Parallels of the Hebrew Root כפר k-p-r (k-f-r) ‘Covering’ in the Lexicon of Semitic and Caucasian Languages

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Abstract

In the 8th century BC the Israelites were expelled from northern Israel by the Assyrians, according to historians, some to Media (Armenia). Later, in the 6th century BC, the southern tribe of Israel, Judah (“Jews”) was expelled by the Babylonians, later many of them migrated to the regions of the Caucasus. There are numerous references to the stay of Jews in the Caucasus in scientific and popular science literature, which makes us expect that evidence of these connections could and should have been preserved in the Caucasian languages. However, the problem of searching for Hebraisms and lexical evidence of the influence of one language on another is complicated by the fact that from the 7th century, Arabic penetrated into the Caucasian languages along with religion, and since Arabic and Hebrew are related languages, it becomes more difficult to establish from which language (Hebrew or Arabic) the term penetrates into Caucasian languages. This study is devoted to the analysis of Arabic and Hebrew uses in the Caucasian languages. The comparative-historical and etymological research methods used in the work will help, in our opinion, to determine the source of some lexical units in the Dagestan languages that are part of the Iberian-Caucasian family of languages.

General Information

Keywords: arabism, Aramaic, Old Testament, Mountain Jews, Georgian Jews, Juhuri, Judeo-tat language, Georgian, Dagestan, loanwords, Hebrew, expulsion of Israelits/Jews, Caucasus, Qur’an, Nakh-Dagestanian languages

Journal rubric: General and Comparative Historical Linguistics

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2024110205

Received: 31.05.2024

Accepted:

For citation: Nesher S. Parallels of the Hebrew Root כפר k-p-r (k-f-r) ‘Covering’ in the Lexicon of Semitic and Caucasian Languages [Elektronnyi resurs]. Âzyk i tekst = Language and Text, 2024. Vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 52–67. DOI: 10.17759/langt.2024110205. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Sarah Nesher, PhD student, Moscow State University of Psychology & Education, Foreign Language Teacher, Berlitz International Language School, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8317-0261, e-mail: sarah19931998job@gmail.com

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