[Avodah] Hebrew and Aramaic

[T613K at aol.com]

On 5/24/2007 RJB wrote: 

>>I was thinking the other day about Echod Mi Yodea.  Now,  not all the 
verses rhyme.  However, some do, and do so by switching  Aramaic.
The numerals are Hebrew, not Aramaic, and the first 6 are  Hebrew.
Then you get  7 "yemei Shabata" Aramaic
9 "yarchei leida" Aramaic yarchei not chodshei,  which would
scan just as well.
10  "dibraya"
11  "coch'vaya"
12  "shivtaya"
13  "midaya".

Is it known who wrote it?  Why the shift from Hebrew to  Aramaic?<<



>>>>
My guess:  Whoever wrote it lived in a time and place where people  mainly 
spoke Aramaic but were comfortable with Hebrew too, and switched  naturally back 
and forth between languages without giving it much  thought -- much as we do 
here on Avodah.  
 
"Yarchei" BTW is Hebrew as well as Aramaic -- probably borrowed from  
Aramaic, but by the time Echad Mi Yodea was written -- it was considered a  Hebrew 
word by Hebrew speakers, I'm sure.





--Toby  Katz
=============



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