Babylonian vocalization system
The Babylonian vocalization ( Hebrew ניקוד בבלי) is a system of diacritical marks ( Nikud ) that the Masoretes from Babylon used to supplement the consonant texts of the Hebrew Bible to indicate the vowels of the Hebrew spoken in Babylon. The Babylonian vocalization is no longer used today, it was superseded by the Tiberian vocalization .
history
The simple Babylonian vocalization emerged in the 6th and 7th centuries, the complex one later. The Babylonian Hebrew is proven to be an independent dialect for the end of the 9th century. Its use peaked in the 8th and 9th centuries when it was spoken from Persia to Yemen. Under Islamic domination in the 10th century, the main madrasas disappeared and the Babylonian vocalization was supplanted by the Tiberian vocalization . Nonetheless, today's Yemeni Hebrew is viewed as the successor to a form of the Babylonian Hebrew represented by the Babylonian vocalization.
The Babylonian vocalization was in 1839 by the Karaite rediscovered Jews A. Firkowich, following an Codex in the synagogue of chufut-kale found that a hitherto unknown Vokalisationssystem used. The text was dated to 916. Further documents were found in his collection after Firkowich's death in 1874. After 1954, Alejandro Díez Macho made a special contribution to the publication of further Babylonian manuscripts.
description
The Babylonian vocalization, like the Palestinian vocalization, is called supralinear vocalization , because the vowel signs are placed above the consonant letters; in the Tiberian system, on the other hand, they are placed under this with the exception of cholem . As in the Palestinian vocalization, only the most important vowels are used.
Two Babylonian systems developed: an earlier simple ( E ) and a later complex ( K ) system. The following vowel signs were used in the simple system:
| niqqud with ב |
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| Tiberian analog |
Patach , Seggol |
Qamaz | Sere | Chiriq | Cholemia |
Qubbuz , Schuruq |
Schwa mobile (Schwa quiescens) |
| value | / a / | / ɔ / | / e / | / i / | /O/ | / u / | / ə / |
The simple system also has characters that correspond to the Tiberian Dagesch and Rafe , even if they are not used congruently. Schwa quiescens ( ʃwaː naħ ) is not marked.
The complicated system can be divided into a complete system and an incomplete system. The former, unlike the latter, "has specific characters for each type of syllable and uses them consistently." It denotes the vowel aeiu, consonant gemination, differentiates between vowel and consonant א and ה, and denotes Schwa mobile and quiescens with one sign.
There are also a number of manuscripts that have features of both Tiberian and Babylonian vocalization. Later Yemeni manuscripts, using either the simple or the complicated system, show Yemeni features such as confusing Patach and Schwa, and Sere and Cholam.
Cantillation
The Babylonian system uses cantillation similar to the Tiberian system. The oldest manuscripts that use simple vocalization only indicate separating accents, do not write the accent over the stressed syllable, and do not identify Mappiq , while later manuscripts do.
literature
- Joshua Blau: Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew , Eisensbrauns, Winona Lake, 2010, ISBN 1-57506-129-5
- Angel Sáenz-Badillos: A History of the Hebrew Language , Cambridge University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-521-55634-1
Individual evidence
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 98
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 94
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 103
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 103
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 104
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 95
- ↑ Blau, p. 7
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 118
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 97-98
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 97
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 97
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 97
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 97
- ^ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 97
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 97-98
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 99
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, p. 99
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 100-101
- ↑ Sáenz-Badillos, pp. 100-101