Yemenite Hebrew (Hebrew:עִבְרִית תֵּימָנִית,romanized: ʿIḇriṯ Tēmoniṯ), also referred to asTemani Hebrew, is the pronunciation system forHebrew traditionally used byYemenite Jews. Yemenite Hebrew has been studied by language scholars, many of whom believe it retains older phonetic and grammatical features that have been lost elsewhere.[1] Yemenite speakers of Hebrew have garnered considerable praise from language purists because of their use of grammatical features from classical Hebrew.[2]
Some scholars believe that itsphonology was heavily influenced by spokenYemeni Arabic.[citation needed] Other scholars, includingYosef Qafih andAbraham Isaac Kook, hold the view that Yemenite Arabic did not influence Yemenite Hebrew, as this type of Arabic was also spoken by Yemenite Jews and is distinct from the liturgical and conversational Hebrew of the communities.[3] Among other things, Qafih noted that the Yemenite Jews spoke Arabic with a distinct Jewish flavor, inclusive of pronouncing many Arabic words with vowels foreign to the Arabic language, e.g., theqamatz (Hebrew:קָמַץ) andtzere (Hebrew:צֵירִי).[4] He argues that the pronunciation of Yemenite Hebrew was not only uninfluenced by Arabic, but it influenced the pronunciation of Arabic by those Jews, despite the Jewish presence in Yemen for over a millennium.
Yemenite Hebrew may have been derived from, or influenced by, the Hebrew of theTalmudic academies in Babylonia: the oldest Yemenite manuscripts use theBabylonian vocalization, which is believed to antedate theTiberian vocalization.[5] As late as 937,Jacob Qirqisani wrote: "The biblical readings which are wide-spread in Yemen are in the Babylonian tradition."[6] Indeed, in many respects, such as the assimilation ofpaṯaḥ andsəġūl, the current Yemenite pronunciation fits the Babylonian notation better than the Tiberian (though the Babylonian notation does not reflect the approximation betweenholam andsere in some Yemenite dialects). This is because in the Babylonian tradition of vocalization there is no distinct symbol for thesəġūl.[7] It does not follow, as claimed by some scholars, that the pronunciation of the two communities was identical, any more than the pronunciation of Sephardim and Ashkenazim is the same because both use the Tiberian symbols.
The following chart shows the seven vowel paradigms found in theBabylonian supralinear punctuation, which are reflected to this day by the Yemenite pronunciation of Biblical lections and liturgies, though they now use the Tiberian symbols. For example, there is no separate symbol for the Tiberiansəġūl and thepataḥ and amongst Yemenites they have the same phonetic sound.[8] In this connection, the Babylonian vowel signs remained in use in Yemen long after the Babylonian Biblical tradition had been abandoned, almost until our own time.[9]
Yemenites have preserved the sounds for each of the six double-sounding consonants:bəged-kəfet (בג״ד כפ״ת). The following are examples of their peculiar way of pronunciation of these and other letters:
gímel/ǧimal (גּ) with thedāḡēš/dageš is pronounced/d͡ʒ/. Thus, the verseוּמִי, גּוֹי גָּדוֹל(Deut. 4:8) is realized as,u'mi, ǧoi ǧaḏol ([u'midʒoidʒaðol]) (as inSanʽani Arabicج ǧīm /d͡ʒ/ but unlikeTaʽizzi-Adeni Arabic /g/).[14]
gímel/gimal (ג) withoutdāḡēš/dageš is pronounced/ɣ/, like Arabicġaynغ.
dāleṯ/dal (ד) withoutdāḡēš/dageš is pronounced/ð/, like Arabicḏālذ. Thus, the wordאֶחָדֿ, 'one' inShema Yisrael is always pronouncedaḥoḏ ([æħɔð]).[15]
The pronunciation oftāv/taw (ת) withoutdāḡēš/dageš asث/θ/ (shared by otherMizrahi Hebrew dialects such as Iraqi). Thus,Sabbath day is pronounced in Yemenite Hebrew,Yom ha-Shabboth ([jomhaʃ-ʃabɔθ]).[16]
vāv/waw (ו) is pronounced/w/ (as in Iraqi Hebrew andو in Arabic).
Emphatic and guttural letters have nearly the same sounds and are produced from deep in the throat, as in Arabic.
tsadi (צ) is not a voiceless alveolar sibilant affricate "ts" among the Yemenites, but rather a deep-sounding "s" (pharyngealized fricative).
qof (ק) is pronounced by the Yemenites (other than the Jews from Shar'ab) as a voiced /g/, (as in Sanʽani Arabicق gāf /g/ but unlikeTaʽizzi-Adeni Arabic /q/) and is in keeping with their tradition that a different phonetic sound is given forgímel/gimal (seesupra).
resh (ר) is pronounced as analveolar trill /r/, rather than the uvular trill [ʀ], and is identical to Arabicرrāʾ and follows the conventions of old Hebrew.[17]
Thekaf sofit with a dagesh (ךּ) is pronounced as such, ('ka') as in the rare example of the last word in Psalm 30.
Qāmaṣ gāḏôl/Qamac qadol is pronounced/ɔː/, as inAshkenazi Hebrew andTiberian Hebrew. The Yemenite pronunciation forQamats gadol (קמץ גדול) andQamats qatan (קמץ קטן) is identical (seeinfra.).
There is no distinction between the vowelspaṯaḥ/pataħ andsəḡôl/segol all being pronounced/æ(ː)/, like the Arabicfatḥa (a feature also found in old Babylonian Hebrew, which used a single symbol for all three).[7] Ašəwâ nāʻ/šwa naʕ, however, is identical to a חטף פתח and חטף סגול.
Finalhê/hej withmappîq/mefiq has an aspirated sound, generally stronger sounding than the regularhê/hej.Aleph (אַלַף) with adagesh, a rare occurrence, is pronounced with aglottal stop, e.g., the word וַיָּבִיאּוּ inGenesis 43:26.[18] Conversely, some words in Hebrew which are written with the finalhê ending (without themappîq) are realized by a secondary glottal stop and so are abruptly cut short, as to hold one's breath.[19]
Asemivocalic sound is heard beforepaṯaḥ gānûḇ/pataħ ganuv (furtivepaṯaḥ coming between a long vowel and a final guttural): thusruaħ (spirit) sounds likerúwwaḥ andsiaħ (speech) sounds likesíyyaḥ. (That is shared with other Mizrahi pronunciations, such as theSyrian.)
Yemenite pronunciation is not uniform, and Morag has distinguished five sub-dialects, the best known being probably Sana'ani, originally spoken by Jews in and aroundSana'a. Roughly, the points of difference are as follows:
In some dialects,ḥōlem/ħolam (long "o" in modern Hebrew) is pronounced/øː/, but in others, it is pronounced/eː/ likeṣêrệ/cerej. (The last pronunciation is shared withLithuanian Jews.)
Some dialects (e.g. Sharab) do not differentiate betweenbêṯ/bet withdāḡēš/dageš and without it.[citation needed] That occurs most ofMizrahi Hebrew.
Sana'ani Hebrew primarily places stress on the penultimate syllable,[citation needed] as in Ashkenazi Hebrew.
Yemenite reading practices continue the orthographic conventions of the early grammarians, such as Abraham ibn Ezra and Aaron Ben-Asher. One basic rule of grammar states that every word with a long vowel sound, that is, one of either five vowel sounds whose mnemonics are "pītūḥe ḥöthom" (i.e.ḥiraq,šūraq,ṣeré,ḥölam andqamaṣ), whenever there is written beside one of these long vowel sounds ameteg (or what is also called aga’ayah) and is denoted by a small vertical line below the word (e.g. under the ז inזָֽכְרוּ), it indicates that the vowel (in that case,qamaṣ) must be drawn out with a prolonged sound. For example, ōōōōōō, instead of ō, (e.g.zoː— khǝ ru). In the Sephardic tradition, however, the practice is different altogether, and they will also alter the phonetic sound of the short vowelqamaṣ qattön whenever the vowel appears alongside ameteg (a small vertical line), reading it as the long vowelqamaṣ gadöl, giving to it the sound of "a", as incar, instead of "ōōōōō." Thus, for the verse inכָּל עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה(Psalm 35:10), the Sephardic Jews will pronounce the wordכָּל as "kal" (e.g.kal ʕaṣmotai, etc.), instead ofkol ʕaṣmotai as pronounced by both Yemenite and Ashkenazi Jewish communities.[20]
Themeteg, orga’ayah, has actually two functions: (1) It extends the sound of the vowel; (2) It makes anyšewa that is written immediately after the vowel a mobilešewa, meaning, thešewa itself becomesə. For example:אוֹמְרים =ʔö mǝ rim,שׁוֹמְרים =šö mǝ rim,סִיסְרָא =sī sǝ ra,שׁוּבְךָ =šū vǝ kha, andטוּבְךָ =tū vǝ kha. Examples withmeteg/ga’ayah:שָֽׁמְרָה =šoː mǝ ro,ּיֵֽרְדו =ye rǝ du.
TheQamats qatan is realized as the non-extended "o"-sound in the firstqamats (qamaṣ) in the word,חָכְמָה ⇒ḥokhma (wisdom).
The Yemeniteqamaṣ⟨ ָ ⟩ is represented in the transliterated texts by thediaphoneme/oː/. The vowel quality is the same, whether for a long or short vowel, but the long vowel sound is always prolonged.
A distinct feature of Yemenite Hebrew is that there is some degree of approximation between theḥōlam and theṣêrệ. To the untrained ear, they may sound as the same phoneme, but Yemenite grammarians will point out the difference. The feature varies by dialect:
In the standard, provincial pronunciation that is used by most Yemenite Jews,holam is pronounced as/øː/. For example, the word "shalom" (שָׁלוֹם), is pronouncedsholøm.
In some provincial dialects, in particular that ofAden,holam becomes a longe and is indeed indistinguishable fromsere, and some early manuscripts sometimes confuse or interchange the symbols for the two sounds.[21]
Some see the assimilation of the two vowels as a local variant within the wider Babylonian family, which the Yemenites happened to follow.[22]
RabbiAbraham Isaac Kook and RabbiJacob Saphir have praised the Yemenites in their correct pronunciation of Hebrew.[23] They still read the biblical lections and liturgies according to what is prescribed for Hebrew grammar and are meticulous to pronounce the mobilešĕwāשוא נע in each of its changing forms. While most other communities also adhere to the rule of mobilešĕwā whenever twošĕwās are written one after the other, as inיִכְתְּבוּ, most have forgotten its other usages.
Mobile shĕwā
Aharon Ben-Asher, in his treatise on the proper usage of Hebrew vowels and trope symbols, writes on thešĕwā: "[It is] the servant of all the letters in the entire Scriptures, whether at the beginning of the word, or in the middle of the word, or at the end of the word; whether what is pronounced by the tongue or not pronounced, for it has many ways… However, if it is joined with one of four [guttural] letters,א ח ה ע, its manner [of pronunciation] will be like the manner of the vowel of the second letter in that word, such as:בְּֽהֹנוֹת ידיהם ורגליהם(Jud. 1:7) =böhonoth;מתי פתיםתְּֽאֵהֲבוּ פתי(Prov. 1:22) =te’ehavu;עיניולְֽחֵלְכָה יצפנו(Ps. 10:8) =leḥeləkhah;שריהרְֽעֵלָיָה מרדכי(Ezra 2:2) =reʻeloyoh."[24]
Mobile shewa (shĕwā-jiʻya)
On the mobilešĕwā and its usage amongst Yemenite Jews, Israeli grammarianShelomo Morag wrote:[25] "The pronunciation of thešĕwā mobile precedingא, ה, ח, ע, or ר in the Yemenite tradition isrealized in accordance with the vowel following the guttural; quantitatively, however, this is an ultra-short vowel. For example, a word such asוְחוּט is pronouncedwuḥuṭ. Ašĕwā preceding ayōḏ is pronounced as an ultra-shortḥīreq: the wordבְּיוֹם is pronouncedbiyōm. This is the way thešĕwā is known to have been pronounced in the Tiberian tradition."
Other examples of words of the mobilešĕwā in the same word taking the phonetic sound of the vowel assigned to the adjacent guttural letter[26] or of a mobilešĕwā before the letteryod (י) taking the phonetic sound of theyod, can be seen in the following:
The above rule applies only to when one of the four guttural letters (אחהע), or ayod (י) or a resh (ר) follows the mobilešĕwā, but it does not apply to the other letters; then, the mobilešĕwā is always read as a short-soundingpataḥ.
Geographically isolated for centuries, the Yemenite Jews constituted a peculiar phenomenon within Diaspora Jewry. In their isolation, they preserved specific traditions of both Hebrew and Aramaic. The traditions, transmitted from generation to generation through the teaching and reciting of the Bible, post-biblical Hebrew literature (primarily theMishnah), theAramaic Targums of the Bible, and theBabylonian Talmud, are still alive.[27] They are manifest in the traditional manner of reading Hebrew that is practised by most members of the community. The Yemenite reading traditions of the Bible are now based on the Tiberian text and vocalization,[27] as proofread by themasorete,Aaron ben Asher, with the one exception that the vowelsǝġūl is pronounced as apataḥ, since thesǝġūl did not exist in the Babylonian orthographic tradition to which the Jews of Yemen had previously been accustomed. In what concerns Biblical orthography, with the one exception of thesǝgūl, the Yemenite Jewish community does not differ from any other Jewish community.[27]
Although the vast majority of post-Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic words are pronounced the same way or nearly the same way by all of Israel's diverse ethnic groups, including the Jews of Yemen, there are still other words whose phonemic system differs greatly from the way it is used in Modern Hebrew, the sense here being the tradition of vocalization ordiction of selective Hebrew words found in the Mishnah and Midrashic literature, or of Aramaic words found in the Talmud, and which tradition has been meticulously preserved by theJews of Yemen. Two of the more recognized Yemenite pronunciations are for the wordsרבי andגברא, the first pronounced asRibbi, instead of Rabbi (as in Rabbi Meir), and the second pronouncedguvra, instead ofgavra. In the first case, archaeologistBenjamin Mazar was the first to discover its linguistic usage in the funerary epigrams of the 3rd and 4th-century CE, during excavations at the catacombs inBeit She'arim.Nahman Avigad, speaking of the same, wrote: "Of special interest is the title Rabbi and its Greek transliteration (Greek:ΡΑΒΙ). In the inscriptions of Beth She'arim found in the former seasonsריבי andביריבי are usual, and only once do we findרבי, which has been regarded as a defective form ofריבי, for in Greek we generally find the form (Greek:ΡΙΒΒΙ). The transliteration (Greek:ΡΑΒΙ) found here shows that the title was pronounced inPalestine in different ways, sometimesRabbi (ΡΑΒΒΙ, ΡΑΒΙ), sometimesRibbi (ΡΙΒΒΙ, ΡΙΒΙ) and occasionally evenRebbi (ΒΗΡΕΒΙ)."[28][29] In the latter case, theJerusalem Talmud occasionally brings down the wordגברא inplene scriptum,גוברייא (pl. forגברא), showing that its pronunciation was the same as that in use by the Yemenites.[30] Some have raised the proposition that the Yemenite linguistic tradition dates back to theAmoraim.[31]
R.Yehudai Gaon, in hisHalakhot Pesukot (Hil.Berakhot), usesyod as themater lectionis to show the vowelhiriq, after theqoph (ק) inQiryat Shema (Hebrew:קִירְיַת שְׁמַע).[32] The editor of the critical edition, A. Israel, who places its composition in Babylonia, notes that "linguists would take an interest" in Yehudai Gaon's variant spellings of words, where especially thematres lectionis is used in place of vowels, "represented either by a plenealef (א),waw (ו), andyod (י)."[33] The use of thematres lectionis in place of the vowelhiriq in theconstruct case of the words קִרְיַת שְׁמַע ("recital of Shemaʻ" = קירית שמע) reflects apparently the Babylonian tradition of pronunciation, and, today, the same tradition is mirrored in the Yemenite pronunciation ofQiryat shemaʻ.[34]
The following diagrams show a few of the more conspicuous differences in the Yemenite tradition of vocalization and which Israeli linguist,Shelomo Morag, believes reflects an ancient form of vocalizing the texts and was once known and used by all Hebrew-speakers.[35]
Notes on transliteration: In the Yemenite Jewish tradition, the vowelqamaṣ⟨ ָ ⟩, represents/oː/. The Hebrew characterTau (Hebrew:ת), without a dot of accentuation, represents/θ/. The Hebrew characterGimal (Hebrew:גּ), with a dot of accentuation, represents/dʒ/. The Hebrew wordגנאי (in the above middle column, and meaning 'a thing detestable'), is written in Yemenite Jewish tradition with a vowelqamaṣ beneath theHebrew:נ, but since it is followed by the lettersאי it represents/ɔɪ/.[65] The vowelḥolam in the Yemenite dialect is transcribed here with⟨o⟩, and represents a front rounded vowel. Another peculiarity with the Yemenite dialect is that the vast majority of Yemenite Jews (excluding the Jews of Sharab in Yemen) will replace/q/, used here in transliteration of texts, with the phonetic sound of[ɡ].
In the Yemenite tradition, the plural endings on the wordsזָכִיּוֹת (merits),מַלְכִיּוֹת (kingdoms),גָּלִיּוֹת (exiles),טעִיּוֹת (errors),טרפִיּוֹת (defective animals) andעֵדִיּוֹת (testimonies), all differ from the way they are vocalized in Modern Hebrew. In Modern Hebrew, these words are marked with ashuraq, as follows:זָכֻיּוֹת –מַלְכֻיּוֹת –גָּלֻיּוֹת –טעֻיּוֹת –טרפֻיּוֹת –עֵדֻיּוֹת. Although the wordHebrew:מַלְכֻיוֹת (kingdoms) in Daniel 8:22 is vocalizedmalkhuyoth, as it is in Modern Hebrew,Shelomo Morag thinks that the Yemenite tradition reflects a phonological phenomenon known asdissimilation, whereby similar consonants or vowels in a word become less similar.[98] Others explain the discrepancy as being in accordance with a general rule of practice, prevalent in the 2nd century CE, where the Hebrew in rabbinic literature was distinguished from that of Biblical Hebrew, and put into an entire class and category of its own, with its own rules of vocalization (seeinfra).
The Hebrew nounחֲתִיכָּה (ḥăṯīkkah), in the upper left column, is a word meaning "slice/piece" (in the absolute state), orחֲתִיכַּת בשר ("piece of meat") in the construct state. The noun is of the same metre asקְלִיפָּה (qǝlipah), a word meaning "peel," or the "rind" of a fruit. Both thekaph andpe in these nouns are with adagesh. However, the same roots applied to different meters, serving as gerunds, as in "slicing/cutting" [meat] and "peeling" [an apple], the words would respectively beחֲתִיכָה (ḥăṯīḫah) andקליפָה (qǝlīfah), without adagesh in the Hebrew charactersKaph andPe (i.e.rafe letters), such as when the verb is used with the preposition "after": e.g. "after peeling the apple" =אחרי קליפת התפוח, or "after cutting the meat" =אחרי חתיכת הבשר.
In theTalmud(Ḥullin 137b;Avodah Zarah 58b), the Sages of Israel had a practice to read words derived from the Scriptures in their own given way, while the same words derived from the Talmud or in other exegetical literature (known as theMidrash) in a different way: "When Isse the son of Hinei went up [there], he found Rabbi Yoḥanan teaching [a certain Mishnah] to the creations, saying,raḥelim (i.e.רחלים = the Hebrew word for "ewes"), etc. He said to him, 'Teach it [by its Mishnaic name =רחלות],raḥeloth!' He replied, '[What I say is] as it is written [in the Scriptures]: Ewes (raḥelim), two-hundred.'(Gen. 32:15) He answered him, 'The language of the Torah is by itself, and the language employed by the Sages is by itself!'" (לשון תורה לעצמה, לשון חכמים לעצמן).[132]
This passage from the Talmud is often quoted by grammarians of Yemenite origin to explain certain "discrepancies" found in vocalization of words where a comparable source can be found in the Hebrew Bible, such as the Yemenite tradition in rabbinic literature to sayHebrew:מַעְבִּיר (maʻbīr),[133] rather thanHebrew:מַעֲבִיר (maʻăvīr) – although the latter rendering appears in Scripture(Deuteronomy 18:10), or to sayHebrew:זִיעָה (zīʻah), withḥīraq,[134] rather than,Hebrew:זֵיעָה (zeʻah), withṣerê, although it too appears in Scripture(Genesis 3:19), or to sayHebrew:ברכת המזון (birkhath ha-mazon) (=kaphrafe), rather than as the word "blessing" in the construct state which appears in the Scriptures(Genesis 28:4, et al.), e.g.birkath Avraham (ברכת אברהם), withkaphdagesh. Others, however, say that these anomalies reflect a tradition that antedates the TiberianMasoretic texts.[135][136]
Along these same lines, theMasoretic Text of theHebrew Bible renders the words (Hebrew:יַבְנֶה), in II Chronicles 26:6, and (Hebrew:לוֹד), in Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35, asyävnɛ andlōð, respectively. However, in theirdemotic-forms, the Yemenites will pronounce these words as (Hebrew:יָבְנֵה) and (Hebrew:לוּדּ) =yovnei andlūd, respectively. The use of the phoneme "ṣerê", represented by the two dots "◌ֵ", instead of "pataḥ-səġūl" (ֶ ) for the word "Yavneh" may have been influenced by the Palestinian dialect spoken in the Land of Israel in the 1st-century CE.
In Yemenite tradition, many words in both Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew which are written with the finalhê ending (without themappîq) are realized by a secondaryglottal stop, meaning, they are abruptly cut short, as when one holds his breath. Shelomo Morag who treats upon this peculiarity in the Yemenite tradition of vocalization brings down two examples from the Book of Isaiah, although by no means exclusive, where he shows the transliteration for the wordsתִּפָּדֶה in Isaiah 1:27 andוְנֵלְכָה in Isaiah 2:5, and both of which represent/ʔ/, as intippoːdä(ʔ) andwǝnelăχoː(ʔ) respectively.[167] The wordפָרָשָׁה (Bible Codex[168]) in the upper-middle column is pronounced in the same way, e.g.foːroːʃoːʔ.
Excursus: The preposition (Hebrew:שֶׁלְּ... שֶׁלַּ... שֶׁלִּ... שֶׁלָּ ...,lit. 'of') is unique in the Yemenite Jewish tradition. The Hebrew preposition is always written with the noun, joined as one word, and thelamed is always accentuated with adagesh. For example, if the noun Hebrew:מלך,lit. 'king', would normally have been written with the definite article Hebrew:ה־,lit. 'the', as in Hebrew:הַמֶּלֶךְ,lit. 'the king', and the noun was to show possession, as in the sentence: "the palaceof the king," the definite article "the" (Hebrew:ה) is dropped, but the same vowelpataḥ of the definite article is carried over to thelamed, as inשֶׁלַּמֶּלֶךְ, instead of של המלך. The vowel on thelamed will sometimes differ, depending on what noun comes after the preposition. For example, the definite article "the" in Hebrew nouns which begin withaleph orresh and sometimesayin, such as inהָאָדָם and inהָרִאשׁוֹן, or inהָעוֹלָם, is written with the vowelqamaṣ – in which case, the vowelqamaṣ is carried over to thelamed, as inשֶׁלָּאָדָם and inשֶׁלָּרִאשׁוֹן and inשֶׁלָּעוֹלָם. Another general rule is that whenever a possessive noun is written without the definite article "the", as in the words, "a king's sceptre," or "the sceptre of a king" (Heb.מלך), thelamed in the preposition is written with the vowelshǝwa (i.e. mobileshǝwa), as inשרביט שֶׁלְּמֶּלֶךְ, and as in, "if it belongs to Israel" ⇒אם הוא שֶׁלְּיִשְׂרַאֵל. Whenever the noun begins with ashǝwa, as in the proper nounSolomon (Heb.שְׁלֹמֹה) and one wanted to show possession, thelamed in the preposition is written with aḥiraq, as in (Song of Solomon 3:7):מטתו שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹה ⇒ "Solomon's bed", or as inעונשם שֶׁלִּרְשָׁעִים ⇒ "the punishmentof the wicked", or inחבילה שֶׁלִּתְרוּמָה ⇒ "a bundleof heave-offering."[188]
Another rule of practice in Hebrew grammar is that twoshǝwasחְ are never written one after the other at the beginning of any word; neither can twoḥaṭaf pataḥsחֲ or twoḥaṭaf sǝġūlsחֱ be written at the beginning of a word one after the other. The practical implication arising from this rule is that when there is a noun beginning with aḥaṭaf pataḥ, as in the word,חֲבִרְתָּהּ ⇒ "her companion", and one wishes to add thereto the preposition "to" – as in, "to her companion" ⇒לַחֲבִרְתָּהּ, thelamed is written with the vowelpataḥ, instead of ashǝwa (i.e. a mobileshǝwa), seeing that theshǝwa at the beginning of a word and theḥaṭaf pataḥ, as well as theḥaṭaf sǝġūl, are all actually one and the same vowel (in the Babylonian tradition), and it is as though he had written twoshǝwas one after the other. Likewise, in the possessive case, "belonging to her companion" ⇒שֶׁלַּחֲבִרְתָּהּ, thelamed in the prepositionשל is written with the vowelpataḥ.
The Leiden MS. of theJerusalem Talmud is important in that it preserves some earlier variants to textual readings of that Talmud, such as in TractatePesaḥim 10:3 (70a), which brings down the old Palestinian-Hebrew word forcharoseth (the sweet relish eaten at Passover), viz.dūkeh (Hebrew:דוכה), instead ofrūbeh/rabah (Hebrew:רובה), saying with a play on words: "The members of Isse's household would say in the name of Isse: Why is it calleddūkeh? It is because she pounds [the spiced ingredients] with him." The Hebrew word for "pound" isdakh (Hebrew:דך), which rules out the spelling of "rabah " (Hebrew:רבה), as found in the printed editions. Today, theJews of Yemen, in their vernacular of Hebrew, still call thecharoseth by the namedūkeh.[189]
Other quintessential Hebrew words which have been preserved by theJews of Yemen is their manner of calling a receipt of purchase by the name,roʔoːyoː (Hebrew:רְאָיָה), rather than the word "qabbalah" that is now used in Modern Hebrew.[190] The weekly biblical lection read on Sabbath days is called by the nameseder (Hebrew:סדר), since the wordparashah (Hebrew:פרשה) has a completely different meaning, denoting a BibleCodex containing the first Five Books of Moses (plural: codices =פרשיות).[191]
Charity; alms (Hebrew:מִצְוָה,miṣwoː), so-called in Yemenite Jewish parlance,[192] was usually in the form of bread, collected in baskets each Friday before the Sabbath by those appointed over this task for distribution among the needy, without them being brought to shame. The same word is often used throughout theJerusalem Talmud, as well as in Midrashic literature, to signify what is given out to the poor and needy.[193] Today, inModern Hebrew, the word is seldom used to imply charity, replaced now by the word,ts’dakah (Heb.צְדָקָה). In contrast, the wordצדקה amongst Jews in Sana’a was a tax levied upon Jewish householders, particularly those whose professions were butchers, and which tax consisted of hides andsuet from butchered animals, and which things were sold on a daily basis by the Treasurer, and the money accruing from the sale committed to the public fund for the Jewish poor of the city, which money was distributed to the city's poor twice a year; once on Passover, and once on Sukkot.[194] The fund itself was known by the nametoːḏer (Hebrew:תָּדֵיר), lit. "the constant [revenues]."[195]
Although Jews in Yemen widely made-use of the South-Arabic wordmukhwāṭ (Arabic:المُخْوَاط) for the "metal pointer" (stylus) used in pointing at the letters of sacred writ, they also knew the old Hebrew word for the same, which they calledmakhtev (Hebrew:מַכְתֵּב).[196] The following story is related about this instrument inMidrash Rabba: "Rabban [Shimon] Gamliel says: ‘Five-hundred schools were inBeter, while the smallest of them wasn’t less than three-hundred children. They used to say, ‘If the enemy should ever come upon us, with thesemetal pointers (Hebrew:מַכְתֵּבִין) we’ll go out against them and stab them!’..."[197]
In other peculiar words of interest, they made use of the word,shilṭön (Hebrew:שִׁלְטוֹן), for "governor" or "king," instead of "government," the latter word now being the more common usage in Modern Hebrew;[198]kothev (Hebrew:כּוֹתֵב), for "scrivener", or copyist of religious texts, instead of the word "sofer" (scribe);[199]ṣibbūr (Hebrew:צִבּוּר), for "a quorum of at least ten adult males," a word used in Yemen instead of the Modern Hebrew word,minyan;[200]ḥefeṣ (Hebrew:חֵפֶץ), a noun meaning "desirable thing," was used by them to describe any "book" (especially one of a prophylactic nature), although now in Modern Hebrew it means "object";[201]fiqfūq (Hebrew:פִקְפוּק) had the connotation of "shock," "violent agitation," or "shaking-up," although today, in Modern Hebrew, it has the meaning of "doubt" or "skepticism";[202] the word,harpathqe (Hebrew:הַרְפַּתְקֵי), was used to describe "great hardships," although in Modern Hebrew the word has come to mean "adventures."[203] The wordfazmūn (Hebrew:פַזְמוּן), any happy liturgical poem, such as those sung onSimhat Torah, differs from today's Modern Hebrew word,pizmon (Hebrew:פִּזְמוֹן), meaning, a "chorus" to a song.[204] Another peculiar aspect of Yemenite Hebrew is what concerns denominative verbs. One of the nouns used for bread (made of wheat) ishimmuṣ (Hebrew:הִמּוּץ), derived from the blessing that is said whenever breaking bread,המוציא [לחם מן הארץ] =He that brings forth [bread from the earth].[205] Whenever they wanted to say its imperative form, "break bread!", they made use of the denominative verbhammeṣ! (Hebrew:הַמֵּץ). Similarly, the noun for the Third Sabbath meal wasqiyyūm (Hebrew:קְיּוּם), literally meaning "observance," in which they made use of the denominative verb,tǝqayyem (Hebrew:תְּקַיֵּם מענא) =Will you eat with us (the Third Sabbath meal)?, or,נְקַיֵּם =Let us eat (the Third Sabbath meal),[206] or,qiyam (Hebrew:קִיַּם) =He ate (the Third Sabbath meal).[207]
^Judaeo-Yemenite Studies – Proceedings of the Second International Congress, Ephraim Isaac & Yosef Tobi (ed.), Introducftion, Princeton University 1999, p. 15
^Responsa Yitzhak Yeranen, part iv, Bnei Barak 1991,page 80, by Rabbi Hayim Yitzhak Barda, who quotes R. Meir Mazuz, saying: "The Yemenites are very stringent and well-versed, and are punctilious in their [usage of the] language, and they support the enunciation of the Ashkenazim" (translated from the Hebrew).
^Rav Kook's Orah Mishpat question regarding Kiryat Sh'ma "וביחוד למי שמשנה ממבטא התימני המוחזק אצלם מדורות הראשונים שהוא המדויק שבמבטאים כמפורסם שבודאי אסור לעשות כן".
^Hebrew:"מסורות הגייה ושליטת העברית בקרב יהודי תימן" inYosef Qafih'sCollected Papers, volume 2, pages 943–946 (Hebrew). Following is a relevant portion thereof:Hebrew:טענה זו אמנם אפשרית באופן תיאורי ואפשר להשליכה לא רק כאן אלא גם בכל מקום אחר, אלא שהיא מצד מהותה טענה מאוד תלוּשה וזקוּקה היא לבסיס כל שהוּא שתחול עליו, אחרת, הרי היא נשארת מרחפת ללא תנוחה ודינה להתנדף ולהעלם, כי כל ממש אין בה. כל שכן כאשר אנו מוצאים כדמות ראיה לאידך גיסא, כלומר, במצאנו בניב העברית של יהוּדי תימן דבר שאינו בשפת הסביבה, יש בכך משוּם הוכחה שמסורת זו שמרה על כלילוּתה וסגוּלותיה הייחוּדית.ננסה להדגים בשני מישורים, במישור הסימניות, כלומר, האותות, ובמישור התנוּעות. האות פ הדגוּשה, הברה זו אינה מצוּיה בשפה הערבית ואין דוברי הערבית מסכּינים לבטאה, וכאשר מזדמנת להם אות זו במלים משפה זרה, מחליפים אותה באות ב. ואילוּ היהוּדים מבטאים אותה בקלוּת ומבחינים היטב בינה לבין כל הברה אחרת הדומה לה, כדרך שהם מבחינים היטב בשאר כל אותות בגד כפת הדגוּשות והרפוּיות. שניה לה האות ב הרפוּיה. גם הברה זו אינה מצוּיה בשפה הערבית ויהוּדי תימן מבטאים אותה בקלוּת וּללא כל מאמץ, ואילוּ הערבים כאשר מזוּמנת להם הברה זו בציטוט משפה זרה מבטאים אותה כאות פ הרפוּיה המצוּיה בלשונם — כי לא הסכּינוּ לה. שתי אלה ודומיהם שׂמים לאַל לדעתי את הטענה, כי הבחנת יהוּדי תימן בין ג רפוּיה ודגוּשה באה להם מן הערבית, למרות שבעלי טענה זו אין להם תחליף ייחוּדי להברות אלה, כי אילוּ היה ממש בטענת ההשפּעה הערבית, איכה נשתמרוּ להם ליהודי תימן הברות עבריות יחוּדיות אלה, אמור מעתה מציאוּתם של הברות בלעדיות כגון אלה מקשים ומכבידים על תחוּלתה של טענת ההשפּעה הזרה.
^The Targum of Isaiah – with supralinear punctuation (ed. J.F. Stenning), Oxford 1949, Introduction (pp. ix–x)
^Shivtiel Book – Studies in the Hebrew Language and in the Linguistic Traditions of the Jewish Communities (ed. Isaac Gluska & Tsemaḥ Kessar), Tel-Aviv 1992, p. 239 (in article by Yehuda Ratzaby who quotes fromKitāb al-Ānwār, ed. Leon Nemoy (edition 30), New York 1939, p. 135).
^abSiddur Tefillat Kol Pe, vol. 1 (foreword written by Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), Jerusalem 1960, p. 11 (Hebrew)
^Shelomo Morag,Ha-Ivrit she-be-fi Yehude Teman (Hebrew as pronounced by Yemenite Jews), Academy of the Hebrew Language: Jerusalem 1963, pp. 92–99; 119–120 (Hebrew)
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen, in article:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 197 (end of note 1)ISBN965-7247-00-4
^The Yemenite pronunciation of this vowel is like theAshkenazic pronunciation thereof or like theḥolam in theSefardic pronunciation (Yosef Qafih,Collected Papers volume 2, page 931). According to an ancientJudeo-Arabic work on Hebrew grammar,Maḥberet Ha-Tīǧān, the sound of theqamaṣ is made by "clinching the mouth and holding it." See:Maḥberet Kitrei Ha-Torah (ed. Yoav Pinhas Halevi), chapter 5, Benei Barak 1990, p. 19 (Hebrew). In the Babylonian supralinear punctuation there is no separate symbol for theshĕwā qamaṣ; rather, the one symbol as shown here is used for both theqamaṣ and theshĕwā qamaṣ (ḥataf qamaṣ).
^The Yemenite pronunciation of this vowel is like theSephardic pronunciation thereof (Yosef Qafih,Collected Papers volume 2, page 931 "צֵירִי, כבמבטא הספרדי").
^This symbol is used strictly as a mobileShewā (Heb.שוא נע), unlike the Shewā quiescens (Heb.שוא נח) which has no symbol in the Babylonian supralinear punctuation. The mobile Shewā as a symbol is used to differentiate in eight major grammatical entities in Hebrewprescriptive linguistics. For example, whenever a Shewā appears at the beginning of a word, it renders the vowel a mobile vowel, as in the Hebrew word "floating" (meraḥef /מְרַחֵף), or as inלְפָנָי (lefanai) orשְׁמַע (shema)(Deut. 6:4); or whenever a diacritical vertical line known as aJi'ya /גִּעְיָא (lit. "bleating" or "bellowing") would normally appear next to a Shewā. For example, in the words הַֽמְקַנֵּ֥א אַתָּ֖ה לִ֑י,(Num. 11:29), the Shewā beneath the Hebrew charactermim becomes a mobile Shewā because of theGa'ya (meteg, or small vertical line) beneath the Hebrew characterhe. In all these cases the Shewā gives an audible sound to the letter, as in a short "a" or short "e", and is not mute. Likewise, whenever a Shewā appears in the middle of a word and the letter has a diacritical point within it (i.e.,dagesh), as in thepe of מִפְּנֵיכֶם(Lev. 18:24), it too will become a mobile Shewā (na /נָע) – with some exceptions, e.g., the word אֶתּרוֹג according to the Yemenite tradition – as will a word that has two Shewā's written one after the other, as in the word רַעְמְסֵס(Exo. 12:37), or in the word ּוַיִּשְׁמְעו(Gen. 3:8), etc. the first Shewā is resting (mute), while the second Shewā is a mobile Shewā. Another instance of where theShewā becomes mobile is when it comes directly after a long vowel sound, such as the long vowel of eitheryod orḥiraq, as inיְחִֽידְֿךָ (Gen. 22:2), giving it the sound ofyeḥīdhəkha, etc., or as in the long vowel ofwaw orḥolam, as in the wordsהוֹלְכִֿים,יוֹדְֿעִים,מוֹכְֿרִים,נוֹפְֿלִים,לוֹמְדִֿים, andיֹאכְֿלוּ, etc. (hōləkhīm,yōdəʻīm,mōkhərīm,nōfelīm,lōmedhīm andyōkhelū), or as in the verseשֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן לְךָ (Deut. 16:18),"shōfəṭīm wa-shōṭərīm titen ləkha."The symbol is also used in the Babylonian supralinear punctuation to denote a Shewā and Pataḥ that are written together in the Tiberian vowel system, or a Shewā and Segūl that are written together in the Tiberian vowel system, as in the words אֲנִי and אֱמֶת. See:Maḥberet Kitrei Ha-Torah (ed. Yoav Pinhas Halevi), chapter 5, Benei Barak 1990, pp. 20, 22–23, 31 (Hebrew). See also נקוד, טעמים ומסורת בתימן by Rabbi Yosef Qafih inCollected Papers, volume 2, page 931.
^Israeli grammarian,Shelomo Morag, has written more extensively about the mobile Shewā, saying: "[In the Babylonian tradition], the sign of thešĕwā is used only as an indication of the mobilešĕwā (Heb. שוא נע), whereas thešĕwā quiescens (Heb. שוא נח) is not indicated at all. This method is the most common in Yemenite manuscripts which are punctuated in the Babylonian system, and it goes without saying that there is an advantage in it, since it invariably acquaints the reader with thešĕwā’s innate nature, whether it is ašĕwā quiescens or a mobilešĕwā. Thus, for example, we see that thešĕwā is mobile in the lettermim (מ) of the intensive (middle) form of the [active] verb construction,piʻel (Heb. פִּעֵל), in a word such as 'הַמְּכַבֶּה' [= ‘he that extinguishes’] (MishnahShabbat 7:2)." Meaning, one sign distinguishes it from thešĕwā quiescens. See:Mishnah – Seder Mo'ed – with a commentary by Maimonides in Arabic, Yemenite MS., edited by Yehuda Levi Nahum, Holon 1975, p. 19 (Hebrew);The 'šĕwā' in the Traditional Yemenite Pronunciation of Hebrew, Jerusalem 1957 (Hebrew). Note that the spelling "הַמְּכַבַּה" (with the דגש) is in accordance with the vowelization of Rabbi Yosef 'Amar, in his edition of the Babylonian Talmud vocalized in the Yemenite pronunciation, s.v., Shabbat 29b and 73a; תלמוד בבלי בניקוד תימני, מסכת שבת, דף כט ב ודף עג א. However, "הַמְכַבֶּה אֶת הַנֵּר" (Shabbath 2:5) appears (without the דגש in המכבה) in שיח ירושלם חלק ראשון (fourth edition 5761, p. קכ) and תכלאל שיבת ציון (part 1, 5712, p. קו) alike.
^RabbiSaadia Gaon in his commentary onSefer Yetzirah (2:2) strongly rejected to that manner of pronunciation for thegímel withdageš and thinks it is a mere corruption and that it should be pronounced/ɡ/. Rabbi Saadia Gaon's opinion, however, follows the tradition of the Jews and Arabs in his native Egypt, while the Yemenite pronunciation of thegímel withdageš follows a custom more closely related to the dialect of Arabic spoken in the land of Israel whenever pronouncing "jeem" (ج,ج), the Arabic equivalent ofgímel. See: Yosef Qafih's edition ofSefer Yetzirah, Jerusalem 1972, p. 75.
^The rules of enunciation when reciting theShema is to extend the phonetic sound of the phoneme "daleth" in the wordeḥaḏ, which cannot be done unless the phoneme was acontinuant. Cf. Babylonian Talmud,Berakhot 13b: "Symmachus said: 'Anyone who extends his enunciation ofeḥaḏ [אֶחָדֿ] [in the recital of theQiryath Shema], the days and years of his life shall also be extended.' Rav Aha the son of Yaaqov interjected, 'He referred there to the [letter]daleth..."; See Maimonides,Mishne Torah (Hil. Qiryath Shema 2:9).
^The "tāv"raphe in Ashkenazi traditions is realized as "s", as inShabbos.
^Based on RabbiSaadia Gaon's Judeo-Arabic commentary on "Sefer Hayetzirah" (chapter 4, paragraph 3), wherein he describes the phonetic sounds of the 22 characters of the Hebrew alphabet and classifies them in groups based on their individual sounds: "Aleph (א),hé (ה),ḥet (ח),‘ayin (ע) are [guttural sounds] produced from the depth of the tongue with the opening of the throat, butbet (ב),waw (ו),mim (מ),pé (פ) are [labial sounds] made by the release of the lips and the end of the tongue; whereasgimal (ג),yōd (י),kaf (כ),qōf (ק) are [palatals] separated by the width of the tongue [against the palate] with the [emission of] sound. However,daleth (ד),ṭet (ט),lamad (ל),nūn (נ),tau (ת) are [linguals] separated by the mid-section of the tongue with the [emission of] sound; whereaszayin (ז),samakh (ס),ṣadi (צ),resh (ר),shin (ש) are [dental sounds] produced between the teeth by a tongue that is at rest."
^Shelomo Morag,The Hebrew of the Jews of Yemen (העברית שבפי יהודי תימן), Academy of the Hebrew Language: Jerusalem 1963, pp. 4–5 (Hebrew). In two of the examples noted by Shelomo Morag, he shows where the readings forתִּפָּדֶה in Isaiah 1:27 andוְנֵלְכָה in Isaiah 2:5, are both with an abrupt ending, as intippoːdä(ʔ) andwǝnelăxoː(ʔ) respectively.
^Meir Mazuz, in article:Clarification Regarding the Accent of Letters and Dots, whether as the Sephardic or Ashkenazi Jews (בירור בענין מבטא האותיות והנקודות, אם כמו הספרדים או כמו האשכנזים), published inResponsa Yitzhak Yeranen, part iv, section 9, Bnei Barak 1991,page 73, by Rabbi Hayim Yitzhak Barda.
^Abraham Z. Idelsohn (1882–1938) wrote in his momentous work,Phonographierte Gesänge und Aussprachsproben des Hebräischen der jemenitischen, persischen und syrischen Juden, Vienna 1917, concerning the differences in pronunciation between the Jews of Ṣanʻā’ and the Jews of the provinces in Yemen: "The difference subsists in the vowel [ḥolam] וֹ, [which] in Ṣanʻā’ isäu [i.e./oʏ/], [and] in the Provinces isä [i.e./ɛ/]. Furthermore, the consonant [‘ayin] ע [in] Ṣanʻā’ = ‘, [but in the] Provinces is י [yod]; also א and ע they pronounce the same way. (Analogies can also be found in the Yemenite Arabic.) Moreover, the [dotted] גּ in Ṣanʻā’ isdj [/ʒ/], [but] in the provinces it is likeg [/ɡ/]." (p. 12)
^On the interchange of Ḥolem and Ṣere,Geoffrey Khan of theUniversity of Cambridge wrote in his article,Vocalization, Babylonian (p. 956): “The Karaite al-Qirqisānī, writing in the 10th century C.E., states that some Jews of Iraq saidקָדֵישׁqåḏēš instead ofקָדוֹשׁqåḏōš ‘holy’ due to influence from the language of the ‘Nabaṭ’ (i.e., the Aramaic speaking population of Iraq). Compare:al-Qirqisānī,Kitāb al-’Anwār w-al-Marāqib, ed. Nemoy 1939:II 140.” RabbiYosef Qafih inCollected Papers (vol. 2, pp. 944–945) argues that the old pronunciation ofḥolem in Ereẓ Israel was like the Yemenite pronunciation of today, based onMishnahEduyot 1:3 and onMaimonides' explanation there, whereAbtalion andShemaiah, two foreigners who converted to Judaism, could not pronounce theḥolem ofמלוא הין (melō hin) in MishnahEduyot 1:3 but would say what sounded likemela hin. Rabbi Qafih thus thought that the anomaly could not have been possible unless the original pronunciation ofḥolem was used by the Yemenite Jews in their pronunciation.
^Preface to SiddurTefillat Kol Pe (ed. Rabbi Avraham al-Nadaf), Tel-Aviv 1960, pp. 7–8 (Hebrew);Jacob Saphir, Iben Safir (vol. 1), Lyck 1866, pp. 53b-54a (in PDF pp. 121–122) (Hebrew)
^Aharon Ben-Asher,Sefer midiqduqe ha-ṭaʻamim,p. 12 (p. 53 in PDF). In the original Hebrew:סדר שוא, המשרתת לכל האותיות בכל המקרא בראש התיבה ובאמצע התיבה ובסוף התיבה ואשר תצא בלשון ואשר לא תצא. כי הרבה דרכים יש לה[...] אבל אם תצטרף עם אחד מן ארבעה אותיות אחה"ע יהיה דרכה על דרך נִקּוד האות השני שבתיבה, כמו בְּֽהֹנות ידיהם ורגליהם (שופטים א', ז,) עד מתי פתים תְּֽאֵהבו פתי (משלי א', כ"ב) עיניו לְֽחֵלכה יצפנו (תהלים י', ח') שריה רִֽעֵליה מרדכי (עזרא ב', ב,).
^Shelomo Morag,The Samaritan and Yemenite Tradition of Hebrew (published inThe Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen – ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, pp. 220–221
^The four guttural letters, according to Rabbi Saadia Gaon (882–942 CE) in his Judeo-Arabic commentary onSefer Hayeṣirah (chapter 4, paragraph 3), and Yonah ibn Ǧanāḥ (c. 990 – c. 1050) in hisSefer HaRiqmah, arealeph (א),hé (ה),ḥet (ח) and‘ayin (ע), and are produced from the depth of the tongue with the opening of the throat.
^abcThe Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Shelomo Morag, Tel-Aviv, 2001, p. 181.ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Kutscher, Ezekiel (1961). "Language and linguistic background of the complete Isaiah Scroll, from the Dead Sea Scrolls (הלשון והרקע הלשוני של מגילת ישעיהו השלמה, ממגילות ים המלח)".Kiryat-Sefer (in Hebrew).36:24–32. (p. 49 in other editions)
^Cf.Jerusalem Talmud,Sanhedrin 2:4,et al.: דהוה מפייס לנשיא הוה מפייס לגוברייא
^Shavtiel, Yitzḥak (1963), "The Yemenite Tradition in the Grammar of the Mishnah (מסורת התימנים בדקדוק לשון המשנה)", inSaul Lieberman (ed.),Sefer Ḥanokh Yallon – A Collection of Essays (in Hebrew), Jerusalem: Kiryat-Sefer Ltd., p. 339 (note 10)
^Yehudai Gaon (1999). A. Israel (ed.).Sefer Halakhot Pesuḳot (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Ahavath Shalom. pp. 466–467.OCLC763145925.
^Yehudai Gaon (1999). A. Israel (ed.).Sefer Halakhot Pesuḳot (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: Ahavath Shalom. pp. 31–32.OCLC763145925.
^Shelomo Morag, "The Samaritan and Yemenite Traditions of Hebrew: Points of Contact", in:The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222, § 3.4ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 183.ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 20, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Oholoth 4:1), et al.; Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 6, s.v. אַוֵּיר.
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 184
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 4, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Pesahim 3:7), written in margin;Yebamoth 122b, et al.
^Cf.Rashi, Babylonian Talmud,Yebamot 62b, s.v. והנושא בת אחותו, who writes the word inplene scriptum, with ayod after thegimel.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Berakhot 33b, et al.; Tsemaḥ Kessar,Oral and Written Traditions of the Mishnah: Morphology of the Noun in the Yemenite Tradition, Jerusalem 2001, pp. 304–305,ISSN0333-5143
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Shabbath 8:4), et al., which has the connotation of "glue." Cf. Isaiah 41:7,לַדֶּבֶק, which word differs and means in its context, "it is goodfor fastening."
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Habavli Hamenuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Shabbat 14b; the same vocalization is found for this word in Job 28:17, in the Codex proofread byAaron ben Asher, known now universally as theLeningrad Codex.
^Tsemaḥ Kessar,Vocalized Words Based on the Tradition of Yemen: Article published in book,Le'rosh Yosef (ed. Yosef Tobi), Jerusalem 1995, p. 120, note 59,ISBN965-7004-01-2. In the plural, חוֹמַשׁ מן הַחוּמְשִׁין (a codex of the codices).
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 184
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 6, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Betza 17a, et al. The Hebrew wordחֲתִיכָּה (ḥăṯīkkah) is the noun, "piece" (in the absolute state), orחֲתִיכַּת בשר ("piece of meat") in the construct state. The word is of the same metre asקליפּה (qǝlipah), the noun for "peel," or the "rind" of a fruit. Both thekaf andpe in these words are accentuated with a dot (dagesh). However, when these same words are used as a verb, showing action, as in "cutting a piece" or in "peeling an apple," the words take on a different form, and would respectively beחֲתִיכָה (ḥăṯīḫah) andקליפָה (qǝlīfah), without dots of accentuation in the Hebrew characterskaf andpe (i.e.rafe letters), such as when the verb is used with the preposition "after": e.g. "after peeling the apple" =אחרי קליפת התפוח, or "after cutting the meat" =אחרי חתיכת הבשר.
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p. 220 § 13 (Hebrew); Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Berakhoth 17b (Mishnah), et al.
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p.220 § 13 (Hebrew).
^The vocalization changes only when ירק is written in the construct state: e.g.יֶרֶק הַשָׂדֶה (yereq-hasadeh) [Numbers 22:4], orיֶרֶק עשב (yereq ʻesev) [Genesis 1:30].
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 14, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Bathra 5a, et al. Plural:כּוֹתָלֵי בית המדרש, rather thanכּוֹתְלֵי בית המדרש; construct state:כּוֹתַל חָצֵר. Although in the Scriptures the vocalization is different, this system follows what is commonly used for the Hebrew used in rabbinic literature.
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p. 220 § 12 (Hebrew); Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Berakhoth 35a, et al.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 15, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Sanhedrin 51a, et al.Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p. 221 (Hebrew). Unique to Yemenite Jewish pronunciation of Aramaic words is the derived stem infinitives likeqattawle (קְטַולֵי), which are always pronounced with a diphthongaʊ before the character “waw”, such as:לְמַעַוְטֵי, לְאַדְלַוְקֵי, לְבַשַּׁוְלֵי, לַאֲפַוְיֵי ,לְאַטְמַוְנֵי (lǝ’aṭmawne, la’afawye, lǝvashawle, lǝ’adlawqe, lǝma‘awṭe). See Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 141.ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p. 218 § 2 (Hebrew)
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p.220 § 13 (Hebrew); Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 12, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Kama 35b, et al.
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 143 (Hebrew); cf. Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Shabbath 31b (Mishnah),בְּשָׁעַת לִידְתָּן, et al.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 4, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Pesaḥim 7b, et al.; Tsemaḥ Kessar,Vocalized Words Based on the Tradition of Yemen: Article published in book,Le'rosh Yosef (ed. Yosef Tobi), Jerusalem 1995, p. 111.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 16, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Avodah Zarah 18a, et al. The conventions for Yemenite Hebrew require that the Hebrew characterḥet (ח) be stressed in this one word.
^The full infinitive form of a verbs "to draw near" and "to distance."
^The difference betweenlish'al (לִשְׁאַל) andlish'ol (לִשְׁאֹל) is that the former is used for a question, whereas the latter is used for borrowing an object.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 13, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Metzi'a 40a, et al.; cf. Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 255.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 13, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Metzi'a 59b (in glosses), et al.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Berakhoth 17b, et al. Theḥet inמִחֲזִי is also stressed in the Yemenite tradition, as inמִחֲזִי כיוהרא (ibid.).
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 205. The same metre is used for other words: e.g.מְחָטְפִין , מְזָלְפִין, etc.
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 48.
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 111 (ISBN965-7247-00-4) (Hebrew/English).
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 11, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Kiddushin 47a, et al. For example:מִלְוָה להוצאה ניתנה, "A loan is given with the intent of it being expendable."
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, pp. 205–206
^Adjective, "ostracized," in this vowel assignment is for either male or female;מְנוּדָּה לרב מְנוּדָּה לתלמיד. Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 6, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Moed Qatan 16a, et al.
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p.48.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 20, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Miqwa'oth 7:1);ibid., vol. 5,Yoma 85b, et al. Only in the construct state, as inמִקְוֵה המים orמִקְוֵה ישראל is itmiqwe (e.g.miqwe hamayim) [Genesis 1:10].
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 4, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Pesaḥim 3:2); Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 57
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 255
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 19, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Middoth 35a (in margin), et al. The same metre is used for other words: e.g. מְתַלְּשִׁין; cf. Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 5, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Yoma 66a.
^Such as in the expression:מִתְּקָן על ידי האור, Lit. “It is made ready through fire (being prepared by fire; readied)”; The transitive verb of ready, orTo cause to be ready. Had it beenמתוקן, the sense would have been: “It was made ready through fire.”
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222 (3:3).
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Shabbath 19:5), et al. The Yemenite tradition of vocalization in this word is found also in the Tiberian Masoretic text in two places: I Chronicles 3:5 andibid., 20:8,נוּלְּדוּ. In both cases, thewaw is written with ashuraq instead of aḥōlam.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 16, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Avoth 5:22), et al.; Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 255.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 5, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. Mishnah (Yoma 3:4);ibid., vol. 19,Bekhoroth 21b, et al. This verb conjugation (נִכְנָס = entered), the simple passive stem (Heb.nif'al), is marked by a permanent form, with the vowelqamaṣ appearing regularly in the last syllable. Other examples:נזכָּר, etc. See Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 250.
^The noun,petroleum (Oleum petrae); cf. Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Shabbath 26a, et al. According to Shelomo Morag, this is a frequently recurring pattern of nouns in the Yemenite tradition whose counterpart in the Tiberian tradition is usually marked by asǝġūl, or what are known as "segolate nouns" (seeThe Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:The Samaritan and Yemenite Traditions of Hebrew: Points of Contact, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222, § 3.2.ISBN965-7247-00-4 )
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 6, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Ḥaggiga 2a, et al.; Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 192.
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, Introduction on the Vowel Points, pp. 217 – 218.
^Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 30.ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Courtyard of the women. See Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 204, s.v. עֲזֶרֶת.
^abTalmud Bavli Menuqad, Yosef Amar Halevi, vol. 10,Sotah 42a (end), Jerusalem 1980, as in: "The morning and evening prayer,"תפלת שחרית וערבית.
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 221.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 4, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Pesaḥim 46a, et al.; Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 222.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 7, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Yebamoth 63a; vol. 15 (ibid.)Sanhedrin 59b (top), et al.;Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:The Samaritan and Yemenite Traditions of Hebrew: Points of Contact, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222, § 3.4ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 230, s.v. פָרָשָׁה. In Yemenite Jewish tradition, the sense here is to the Bible Codex itself, rather than to the weekly Torah lections read on Sabbath days, which in Yemenite parlance is calledseder (סדר).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 233, s.v. פתקין (Hebrew)
^The noun,paint; cf. Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 19, Jerusalem 1980, s.v. MishnahArakhin 6:5, et al. According to Shelomo Morag, this is a frequently recurring pattern of nouns in the Yemenite tradition whose counterpart in the Tiberian tradition is marked by asǝġūl, or what are known as "segolate nouns" (seeThe Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:The Samaritan and Yemenite Traditions of Hebrew: Points of Contact, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222, § 3.2.ISBN965-7247-00-4 )
^The great metropolis of Galilee during the Second Temple period. Thus is the vocalization of the word in theFacsimile of a Yemenite Mishnah MS., with Yemenite vocalization (סדרי המשנה נזיקין, קדשים, טהרות), ed. Shelomo Morag, Makor: Jerusalem 1970, s.v. MishnahArakhin 9:6; Compare Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 19, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Arakhin 32a, who assigns the vowelsצִפָּרִין (ṣipoːrīn) for the same word, and who perhaps hadn't seen the earlier Yemenite rendition of this place name.
^As in:עֲשֵׂה תּוֹרָתָךְ קְבָע (Make your study of the Torah a permanent matter); see Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Shabbath 82a,הנכנס לסעודת קְבָע , et al.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 6, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Megillah 32a, et al. Even though the vowel arrangement in the Book of Esther isקִיבֵּל, Mishnaic Hebrew differs in Yemenite tradition.
^Shelomo Morag, The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen,Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 250,ISBN965-7247-00-4; Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 15, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Sanhedrin 64a (end)
^Tsemaḥ Kessar,Oral and Written Traditions of the Mishnah: Morphology of the Noun in the Yemenite Tradition, Jerusalem 2001, pp. 153–154,ISSN0333-5143
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 250, s.v. קְפִידָה.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 1, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Berakhoth 21a (in glosses), et al.;Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (ed. Yosef Tobi), in Article entitled:The Samaritan and Yemenite Traditions of Hebrew: Points of Contact, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 222, § 3.4ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 18, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Ḥullin 56a (in glosses), et al.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 12, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Kama 70a (end), et al. The same pronunciation is given forר' יוסי בר' חַלְפְּתָא.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 10, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Sotah 3a, et al. Yehuda Ratzaby makes note of the fact that there were some in Yemen who, when reading this word in rabbinic literature, would pronounce itשֵׁטוּת, while yet others would sayשְׁטוּת (seeDictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews, Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 24 in Introduction, note 5).
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 19, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Arakhin 30a, et al.;Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p.220 § 12 (Hebrew). Although the Tiberian Masoretic text for the same word in Psalm 146:3 has assigned the vowelsשֶׁאֵין, just as it is pronounced in Modern Hebrew, we nevertheless still find in the Tiberian Masoretic text a similar practice as found in the Yemenite tradition where theshin at the beginning of a word has the vowelšĕwā, as inשְׁהֶם, in Ecclesiastes 3:18.Morag (1974:309) believes this to be a Babylonian tradition.
^Shelomo Morag,The Hebrew of the Jews of Yemen (העברית שבפי יהודי תימן), Academy of the Hebrew Language: Jerusalem 1963, pp. 4–5 (Hebrew).
^In Modern Hebrew, the word "parashah" means the weekly biblical lection read on each Sabbath day, but in the Yemenite Jewish tradition the word means "Bible Codex."
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 2, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Shabbath 94b (Mishnah), et al. The wordshǝvoth (Heb.שבות) means those types of labour on the Sabbath day which are proscribed (forbidden) by a rabbinic edict.
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 267, s.v. שְׁבָח.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 12, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Baba Kama 15a, et al.
^For example,במיעוט שִׁינָה. See Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. ?, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.? ?, et al.
^Divrei Shalom Ḥakhamim (Memorial book in honor of Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Halevi)(דברי שלום חכמים), ed. Avner Yitzhak Halevi, Jerusalem 1993, p. 218
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, p. 289, s.v. שְׁתָיָה.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 15, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Sanhedrin 90a, et al. The difference betweenתְּחָיַת המתים andתְּחִיַית מתים is that, in the first case, the wordתְּחָיָה is a noun and, when used in the construct state, revolves around the dead being brought back to life again; the dead themselves being resurrected. However, in the second case, the wordתְּחִיָה is a verb and, when used in the construct state, it has the sense of the dead causing others to live.
^Baladi-rite Siddur, Morning Prayer on Sabbath day, in liturgy:Nishmath kol ḥai; In the Morning Prayer for weekdays and Sabbath days, inYishtabaḥ, the vowel assignment for the same word is:תֻּשְׁבָּחוֹת.
^Yosef Amar Halevi,Talmud Bavli Menuqad, vol. 15, Jerusalem 1980, s.v.Sanhedrin 104b, et al.; Shelomo Morag,The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen, Tel-Aviv 2001, p. 256ISBN965-7247-00-4
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.דּוּכֵּהּ (p. 54).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.רְאָיָה (p. 255).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.פָרָשָׁה (p. 230); see alsoZekhor Le'Avraham (ed. Uzziel Alnaddaf), Jerusalem 1992, p. 27, note 115.
^S.D. Goitein,Hebrew Elements in the Spoken Language of the Jews of Yemen, pub. by Leshonenu III, Jerusalem 1931; reprinted in:Shelomo Dov Goitein,The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life (Selected Studies), editor: Menahem Ben-Sasson, Jerusalem 1983, p. 279, s.v.מצווה;ibid., p. 214.ISBN965-235-011-7 ; Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.מִצְוָה (p. 167).
^Cf.Leviticus Rabba, section 34:כל עמא יפלגון מצוה = "let every person distribute charity."
^Amram Qorah,Sa’arat Teiman, Jerusalem 1988, p. 113; in 1954 edition,p. 132 (in PDF); Shelomo Dov Goitein,The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life (Selected Studies), editor: Menahem Ben-Sasson, Jerusalem 1983, pp. 278–279, s.v.צדקה.ISBN965-235-011-7
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.תָּדֵיר (p. 291).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.מַכְתֵּב (p. 158). Cf. MishnahKelim 16:8;Midrash HaGadol (on Deuteronomy 28:52).
^Midrash Rabba (Lamentations Rabba 2:5); Jerusalem Talmud,Taanit 4:5 (24b), with slight variations. Cf. Rashi's commentary on MishnahAvot 5:6, where he says of the wordוהמכתב, "the stylus of a scrivener,grafie in the foreign tongue, with which He engraved the Ten Commandments that were given to Moses. That same stylus was created of old."
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.שִׁלְטוֹן (p. 278).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.כּוֹתֵב (p. 127).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.צִבּוּרִים (p. 233).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.חֵפֶץ (p. 101).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.פִקְפוּק (p. 228).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.הַרְפַּתְקֵי (pp. 72– 3).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.פַזְמוּן (p. 221).
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.הִמּוּץ (p. 67).
^Shelomo Dov Goitein,The Yemenites – History, Communal Organization, Spiritual Life (Selected Studies), editor: Menahem Ben-Sasson, Jerusalem 1983, p. 279.ISBN965-235-011-7
^Yehuda Ratzaby,Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v.קִיַּם (p. 247).
Morag, Shelomo (2001).The Traditions of Hebrew and Aramaic of the Jews of Yemen (article: Notes on the Vowel System of Babylonian Aramaic as Preserved in the Yemenite Tradition), ed. Yosef Tobi. Tel-Aviv: Afikim.ISBN965-7247-00-4.
Morag, Shelomo (1974). "On the Historical Validity of the Vocalization of the Hebrew Bible".Journal of the American Oriental Society.94 (3):307–315.doi:10.2307/600065.JSTOR600065.
Isaac, Ephraim;Tobi, Yosef[in Hebrew] (1999).Judaeo-Yemenite Studies - Proceedings of the Second International Congress. Princeton University: Institute of Semitic Studies.
Ratzaby, Yehuda[in Hebrew] (1978).Ōsar Leshon Haqqōdesh Shellivnē Temān [Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews] (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Gluska, Isaac; Kessar, Tsemah (1992).Shivtiel Book – Studies in the Hebrew Language and in the Linguistic Traditions of the Jewish Communities. Tel-Aviv.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (Cited in article by Yehuda Ratzaby who quotes from Kitāb al-Ānwār, ed. Leon Nemoy)
Ben Uzziel, Yonathan (1949).The Targum of Isaiah – with supralinear punctuation (ed. J.F. Stenning). Oxford.
Idelsohn, Abraham Z. (1917).Phonographierte Gesänge und Aussprachsproben des Hebräischen der jemenitischen, persischen und syrischen Juden. Vienna.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (German)
