2261: Yiddish Masculine for Feminine Hebrew Loanwords Feb 23, 2021
Yiddish, a Germanic language, contains many Hebrew words with Hebrew plural forms, though it does not treat these the same as in actual Hebrew. For instance, the Yiddish form for both שבת (Shabbos) i.e. 'sabbath' and טלית (tallis) '[prayer] shawl' use the masculine plural ending ־ים (-im) even though in Hebrew they both pluralize with the feminine ending ־ות (Modern -ot, or Yiddish -os). In truth, these actually are masculine, and just take usually-feminine endings due to phonological reasons and a little bit of chance. Thus there is the Yiddish שבתים (Shabbossim) but Hebrew שבתות (Shabbatot). Notably perhaps, שבת clearly shows up as masculine in the Bible but only in the singular.
שבת שבתון הוא לכם
"It [masc.] is a sabbath of complete rest for you all".
2255: Hebrew Contronyms Feb 17, 2021
Hebrew has a causative form for verbs which effectively reverses the meaning of the word, so הוא לומד means 'he learns' and הוא מלמד means 'he teaches', from the same root. It also has a number of contronyms that don't need to change form at all. For instance ללכת usually means 'to go' and לבוא usually means 'to come' but in certain cases that can effectively switch, such as in בא השמש (literally: the sun is coming) referring to a Sunset.
2253: John Doe & Other Stand-In Names Feb 15, 2021
'John Doe' is the name given to men when there is not another name given for whatever reason for law enforcement in the US. More exist in the US for other purposes such as John Q. Public, and of course around the world similar names have been created. In Ancient Rome even the name was 'Numerius Negidius' for the defendant—a play on actual given names that comes to mean "I refuse to pay"—while 'Aulus Agerius', another pun-name from the verb 'agere' meaning 'to set in motion'. In some modern European countries another Latin one is used, but it isn't a pun; Nomen Nescio (n.n.) just means "I do not know the name". In religious Jewish contexts and sometimes secular Israeli ones, the name פלני אלמני (Ploni Almoni) is used as a stand-in, which is originally found in the Book of Ruth probably as a euphemism for Boaz. More on this at another point.
2236: Why Tu BShvat is called 'Tu' Jan 28, 2021
The Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat—which just ended if you read this at the time of publication—is named for the date: the 15th of the month of Shvat (שבט). 'Tu' (ט״ו) is not a number however though it is seen here and also in the holiday Tu B’Av. Indeed, Hebrew uses a quasi-decimalized numerical system for writing numbers based off the order of the alphabet, as with Greek numerals, but while numbers from ten (י), eleven (יא or 10+1), twelve (יב or 10+2) etc. just go in order that way with addition, 15 and 16 are represented ט״ו (9 + 6) and ט״ז (9 + 7) as to avoid writing out one of the spellings for a name of Gd. It just so happens טו would be pronounced 'tu', but in normal speech the word would be חמש-עשרה (chamesh-esre).
2216: Hebrew Causative Jan 8, 2020
In English, there are intensive adverbs or other adjuncts like 'very', 'well' and in the UK, 'bloody' all merely adding emphasis. In other languages, the intensive usually distinguishes the root meaning of a word, effectively the causative changes the intransitivity. For instance, the phrase הוא בא means "he comes" but in the causative form הוא מביא means "he brings" (i.e. he caused something else to 'come'). Hebrew uses many morphosyntactic systems in order to create meaning in verb stems and other prefixes are added for other tenses/aspects.
2213: pharaoh Jan 5, 2021
Although we might think of 'pharaoh' as a title that is otherwise sort of meaningless like 'king' or 'earl'—though in truth even though have an etymological reason—natively it made sense. 'Pharaoh' instead comes to English from the Hebrew פרעה (parōh) and even at this point it was basically meaningless, though some connect it with פרע meaning '(to) pay'. In Egyptian, the word was "pr ꜥꜣ" (estimated as 'par-aa') meaning literally 'big palace'. Indeed, the word originally literally referred to the residence, and not the person, but much like if someone were to say "news from the White House" to refer to the president of the USA, this got adopted as the general term for the ruler.
2209: How 'Caramel' and 'Cannon' are Related through a Semitic Root Jan 1, 2021
The word 'caramel' and 'cane' in English may actually be related through a root found in Biblical Hebrew. Indeed, the list of related words would also include 'canal', 'channel', 'cannon', and 'canon'. This is because while the '-mel' of 'caramel' comes from the Latin word for honey (mel), the 'cara-' most like comes from the Ancient Greek κᾰ́ννᾱ (kánnā) from a Semitic root also leading to the Hebrew קנה (kanë) which as a verb means 'to take' but as a noun refers to a hollow tube, usually meaning 'reed' or 'windpipe'. This sense of a hollow stick was retained in the English words mentioned above like 'cannon' or 'cane' (e.g. sugarcane) etc.. 'Canon', a more conceptual sort of thing usually denoting cultural or especially literary and artistic collections might seem odd on that list, but the original sense of 'canon' was 'standard' or 'measured' in the literal sense of a measuring stick. The way this transformed into ‘cara-’ is also not immediately obvious, but in Greek the [r] became an [n] and in Latin this ‘cannamellis’ before morphing into ‘calamellus’, where in Spanish the [l] developed into an [r], which are fairly close sounds.
For more on how those sounds morph: see this on kiSwahili.
2204: -ite Dec 27, 2020
In Biblical translations, it is very common to come across tribal demonyms ending in -ite, such as:
"...Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites..." (Deuteronomy 20:17) but this has little relation to the text itself. Indeed, just compare the modern 'Israeli' and Biblical 'Israelite' and the linguistic discrepancy is perhaps more noticeable. In Hebrew, these are all pluralized with the same ending:
החתי והאמרי הכנעני והפרזי החוי והיבוסי
but this ending is pronounced [i] with no hint of a final [t]. In fact that's a function of Greek and not of Hebrew. Moreover, many place-names around areas with no contact to Greek such as Southeast Asia still take -ite like Bandung-Bandungite (Indonesia), Kuala Lumpur-KLite (Malaysia), Kuching-Kuchingite (Malaysia), Vizag-Vizagite (India), and Seoul-Seoulite (Korea). The -ite ending is found from English names for places around the world.
2197: Biblical Hebrew has No Tenses Dec 20, 2020
Biblical Hebrew contains no verb tenses, a fact which is often misunderstood. Hebrew did of course have a way of expressing the action—just not time—in verbs through aspect. Unlike, in English however wherein aspect only can express Perfect (i.e. that the action is completed) and the Imperfect (i.e. that the action is incomplete), using the prefix וְ (v-) known as 'vav', other verbs could signal sequence. In other words, there is morphology to indicate that the action came in sequence (after) another whether that is in actual time or simply conceptual.
Somewhat counterintuitively sounding, the Sequential Perfect expresses similar meaning to the Imperfect and vice versa, but this is because if a Perfect verb is followed by a verb in the Sequential Perfect, it would have to have the sense of ongoing action. For instance”I read a book and I ate an apple” (both Perfect) does not actually show the sequence of time how “I read a book and I am eating an apple“ would and hence the Sequential Perfect looks almost the same but acts like an Imperfect.
Of course, there were ways of expressing the concepts that English uses tense to describe using other words and structures, but it is technically wrong to use the term 'tense'. This use of the וְ prefix is known as the Vav Consecutive form. This is distinct from the Vav Conjunctive, which merely expresses the same meaning as the English 'and'. This is why often Biblical translations will often write 'and' even at the beginning of sentences or indeed chapters. Modern Hebrew and even Mishnaic Hebrew does employ tenses, but these developed closer to the Indo-European system.
2193: Why the Spelling for the Maccabees is Controversial Dec 16, 2020
An important source to understanding the story behind the holiday of Chanuka is from The Book of the Maccabees, but exactly how to spell 'Maccabees' in Hebrew is unclear. These days, it is 'מכבים' but irrespective of that it might be surprising there is the ambiguity at all. This is actually because the oldest known records are in Greek, where is it universally Μακκαβαῖοι (Makkabaioi), despite the fact the entire subject matter focuses on fighting the Greeks militarily and culturally. It is unclear whether the name originates, as is most commonly understood, as an acronym written on their flags from מי־כמכה באלם יי (mi chamocha ba'elim [Hashem]) meaning "who is like You among the heavens [G-d]?". The name could also come as a reference to the military strength, with [מקבי[ם meaning 'hammer' in Aramaic. Keep in mind that while this is often taken to be a family name, as with Yehuda Maccabee, their actual dynastic name being חשמונאים ([the] Hasmonaim).
2187: Hebrew and Arabic Dual Dec 10, 2020
The dual—a distinct plural for 2 of something—is common around many languages of the world, but there are differences in how its used. In Hebrew and Arabic, especially in the older forms of those languages, use of the dual seems compulsory, but this is not universally so. In Arabic it is simpler that any word, regardless of gender, will simply take ان (-ān) or the more modern ين (-ain) but this is being lost in some dialects. In Hebrew this is more complicated, with several different factors like gender and semantics factoring in. Often this is distinguished between the masculine plural ־ים (-im) and the dual ־יים (ayim), such as
יום / יומיים / ימים
(yōm / yomạyim / yāmīm) for 'day', ‘two days', and 'days' but often there is no written distinction, especially for masculine nouns, as with עין / עיניים (ayin / ʿēnạyim) for 'eye(s)'. Indeed, in Modern Hebrew, there is no productive use of the dual, but words for time and body parts often still retain it. Notably, in Hebrew, only nouns can have dual, so adjectives, verbs, etc. that need to correspond with a dual will usually use the standard plural.
2182: Hebrew Cardinal Directions Dec 5, 2020
While the terms in English for cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—all may seem fairly arbitrary today, though some did have semantic significance in the distant past to the Sun. Modern Hebrew not only has generally meaningful cardinal directions but also some distinct Biblical counterparts. For instance, 'west' is מערב (mayrev) related to ערב (arev) meaning 'evening', when the Sun would be setting. Likewise, contrast ים (yam) seen in the Bible meaning 'sea' but also as a reference for 'west' and Israel's geography along the Mediterranean and it should make sense. Along those lines, צפון (tzafon) for 'North' related to צָפוּן (tsafún) meaning 'hidden' as a reference to Israel's mountainous northern region, or נגב (negev) for 'South' also the name of a desert to the south. 'East' is מזרח (mizrach) related to זָרַח (zarach) meaning 'rise', a reference to the Sun.
2180: medina Dec 3, 2020
The city of Medina is known in Arabic as المدينة المنورة (al-Madinat al-Munawwarah) meaning 'the enlightened city' making 'Medina' on its own just mean 'city'. Likewise the Aramaic מדינתא (medinta) and probably Hebrew מדינה (medina) also refer to territory, but have the broader meaning of 'state; region'. This itself comes from the root semitic root דין (din) meaning 'judgement', making it that all of these meanings refer to a place where judgement (kings; legal courts etc) would take place.
2170: The Productivity of בן (Ben) Nov 23, 2020
The Hebrew בן (ben) or Aramaic בר (bar) both are used to mean 'son', but unlike in English it has other constructive uses, especially historically. For instance, it is still used to indicate age, with הוא בן שש (hu ben sheish) translating effectively as "he is 6 years old" but meaning literally "he is a son of six". Likewise, though it is no longer productive in Modern Hebrew, it was used to describe possession or ability, like בן דעת (ben da'at) literally "son of knowledge" to refer to someone who is logically competent.
2156: Canaanite Shift Nov 9, 2020
When languages split from each other, often the change comes from sound shifts. These, like the Great Vowel Shift in English, or Grimm's Law encompassing Germanic languages are quite broad in scope, but this isn't always, or even usually the case. The Canaanite Shift describes a process wherein [a] became [o] in long syllables. This affected Northwest Semitic languages like Hebrew and Aramaic, but not South Semitic like Arabic. For instance Tiberian Hebrew שלום (šalom) and the Arabic سلام (salām) share a root meaning 'complete; peace' but differ in the stressed vowel. This shift was so productive that this affected inflections, i.e. it affected the morphology and not only the roots of words, such as the plural ending [at] in Arabic or [ot] in Hebrew:
"Girls; daughters": بَنَات (banāt) versus בָּנוֹת (bānōṯ)
Or with present participles, such as
“Writer; the one writing”: كاتب (kātib) versus כותב (kōṯēḇ)
2142: South African 'k*ffer' & Hebrew כפרה (redemption) Share Same Arabic Cognate Oct 26, 2020
The Arabic كفر (k-f-r) is the source of the very offensive South African slang 'kaffer', but also to the Hebrew כפרה (kapará) which in modern slang is a term of endearment. This is because the Arabic word meaning as a verb 'to disbelieve' can be used as a noun, كَافِر (kāfir), essentially to mean ‘infidel’. This word comes from Bantu—the Africans of this region of East Africa having extensive contact historically—but has now been taken up in other languages as an offensive term for black people. Meanwhile, the Hebrew כפרה (kapará) literally means "atonement; redemption", and also practically 'sacrifice'. This connection then to 'infidel' may seem odd, but it may seem even odder than the Semitic root relating these words means 'village'. Essentially, an infidel would be someone outside the village, and in other Semitic languages it came to refer to a more generic covering, or in this case protection. The phrase in Modern Hebrew comes from Judeo-Moroccan Arabic 'nímšī kapā́ra ʿalēk', or literally “I will go as atonement for you”, as a way to express humility—sort of like with ciao—and abbreviated as כפרה.
2132: The Evolution of 'Idiot' in Hebrew Oct 16, 2020
The Hebrew word אידיוט (idyót) is a loan word meaning 'idiot', probably coming as a loan word through Russian. This word however, in many languages, was adopted from the Greek, whose meaning there was more or less neutral, and changed into something explicitly negative, as happened in English. This is seen clearly through another Hebrew word הדיוט (hedyót) which come from the name Greek word ἰδιώτης (idiṓtēs) with both of them meaning 'layman' or 'regular', as in someone who is not educated on a particular subject. but not necessarily stupid as the modern sense implies.
2103: The Many Names of Rosh Hashona Sep 17 2020
The Jewish new year holiday, Rosh Hashona, goes by many names, but 'Rosh Hashona' (ראש השנה), literally 'head of the year' actually only appears once in the Bible—Ezekiel 40:1—and it's much later than when initially mentioned. It is first mentioned in Leviticus as Zichron Teruah (זכרון תרועה) meaning "a memorial of blowing [of the shofar]". It is elsewhere however referred to as Yom Teruah (יום תרועה) meaning 'Day of Blowing' (the Shofar) and prayers it is referred to has Yom Hazikaron (הזכרון יום), though now this is also a secular Israeli Memorial Day and is not so used for Rosh Hashona.
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2102: Paleo-Hebrew (Abjad) Sep 16, 2020
The writing system used for Hebrew is certainly ancient, but it is not the original written form for Hebrew. The paleo-Hebrew alphabet was used in the Israelite kingdoms until the Babylonian conquest. All texts, including the Bible, were written in that script at the time, such as in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The current Hebrew abjad, known as Jewish Square Script is actually from the Assyrians. The Samaritans still use a script based off the paleo-Hebrew writing system.
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2055: Words for Wine across Linguistic Boundaries Jul 31, 2020
Wine is something that has been shared around the Mediterranean and beyond, both literally and also linguistically. Old, basic concepts tend to have lots of related cognated across related languages, but in the case of 'wine' it is actually shared across unrelated languages as well. 'Wine' in English comes from a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root '*uoin-a-', and there are plenty of other PIE-descended words too, like the Latin 'vinum'. Likewise, there are many related non-PIE words like the Georgian ღვინო (gvino), the Armenian գինի (gini), the Hebrew יין (yáyin), the Amharic ወይን (wäyn), and the Swahili 'mvinyo'. Of course, many of these words, including those of Africa and Northern Europe especially will be borrowed, but there is no consensus as to whether this original root is from a Semitic, Indo-European, or even Kartvelian language; some theories will be more convincing than others though.
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