Abstract
The phrase Hebrew letter MEM (ma ze) is used in Rabbinic Hebrew to express a speech act of rebuking, for example: Hebrew letter MEMHebrew letter betℵ. A review of its occurrences reveals its various characteristics: a) it serves as a rhetorical question to express a rebuking; b) it appears in the spoken language; c) it is used especially by one sage when rebuking another sage; and d), syntactically, it appears at the beginning of the sentence and is followed by an address. It seems that its usage in Rabbinic Hebrew is not a continuation of the usage found in Biblical Hebrew, and that it has not continued into Modern Hebrew. This usage as described and exemplified in this article has apparently not been documented in dictionaries of Rabbinic Hebrew nor in the research literature. I suggest viewing Hebrew letter MEM Hebrew as a rebuking interactional discourse marker.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 29-59 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Journal of Semitic Studies |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2022 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Cultural Studies
- Religious studies
- History
- Language and Linguistics
- Literature and Literary Theory
- Linguistics and Language