Teacher: Dr Marilena Colasuonno, University of Naples (Beginners & Intermediate)
Class Level: Beginners (basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew required) & Intermediate
Class Schedule 2024-25: Beginners class Mondays from 12:00-13:00 UK Time; Intermediate class Mondays from 12:00-13:00 UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)
Class Length: Beginners class 2-term class (Michaelmas Term 2024-Hilary Term 2025); Intermediate class 1-term class (Trinity Term 2025) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)
Class Description: The Beginners class deals with Early or Literary Judeo-Italian (henceforth, EJI). Classes will introduce students to the study of orthography, phonology and the basic morphological and syntactic features for reading, analysing and translating (into English) simple EJI excerpts. The students will be encouraged to do a variety of language exercises based on the grammatical-translation approach, and to train in reading simple excerpts. In the last part of the course, special emphasis is put on the reading of the manuscripts in Hebrew script and comparing them with the Biblical Hebrew sources; therefore, a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew is recommended.
The Intermediate class will read closely Parma’s manuscript of the Judeo-Italian translation of the book of Jonah. The class will analyse its morphological, syntactical and lexical features. In addition, the source text of Jonah will be read to clarify the strategy of translating Biblical Hebrew into Judeo-Italian.