An Introduction to Andalusi Hebrew Metrics - cover image

Book Series

Copyright

José Martínez Delgado

Published On

2023-05-10

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-067-5
Hardback978-1-80511-068-2
PDF978-1-80511-069-9

Language

  • English

Print Length

212 pages (xviii+194)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 14 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.55" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 17 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.67" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback305g (10.76oz)
Hardback478g (16.86oz)

OCLC Number

1385456036

LCCN

2022361857

BIC

  • 2CSJ
  • DSC
  • 2CS
  • DSBB

BISAC

  • FOR011000
  • LAN005070
  • POE020000
  • POE028000
  • POE022000

LCC

  • PJ4781

Keywords

  • Hebrew metrics
  • linguists
  • medieval Hebrew poetry
  • academic discussion
  • scansions
  • name of the meter
  • new editions of poems

An Introduction to Andalusi Hebrew Metrics

Throughout the last two centuries, Hebrew metrics was studied by leading linguists and specialists in medieval Hebrew poetry. Nowadays, it has disappeared from the academic discussion such that it is sometimes even difficult to find scansions or the name of the meter in new editions of poems. This book aims to rectify this gap, helping readers to understand the metric structure of this poetry in order to facilitate the work of editing and cataloguing those samples still in manuscript form for future editors.

Delgado presents his view of Andalusi Hebrew metrics, as encountered in medieval manuals of Arabic and Hebrew metrics and scattered notes in the works of Andalusi Hebrew philologists. Whilst twentieth-century scholars spoke about the adaptation of Arabic metrics to Hebrew, he instead approaches these compositions by Andalusi Jews (10th-13th c.) as Arabic metrics written in Hebrew, thus emphasising how Hebrew poetry of the Andalusi Jews can help us to understand the general evolution of Arabic strophic poetry, and its experimental evolution, which is quite unlike classical and strophic Arabic poetry.

This method respects the Hebrew vowel system, and does not necessitate alteration of word morphology, leaving the guttural letters quiescent (unless required by metrical license); nor does it necessitate guesses about metres that are not in the classical catalogue. Although the author has not found each and every classical metre from Andalusi Hebrew poetry included in this manual, they are all catalogued, either in case someone finds them in future or because they help us to comprehend the metrical structures that are characteristic of strophic poetry. As such, this monograph will be of great interest to scholars of Hebrew metrics.

Reviews

Les chapitres postérieurs exposent en détail la typologie poétique arabe à chaque niveau de composition: les types de vers primaires (chapitre 2) et secondaires (chapitre 3), les types de rimes (chapitre 4) consonantiques et vocaliques, et enfin les arrangements en strophes (chapitre 5). Chacune de ces sections énumère métho- diquement les notions telles qu’elles se trouvent décrites dans les traités arabes classiques et en procure autant que possible un ou plusieurs exemples hébreux, scandés et traduits, permettant d’apprécier la conformité de la poétique hébraïque à ses modèles théoriques arabes. Là où l’analyse se fait plus audacieuse, c’est lorsqu’elle se penche sur les types métriques, et en particulier strophiques, auxquels la poésie arabe ne fournit aucun correspondant immédiat, et qui passaient donc jusqu’ici pour des innovations de la poésie hébraïque indépendantes des modèles arabes. [...] Convaincant et clair, ce manuel réussit à démontrer que la poésie hébraïque andalouse des Xe-XIIe siècles gagne à être analysée selon les cadres de l’ʿarūḍ, et fournit tous les outils pour y parvenir efficacement.

Peter Nahon

Revue des études juives , vol. 182, no. 3-4, 2023.

Contents

Preface

(pp. xi–xviii)
  • José Martínez Delgado

1. Introduction

(pp. 1–31)
  • José Martínez Delgado

2. The Catalogue of Classical Metres

(pp. 32–80)
  • José Martínez Delgado

3. The Five Circles and the Derivative Metres

(pp. 81–91)
  • José Martínez Delgado

4. Rhyme

(pp. 92–101)
  • José Martínez Delgado

5. Strophic Poetry

(pp. 102–144)
  • José Martínez Delgado

Contributors