. The modern oral reading tradition of the Samaritan community also likely has roots in the Second Temple period. Aside from these primary attestations of the reading traditions, there are a whole host of other modern reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew, from Ashkenazi, to Sephardi, and Yemenite. Despite the rich diversity of traditions of Biblical Hebrew at our fingertips, the linguistic relationship between them has never been mapped out. In this book, then, the phyla-and-waves methodology, which has been used for Semitic language classification, is used to map out the relationship between the main reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew throughout history.
Print length228 pages (xxii+216)
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Dimensions156 x 16 x 234 mm | 6.14" x 0.63" x 9.21" (Paperback)
156 x 19 x 234 mm | 6.14" x 0.75" x 9.21" (Hardback)
Weight438g | 15.45oz (Paperback)
612g | 21.59oz (Hardback)
Media3 illustrations
OCLC Number1398181921
LCCN2022361430
THEMA
  • CFF
  • QRMF1
BIC
  • CFF
  • CFP
BISAC
  • REL006020
  • LAN009010
LCC
  • PJ4579
Keywords
  • Biblical Hebrew
  • Philology
  • Tiberian pointing
  • Leningrad Codex
  • Byzantine Palestine
  • Medieval Hebrew
Contents

1. Introduction

(pp. 1–4)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor

2. Methodology

(pp. 5–19)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor

3. The Historical Attestations of the Biblical Hebrew Reading Traditions

(pp. 20–59)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor

4. PHYLA: ‘Shared Innovations’ among the Reading Traditions

(pp. 60–144)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor

5. WAVES: Influence, Contact, and Convergence

(pp. 145–180)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor

6. Relationship of the Reading Traditions

(pp. 181–185)
  • Benjamin Paul Kantor
Contributors

Benjamin Paul Kantor

(author)
Research Associate at University of Cambridge