Abstract

 
Abstract
The Babylonian Talmud consists of six divisions (Shisha Sedarim) that are as follows: Zeraim (seeds), Moed (festivals), Nashim (women), Neziqin (damages), Qodashim (holies) and Tohorot (purities). Each of these main sections contains several masechtot called a tractate in English. Tractate Berachot (blessings) is the first tractate of the first division of the Babylonian Talmud. This article examines 24 Middle Persian words attested in the tractate mentioned above. Each word’s usage in the context is demonstrated, and the realm every word belongs to such as cultural, social, and political areas is indicated. Moreover, the Middle Persian equivalent of each word -if used in the existing Middle Persian texts- is provided.
Keywords: Babylonian Talmud, Aramaic, Middle Persian, Berachot, Talmudic Aramaic, Pahlavi.
 
Introduction
The subject of loanwords is of assistance in studying historical sociology, cultural relations of societies, and the influence of societies on/from each other. Yoonjung Kang, in his essay "Loanwords" (2013),states: "Loanwords are studied from many different perspectives, touching upon different subfields of linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, and semantics, as well as sociolinguistics and historical linguistics." According to the above definition, it can be inferred that the research on the words entered from Middle Persian to the Babylonian Talmud can benefit the studies of the history and structure of the Persian language. On the other hand, it can provide a window into the correlation history between the two religious communities of Sasanian Iran in terms of cultural, social, and historical relations. Examining loanwords in the target language can show the power and agency of the donor language in the fields related to those words.
 
Materials and Methods
The method used in the following article is library research based on original texts. The article focuses on Persian loanwords in the Babylonian Talmud which is considered philological research in historical linguistics. The original material of the study is the Babylonian Talmud.
 
Discussion and Result
In the present article 24 Talmudic words are being examined for their Iranian roots. The examined words are as follows:
גּוּשְׁפַּנְקָא , פַּרְסִיִּים, פַּרְסָה, דִּינָר, פַּרְגּוֹד, פְּשִׁיטֵי, כְּעָבִין, כסִָּּניִן, רִיסתְְּנאָ, שָׁבוֹר, אַפַּדְנָא, הַרְמָנָא, פְּרִיסְתָּקָ, בֵּי שָׁבוֹר, דִּגְלַת, שַׁבִּיסְתָּנָא, בַּר פַּחְתֵּי, טְִריתָא, זִמְנָא, רִסְתְּקָא, זַיִת, אַבְרוּטִי, דּוּבְשָׁא, המיינא.
The words are provided in their respective sentences. Subsequently, since the Talmud has never been translated to Persian, the Persian translation of each Talmudic sentence is provided. Afterwards, the Talmudic words’ transcriptions, and equivalent Iranian terms are specified. There are Talmudic Persian words that are not attested in the existing Middle Persian texts, however their Iranian roots are plausible. Words are classified into 10 categories namely administration and politics, geography, food, social culture, clothing, Iranian mysticism, proper nouns, architecture and urban planning, unit of measurement, and name of ethnic groups. Every word is examined in terms of cultural and social backgrounds, attestation in Iranian languages –mainly Middle Persian- and possible etymology.
Although a number of middle Persian words of the Babylonian Talmud are not new words to Iranists, the type of their usage and also the difference in their pronunciation with the common and well-known Iranian pronunciations can pave the way for studies in the field of historical linguistics and the evolution of the Persian language.
 
Conclusion
As the first attempt to categorize and determine the frequency of Persian words in the opening mesachat of the Babylonian Talmud, this article is the initial attempt to pursue this research path. The following classification is employed in order to sorting loanwords in the present article.  Including Dinar and Pashiz (currency units) 6 words in the field of governance and politics, 6 words regarding food, a mystical term (Parde -ye Ghaib), 1 proper noun (Shapur), two Units of measurement (Farsang and Zaman), an ethnic name (Persian), 3 geographical names (Tigris, Beit Shapur, and Shabstan Bridge), two terms regarding architecture and urban planning (Apadana and Rustaq), an unknown term concerning popular culture (Ristana or Dastana) ) and one word concerning clothing (Hamiyan) are examined.
If all the Iranian words and terminology of the Babylonian Talmud are recognized and categorized , the scope of linguistic, religious, cultural, and social exchanges between Jewish and non-Jewish (mainly Zoroastrian) communities of Sassanian Iran can be revealed to some extent.