Translation Language in a Neo-Aramaic Targum Tradition

326 Pages·2016·3.65 MB·English

by  Rees Margo

L D , T D
ishan iDan argum iDan
neo-aramaic sTuDies
3
series eDiTor
Geoffrey Khan
Lishan Didan, Targum Didan
Translation Language in a Neo-Aramaic
Targum Tradition
m r
argo ees

gorgias Press
2008
First Gorgias Press Edition, 2008
Copyright © 2008 by Gorgias Press LLC
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Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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Published in the United States of America by Gorgias Press LLC, New Jersey
ISBN 978-1-59333-426-0
gorgias Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rees, Margo.
Lishan didan, targum didan : translation language in a neo-Aramaic targum
tradition / Margo Rees. -- 1st Gorgias Press ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Manuscript Barzani. 2. Barzani, Sason ben Zakay. 3. Bible. O.T. Syriac,
Modern--Versions--Rawandoz. 4. Syriac language, Modern--Dialects--Iraq--
Rawandoz. 5. Jews--Iraq--Rawandoz--Languages. 6. Rawandoz (Iraq)--Lan-
guages. I. Title.
BS315.S9R44 2008
221.4’3--dc22
2007047018
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the
American National Standards.
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents............................................................................................v

Preface...........................................................................................................ix

On terminology......................................................................................ix

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................xiii

Abbreviations................................................................................................xv

Journals and periodicals......................................................................xvi

General Introduction.......................................................................................1

1. Prolegomena.......................................................................................1

2. Background.........................................................................................2

2.1 The Barzani family............................................................................2

2.2 The Jewish Neo-Aramaic targum tradition.......................................4

2.3 The language of msB.........................................................................6

3. Description of msB............................................................................12

4. Phonology and orthography.............................................................15

5. A note on the structure of this analysis............................................17

I. Morphology................................................................................................19

1. Pronouns...........................................................................................19

1.1 Independent personal pronouns.....................................................19

1.2 Pronominal Suffixes........................................................................22

1.3 Demonstrative Pronouns.................................................................25

1.4 Interrogative pronouns...................................................................26

1.5 Reflexive pronouns.........................................................................26
1.6 The relative pronoun h©t..................................................................27

2. Verbs.................................................................................................30

2.1 Verbal stems...................................................................................30
v
vi LISHAN DIDAN

2.2 Inflection of the present base.........................................................32

2.3 Inflection of the past base..............................................................34

2.4 Inflection of the imperative base....................................................37

2.5 Stem I weak verbs..........................................................................37

2.6 Irregular and defective verbs..........................................................43

2.7 Infinitives in stem I........................................................................48

2.8 Weak and irregular verbs in stem II...............................................50

2.9 Infinitives in stem II.......................................................................52

2.10 Semantic distinction between stems I and II................................54

2.11 Quadriliteral verbs.......................................................................55
2.12 Usage of the verbal affix ³uu- (-wa) and v(cid:104)k³³uu- (-wale)......................56

2.13 Compound Verbs..........................................................................58

2.14 Verbal negation............................................................................60

2.15 Predication of Existence...............................................................61

2.16 Expression of the pronominal object............................................61

3. Nouns...............................................................................................66

3.1 Remarks..........................................................................................66
3.2 v¨- 't(cid:107)- inflection..............................................................................67
3.3 t¨,- inflection..................................................................................72

3.4 The diminutive suffix.....................................................................75
3.5 The abstract suffix t(cid:107)kU-...................................................................75
3.6 The t²b(cid:108)- suffix..................................................................................76
3.7 The v(cid:104)- nominal ending...................................................................77

3.8 Unadapted loanwords.....................................................................77

3.9 Nominal gender..............................................................................79

3.10 Nominal plurals............................................................................79

3.11 Nominal annexation.....................................................................82

4. Adjectives.........................................................................................84

4.1 Remarks..........................................................................................84

4.2 “Passive participle” forms..............................................................84

4.3 CoCa, CuCta, CoCe.........................................................................85

4.4 Other patterns................................................................................85
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

4.5 Adapted loanwords.........................................................................86

4.6 Unadapted loanwords.....................................................................86

5. Adverbs.............................................................................................88

5.1 Remarks..........................................................................................88

5.2 Adverbial forms of Aramaic origin.................................................88

5.3 Adverbial forms of non-Aramaic origin..........................................89

6. Prepositions and uninflected particles..............................................90

6.1 Prepositions....................................................................................90

6.2 Other particles................................................................................93

7. Numerals...........................................................................................95

II. Translation Technique..............................................................................97

Introduction..........................................................................................97

1. Point of Departure..........................................................................105

2. Translation Technique in Biblical Scholarship...............................109

3. Translation Technique Analysis......................................................117

3.1 Segmentation / Division...............................................................118

3.2 Quantitative correlation to source text.........................................126

3.3 Lexical Equivalents.......................................................................129

3.4 Word-relationship Indicators........................................................142

3.5 Accuracy: Level of semantic information.....................................160

3.6 Inaccuracy.....................................................................................177

III. Comparative analyses............................................................................181

1. Jewish languages and the “calque” tradition.................................181

1.1 Jewish languages..........................................................................181

1.2 Is Jewish Neo-Aramaic a Jewish language?.................................184

1.3 The “calque” tradition among Jewish languages..........................186
2. The spoken versus the translation language: relationship and

interaction..................................................................................195

2.1 Word order...................................................................................196

2.2 Conservatism and Hebraism.........................................................198

2.3 Interaction and affectation...........................................................200

2.4 Jewish language communities and the issue of diglossia.............203
viii LISHAN DIDAN
3. Form and function: Bible translation and the Jewish education

setting.........................................................................................211

3.1 The historical precedent for use of targum in education.............212

3.2 Education and the context of the JL calque translations..............218

3.3 Conclusions..................................................................................226

4. Textual comparison........................................................................233

4.1 Genesis 1:16.................................................................................235

4.2 Segmentation / division...............................................................237

4.3 Quantitative correlation to source text........................................237

4.4 Lexical equivalents.......................................................................239

4.5 Word-relationship indicators........................................................243

4.6 Accuracy.......................................................................................245

Concluding remarks....................................................................................253

Bibliography...............................................................................................261
Appendix: Manuscript Barzani—Sample Pages...........................................275

Glossary of Neo-Aramaic from msB............................................................277

Glossary of Verbs................................................................................278

General glossary.................................................................................289
PREFACE
On terminology
In referring to the manuscript which is the subject of this research, I have
chosen to call it Manuscript Barzani, after the rabbi who wrote it. I shall
abbreviate this title “msB.” In reference to Barzani himself, I have chosen to
use the term metargem, which is the Jewish Neo-Aramaic (and modern He-
brew) form of the Middle Aramaic term meturgeman. Barzani refers to him-
self, in the various colophons throughout the manuscript, as c,ufvu odr,nv
(the metargem [or, “translator”] and the writer). I have chosen to use this
term, not only because it is the term he chose to identify himself, but also
because the terms “translator,” “writer” or “author” are not adequate to ex-
press his role in the transmission of the tradition. In speaking about other
translations (in languages other than Neo-Aramaic), I shall use the term
“translator” for the sake of clarity, though it may be inadequate in those
cases for the same reasons. In the same vein, I use the term “targum” to re-
fer to the Neo-Aramaic translations, and the term “calque” to refer to other,
non-Aramaic literal translations of the Bible. The Jewish Neo-Aramaic term
šar‛ is also used by some to refer to the Neo-Aramaic translations, but I have
chosen to use “targum” consistently.
I have had to refer quite frequently to the Hebrew text of the Bible
throughout my work, and for the sake of clarity have chosen to refer to that
text as the Masoretic text (MT). I realise that this term is somewhat inade-
quate; however, I find lengthy phrases such as “preserved Hebrew text,” and
the like, to be cumbersome when used frequently in scholarly discourse.
ix
x LISHAN DIDAN
The history of the Aramaic language is very lengthy and involves many
shifts and changes. Attempts to order this history according to designated
time periods have been many and varied. There is some disagreement as to
how to divide and name these time periods. In more recent times, J. A. Fitz-
meyer and E. Y. Kutscher both divide these eras in roughly the same man-
ner, as follows: Old Aramaic (10th–8th centuries B.C.E.); Official or Imperial
Aramaic (8th–3rd/2nd centuries B.C.E.), Middle Aramaic (3rd century B.C.E.–3rd
century C.E.), Late Aramaic (3rd–8th century C.E. [the Muslim conquest]) and
Modern Aramaic (Islamic era–present).1 According to this division, which is
perfectly suitable for our purposes here, the period of Middle Aramaic in-
cludes, among much other literature, the language of Targum On-
qelos/Jonathan as well as what is elsewhere referred to as “Standard Liter-
ary Aramaic.”2 Kutscher notes that while the documents of this period show
attempts to imitate Official Aramaic, “they also contain elements of Late
Aramaic.”3
I depart from these designations somewhat, however, in my use of the
term “Old Aramaic” (OA). Y. Sabar uses this term in his Jewish Neo-
Aramaic dictionary to indicate—much more generally—“old classic literary
(Jewish) Aramaic … as listed in dictionaries (… M. Jastrow, Levy, Sokoloff
…) a convenient general term vs. Neo-Aramaic.”4 In this usage, in other
words, “OA” is really meant to encompass Old Aramaic, Official Aramaic
and Middle Aramaic. While this level of generality is not always ideal, when
speaking about derivations of Neo-Aramaic it is usually a sufficient (and
simpler) term, by contrast. For these reasons, I use “Old Aramaic” in the

1 See E. Y. Kutscher (1971) and J. A. Fitzmeyer (1979: 60–63; see ff for a
recapitulation of the debate over period division). For alternative discussion,
cf. J. C. Greenfield (1974), (1978).
2 See J. C. Greenfield (1974).
3 1971: 260.
4 Y. Sabar (2002: 73).