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Grammatical work by R. Elijah ben Solomon Zalman of Vilna (Vilna Gaon, Gra) brought to press with annotations by R. Aryeh Leib ben Solomon Gordon. Origianlly known as Dikduk Eliyahu, Mishpete ha-Lashon ha-Ivrit concerns itself with details from the field of phonology. It includes chapters on consonants, vowels, the sheva, the dagesh, and rules of accentuation in the Bible. It Emplies the methodology of the medieval grammarians and concerns itself with details from the field of phonology. It includes chapters on consonants, vowels, the sheva, the dagesh, and rules of accentuation in the Bible. In an additional list, the Vilna Gaon summarizes the general principles of vocalization by means of mnemotechnical symbols and numbers. In the second part of the work, apparently authentic, are summaries of the categories of words in Hebrew (noun, verb, particle), and a short description of their morphological structure (conjugations and declensions). Here also the description is concise; at times it is summarized by numerical symbols. At the end of the book are pages of conjugations.
R. Elijah ben Solomon Zalman of Vilna (Vilna Gaon, Gra, 1720-97) is a dominant figure in Jewish intellectual thought, his importance and prestige undiminished, as great today, if not greater, than in his own time. The Vilna Gaon’s extraordinary intelligence, expressed by his expertise in Torah at the age of three, outdistancing his tutors while a young child, his incredible proficiency over the entire expanse of the written and Oral Torah by nine, by which time he was already studying Kabbalah, accompanied by complete piety, are attested to by numerous reputable sources. More than seventy works, encompassing Bible, halakhah, Talmud, and Kabbalah, are attributed to the Vilna Gaon.
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