* Weiss in his Studien zur Mischnahsprache (in Hebrew), collects seme passages which, though of interest, lead to no defluite conclusion.
acterized by a distinctly more modern idiom than that of Ezra; and, indeed, contain such decidedly Hebrew constructions that it is evident that either their author thought in that ar as or they represent a translation from it. Of the Aramaic inscriptions which have been discovered, perha) those of Palmyra approach most closely to the language of Daniel. The language has begun to assimilate Greek words, but there is as yet no regular system of transliteration. The language is rigidly distinguished from the later Christian Aramaic by the preservation of the old passive forms, by the fact that the emphatic form still has the force of the definite article, as well as by certain peculiarities of grammar and orthonrey ey: The later Jewish Aramaic, while in some ot these matters it has developed uniformly with the Christian dialect of Edessa, in others has retained the older forms, and in vocabulary differs widely from all Christian dialects, save that known as Palestinian Syriac. Unlike the language of Canaan, Aramaic held its ground during the integrity of the Roman Empire in the East, developing a variety of dialects and of scripts, and, though ousted in the seventh and succeeding centuries by Arabic, it has still representatives in the dialect of the Christians of Mesopotamia, which the mission- aries Stoddart, and, more recently, Macleane, have endeavourel to provide with grammar and vocabu- lary, and in some other less known dialects.
Literatur®.—The history of the earliest grammatical studies in Hebrew ἴα sketched by W. Bacher, ‘die Anfinge der Heb. Grammatik.’ in ZDMG@ xlix. 1-62 and 334-392; for the few notices of grammar to be found in the Talmuds see further A. Berliner, Beitrdge zur Heb. Grammatik im Talmud u. Midrasch. Berl. 1879. Bacher’s papers carry the history of Hebrew grammar and lexicography down to the end of the 10th cent.; while the invention of the vowel-points is connected with the labours of the Massoretes, the first actual author of a grammatical treatise was the Gaon Saadya (οὗ. 941), whose work, however, exists only in quotations; to the 10th cent. belong the Risalah of Jehudah Ibn Koraish, ed. Barges and Goldberg, Paris, 1842, the Mahlereth or dictionary of Menahem Ibn Saruk (ea H. Filipowski, Lond. 1854 ; see also Siegmund Gross, Mena-
em Β. Saruk, Breslau, 1872), and the Teshubhah or ‘ Response’ of Dunash B. Labrat (ed. R. Schroter, Breslau, 1866; cf. S. G. Stern, ‘Liber Responsionum,’ Vienna, 1870); to the 11th cent. the ‘Book of Hebrew Roots’ of R. Jonah, called Abu 'l-Walid Merwan (ed. by A. Neubauer, Oxford, 1875, cf. Neubauer, ‘ Notice sur la lexicographie Hébraique,’ in Journ. Asiat. 1861), and his grammar, called Harrikmah (ed. Goldberg, Frankf. 1866). See further for this early period Ewald u. Dukes, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der diltesten Auslegung u.s.w. des A. Testamentes, Stuttgart, 1844. We are brought nearer to medern times by the works of Abraham Ibn Ezra, Moz’ne l’shon hak- kodesh (ed. Heidenheim, Offenbach, 1791), Sefer Sahuth (ed. Lippmann, Furth, 1827), and Safah B’rurah (ed. Lippmann, Furth, 1839); see also Bacher, Abraham Ibn Ezra Gram- matiker, Strassburg, 1881. To the same century belongs the lexicon of Solomon Ibn Parhon, completed at Salerno, 1160 ed. S. G. Stern, Pressburg, 1844; cf. M. Weiner, Parchon als
rrammatiker ας Lexicograph, Offen. 1870). Still more im-
rtant were the grammatical and lexicographicel works of
avid Kimhi (1160-1235), whose Mich/ol has been often printed, first at Constantinople, 1534; see also J. Tauber, Standpunkt u. Leistung des R. D. Kimhi als Grammatiker, Breslau, 1867. His dictionary, called Sefer hashshorashim, has also been repeatedly printed, most recently by Biesenthal and Lebrecht, Berlin, 1847.
The European study of Hebrew and Chaldee commences with the grammars and dictionaries of Sebastian Munster and Pagninus, 1525-1543; in the next century the Thesaurus Grammaticus of J. Buxtorf, Basel, 1663, was of considerable importance. In this century the works of W. Gesenius have, notwithstanding many rivals, maintained their popularity ; his Hebrew grammar, which first appeared at Halle, 1813 (followed by the more elaborate Lehrgebdude, Leipzig, 1817), has re- peatedly been re-edited and translated; the 26th edition, revised by E. Kautzsch, appeared in 1896 at Leipzig, and was transla by Collins and Cowley, Oxford, 1898. Of Gesenius’ rivals the most eminent was H. Ewald, the author of both a larger and a smaller mmar; the 8th edition of the former, called Auafiihrliches Lehrbuch der heb. Sprache, appeared at Gottingen, 1870, the Syntax of which was translated by Kennedy, Edinburgh, 1879. Other important works on Hebrew
ammar are J. Olshausen’s Lehrbuch, Brunswick, 1861; Fr
Ottcher’s Ausfiihrliches Lehrbuch, Leipzig, 1866 (in many respects the fullest that has yet appeared); B. Stade’s Lehrich, Leipz. 1879 (these three do not touch the syntax); F. E. Kouig, Hist.-krit. Lehrgebiude, Leipzig, 1881-1897. Driver's Hebrew
Tenses (8rd ed., Oxford, 1890); Harper's Elements of Heb: vo
LANGUAGE OF THE APOCRYPHA
Syntax (London, 1890); and Wickes’ Treatises on Hebrew Accentuation (Oxford, 1881-1887), are of great importance. Lexicography is mainly represented by various editions of the dictionaries of Gesenius (Handwérterbuch, Leipzig, 1810, 13th ed. by Buhl, 1899; new edition by Brown, Briggs, and Driver in course of publication; Thesaurus, 1835-1808, finished by E. Roédiger); while these can be supplemented by the Con- cordances, of which that by Mandelkern, Leipzig, 1996, is the newest and fullest. The grammar of the Aramaic parts of the OT has been treated most recently by K. Marti in Petermann’s series, Leipzig, 1896, and H. Strack, Leipzig, 1896. Some of the More important monographs on special questions have been noticed above; but the various journals devoted to the study of the OT, e.g. the American Hebraica and the German ZATW, as well as those devoted to Jewish literature and to Oriental study, contain more articles of aera than can be noticed here—1899. . S. MARGOLIOUTH.