Abstract
64 Medieval tombstones excavated in Eghegis (Vayots Dzor region) in southern Armenia testify to a Jewish presence in the area in the 13th and 14th centuries. Based on onomastic and paleographic evidence, it has been suggested that the Jews who used the cemetery were ultimately of Persian origin. Linguistic peculiarities in the Hebrew of the inscriptions found on some of the tombstones point in the same direction: Three ungrammatical or unidiomatic Hebrew expressions conform to typical features of Persian, thus suggesting that the Jews from Eghegis spoke a New Persian dialect.
| Translated title of the contribution | Gleanings from the Language of the Jews of Medieval Eghegis, Armenia: Persian Substrate in a Hebrew Tombstone Inscription? |
|---|---|
| Original language | Hebrew |
| Pages (from-to) | 639-645 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | מחקרים בלשון |
| Volume | 21-22 |
| State | Published - 2025 |