Friday 26 November 2021

Biblical versus Modern Hebrew again

Biblical vs modern Hebrew stretches the brain. The next sentence in the article I was reading on wearing clothes is this one:

אֲנׅי תָּמִיד עׅם כּוֹבַע: בַּקַּיׅץ אֲנׅי חוֺבֶשֶׁת כּוֹבַע קַשׁ, בַּחוֺרֶף כּוֹבַע צֶמֶר.

If you put it into Google translate it will become:
I always wear a hat: in the summer I wear a straw hat, in the winter I wear a wool hat.

Google translate is well-trained in Modern Hebrew, though as we have seen, it is untrained in Biblical Hebrew.

If I were translating this based on Biblical words, it would be: 
I am continually with a ?coby: in the summer ?kobwt a ?coby stubble, in the ?korf, a ?coby wool.

 [I use always for nxk (a few times out of its 111 occurrences) and once in Daniel (Aramaic) for cl (out of 5517 occurrences) - I probably could have used it for tmid (104 occurrences) but that word is part of sacrificial language.] 

In the prior post, we learned that kbw is the verb (looks somewhat like an active participle here) for wearing a hat specifically.

The word coby does not occur in Biblical Hebrew or Aramaic. (You can search in the concordance under the link for cv or cb if you want to check it out. Maybe you'll find something I missed.) Perhaps if this theological statement about hats were in the Bible, I would import a French word for it like chapeau. The word I have rendered hat is /crbl/, in the Aramaic of Daniel 3 v 21 below. It is also used in 1 Chronicles 15:27 as something on David's head. We must expect significant coinages in Hebrew, everything from modern food to modern technology. I guess hat qualifies.
בֵּאדַ֜יִן גֻּבְרַיָּ֣א אִלֵּ֗ךְ כְּפִ֙תוּ֙ בְּסַרְבָּלֵיהוֹן֙ פַּטְּשֵׁיה֔וֹן וְכַרְבְּלָתְה֖וֹן וּלְבֻשֵׁיה֑וֹן
וּרְמִ֕יו לְגֽוֹא־אַתּ֥וּן נוּרָ֖א יָקִֽדְתָּֽא
21 Then these men of valour were bound in their trousers, their tunics, and their hats and their clothes,
and were heaved into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
ca badiin gubria ailiç cpitu bsrblihon p'twihon vcrblthon ulbuwihon
urmiv lgoa-atun nura iqidta
27
11
b/adin gbr\ia al\c cpt\v b/srbl\ihvn p+w\ihvn v/crbl\thvn v/lbw\ihvn
v/rm\iv l/gv\a atvn nvr\a iqd\ta

Bricks without straw is the Biblical phrase that pops into my head when straw is mentioned, but that's not the word used in straw-hat, but rather stubble. Straw is tbn - derived from the root bnh build. Stubble is qw. One might well expect the language to morph in these rare areas. But a straw hat is like stubble to me - very uncomfortable.

Winter occurs once in my translation of the Bible in the Song, chapter 2. 

כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֥ה הַסְּתָ֖יו עָבָ֑ר
הַגֶּ֕שֶׁם חָלַ֖ף הָלַ֥ךְ לֽוֹ
11 For behold, the winter is passed.
The heavy rain has done its renewal. It has walked offstage.
ia ci-hnh hstiv ybr
hgwm klf hlç lo
6
8
ci hnh h/stv ybr
h/gwm klp hlc l\v

The season that is contrasted with summer (qvx) in the Bible is harvest (qxr) rather than winter. E.g. this from Proverbs 10.

אֹגֵ֣ר בַּ֭קַּיִץ בֵּ֣ן מַשְׂכִּ֑יל
נִרְדָּ֥ם בַּ֝קָּצִ֗יר בֵּ֣ן מֵבִֽישׁ
5 Stockpiling in the summer is a child of insight.
Entranced at the harvest is a child that causes shame.
h aogr bqix bn mwcil
nrdm bqxir bn mbiw
7
8
agr b/qx bn m/wcl
n/rdm b/qxr bn m/bw

You will see that in the summer is indeed bqix. But where does korf come from? For krp(3) I have used autumn as a gloss. I originally misread krp as krc - so must withdraw the remaining examples. 

I misread the final p for a final kaf. A relatively easy mistake. I see that winter is used for krp in the KJV. Then it is also used for a different root, stv, in the Song. Here is perhaps a failure in my approach to roots and glosses.



These examples are interesting but irrelevant to the seasons. krc occurs as a root 3 times in the Bible. It is one of those rare instances where I found no single English gloss would fit. Each occurrence gets a specific gloss, creating three artificial hapaxes in my translation. (I can't think of a single gloss that would cover these three instances. Can you?) Also note that the middle verse is Aramaic (Daniel) - so the Hebrew question only applies to the Song 2 and Proverbs 12..

דּוֹמֶ֤ה דוֹדִי֙ לִצְבִ֔י א֖וֹ לְעֹ֣פֶר הָֽאַיָּלִ֑ים
הִנֵּה־זֶ֤ה עוֹמֵד֙ אַחַ֣ר כָּתְלֵ֔נוּ מַשְׁגִּ֙יחַ֙ מִן־הַֽחֲלֹּנ֔וֹת מֵצִ֖יץ מִן־הַֽחֲרַכִּֽים
9 My beloved is like the hosts of gazelle, or the faun of the hart.
Behold, this one, standing behind our embankment, peering through the perforations, blossoming through the lattice.
't domh dodi lxbi ao lyopr haiilim
hnh-zh yomd akr cotlnu mwgik mn-hklonot mxix mn-hkrcim
14
25
dvmh dvd\i l/xbi av l/ypr h/ail\im
hnh zh yvmd akr ctl\nv m/wgk mn h/kln\vt m/xx mn h/krc\im

וּ֠מִֽתְכַּנְּשִׁין אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּ֞א סִגְנַיָּ֣א וּפַחֲוָתָא֮ וְהַדָּבְרֵ֣י מַלְכָּא֒ חָזַ֣יִן לְגֻבְרַיָּ֣א אִלֵּ֡ךְ דִּי֩ לָֽא־שְׁלֵ֨ט נוּרָ֜א בְּגֶשְׁמְה֗וֹן וּשְׂעַ֤ר רֵֽאשְׁהוֹן֙ לָ֣א הִתְחָרַ֔ךְ וְסָרְבָּלֵיה֖וֹן לָ֣א שְׁנ֑וֹ
וְרֵ֣יחַ נ֔וּר לָ֥א עֲדָ֖ת בְּהֽוֹן
27 ♪~ And those garnered, the satraps, the prefects, and the viceroys, and the consultants of the king, perceived of these men of valour, that fire had no authority over their bodies, and not a hair of their heads was singed, and their trousers were unmarked,
and the smell of fire was removed from them.
cz umtcnwin akwdrpnia sgnia upkvvta vhdbri mlca kziin lgubria ailiç di la-wli't nura bgwmhon uwyr riwhon la htkrç vsrblihon la wno
vrik nur la ydt bhon
59
9
vmt/cnw\in akwdrpn\ia sgn\ia v/pk\vta v/hdbr\i mlc\a kz\in l/gbr\ia al\c di la wl+ nvr\a b/gwm\hvn v/wyr raw\hvn la ht/krc v/srbl\ihvn la wn\v
v/rik nr la yd\t b/hvn

לֹא־יַחֲרֹ֣ךְ רְמִיָּ֣ה צֵיד֑וֹ
וְהוֹן־אָדָ֖ם יָקָ֣ר חָרֽוּץ
27 Deceit fails to set in motion its hunt,
but the value of human esteem is decisive.
cz la-ikroç rmiih xido
vhon-adm iqr krux
8
8
la i/krc rm\ih xid\v
v/hvn adm iqr krx

Should I continue this series? It is clear that one cannot learn Biblical Hebrew as a byproduct of learning Modern Hebrew and vice versa.


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