A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew: Based on the Recitation of the Law in Comparison with Tiberian and Other Jewish Traditions [Hardcover]

Zeev Ben-Hayyim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2000

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: The Hebrew University Magnes Press; Rev edition (January 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575060477
• ISBN-13: 978-1575060477
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #407,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #89 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Hebrew > Instruction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but problematic structurally, May 17, 2010

By 

Ehav Eliyahu Ever (Jerusalem, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew: Based on the Recitation of the Law in Comparison with Tiberian and Other Jewish Traditions (Hardcover)

Ze'ev Ben Hayyim's book A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew is, on one hand, a great resource in that it is really the only English book that I know of that attempts to describe grammar and structure of Samaritan Hebrew. So in that regard the book is great in trying to explain a topic that most English speakers until this point had very little access to. On the other hand the book is really hard to follow, and maybe it worked better in Hebrew. It could also be that originally I was expecting a book that teaches one Samaritan Hebrew. I later realized that this book is simply a description of some elements of the language based Samaritan recitation and comparison to Jewish linguistic traditions. The book was not really intended as a way to learn Samaritan Hebrew.

I bought this book more than 7 years ago, and at the time my Hebrew was still in the learning process and I found it hard to focus on the points of grammar because there didn't seem to be an orderly way of progressing a student on actually learning to read and understand the Samaritan form of Hebrew. Part of this may be because the book is geared towards people who already have a very good grip on ancient Hebrew.

Now that I am more fluent in Hebrew and live in Israel the book is lot easier to understand, but it still could have been structured better. Some of this could be because the book is based on recitations from various Samaritan Elders, and that could contribute to these structural issues. The other problem was that I was expecting the book to use the Samaritan Hebrew letters in explaining the language rather than the Ktav Ashuri letters. There is also no visual use of the Samaritan vowels, or even much use of Ktav Ashuri vowels to help explain sounds a bit better. My better understanding of the information presented in this book is now also because I was able to acquire a book describing the Samaritan pronunciation of Hebrew directly from the Samaritan community in Holon, Israel.

As a whole, A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew is a good resource to have if one already has a good grasp of ancient Hebrew and some knowledge of how to read Samaritan Hebrew, including the vowels.