דיעבד—דיאבא-דיעבר—לשעבר: לגלגוליו של מונח תלמודי

This paper examines variants of (ב)דיעבד, the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (JBA) term in the talmudic pair (ב)דיעבד-לכתחילה, and suggests a reconstruction of its primary state and subsequent transformation. JBA (ב)דיעבד (ex post facto) is defined by Sokoloff as ד+איעבד (itpeʿel with assimilated taw), “...

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Published in:לשוננו 2019-01, Vol.פא, p.219-238
Format: Article
Language:Hebrew
Subjects:
ארמית / Aramaic
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Summary:This paper examines variants of (ב)דיעבד, the Jewish Babylonian Aramaic (JBA) term in the talmudic pair (ב)דיעבד-לכתחילה, and suggests a reconstruction of its primary state and subsequent transformation. JBA (ב)דיעבד (ex post facto) is defined by Sokoloff as ד+איעבד (itpeʿel with assimilated taw), “that it was done”. R. Samuel b. Ḥofni defines דיאבא (“if/when he did”) as a substitute for דאו עבד, with aleph for the unvoiced ʿayin of עבד (peʿal) and apocopation. If so, דיאבא would logically be a phonetic spelling of דאי עבד, but דאו was current (JBA אי = או, if). In a fourteenth-to-fifteenth-century Sephardi manuscript of b. Ber. 15a–b, דיעבד/דאיעבד predominates; in Rav , Hai’s commentary, (ד)או עבד predominates; and in an eleventh-century Geniza manuscript, דיאבא. Additional variants are found in Yemenite manuscripts of b. Pesah.̣ 78b, and elsewhere. B. Yebam. 100a דאי עבד appears with plural עבוד/אבוד; some manuscripts read עבו (< עבו* < עבוד). JBA (ב)דיעבד corresponds to Hebrew לשעבר (“in the past”) in Eretz Israel. PT לשעבר and BT (ב)דיעבד are attested in identical contexts. Presumably Hebrew לשעבר was adapted to JBA as (ב)דיעבר*, which was pronounced (ב)דיאבא. This engendered (ב)דיעבד, as a back formation. Variants such as דאו עבד appear to be secondary transformations.
ISSN:0334-3626