Henshke, Y., “Stress: Biblical and Rabbinic Pronunciation Traditions.” In G. Kahn et al. (eds), Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Leiden 2013, 628-630.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS Volume 3 P–Z General Editor

Geoffrey Khan Associate Editors

Shmuel Bolokzy Steven E. Fassberg Gary A. Rendsburg Aaron D. Rubin Ora R. Schwarzwald Tamar Zewi

LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3

Table of Contents Volume One Introduction ........................................................................................................................ List of Contributors ............................................................................................................ Transcription Tables ........................................................................................................... Articles A-F .........................................................................................................................

vii ix xiii 1

Volume Two Transcription Tables ........................................................................................................... Articles G-O ........................................................................................................................

vii 1

Volume Three Transcription Tables ........................................................................................................... Articles P-Z .........................................................................................................................

vii 1

Volume Four Transcription Tables ........................................................................................................... Index ...................................................................................................................................

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3

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stress: biblical and rabbinic pronunciation traditions

Table (9) Alternating stress patterns in function words Isolation After final stress After penultimate stress

‫ָלנוּ‬ 'lanu ‫ ִס ְפּרוּ ָלנוּ‬siprú lanù ‫ָשׁרוּ ָלנוּ‬

šáru lànu

‘to us’ ‘(they) told us’ ‘(they) sang to us’

References Bat-El, Outi. 1993. “Parasitic metrification in the Modern Hebrew stress system”. The Linguistic Review 10:189–210. Becker, Michael. 2002. “Hebrew stress: Can you hear those trochees?” MA thesis, Tel-Aviv University. ——. 2003. “Lexical stratification of Hebrew: The disyllabic maximum”. Proceedings of PLC 26, ed. by Yehuda Falk, 45–58. Bolozky, Shmuel. 1982. “Remarks on rhythmic stress in Modern Hebrew”. Journal of Linguistics 18:275–289. Bolozky, Shmuel and Michael Becker. 2006. Living lexicon of Hebrew nouns. Ms. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Fainleib, Lena. 2008. “Default stress in unpredictable stress languages: Evidence from Russian and Hebrew”. MA thesis, Tel-Aviv University. Graf, Dafna and Adam Ussishkin. 2003. “Modern Hebrew loanword phonology”. Paper presented at the DGfS 2002, Mannheim, Germany. Pariente, Itzik and Shmuel Bolozky. Forthcoming. “Modern Hebrew is a trochaic language, evidence from loanwords and stress shift”. Schwarzwald, Ora R. 2002. Studies in Hebrew morphology, Vol. 3 (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: Open University. Evan-Gary Cohen (Tel-Aviv University) Adam Ussishkin (University of Arizona)

Stress: Biblical and Rabbinic Pronunciation Traditions Stress is an important issue in Hebrew linguistics, with respect to both Biblical and postbiblical Hebrew, with many as yet unexplained aspects. The oral traditions of various Jewish communities play a unique role in the discussion of this issue. These are living traditions of pronunciation that provide direct evidence of stress placement in the different communities. This entry will concentrate on the traditions of the communities of North Africa, especially those from Tunisia, and also present a discussion of the connection between the traditions of

the communities and the Hebrew traditions of the Second Temple Period. 1. S t r e s s i n H e b r e w w o r d s in Tunisia The stress on Hebrew words in the Jewish communities of North Africa that have been studied to date is largely consistent with the rules of the Tiberian tradition, that is, most words have their stress on the last syllable, while those that have penultimate stress in the Tiberian system also have such stress in the North African tradition, with the singular exception of the communities of Tunisia, where there is a clear tendency to pronounce words with penultimate stress even where the Tiberian tradition has the stress on the last syllable. Penultimate stress in Hebrew words occurs among members of Tunisia’s northern Jewish communities (Bizerte, Beja, El Kef), the Tunisian capital Tunis and the nearby villages of Suliman and Ariana, as well as the coastal cities in the northeast (Nabeul, Sousse, Moknine), and the south-west (Tozeur, Nefta). In contrast, in the communities of the southeast (the two quarters in Djerba and their satellite communities of Ben Gardane and Mednin, Zarzis, Foum Tataouine, as well as the region of Gabes, El-Hamma, and Matmata) stress is quite clearly on the last syllable. This stress distribution is valid for most of the Hebrew words in use in the Arabic of Tunisian Jews. Thus, for example, the word ‫ מגילה‬mÿólla ‘scroll’ is pronounced with penultimate stress only in the northwest, northeast, and southwest, while in the southeast it is pronounced by all with final stress: mÿëllá. The same is true of the words ‫ הגדה‬aggáda vs. aggadá ‘Passover Haggada’, ‫ נעילה‬n≠íla vs. n≠ilá ‘last prayer of Yom Kippur’, ‫ משנה‬móšna vs. mešná ‘mishna’, ‫ הפטרה‬f†á®a vs. f†a®á ‘haf†ara, passage from the Prophets recited on the Sabbath and holidays’, ‫התרה‬ ttá®a vs. tta®á ‘release from a vow’, ‫ המוציא‬móße vs. moßé ‘blessing over bread’, ‫ מנחה‬món™a vs. mën™á ‘afternoon prayer’, ‫ מצה‬móßßa vs. mëßßá ‘unleavened bread’, ‫ נשמה‬nšáma vs. nšamá ‘soul’, ‫ סעודה‬s≠óda vs. s≠odá ‘meal’, ‫ערובא‬ ≠®óbba vs. ≠®ëbbá, and many more. However, a more careful examination reveals that even in the southeast there are clear vestiges of penultimate stress, which can be divided into a number of categories.

© 2013 Koninklijke Brill NV ISBN 978-90-04-17642-3

stress: biblical and rabbinic pronunciation traditions

One of these is Hebrew first names, which are commonly pronounced with penultimate stress. In fact, stress is used as a distinguishing element to differentiate between a name when referring to a historical personage (with final stress), and the same name when used as a common first name (with penultimate stress). Here are some examples: ‫‘ אברהם‬Abraham’ as a first name is pronounced with penultimate stress in the communities of the north and the south (b®áham), but with ultimate stress when referring to the Patriarch Abraham (ab®ahám, b®ahám); ‫‘ שרה‬Sarah’ as a first name was pronounced with penultimate stress in the north and the south, whereas the ultimate stress form šará was reserved for the Matriarch. Another category is common terms and expressions from the world of Jewish law and custom, such as the word ‫ רבי‬rábbi ‘rabbi’, which was pronounced with penultimate stress in all of Tunisia. A third category consists of Hebrew nouns and verbs in which a historical mobile shewa became quiescent. In the south such words were pronounced with penultimate stress, for example, ‫ מפרשים‬mfᮚim ‘interpret (mpl)’, ‫ מסרה‬másra ‘handed over (3fs)’, ‫™ חברך‬abé®xa ‘your (ms) friend’, and ‫ לישועתך‬l-ešo≠átxa ‘for ָ ‫ִ ֽל‬ Your redemption’, in the expression ֖‫ישׁוּﬠ ְתָך‬ '‫יתי ה‬ ִ ‫ ִקִ ֥וּ‬l-ìšù≠