What is it about?
It has often been said that the Alexandrian Jewish translators of the Torah translated their Hebrew source text segment by segment (in segments of 2-7 words). And that sounds very reasonable. But what did that working method entail for the outcome of their work, and how is is related to the functioning of the human brain?
Featured Image
Photo by Mehdi Mirzaie on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Many scholars say that segmentation played a role in the Greek translation of the Pentateuch. But they take it for granted or do not know what to do with it. That is because Soisalon-Soininen, who discussed segmentation in an important article, was the first to treat it at length. But his pioneering article contained mental leaps and methodological shortcomings. I now give a definition of segmentation, dismantle it in various factors, and connect it to cognitive processes, mainly brain capacity overload. In this way, I could now explain how segmentation affected both the working process and the outcome, on a cognitive basis.
Perspectives
I have always been fascinated by Soisalon-Soininen's segmentation hypothesis, and saddened by its mixed reception. I enjoyed revisiting the topic, and having put it on a more solid methodological footing - I hope.
Dr Theo van der Louw
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Dynamics of Segmentation in the Greek Pentateuch, June 2020, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co, KG,
DOI: 10.13109/9783666564871.65.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
