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Some Considerations on the Problem of Diglossia in Biblical Hebrew*
in Annali Sezione OrientaleSearch for other papers by Maria Maddalena Colasuonno in
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This article challenges the notion of diglossia, invoked by Gary A. Rendsburg (1990) as one of the parameters of linguistic variation in Biblical Hebrew, from both the methodological and linguistic points of view.
Firstly, thus far the existence of diglossia in Biblical Hebrew has been widely accepted, although no Hebraist has demonstrated the functional specialization between spoken and written Hebrew (i.e. low vs. high varieties) in biblical times.
Secondly, among the alleged diglossic isoglosses presented by Rendsburg, 1) gender neutralisation; 2) -שֶׁ instead of אֲשֶׁר as nota relationis; and 3) the proleptic pronominal suffix are discussed.
Finally, by combining the sociolinguistic and pragmatic approaches this survey aims to cast new light on these debated isoglosses.
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5
Bar-Asher Siegal (2008) has formulated a new hypothesis in order to explain the use of masculine pronouns instead of the expected feminine ones and vice versa in the book of Ruth. He noticed that the unexpected forms almost always occur in the direct speech of Naomi, in contradistinction to the prosaic passages and the direct speech of Boaz. Hence, he infers that these are features of the feminine sociolect. I am uncertain that the attractive hypothesis formulated by Bar-Asher Siegal is actually reliable, since it does not justify all the occurrences in Ruth. Moreover, Bar-Asher Siegal’s hypothesis does not provide an explanation for the occurrences of these two phenomena in the other biblical books.
| Insgesamt | Letzte 365 Tage | In den letzten 30 Tagen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aufrufe von Kurzbeschreibungen | 436 | 54 | 3 |
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Some Considerations on the Problem of Diglossia in Biblical Hebrew*
in Annali Sezione OrientaleSearch for other papers by Maria Maddalena Colasuonno in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This article challenges the notion of diglossia, invoked by Gary A. Rendsburg (1990) as one of the parameters of linguistic variation in Biblical Hebrew, from both the methodological and linguistic points of view.
Firstly, thus far the existence of diglossia in Biblical Hebrew has been widely accepted, although no Hebraist has demonstrated the functional specialization between spoken and written Hebrew (i.e. low vs. high varieties) in biblical times.
Secondly, among the alleged diglossic isoglosses presented by Rendsburg, 1) gender neutralisation; 2) -שֶׁ instead of אֲשֶׁר as nota relationis; and 3) the proleptic pronominal suffix are discussed.
Finally, by combining the sociolinguistic and pragmatic approaches this survey aims to cast new light on these debated isoglosses.
| Insgesamt | Letzte 365 Tage | In den letzten 30 Tagen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aufrufe von Kurzbeschreibungen | 436 | 54 | 3 |
| Gesamttextansichten | 200 | 1 | 1 |
| PDF-Downloads | 62 | 2 | 1 |
