Kahn, L; Yampolskaya, S; (2019) Diversity in Numbers: A Linguistic Analysis of Numerals in Maskilic Hebrew. Hebrew Studies , 60 pp. 389-417.

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Abstract

This article constitutes the first linguistic analysis of Maskilic Hebrew numerals. While it is commonly believed that Maskilic Hebrew exhibited a normative grammatical structure based largely on the biblical standard, examination of Maskilic texts reveals a much more diverse reality including elements of Biblical, Rabbinic, Medieval, and later Hebrew, as well as Yiddish and German, a reflection of the authors’ rich linguistic background. The article explores the intriguing ways in which these different elements manifest themselves in Maskilic Hebrew numeral morphosyntax and usage. It analyses the key features of the numeral system drawing on examples from prominent Maskilic Hebrew texts of various fiction and nonfiction genres. These features include the avoidance of the dual in favour of the plural with the numeral שתים\שנים’ two’ (e.g. שנים שתי’ two years’); word order with basic and compound numerals ;(‘five twenty ‘חמש ועשרים .vs עשרים וחמש ;‘days three ‘ימים שלשה .vs שלשה ימים .g.e( equalization of polar agreement (e.g. נסיכים ארבע’ four princes’ and ספינות ששה’ six ships’); the use of the absolute and construct forms with numerals (e.g. ירחים החמשה’ the five months’); the use of ordinals to indicate hours (e.g. הרביעית בשעה’ at four o’clock’); and the use of the German ordinal markers טען -and דען -to indicate dates (e.g. סעפטעמבער טען 20 ביום’ on the 20th of September’). The article provides a diachronic perspective on these Maskilic Hebrew features by examining their relationship with earlier forms of the language as well as with Modern Hebrew.

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