[HANASHIR:11521] RE: please: watch your Hebrew grammar!!!

[ehavanashira.org <adrian...>]

Erik:

Thanks for your "rant." It's not the first time this particular bit of bad
grammar has been mentioned, and it bears repeating.

However, it did get me to thinking: there are 613 mitzvot, not just one. So
why do we translate Bar Mitzvah as "Son of (the) commandments" when in fact
it would be "son of (a) commandment"? Seow says the entire construct form
chain is definite IF the absolute noun is definite. That's not the case
here. "Mitzvah" is not a definite article.

The rules of dikduk do permit plural s'michut forms with plural nouns (i.e.
b'nai hamal'khim. - sons of the kings) So why is that not done here? Why is
it not Bar Hamitzvot and B'nai HaMitzvot or  Bar-(maqef)-mitzvah and
Bar-(maqef)-mitzvot (if we allow Bar to be both a singular and plural
s'michut form.) And why would we even use the Hebrew "b'nai" s'michut form
as plural for the apparently already singular and plural Aramaic "bar" ?

This puzzles me, but I'm no Hebrew or Aramaic scholar.

B'vrakha,

Adrian

Adrian A. Durlester, M.T.S.  - adrian (at) durlester(dot)com
http://www.durlester.com/
Director of Education, Beth El Hebrew Congregation, Alexandria, VA
education(dot)director (at) bethelhebrew(dot)org
Conference Chair, CAJE 27, Aug. 4-8, 2002, Trinity Univ., San Antonio, TX
caje27chair (at) caje27(dot)org
List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
shamash(dot)org
http://uahc.org/hanashir
adrian (at) ehavanashira(dot)org


Adrian

We'll ignore the Aramaism of "Bar" for the moemnt, and accept that, as
stated in the BDB appendix, it can mean "son(s)." It's the "mitzvah" part I
don't quite get. I'd sure like to know why we are sons of (a) commandment



> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
> shamash(dot)org]On
> Behalf Of erik contzius
> Sent: Friday, May 10, 2002 9:26 AM
> To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Subject: [HANASHIR:11519] please: watch your hebrew grammar!!!
>
>
> I hate to be harsh on this point, but it really bugs
> me:
>
> THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS "B'NAI MITZVOT!"
>
> It's like saying "Mothers-in-laws"... it doesn't mean
> anything!
>
> The plural of Bar Mitzvah is B'nai Mitzvah.
> The plural of Bat Mitzvah is B'not Mitzvah.
>
> (okay... now that i got that out of my system, i'll
> explain what's up).
>
> The term "Bar Mitzvah" is in the form of "s'mikhut"
> which is a form of contraction in Hebrew. You can't
> see any real modification in this, the singular, male
> form, but I'll illustrate with another often abused
> form:
>
> A blessing in Hebrew is a "b'rakha"
> To talk about a blessing over something, one could say
> (for example, over food), Ha-Brakha shel Ha-Mazon (the
> blessing OF food), or in s'mikhut, BirKAT HaMazon. The
> feminine ending of the word "brakha" changes to
> "birkat" to indicate a contraction meaning, "Blessing
> OF." To say, "Let's say the Birkat" literally means,
> "Let's say the blessing of." Of what? Food? Maybe...
> but you could also say "Birkat shalom" (blessing OF
> peace) or "Birkat gomel" (blessing OF being redeemed).
> The smikhut combines two words into one term. Now, if
> you wanted to pluralize Birkat Hamazon, for example
> (why, i dunno... just an example), we don't want to
> pluralize the food, but the blessing. So one might
> say, "B'rakhot Hamazon" and leave it at that.
>
> all this goes to say, the plural of Bar Mitzvah is
> B'nai Mitzvah. (whew!). Sorry for the rant. it's
> almost shabbes.
>
> For more details, try the Dik Duk Buk, a rudimentary
> book on Hebrew grammar.
>
> Gutn Shabbes, y'all
>
>
>
> =====
> Cantor Erik L. F. Contzius
> Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
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