Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 53:4 (Dec 2010)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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JETS 53:4 (December 2010) p. 801

Book Reviews

Phonology and Morphology of Biblical Hebrew. By Joshua Blau. Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic 2. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2010, xvi + 369 pp., $59.50.

Joshua Blau has produced studies of Biblical Hebrew grammar and philology for over half a century, and this work on phonology and morphology distills much of what he has written on these subjects over the years. The present volume, begun in 2002 as an English translation of this work (first published in Hebrew), has been somewhat revised though an editorial process that was initiated by Michael O’Connor and, after his untimely death in 2007, completed by Cynthia Miller. Blau’s work presumes the reader is somewhat familiar with general linguistic theory. For readers who have not had at least an introductory course in general linguistics, a careful reading of the first section of this book is extremely important. Otherwise, one will not be able to follow the linguistic arguments in the latter sections.

The book is divided into five main sections: introduction, phonetics, phonology, morphology, and a few remarks on various other features of Biblical Hebrew. Each section, subsection, and paragraph is numbered for reference. A number of paragraphs are followed by editorial notes in smaller type.

The introduction treats general linguistic concepts as applied to Biblical Hebrew. It guides the reader into Hebrew linguistics, including Biblical Hebrew’s place among other Semitic languages, general historical developments in Hebrew, and the primary ways in which linguistic analysis illuminates the study of Hebrew phonology and morphology.

The short section on phonetics analyzes the phonetic structure of Hebrew and will be familiar to anyone who has taken a basic introductory course in linguistics. It is a good review of the particulars of the way sounds in Biblical Hebrew are realized by human vocal apparatus.

The most substantial section of this book is the discussion of phonology. Much of this discussion will be difficult for readers who have not had any training in linguistics or who have not thoroughly digested the introductory section of Blau’s book. After introducing the Hebrew and Proto-Semitic consonants, there are three longer treatments here: one concerning consonants in Hebrew; one about semi-consonants (i.e. y and w); and a third on vowels. The discussion of consonants largely focuses on the BGDKPT consonants, laryngeals and pharyngeals, aleph, and heh. Blau’s interest in phonology is concentrated on historical development, and much of his presentation traces his theories as to how Hebrew phonology developed from proto-Semitic and then changed within Biblical Hebrew itself. Blau does a good job of presenting the various theories about these developments and arguing for his own vi...

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