The Jewish Sound of Speech: Talmudic Chant, Yiddish Intonation and the Origins of Early Ashkenaz
This paper identifies modern Yiddish intonation patterns for three different semantic structures and contends that they derive from modern (Ashkenazic) talmudic chant. An examination of the cantillation notation found in the manuscripts of the Cairo Geniza uncovers these same three chant patterns fo...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Penn Press
2000
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| In: |
The Jewish quarterly review
Year: 2000, Volume: 90, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 293-336 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This paper identifies modern Yiddish intonation patterns for three different semantic structures and contends that they derive from modern (Ashkenazic) talmudic chant. An examination of the cantillation notation found in the manuscripts of the Cairo Geniza uncovers these same three chant patterns for the Jerusalem Talmud. My hypothesis: the early settlers of Ashkenaz brought their chant with them from the Land of Israel. Later they transferred this chant from Jerusalem to the Babylonian Talmud. Thus, the text and the context of the cultural community changed, but the melody lingered. Part One identifies three semantic patterns in modern talmudic chant: (1) an a fortiori argument, (2) a balanced statement, (3) a presupposed negative. Part Two identifies these semantic patterns in Yiddish. The chant patterns of Part One correlate with intonation patterns in modern Yiddish. Part Three examines the nonbiblical cantillation notation in the Cairo Geniza. Unlike notation found in biblical texts, only a few words are notated here for each section of discourse. Until now, interpretation of this notation has not been convincing. I suggest that the notation indicates semantic patterns. Each of the three semantic patterns has its own cantillation notation in the Geniza. This is true for the Midrash, the Mishna, and the Jerusalem Talmud, but not for the Babylonian Talmud. Part Four surveys the work of historians. Their research points to an historical link between the Land of Israel and the early settlers of Ashkenaz. This study of intonation patterns furnishes further proof that the traditions of modern Ashkenaz have their antecedents in the Land of Israel. The research of this paper, however, is based on transcriptions of the Geniza manuscripts. It is imperative that future researchers return to the Geniza and re-examine the manuscripts themselves. |
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| ISSN: | 1553-0604 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Jewish quarterly review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1454758 |