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Information About

Samaritan Hebrew Language




  nativename ''‘Ivrit''
  pronunciation {Link without Title}
  region Israel and Palestinian Authority territories, predominantly in Samaria and Holon
  speakers fewer than 1,000 liturgical only
  familycolor Afro-Asiatic
  fam2 Semitic
  fam3 West Semitic
  fam4 Central Semitic
  fam5 Northwest Semitic
  fam6 Canaanite
  script Samaritan Abjad
  nation none
  iso3 heb


The Samaritan Hebrew language is a descendant of Biblical Hebrew as pronounced and written by the Samaritan s. It is used in the reading tradition of the Samaritan Pentateuch .


WRITING

It is written in the Samaritan Alphabet , a direct descendant of the Paleo-Hebrew Alphabet (itself a variation on the Phoenician Alphabet ), whereas all other varieties of Hebrew are written in the later Hebrew Alphabet , a variation on the Aramaic Alphabet .


PRONUNCIATION


The Samaritan pronunciation of Hebrew differs in several respects from most others. The Laryngeals He and Heth have disappeared or turned into vowels. Beth and Waw both are pronounced as ''b'' (in fact, the letters' names are pronounced Bît and Ba), only the waw-conjunctive is pronounced as ''u''. There is no double pronunciation of the Shin like Jewish Hebrew; it is always pronounced ''sh''. Consonants with Dagesh are pronounced Geminate . Stress is commonly penultimate rather than ultimate.


GRAMMAR


Pronouns


Personal





Demonstrative


This: masc. ze, fem. zéot, pl. ílla.

That: alaz (written with a ''he'' at the beginning).


Relative


Who, which: éšar.


Interrogative


Who? = mi. What? = ma.


Noun


When suffixes are added, ê and ô in the last syllable may become î and û: bôr "pit" > búrôt "pits". Note also af "anger" > éppa "her anger".

Segolate s behave more or less as in other Hebrew varieties: beţen "stomach" > báţnek "your stomach", kesef "silver" > kesfánu "our silver", dérek > dirkakimma "your (m. pl.) road" but áreş "earth" > árşak "your earth".


Article


The Definite Article is a- or e-, and causes Gemination of the following consonant, unless it is a Guttural ; it is written with a ''he'', but as usual, the ''h'' is silent. Thus, for example: énnar / ánnar = "the youth"; ellêm = "the meat"; a'émur = "the donkey".


Number


Regular plural suffixes are -êm masc., -ôt fem: eyyamêm "the days", elamôt "dreams".

Dual is sometimes -ayem (šenatayem "two years"), usually -êm like the plural (yédêm "hands".)


Verbs


Affix es are:




Particles


Prepositions


"in, using", pronounced:
  • b- before a vowel (or, therefore, a former guttural): b-érbi = "with a sword"; b-íštu "with his wife".

  • ba- before a Bilabial Consonant : bá-bêt "in a house", ba-mádbar "in a wilderness"

  • ev- before other consonant: ev-lila "in a night", ev-dévar "with the thing".

  • ba-/be- before the Definite Article ("the"): barrášet "in the beginning"; béyyôm "in the day".


"as, like", pronounced:
  • ka without the article: ka-demútu "in his likeness"

  • ke with the article: ké-yyôm "like the day".


"to" pronounced:
  • l- before a vowel: l-ávi "to my father", l-évad "to the slave"

  • el-, al- before a consonant: al-béni "to the children (of)"

  • le- before l: le-léket "to go"

  • l- before the article: lammúad "at the appointed time"; la-şé'on "to the flock"


"and" pronounced:
  • w- before consonants: wal-Šárra "and to Sarah"

  • u- before vowels: u-yeššeg "and he caught up".


Other prepositions:
  • al: towards

  • elfáni: before

  • bêd-u: for him

  • elqérôt: against

  • balêd-i: except me



Conjunctions


  • u: or

  • em: if, when

  • avel: but



Adverbs


  • la: not

  • kâ: also

  • afu: also

  • ín-ak: you are not

  • ífa (ípa): where?

  • méti: when

  • fâ: here

  • šémma: there

  • mittét: under



BIBLIOGRAPHY


  • J. Rosenberg, ''Lehrbuch der samaritanischen Sprache und Literatur'', A. Hartleben's Verlag: Wien, Pest, Leipzig.

  • Ben-Hayyim, Ze'ev, and Tal, Abraham, ''A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew Based on the Recitation of the Law in Comparison with the Tiberian and Other Jewish Traditions'': 2000 ISBN 1-57506-047-7