Search

The form of Biblical Hebrew that is presented in printed editions, with vocalization and accent signs, has its origin in medieval manuscripts of the Bible. The vocalization and accent signs are notation systems that were created in Tiberias in the early Islamic period by scholars known as the Tiberian Masoretes, but the oral tradition they represent has roots in antiquity. The grammatical textbooks and reference grammars of Biblical Hebrew in use today are heirs to centuries of tradition of grammatical works on Biblical Hebrew in Europe. The paradox is that this European tradition of Biblical Hebrew grammar did not have direct access to the way the Tiberian Masoretes were pronouncing Biblical Hebrew. In the last few decades, research of manuscript sources from the medieval Middle East has made it possible to reconstruct with considerable accuracy the pronunciation of the Tiberian Masoretes, which has come to be known as the ‘Tiberian pronunciation tradition’. This book presents the current state of knowledge of the Tiberian pronunciation tradition of Biblical Hebrew and a full edition of one of the key medieval sources, Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ ‘The Guide for the Reader’, by ʾAbū al-Faraj Hārūn. It is hoped that the book will help to break the mould of current grammatical descriptions of Biblical Hebrew and form a bridge between modern traditions of grammar and the school of the Masoretes of Tiberias. Links and QR codes in the book allow readers to listen to an oral performance of samples of the reconstructed Tiberian pronunciation by Alex Foreman. This is the first time Biblical Hebrew has been recited with the Tiberian pronunciation for a millennium. As with all Open Book publications, this entire book is available to read for free on the publisher’s website. Printed and digital editions, together with supplementary digital material, can also be found at www.openbookpublishers.com

I.3.1. Dagesh I.3.1.1. Preliminary Remarks Dagesh is a dot that is marked within a letter. It is in origin an Aramaic active participle meaning ‘stabbing’ from the Aramaic root d-g-š ‘to stab’. This referred, it seems, to the ‘stabbing’ of the letter by the pen when the sign was marked. The dagesh sign was used mainly in two contexts. These are (i) on a consonant that was geminated (traditionally referred to in modern grammars as dagesh forte) and (ii) on the consonants תפכדגב when they wer...

I.5.1. Summary of the Phonetics and Phonology of the Consonants LetterNamePhonetic realizationPhonemeReferencesאʾalef[ʔ]/ʔ/§I.1.1.בbet (dagesh)[b], [bb]/b/§I.1.2., §I.1.25., §I.3.1.11.3.בbet (rafe)[v]/v/§I.1.2., §I.1.25.גּgimel (dagesh)[g], [gg]/g/§I.1.3., §I.1.25., §I.3.1.11.3.גgimel (rafe)[ʁ]/ʁ/§I.1.3., §I.1.25.ֹּ דdalet (dagesh)[d], [dd]/d/§I.1.4., §I.1.25., §I.3.1.11.3.דdalet (rafe)[ð]/ð/§I.1.4., §I.1.25.הhe[h]/h/§I.1.5.וvav[v], [w]/v/§I.1.6.זzayin[z]/z/§I.1.7.חḥet[ħ]/ħ/§I.1.8.טṭet[tˁ]/tˁ/...

II.S.0.0. Introduction GAP II.S.0.1. This is the book of the abbreviated version of The Guide for the Reader, known as The Book of Essential Requirements. II.S.0.2. Its author begins and says: You, may God support you, asked me to abbreviate for you The Book of Rules, which is generally known as The Guide for the Reader, in which I mention its essential requirements. So, I am here responding to this request of yours, asking God to grant me success in this, possibly including where necessary w...

I.4.1. Preliminary Remarks The Tiberian pronunciation was highly prestigious when it was a living oral tradition (§I.0.9.). For this reason, many readers strove to adopt it in their reading of the Bible and orthoepic measures were taken to ensure that it was pronounced correctly and distinctly. The fact that the Tiberian pronunciation was the ideal target of readers of the Bible is reflected by the fact that many manuscripts pointed with Babylonian and Palestinian vowel signs display a tenden...

I.1.1. ʾAlef א ( א ָ ל ֶ ף ) Glottal plosive [ʔ] Consonantal ʾalef occurs in the following contexts: In the onset of a syllable at the beginning of a word, e.g. [ʔɔːˈmaːaR̟] ‘he said’ (Gen. 3.16), [ʔƐloːˈhiːim] ‘God’ (Gen. 1.1). In the onset of a syllable in the middle of a word after a silent shewa, e.g. [vaɟɟivˈʔaːa∫] ‘and it became foul’ (Exod. 7.21). In the onset of a syllable in the middle of a word after a vowel, a ḥaṭef vowel or vocalic shewa, e.g. [jɔːˈviːʔuː] ‘they bring’ (Exod...

II. Int.0.1. Preliminary Remarks This volume presents an edition and English translation of the sections of the Masoretic treatise Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ ‘Guide for the Reader’ that coNcerN the coNsoNaNts aNd vowels. This medieval work constitutes an important primary source for the reconstruction of the Tiberian pronunciation tradition, and it has been constantly referred to in volume 1. Some general remarks concerning Hidāyat al-Qāriʾ in the context of other Masoretic treatises have been made in ...

II.S.0.0. GAP II.S.0.1. (S20:1r) אדה באתכ רצתכמ היאדה ראקלא ףרעוי הגהמלא באתכב II.S.0.2. ידתבא הפנצמ לאקו םתלאס םכדייא הללא ןא רצתכא באתכ םכל טורשלא בקלמלא היאדהב ראקלא תיחב רכדא הגהומ [5] אהו אנא ביגמ םכל ילא ךלד אליאס הלל יקיפות היפ עמ האסע אמ ןא הילא אממ םל רכדי יפ היאדה ראקלא הבו ןיעתסא עת II.S.0.3. ןא לאק ליאק אמ הגאחלא ילא םלע טורשלא יפ ארקמלא הל ליק ןאל ןאחלא הרייגמ ינאעמ...

II.L.0.0. Introduction GAP II.L.0.1. […]‘for the day when I arise as a witness’ (Zeph. 3.8),‘The Lord is my light and my salvation’ (Psa. 27.1), which are two masculine nouns, since the accent is at the end and not the beginning of the word. Another example is(Ruth 2.6), which means ‘who returned’ and is a past verb, since the accent is on the first letter. Similar to this in letters and form is(Lev. 22.13), which means ‘and she became one returning (to her father’s house)’, ‘she became one d...