Diskussion:Solomon Birnbaum

Der USer mit der Nummer 149.99.113.200 hat dankenswerter Weise Anfang August 2004 den Artikel in großem Umfang erweitert - leider jedoch in englischer Sprache. Bereits von mir durchgesehen und übersetzt wurde der auf das Leben bezogene Teil - der "Rest" steht unten und wartet auf ´jemanden, der/die sich seiner erbarmt. Grüße --yorg 17:59, 9. Aug 2004 (CEST)

== Yiddish and other Jewish languages == He wrote a great number of articles in German, Yiddish and English on various aspects of the Yiddish language, both in scholarly research journals and books, and in non-academic periodicals (such as the Beth Jacob Zhurnal between 1924 and 1939). His Yiddish orthographic system, which he based on a regularization of traditionalist spelling, was adopted in 1930 in Poland by the (orthodox) Beth Jacob Schools network - unfortunately destroyed by the Nazis. His pre-World War II articles written in German were signed Salomo Birnbaum, those in Yiddish: Shloyme; and those in English Solomon A. He wrote the first fully systematic grammar of the Yiddish language (Grammatik der jiddischen Sprache). This was written in the front line trenches during World War I, and was published in 1918. Revised and enlarged editions were published periodically from time to time until 1984. In 1979 he published Yiddish: A Survey and a Grammar (University of Toronto Press). == Other Jewish Languages == He also worked on, and had expertise in, many other Jewish languages, both living and dead. They include: Judezmu/Jidyo (“Ladino”,“Judeo-Spanish”), Zarphatic (“Old Judeo-French”), Catalanic (“Judeo-Catalan”), Shuadit (“Judeo-Provencal”), Yevanic (“Judeo-Greek”), Italkian (“Judeo-Italian”), Parsic/Farsic (“Judeo-Persian”), Tatic (“Judeo-Tat” of the Caucasus), Turkic (“Judeo-Turkish”), Arvic (“Judeo-Arabic”), and Karaitic. == Hebrew Paleography == He published a great number of articles on Hebrew paleography in scholarly journals and books, mostly in English, some in German. His interest in Hebrew paleography was kindled in the mid-1920s by his study of medieval Yiddish manuscripts. He noticed the subtle variations in the shapes of Hebrew letters written at different locations at different times. He realized that these differences, which had gradually developed over many years, could be systematized by means of charts and verbal descriptions. With study, practice and experience, the approximate area where a manuscript had been written and its approximate date could be determined. Shortly after the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947, but long before their publication, photographs were sent to him to estimate their dates and authenticity. Relying on the paleographic method that he had developed, he established dates which, though initially disputed by some scholars, were later confirmed by Carbon 14 physical testing and external archeological analysis. His dating of the Scrolls is now universally accepted by scholars. His most significant major publication on paleography was The Hebrew Scripts (two-volumes, 1954-1957 and 1971), containing hundreds of illustrations of dated Hebrew writing, a detailed paleographical examination of each letter of the alphabet in each illustration, and an explanation of its place in the overall pattern of the development of Hebrew scripts.