Hebrew Influences and Self-Identity in the Judeo-Georgian Language and in the Caucasus “Mountain of Tongues”

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Abstract

The Caucasus region has been called the “Mountain of Tongues”. History writers from Herodotus, 2,500 years ago, until present time have given different numbers of languages, e.g. the Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BCE- 21 CE) claimed more than 70 tribes speaking different languages, Pliny stated that the Romans used 130 interpreters when trading. At present more than 50 languages are spoken in the Caucasus (Catford 1977: 283). Hebrew is the ancient original language for all the twelve tribes of Israel, also after the division of the Land of Israel in 927 BCE into the Northern Kingdom, Israel, with ten of the tribes and the Southern Kingdom, Juda, with two tribes. The Israelites got exiled by the Assyrian Kings, e.g. Shalmaneser in 722 BCE. These ten tribes soon lost their language and identity. The southern tribes, Juda, got exiled by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, between 606-586 BCE, who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem (586 BCE).

General Information

Keywords: Hebrew Influences, Judeo-Georgian Language, Mountain of Tongues, the Caucasus

Journal rubric: General and Comparative Historical Linguistics

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/langt.2020070302

For citation: Nesher S. Hebrew Influences and Self-Identity in the Judeo-Georgian Language and in the Caucasus “Mountain of Tongues” [Elektronnyi resurs]. Âzyk i tekst = Language and Text, 2020. Vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 28–35. DOI: 10.17759/langt.2020070302.

A Part of Article

The Caucasus region has been called the “Mountain of Tongues”. History writers from Herodotus, 2,500 years ago, until present time have given different numbers of languages, e.g. the Greek geographer and historian Strabo (64 BCE- 21 CE) claimed more than 70 tribes speaking different languages, Pliny stated that the Romans used 130 interpreters when trading. At present more than 50 languages are spoken in the Caucasus (Catford 1977: 283).

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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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