The Vocalization, Accentuation and Masora of Codex Or. 4445 (Brit. Mus.) and Their Place in the Development of the Tiberian Masora.

Lyons, David Lloyd

Abstract

Or. 4445 (Brit. Mus.) is a Tiberian Pentateuch copy, vocalized and annotated by a certain Nissi B. Daniel at the beginning of the 10th century C.E. The vocalization and accents are accurately marked, reflecting in the main the norms and tendencies of Aaron Ben-Aser in the model Aleppo Codex. Vowel-switches and omissions are of very sporadic occurrence. The specific character is in certain features of the metheg-marking - notably in the omission of metheg in certain normative closed-syllable instances - and in the economy in its use of the penultimate Pasta-sign. In one metheg-class, there is a more 'regular' employment of the sign in Or. 4445 than in the Aleppo Codex. The general overall picture is one of a slightly less-developed stage than that reflected in the Aleppo and Leningrad Codices. The masora is profuse: masora parva, enumerative masora magna and cumulative masora are recorded throughout. The style and form of some annotations resemble Babylonian Masora (but no direct influence can be assumed); the cumulative lists are specifically Tiberian. Despite the occasional technical errors, masora-switches and other obscurities, the apparatus proves to be relatively accurate - the numerative and descriptive masoras apparently surpass (somewhat) those of the Leningrad' Codex, but in their precision fall short of their counterparts in the Aleppo Codex. The cumulative masora-1ists, which contain several errors and problems, can in the main be collated with those in 'Okhla W'Okhla'. My detailed comparison of the materials - highlighting the thematic and textual differences between Or, 4445 and Okhla - led to the conclusion that the 1ist-corpuses in the two respective sources, as they stand, cannot be treated as variant recensions of a single compendium. The collation is presented in the form of a condensed-data table (Chapter 12), which, together with the appended commentary, sets a frame for further researches in the Cumulative Masora. Or. 4445 is a well-produced Massora-Codex, constituting an important document of Tiberian Vocalization and Masora.

Citation

Lyons, D. L. The Vocalization, Accentuation and Masora of Codex Or. 4445 (Brit. Mus.) and Their Place in the Development of the Tiberian Masora. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Oct 12, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 12, 2020
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00033841
• Award Date: Jan 1, 1983