Babylonian vocalization
Encyclopedia
The Babylonian vocalization (or Babylonian pointing, Babylonian niqqud, Hebrew: ניקוד בבלי) is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes
to add to the consonantal Masoretic text
of the Hebrew Bible
to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Babylon. The Babylonian system is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the Tiberian vocalization
system.
. However, contemporary Yemenite Hebrew is thought to be the descendent of a variety of Babylonian Hebrew, as represented in the Babylonian system. The first example of the Babylonian vocalization to become known to modern scholars was a codex of the Prophets discovered in 1839 at Chufut-Kale.
, only the most important vowels are indicated.
Two Babylonian systems developed: an earlier simple (or einfach, E) system, and a later complex (or kompliziert, K) system. The following vowel graphemes were used in the simple system:
The simple system also has signs corresponding to Tiberian dagesh and rafe, though not used identically. Shva quiescens (shva nah) is unmarked.
The complex system may be subdivided into perfect and imperfect systems. The former, unlike the latter, "has special signs for each kind of syllable and uses them consistently." It marks allophones of /a e i u/, consonant gemination, distinguishes vocalic and consonantal א and ה, and marks shva mobile and quiescens with a single grapheme.
A number of manuscripts with features indermediate between Tiberian and Babylonian also exist. Later Yemenite manuscripts, using both simple and complex systems, show Yemenite features such as confusion between patah and shva and between tsere and holam.
similarly to the Tiberian system. The oldest manuscripts (which use the simple system) mark only disjunctive accents, do not write the accent over the stressed syllable, and do not mark mappiq, while later manuscripts do.
Masoretes
The Masoretes were groups of mostly Karaite scribes and scholars working between the 7th and 11th centuries, based primarily in present-day Israel in the cities of Tiberias and Jerusalem, as well as in Iraq...
to add to the consonantal Masoretic text
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and...
of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Babylon. The Babylonian system is no longer in use, having been supplanted by the Tiberian vocalization
Tiberian vocalization
The Tiberian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible; this system soon became used to vocalize other texts as well...
system.
History
The simple Babylonian vocalization system was created between the 6th and 7th centuries, while the complex system developed later. There is evidence that Babylonian Hebrew had emerged as a distinct dialect by the end of the 9th century. Babylonian Hebrew reached its peak in the 8th to 9th centuries, being used from Persia to Yemen. Under Muslim hedgemony in the 10th century, the main academies disappeared and the Babylonian vocalization was replaced by the Tiberian vocalizationTiberian vocalization
The Tiberian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible; this system soon became used to vocalize other texts as well...
. However, contemporary Yemenite Hebrew is thought to be the descendent of a variety of Babylonian Hebrew, as represented in the Babylonian system. The first example of the Babylonian vocalization to become known to modern scholars was a codex of the Prophets discovered in 1839 at Chufut-Kale.
Description
The Babylonian vocalization along with the Palestinian vocalization are known as the superlinear vocalizations because they place the vowel graphemes above the consonant letters, rather than both above and below as in the Tiberian system. As in the Palestinian vocalizationPalestinian vocalization
The Palestinian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to indicate vowel quality, reflecting the Hebrew of Palestine...
, only the most important vowels are indicated.
Two Babylonian systems developed: an earlier simple (or einfach, E) system, and a later complex (or kompliziert, K) system. The following vowel graphemes were used in the simple system:
| niqqud with ב | |||||||
| Tiberian analogue |
patah, segol |
qamatz | tzere | hiriq | holam | qubutz, shuruq |
shva Shva Shva or, in Biblical Hebrew, Sh'wa is a Hebrew niqqud vowel sign written as two vertical dots "ְ" underneath a letter. In Modern Hebrew, it indicates either the phoneme or the complete absence of a vowel , whereas in Hebrew prescriptive linguistics, four grammatical entities are differentiated:... mobile (shva na) |
| value | /a/ | /ɔ/ | /e/ | /i/ | /o/ | /u/ | /ə/ |
The simple system also has signs corresponding to Tiberian dagesh and rafe, though not used identically. Shva quiescens (shva nah) is unmarked.
The complex system may be subdivided into perfect and imperfect systems. The former, unlike the latter, "has special signs for each kind of syllable and uses them consistently." It marks allophones of /a e i u/, consonant gemination, distinguishes vocalic and consonantal א and ה, and marks shva mobile and quiescens with a single grapheme.
A number of manuscripts with features indermediate between Tiberian and Babylonian also exist. Later Yemenite manuscripts, using both simple and complex systems, show Yemenite features such as confusion between patah and shva and between tsere and holam.
Cantillation
The Babylonian system uses cantillationCantillation
Cantillation is the ritual chanting of readings from the Hebrew Bible in synagogue services. The chants are written and notated in accordance with the special signs or marks printed in the Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible to complement the letters and vowel points...
similarly to the Tiberian system. The oldest manuscripts (which use the simple system) mark only disjunctive accents, do not write the accent over the stressed syllable, and do not mark mappiq, while later manuscripts do.