Jump to content

Yohanan

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

I still have some difficulties with the use of the dictionaries of Hebrew. Often by clicking on the word in the BHS text I am led to the wrong place in the dictionary (DCH or BDB) and in the field at the bottom of the window I can see the word where I have been led. For example yesterday for Avanaim I was led to ’avadon.

 

Right now I wonder how I could get to a page of the DCH which is indicated for one meaning as part of the third volume. I discovered the pop menu which, down at the bottom, offers to search for a page in the dict., but then the page corresponds to a root far before the one indicated, most probably because it is the first volume which has been chosen by Accordance for the search. Mine was in DCH 3. Can you tell me how to give the indication of the volume before the page or somewhere else in Accordance ?

 

Thanks in advance for any help. I know I should take a few days once to thoroughly explore Accordance.

 

All the best.

 

Yohanan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best way to add accuracy, especially for DCH which does cite so many of the occurrences, is to set the Preferences: General to Include the Verse Reference when Amplifying.

 

This is an unusual case as the lemma has been defined as Avanaim (with aleph) rather than Even, and that word is only found in the Hebrew contents in DCH, not as a main entry which it is in HALOT. That's why it's taking you to another word unless you include the verse reference.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If the word you are referring to is the one in Exodus 1:16, וּרְאִיתֶ֖ן עַל־הָאָבְנָ֑יִם

I believe that the correct pronounciation is as Sarna points out in the JPS Bible Commentary, ie, ʾovnayim because the vowel under the aleph is a kamatz katan.

 

KM Dictionary has ʾāḇᵉnayim but I believe that this gives an incorrect pronounciation of the word unless the ʾā is an indication of a kamatz katan.

Edited by Gordon
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

The plural of אֶבֶן is אֲבָנִים . Yohanan's "Avanaim" with the dual ending (a[y]im) led Gordon to the word/separate entry אָבְנַיִם in HAL, or אֹבֶן in CDCH (the singular is unattested, so marked

*אֹבֶן in HAL and [אֹבֶן] in CDCH).

 

Gordon is correct, ָ is qametz qatan (short "o" class) because it is in an unaccented, closed syllable.

 

Yohanan's post is relevant to my recent one - Regarding #2, "Lexicons do not always find the text you are looking for." If I could edit that post, I would add, Please don't confuse my add homonym request for an ad hominem attack on Accordance. I love Accordance; see the remarks below.

 

The Lord had placed a burden on my heart to write such a post, but I pleaded with Him to provide a context in which I could do it. It seemed like the Lord provided it with the "Thread on Logos Forum" on Sept. 17. I even waited a day to see if the thread would stay up before I submitted my reply. After the thread was locked, the Lord led me to believe that He would provide another context to address the issue. I believe this simple post by Yohanan is that provision.

 

Surprisingly, in the iPad and desktop instant details pop ups, the correct entry [אֹבֶן] comes up for הָאָבְנָ֑יִם in Exod 1:16. I say surprisingly, because if you triple click in the desktop, אֶבֵן is the entry that appears at the top of the window, which is long enough that a new student or reader might not see the next entry, [אֹבֶן]. You will only see both entries on the same screen with fonts set very small. Even more surprisingly, when I triple click הָאָבְנָ֑יִם with BDB set as my lexicon, I get: גָּזִית n.f. a cutting, hewing.hewing, ’אַבְנִים ג‎ = hewn stones (building-stones) (for tables); also without אבני = hewn stones (altar).

 

With the Hebrew lexicons tagged to the first homograph, or verbs instead of nouns, etc., along with the inevitable errors that creep in, users are sometimes led to incorrect entries, which can lead to more Yohanan-like experiences. Those of us who have taught beginning biblical Hebrew know that אֲבָנִים and אָבְנָיִם look alike to many students, so they might not look further than the plural of אֶבֶן. We also know that it takes them a while to deal with homographs in a lexicon. It is a long progression from learning a gloss or two for a word, to recognizing different uses/nuances/etc. for a word (and how this is done), to recognizing homographs, each of which could have its own different nuances, etc. If they were directed to the correct entry, students/readers would at least be spared of the types of confusion that even lexicography can deal them, especially at an early stage.

 

I love Accordance. I am a kindred spirit to Julie who said, "I would give up my dishwasher before I'd give up Accordance (and I really don't particularly love doing dishes)." I live on a homestead in rural Manitoba, and homesteading is my full time job. Since my wife is the current bread winner I do a lot of dishes, mostly with the dishwasher. But I would also give it up before Accordance.

 

I especially love rapidly reading the NT with my iPad. The experience is light years ahead of reading the NT in Logos on the ipad. Simply put, it is a one-step process in Accordance, and a four-step one in Logos (if you actually want to see the lexical entry; but in fairness, it is almost always the correct one). I only wish Accordance would press their advantage in this area to rapidly reading the OT/HB, by tagging to the correct entry. I also have a burden that students and readers need this.

 

Last, but not least, the less time one spends navigating a lexicon in their pursuit of learning Hebrew, the more time one can bank for future grammatical and syntactical searches, which are simply pure joy.

 

 

Michel

Edited by Michel Gilbert
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I could edit that post, I would add, Please don't confuse my add homonym request for an ad hominem attack on Accordance.

 

Ha! Love it. Well said.

 

Totally agreed about the iPad/rapid reading assessment.

 

On the same topic (both as the OP, but especially as Michel's post)--I remember when Accordance added the Include Verse Reference Feature When Amplifying, that Helen mentions above. It has improved things somewhat in this regard, but of course not completely, as Michel notes.

 

One thing occurs to me, though (but without programming knowledge to assess what would be involved): since the Hebrew Bible is a limited corpus, could there be some way to go through the sorts of words in question (on a verse-by-verse basis) and program them to key/line up to the correct homograph?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Greetings to all, and thank you for correcting my wrong transcription of the word - as well as the lessons in basic Biblical Hebrew morphology I have been gratified with this - though I was not considering the question of its pronunciation when hastily calling for help. Always good to be called to more attentive and exact reference.

 

Thank you so much Helen for the tip, it works and this is what matters.

 

Yohanan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best way to add accuracy, especially for DCH which does cite so many of the occurrences, is to set the Preferences: General to Include the Verse Reference when Amplifying.

 

This is an unusual case as the lemma has been defined as Avanaim (with aleph) rather than Even, and that word is only found in the Hebrew contents in DCH, not as a main entry which it is in HALOT. That's why it's taking you to another word unless you include the verse reference.

Hi Helen,

Is this possible on iOS as well?

This occurs many times with LSJ and LS on my iPad for some reason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, the multi field search is not supported on iOS. You can amplify and page down to the correct result, but it doesn't always appear in Instant Details. We will look into ways of improving this.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

No, the multi field search is not supported on iOS. You can amplify and page down to the correct result, but it doesn't always appear in Instant Details. We will look into ways of improving this.

I see that the homograph issue in instant details is much improved in iOS 1.7.7.

 

Thank you very much Helen and Accordance team

 

Michel

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

I see that the homograph issue in instant details is much improved in iOS 1.7.7.

 

Thank you very much Helen and Accordance team

 

Michel

 

 

This is because v. 1.7.7 shares the code for the upcoming 10.4.5 desktop release that addressed this. I'm glad to hear it is working well on iOS.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Rick,

 

 

I noticed it right away in 1.7.7, and I praised the Lord.

 

 

I figured it would also be programmed in 10.4.5 and/or 11. It's wonderful news.

 

 

Please pass on my thanks to the whole team.

 

 

Regards,

 

 

 

Michel

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...