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A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods (Publications of The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project)
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Michael Sokoloff
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Product Details
- Author: Michael Sokoloff
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- Binding: Hardcover
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- Dewey Decimal Number: 492.29
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- EAN: 9780801872334
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- ISBN: 0801872332
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- Label: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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- Language: English
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- Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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- Number of Items: 1
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- Number of Pages: 1600
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- Product Group: Book
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- Publication Date: 2003-01-03
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- Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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- Studio: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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- Title: A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic and Geonic Periods (Publications of The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project)
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Product Description: The first new dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic in a century, this towering scholarly achievement provides a complete lexicon of the entire vocabulary used in both literary and epigraphic sources from the Jewish community in Babylon from the third century C.E. to the twelfth century. Author Michael Sokoloff's primary source is, of course, the Babylonian Talmud, one of the most important and influential works in Jewish literature. Unlike the authors of previous dictionaries of this dialect, however, he also uses a variety of other sources, from inscriptions and legal documents to other rabbinical literature. A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic also differs from earlier lexographic efforts in its focus on a single dialect. Previous dictionaries have been composite works containing various Aramaic dialects from different periods, blurring distinctions in meaning and nuance. Sokoloff has been able to draw on the most current linguistic and textual scholarship to ensure the complete accuracy of his lexical entries, each of which is divided into six parts: lemma or root, part of speech, English gloss, etymology, semantic features, and bibliographic references. Another important feature in this invaluable reference work is its index of all cited passages, which allows the reader of a given text to easily find the semantics of a particular word. In addition to linguists and specialists in Jewish Aramaic literature, lay readers and students will also find this comprehensive, up-to-date dictionary useful for understanding the Babylonian Talmud.
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Customer Reviews
Very thorough
This excellent dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic is extremely well produced. It has large, clear type and a solid hard-cover binding. There are many cross-references between entries, as well as entries for variant spellings cross-referenced to the appropriate main entry. Headwords of entries are vocalized where possible, but sometimes there is no evidence to show the precise vocalization, so none is indicated.
This dictionary covers the following sources, according to the introduction: The Babylonian Talmud, Geonic Literature, Writings of Anan, Magical texts, Babylonian Masora. I have consulted it during my study of the Aramaic of Targums Jonathan and Onkelos, where it has proven quite helpful, although it does not include all the vocabulary of these latter works, which it does not set out to cover.
The main work still available that is somewhat comparable to this Sokoloff dictionary is Marcus Jastrow's _Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature_, originally published in 1903. This venerable volume does include the vocabulary of the Targumim; however, its age is showing. On the one hand, it is available in editions far less expensive than Sokoloff's dictionary. On the other hand, modern reprints are of poor, at times illegible, quality, due to multiple generations of photographic reproduction. And of course, Sokoloff's work is able to include the results of the 99 years of research that separate his work from Jastrow's.
Sokoloff's research is particularly noticeable (at least to me, with my particular interests) in the area of etymology. He cites many Akkadian sources and many Syriac cognates. Jastrow does not include this important information, which often provides valuable insight into the meaning of words.
Sokoloff, like Jastrow, organizes his entries alphabetically according to whole words. I think this system is quite useful, especially for students not yet thoroughly steeped in the details of how to determine roots from derived forms that have thoroughly modified versions of these roots. However, some Semitists decry this, insisting that all entries should be listed strictly by root (as is done, for example, in the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicion). Whichever your preference, you now know which system Sokoloff uses.
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