[Mesorah] Speaking of Temani customs

[Ira L. Jacobson]

At 11:16 18-04-19  -0400, Akiva Miller via Mesorah stated the following:
>I see a gigantic difference between Medieval Aramaic vs Shakespearean English.
>
>The latter was a spoken language where the grammar and meaning was 
>commonplace, even if only a few could read and write. The illiteracy 
>may have led to rampant spelling errors, but that's about it.
>
>The former was a foreign language, which people were familiar with 
>only to whatever extent they knew gemara; I can all too easily 
>imagine how their writing must have been riddled with ignorant errors.

Please try to recall that 80 percent of English people were 
illiterate at the time of Shakespeare.  (But Shakespeare was not.)

Do you really think that paetanim who wrote in Aramaic were also 
illiterate?  (Also at the time of Shakespeare.)

I have known and spoke to illiterates and semi-literates in English, 
Hebrew and Spanish.  They have no idea of singular and plural, tense, 
subject and object, spelling, pronunciation.  Except for when they 
have no choice, they never read anything; nor do they write.  Compare 
that with the Aramaic of the Middle Ages, and with Shakespeare's 
contemporaries.

How about Hebrew at that time?  From the fifth century CE on, Hebrew 
was no longer used anywhere in the world as an everyday spoken 
language. However, it continued to be widely used as a literary 
language up until its modern revival as a spoken tongue.  So 
regarding your criticism of Aramaic being in a state of illiteracy at 
that time, the same criticism would seem to apply to 
Hebrew.  Something doesn't scan.

Your facts may well indeed be facts, but the conclusion you draw is 
not in consonance with the facts, in my humble opinion.  But I will 
fight to the death for your right to express your opinions.



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Mo'adim lesimha
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IRA L. JACOBSON
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mailto:laser at ieee.org


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