[Avodah] Xad Gadya

[Jay F. Shachter]

> In Chad Gadya, we say Shelosha Avot and Arba (not Arba'a) Imahot
> because Avot is male and Imahot is female.  Yet the text reads Asara
> Dibraya and shlosha Asar Midaya even though Dibra/Dibrot and
> Mida/Midot are female.  Has any one seen a discussion related to
> this Dikduk Problem?  Are the rules in Aramaic different?

In Hebrew, dibbroth is strictly a post-Biblical form. In the Torah it is
always dvarim, which is both grammatically and morphologically masculine.

As for Aramaic, I do not know whether dibbrayya or middayya are
grammatically masculine, but they are clearly morphologically masculine.
More precisely, they are in the form of a masculine plural with the
definite article. If they were feminine plurals with the definite
article, they would be dibbratha and middatha. Look at the Targum to,
e.g., Exodus 37:5, where there is a masculine plural with the definite
article, right next to a feminine plural with the definite article --
"w'a`al yath arixayya b`izqatha" -- and observe the difference in the
form of the two words. So it is likely that your grammatical assumptions
are incorrect, and that dibbrayya and middayya are both masculine.

                        Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
                                jay at m5.chicago.il.us
                                http://m5.chicago.il.us

                        "Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur"