Behind the Manuscript: Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz and his unique South-Western Karaim translation of the Latter Prophets

Anita András

anita.andrs@gmail.com
Uppsala University (Hungary)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5148-0804

Abstract

The present paper delves into the exclusive South-Western Karaim translation of the Latter Prophets (ADub.III.83), a manuscript discovered in recent years in Poland. Copied by Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz (1802–1884) most probably in the latter half of the 19th century in Halych, this manuscript offers valuable insights into the phonological characteristics specific to Modern South-Western Karaim, distinguishing it from Mordkowicz’s earlier works. The paper includes details about the copyist’s background, a general overview of the manuscript including some of its distinctive phonological features, and provides a short excerpt of the text presented in transcription along with its English translation. The relevant parts of the facsimile are attached at the end of the article.


Keywords:

South-Western Karaim, Modern South-Western Karaim, Latter Prophets, Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz, Bible translations, phonology

References

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Published
2023-12-30

Cited by

András, A. (2023). Behind the Manuscript: Jeshua Josef Mordkowicz and his unique South-Western Karaim translation of the Latter Prophets. Karaim Almanac, 12, 9–31. https://doi.org/10.33229/ak.1016

Authors

Anita András 
anita.andrs@gmail.com
Uppsala University Hungary
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5148-0804

Anita András is a Doctoral Researcher at the Uppsala University. In years 2020–2022 assisstant in the Institute of Linguistics, Translation Studies, and Hungarian Studies at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. She completed her Master's degree at the Department of Altaic Studies of the University of Szeged (Hungary) in 2019. Her main interest lies in modern Turkic languages, particularly in the Oghuz (Turkish and its dialects, Azeri) and Kipchak (Kazakh, Karaim) groups with a special focus on morphology. 



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