Etymology of Hebrew "de"

[David Brostoff]

My question is not strictly Biblical, so I apologize if it is off-topic (and in that case, please delete it).

In the title פרקי דרבי אליעזר (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer), is the ד (de) possibly of Latin origin?

Also, does it have the same derivation as the ד in דהיינו ('that is')?

Thank you,

David Brostoff

[Jason Hare]

No, it's from Aramaic.

[Kirk Lowery]

More specifically, it is the Aramaic relative pronoun. It's often used to express possession analogous to the Hebrew construct.

[Jason Hare]

OK, I'll also expand a little.

In normal Hebrew from that time (and today), which is the post-biblical form of the language, we can have definite possession in the following ways:

1. מִשְׁפַּ֫חַת הַיֶּ֫לֶד the boy's family (direct construct)
2. הַמִּשְׁפָּחָה שֶׁל הַיֶּ֫לֶד the boy's family (use of shel)
3. מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ שֶׁל הַיֶּ֫לֶד the boy's family (double possession, with personal suffix and shel)

The introduction of the דְּ relative pronoun, taken from Aramaic, often replaces שֶׁ "who, which" and שֶׁל "of" in rabbinic Hebrew (which is influenced a lot by Aramaic). It is able to be placed within a construct chain, as you've written, since that happens in Aramaic. I can only think of instances like what you've quoted (because of my limited exposure to the Mishnah and Tosefta). Here's the entry from the Jastrow lexicon:

jastrow_di.jpg

If I'm not wrong (and I could be), I would understand דְּהַ֫יְנוּ as equivalent to a possible שֶׁהִנּוֹ in Hebrew. That's just a guess without having a great working knowledge of Aramaic.

[ducky]

Jason, how can I upload an image as you did?
I want to upload this entry from Sokoloff's Jewish Babylonian Dictionary.
I have images on my computer.
Do I need to upload it to some website or I could upload it straight to here?

[Jason Hare]

You need to click on "Full Editor & Preview" below the posting area, then it will give you more options — including one for adding attachments.

[Jason Hare]

I then just click on "Place inline" to put it in the body of the text. You can also leave it as an attachment at the end of the post.

[ducky]

Thanks, Jason

I still have problems - It tells me File too Large

Anyway, I uploaded this to a website, and maybe you can attach them to this website

P.307 https://imgur.com/wrYGoQJ
P.308 https://imgur.com/VHlYVWB
P.309 https://imgur.com/LZSkLke

[Jason Hare]

What book is that taken from? Never mind. You answered that above: Sokoloff's Jewish Babylonian Dictionary.

Yes, the site has restrictions on attachment size. Sorry.

[Jason Hare]

Could you look for דהיינו? I wasn't able to locate it in the ocean of text you uploaded.