عنوان

The days of our years:

TLpq304420407

انگلیسی

The days of our years:

[Thesis]

M. Eng

A lexical semantic study of the life cycle in biblical Israel

H. B. Huffmon

Drew University

1998

229

Ph.D.

Drew University

1998

This study is an inquiry into the lexical meanings of terms used to refer to persons at different stages of the human life cycle in the Hebrew Bible. The goal is not merely to define such terms in the traditional manner but to understand them from the perspective of the semantic domain of the life cycle. Does the Hebrew term na'ar, for example, refer to "a male person between puberty and marriage"? As a first step, the nature and theory of lexical meaning is explored in the first chapter through a historical survey from the debate on the nature of meaning among the Greeks, to the lexicography of the medieval Jewish grammarians, to the contributions of the modern linguistic period. With the advent of a number of new biblical dictionaries with distinctly, different approaches, a sub-topic of interest is also a comparative study of lexicography from Wilhelm Gesenius to David A. Clines. In order to ground the work in some basis in realia, the second chapter is devoted to a reconstruction of the life cycle from such other data as ancient Near Eastern sapiential texts, biblical texts, archaeological and sociological information. The remaining three chapters are devoted to semantic studies of terms for the life phases of the young, the mature and the aged, respectively. Not all terms are studied but only a small sampling as an initial project. Terms for the young which are specifically treated are na'ar, yeled and tap, for the mature: 'i s, 'adam and geber, for the aged: zaqen, usd\acute s\sp{e}bausd 'yami m, ba' bayyami m and seba tobah. In these semantic studies, the contributions and techniques of modern linguistics are employed in a fulsome way including syntagmatic analysis, componential analysis and semantic domain study. Among the conclusions reached are (1) while a very complex term, na'ar can be used to refer to a "male person between puberty and just before marriage," (2) tap turns out not to be a life cycle term after all but a family term, (3) 'i s and geber are very similar in meaning and usage, (4) the expressions, usd\acute s\sp{e}\bar bausd 'yami m, ba' bayyami m and seba tobah all refer to an advanced phase of old age well beyond the norm, ("extreme old age"). A table of the "Language of the Life Cycle in Biblical Israel" concludes the study as well as a glossary of linguistic terms.

Biblical

Israel

Language, literature and linguistics

Lexical semantic study

Philosophy, religion and theology

Social sciences

H. B. Huffmon

M. Eng

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y