Content

1) The Hebrew characters and other orthograpghic symbols, and the basic principles of phonetics. (week 1-3)
 
2) The morphology of the noun. Distinguishing and independently forming the different forms of the noun. (number, gender and status).
 
The morphology of the different pronouns, the article and the proclitic prepositions. (week 4-5)
 
3) The syntax of the noun and the pronoun: adjectival attributes, genitive attributes, nominal predicates, nominal sentences. (week 4-5)
 
4) The morphology of the regular verb: forming the main forms of the regular verb independently. (week 6-8)
 
5) The different categories of weak verbs: Sketching in broad outlines in what way these differ from the regular verb. (week 9-13)
 
6) The syntax of the verb: use of tenses and moods, use of direct and indirect object, use of adverbial adjuncts. (week 9-13)
 
7) Morphologically and syntactically parsing and translating simple texts. Use of dictionaries and grammars. (week 1-13)
 
8) Basic vocabulary of 300 words and semantic characteristic properties of the Hebrew language. (week 1-13)

Aims

This course aims to familiarize students with the Hebrew language.
After this course, the students know the Hebrew alphabet and other orthographic symbols, the basic grammar of this language, as well as a basic vocabulary consisting of the most common words of this language. They have a beginning insight into the syntactic and semantic structure of Hebrew.
After this course, the students are able to critically use the existing resources (grammars and dictionaries) and can independently analyze and read simple Hebrew texts using them.
After this course, the students are aware of the importance of the study of Hebrew for the study of the Bible and other writings from the Jewish-Christian tradition. They have a critical awareness of the differences between Hebrew and their mothertongue and realize the consequences of this for the translation of Hebrew texts.

Description of learning activities

Studying a language requires a characteristic study method, which differs from the way a course with a more reflexive content must be approached. Learning a language, especially in the initial stage, consists largely of mastering a complex whole of language-specific conventions, which requires a rather intensive effort from the student. This holds all the more for languages from a different language family than the one one grew up in, such as Hebrew. Apart from this, the course is built up in a very progressive way, and students are supposed to have mastered the knowledge from each previous class by the next one.
 
For these reasons, it is very important that students gradually and systematically acquire the contents of the course. Therefore, it is highly advisable to devote time to the study of the language every day, or at least several times a week.
 
The lectures and the accompanying material are construed in such a way as to support the students in this learning process as much as possible. New aspects of the Hebrew language are introduced twice a week in an interactive lecture, after which students are expected to do the accompanying assignment. All gradually built up exercises can then be permanently mastered by means of testing software.

Course material

 
Syllabus:
P.VAN HECKE: Basiscursus Bijbels Hebreeuws, Leuven, 2009 (obtainable from cursusdienst).
 
Bible text (recommended):
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Stuttgart, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1983.
Dictionary (recommended):
W.L. HOLLADAY, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Leiden, Brill, 1992.
or
L. KOEHLER and W. BAUMGARTNER, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon Old Testament: Study Edition, Leiden, Brill, 2002.

This course is also included in

• A03A7A : Hebrew Ia (phonetics, morphology)

Content

The complementary course-assignment contains a thourough study of §§41-59 of the grammar of Lettinga-Muraoka and exercises this via the complementary exercises in the syllabus. Moreover the 100 most frequnetly used verbs need to be studied.

Aims

The objective of the course-assignment is:

• acquiring insight into the verbs, the significations of the groundstem and the stemformations, and to build up a thorough knowledge of the formation of the normal strong verb
• to acquire a vocabulary of the 100 most frequently used verbs.