Actually I've done Mishna and Talmud at the University of Chicago and, again, I don't recall seeing this for roots. Jastrow doesn't do it nor does Segal. It's not even done in my three volume Modern Hebrew Dictionary. When I lived in Israel, I never saw it. So, Yigal, you're assumptions about my study were incorrect. It may be the tradition in Jewish circles, but it is not universal even there.
Donald R Vance (Remembered!) Sent from my iPhone On Sep 2, 2013, at 5:05 AM, Yigal Levin <[email protected]> wrote: > This exchange, and George's comment as well, is actually fascinating. It > shows how the study of "Biblical Hebrew" that is "done" (to borrow Donald's > term) in academic institutions that are rooted in Church tradition is > different than the way that Hebrew is learned within the Jewish tradition. > Yes, Bruryah is correct – "gershaim" are commonly used in Rabbinic and later > Hebrew to signify acronyms, AND grammarians, including Israeli school > teachers, often use them to signify verbal roots as well, so that they won't > be misread as a simple word (remember that most writing in Hebrew is done > without niqqud). They are also commonly (but not universally) used to signify > "gematria" – using letters for numbers. So 22 is כ"ב (Kaph " Bet). > > Donald, who's been "doing" BIBLICAL Hebrew for thirty years, never heard of > this convention, because the only Hebrew text he's ever read is the Bible, > which of course has no acronyms and no discussions on grammar. But he's never > (I assume) read the Talmud or any of the Medieval Jewish commentators on the > Bible (at least not in Hebrew). And George, who probably is familiar with use > of gershaim for acronyms, has not studied Hebrew grammar in Hebrew. (By the > way, Donald and George, I'm just generalizing about what you have or have not > studied. If I'm wrong I apologize). Pere seems to be familiar with this > convention. > > As I wrote – fascinating. > > Yigal Levin > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Donald Vance > Sent: Monday, September 02, 2013 9:48 AM > To: [email protected] > Cc: B-Hebrew Hebrew > Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Can't find the root and meaning in the lexicon, any > help? > > I've been doing Hebrew for thirty years at major institutions and I've never > even seen this use of quotation marks. It makes no sense to me. I find it in > none if my grammars of lexica, for what it's worth. > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Sep 2, 2013, at 2:43 AM, Yodan <[email protected]> wrote: > > Yes! A single “quotation mark” (garshayim) is used before the last letter in > acronyms, and a root is an acronym, here standing for Beit-Heit-Nun. > > Braryah Tashah > > _______________________________________________ > b-hebrew mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
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