Aaron Rubin's C.V.

Last updated: December 11, 2012

 

Aaron D. Rubin
Pennsylvania State University
221 Weaver Building
University Park, PA 16802
adr10 AT psu.edu


CURRENT POSITIONS HELD
Associate Professor of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Jewish Studies, and Linguistics, Penn State University, July 2010-present.

Director, Jewish Studies Program, Penn State University, July 2011-present.

 

PREVIOUS POSITIONS HELD

Mal and Lea Bank Early Career Professor of Jewish Studies and Assistant Professor of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Linguistics.

Penn State University, July 2004-June 2010.

Acting Director, Jewish Studies Program, January 2011-June 2011.

EDUCATION
Ph.D. Semitic Philology, Harvard University, 2004.
M.A. Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, 1999.
B.A. Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, 1998.

COURSES TAUGHT
Language Courses:

Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, scheduled 2012-13)

Advanced Biblical Hebrew (Fall 2004, 2006-2007, 2008-2009, Fall 2010)

Rabbinic Hebrew (Fall 2004)
Modern Hebrew Songs (Spring 2005)

Targumic Aramaic (Spring 2005, Fall 2009)
Readings in Aramaic Dialects (Fall 2005)

Intermediate Modern Literary Arabic (Fall 2006)

Introduction to Classical Arabic (Spring 2009, Spring 2011)

Yiddish Grammar and Reading (Fall 2005, Spring 2008, Fall 2010)

 

Lecture/Seminar Courses:

Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Fall 2004, Spring 2010, Spring 2012)
Writing Systems of the World (Spring 2006, Fall 2008, Spring 2012)

Freshman Seminar: Literature of the Ancient Near East (Spring 2005)


GRADUATE TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Teaching Fellow and Instructor, Modern Hebrew, Harvard University (Fall 2000-Spring 2004)
Instructor, Advanced Biblical Hebrew, Temple Israel, Brookline, MA (Fall 2002-Spring 2003)
Teaching Fellow, Harvard University, Comparative Semitics (Fall 2003)

Instructor, Harvard University, Ethiopic (Ge‘ez) (2nd semester) (Spring 2004)

 

BOOKS AUTHORED

1. Studies in Semitic Grammaticalization. Harvard Semitic Series. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005.

  • Review: John Engle, Review of Biblical Literature (2006).
  • Review: Guy Deutscher, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 69 (2006): 464-66.
  • Review: Eran Cohen, Bibliotheca Orientalis 63 (2006): 340-43.
  • Review: John Cook, Hebrew Studies 47 (2006): 433-36.
  • Review: Michael Waltisberg, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 101 (2006): 709-14.
  • Review: Alan S. Kaye, Journal of the American Oriental Society 126 (2006): 284-86.
  • Review: David M. Stec, Journal of Semitic Studies 54 (2009): 253-54.

2. Samuel David Luzzatto, Prolegomena to a Grammar of the Hebrew Language. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2005.

  • Review: Arian Verheij, Review of Biblical Literature (2007).
  • Review: J. Middlemas, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 31 (2007): 266.
  • Review: Clive Fierstone, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 71 (2008): 119-21.
  • Review: Stefan Reif, Journal of Semitic Studies 53 (2008): 363-65.
  • Review: Dennis Pardee, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 68 (2009): 52-53.
  • Review: Martin F. J. Baasten, Journal of Jewish Studies 60 (2009): 151-53.

3. The Mehri Language of Oman. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

  • Review: Andrzej Zaborski, Folia Orientalia 47 (2010): 447-50.
  • Review: Kevin Schluter, The Linguist List 22.4150 (2011).

4. A Brief Introduction to the Semitic Languages. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias, 2010.

 

BOOKS EDITED

1. Co-editor (with B. Richard Page), Studies in Classical Linguistics in Honor of Philip Baldi. Leiden: Brill, 2010.

2. Associate Editor (with Geoffrey Khan et al.), Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics. Leiden: Brill (in progress).

 

JOURNAL ARTICLES

1. “A Note on the Conjugation of Lamed-He Verbs in the Derived Patterns.” Zeitschrift für Althebraistik 14/1 (2001): 34-41.

2. “Notes on Genitive Exponents in some Modern Arabic Dialects.” Folia Orientalia 40 (2004): 327-36 (appeared 2006).

3. “On Syriac hārkā and Aramaic r < *n.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 66/2 (2007): 123-24.

4. “On the Third Person Preformative n- / l- in Aramaic, and an Ethiopic Parallel.” Ancient Near Eastern Studies 44 (2007): 1-28.

5. “The Mehri Participle: Form, Function, and Evolution.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Series 3) 17 (2007): 381-88.

6. “The Subgrouping of the Semitic Languages.” Language and Linguistics Compass 2 (2008): 61-84.

7. “Interrogatives in Mehri: Their Use and Etymologies.” Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik 48 (2008): 75-90.

8. “The Paradigm Root in Hebrew.” Journal of Semitic Studies 53/1 (2008): 29-41.

9. “Two Peculiarities of Niphal Participles in Biblical Hebrew.” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 34/2 (2008): 123-30.

10. “The Functions of the Preposition k- in Mehri.” Journal of Semitic Studies 54/1 (2009): 221-26.

11. “Genesis 49:4 in Light of Arabic and Modern South Arabian.” Vetus Testamentum 59/3 (2009): 499-502.

12. “A Proper View of Arabic, Semitic, and More.” Co-authored with Gary Rendsburg and John Huehnergard. Journal of the American Oriental Society 128/3 (2008): 533-41 (appeared 2009).

13. “Ḥōm Sweet Ḥōm: The Unusual Mehri Verb ‘to want’.” Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik 51 (2009): 76-84.

14. “The Development of the Amharic Definite Article and an Indonesian Parallel.” Journal of Semitic Studies 55/1 (2010): 103-14.

15. “The Form and Meaning of Hebrew ’ašrê.” Vetus Testamentum 60/3 (2010): 366-72.

16. “Samuel Archivolti and the Hebrew Vowel Point Controversy.” Jewish Quarterly Review 101/2 (2011): 233-43.

17. “The Value of Grammaticalization in Semitic.” Aula Orientalis 29 (2011) (Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Comparative Semitics, Turin 10/3-4/2008): 99-104.

18. “Mehri Dialect Studies: Omani and Šarqīyah Mehri.” Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik 54 (2011): 67-83.

 

19. “Mehri Dialect Studies II: Three Cinderella Stories.” (in progress).

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

1. “An Outline of Comparative Egypto-Semitic Morphology.” In Egyptian and Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) Studies in Memoriam Werner Vycichl, ed. Gábor Takács, pp. 454-86. Leiden: Brill, 2004.

2. “Phyla and Waves: Models of Classification of the Semitic Languages.” Co-authored with John Huehnergard. In The Semitic Languages (Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science), ed. Stefan Weninger et al., pp. 250-69. Berlin: De Gruyter (forthcoming, 2011).

3. “Two Modern South Arabian Etymologies.” Forthcoming Festschrift (2012).

4. “Grammaticalization and the Jibbali Future.” Forthcoming conference proceedings (2012).

 

5. “Judeo-Italian.” (in progress)

 

REFERENCE ARTICLES

1. “Hebrew.” Co-authored with Jeremy M. Hutton. In New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 2, ed. Katharine D. Sakenfeld et al., pp. 768-78. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2007.

2. “Hebrew Language and Literature.” In Encyclopedia of the Modern World, ed. Peter N. Stearns, vol. 4, pp. 1-2. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

3. “Linguistics and Biblical Studies.” In New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, vol. 3, ed. Katharine D. Sakenfeld et al., pp. 667-68. Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 2008.

4. “Hieroglyphics.” In Encyclopedia of World History. Vol. 1: Ancient World, 8000 BCE to 600 CE, ed. Mark F. Whitters, pp. 198-99. New York: Facts on File, 2008.

5. “Abbreviations,” “Christian Hebraism (17th-18th centuries),” “Definite Article (pre-Modern),” “Egyptian and Hebrew,” “Egyptian Loanwords in Biblical Hebrew,” “Grammaticalization,” “Hebrew and Afroasiatic,” “Hebrew Loanwords in American Creoles,” “Hebrew Loanwords in Polynesian Languages,” “Indefinite Article,” “Paradigm (in post-medieval Hebrew grammatical tradition),” “Sumerian Loanwords in Hebrew.” In Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, ed. G. Khan et al. Leiden: Brill (forthcoming, 2012).

 

BOOK REVIEWS

1. M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Judean Aramaic. Hebrew Studies 46 (2005): 387-89.

2. A. Dotan, The Awakening of Word Lore: From the Masora to the Beginnings of Hebrew Lexicography. Hebrew Studies 47 (2006): 460-62.

3. L. Jiménez Patón and A. Sáenz-Badillos, Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Sefer Moznayim. Journal of Semitic Studies 52 (2007): 166-68.

4. M. Ángeles Gallego, El judeo-árabe medieval: Edición, traducción, y estudio lingüístico del Kitāb al-taswi’a de Yonah ibn Ğanāh. Collectanea Christiana Orientalia 4 (2007): 412-15.

5. E. Ruiz González and A. Sáenz-Badillos, Abraham Ibn Ezra’s Safah Berurah: La Lengua Escogida. Journal of Semitic Studies 52 (2007): 399-400.

6. J.N. Postgate, ed., Languages of Iraq: Ancient and Modern. Bulletin of the American Schools for Oriental Research 354 (2009): 79-81.

7. Émile Puech, ed., Qumrân Grotte 4 (XXVII): Textes Araméens, Deuxième Partie (4Q550-4Q575a, 4Q580-4Q587, et appendices). Discoveries in the Judean Desert 37. Review of Biblical Literature (2009).

8. Alan S. Kaye, ed., The Morphologies of Asia and Africa. Journal of the American Oriental Society 129/1 (2009): 142-46.

9. R. Voigt, ed., From Beyond the Mediterranean: Akten des 7. Internationalen Semitohamitistenkongresses. Journal of Semitic Studies 55/1 (2010): 263-65.

10. M. Gómez Aranda, Dos comentarios de Abraham ibn Ezra al libro de Esther. Journal of Semitic Studies 55/1 (2010): 298-300.

11. Francesco Aspesi et al., eds., Il mio cuore è a Oriente: Studi di linguistica storica, filologia e cultura ebraica dedicati a Maria Luisa Mayer Modena.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 129/2 (2009): 381.

12. Edward M. Cook, A Glossary of Targum Onkelos. Journal of Semitic Studies 55/2 (2010): 612-14.

13. Elvira Martín Contreras and Guadalupe Seijas de los Ríos-Zarzosa, Masora: La transmisión de la tradición de la Biblia Hebrea. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 10 (2010).

14. Eugene Ulrich, ed. The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Review of Biblical Literature (2011).

15. Geoffrey Khan, The Neo-Aramaic Dialect of Barwar; together with Geoffrey Khan, The Jewish Neo-Aramaic of Urmi. Journal of Semitic Studies 56/1 (2011):199-202.

16. Janet C.E. Watson and Jan Retsö, eds. Relative Clauses and Genitive Constructions in Semitic. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft 161/1 (2011):160-62.

17. Alexander Sima, Mehri-Texte aus der jemenitischen Šarqīyah. Annotated and edited by Janet C.E. Watson and Werner Arnold. Journal of Semitic Studies 56/2 (2011):427-28.

18. Kees Versteegh et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Volume IV: Q-Z; together with idem, Volume V: Index. Journal of Semitic Studies 56/2 (2011):422-25.

19. Hayim Tawil, An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents with Supplement on Biblical Aramaic. Review of Biblical Literature (2011).

20. A. Sáenz-Badillos, Storia della lingua ebraica. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 70/2 (2011):319-20.

21. Kees Versteegh et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Volume III: Lat-Pu. Journal of Near Eastern Studies 70/2 (2011):320-21.

22. Ronny Meyer, Das Zay: Deskriptive Grammatik einer Ostguragesprache (Äthiosemitisch); together with idem, Wolane: Descriptive Grammar of an East Gurage Language (Ethiosemitic). Journal of Semitic Studies 57/1 (forthcoming, 2012).

23. Andreas Wetter, Das Argobba: Eine deskriptive Grammatik der Varietät von Shonke und T’ollaha. Journal of Semitic Studies (forthcoming).

 

TALKS

1. “The Definite Article in Central Semitic.” Harvard University Semitic Workshop, December 5, 2003.

2. “The Definite Article in Central Semitic.” Penn State University, March, 2004.

3. “A Short History of the Hebrew Language.” Harvard University, May 5, 2006.

4. “The Preformative n- / l- in Aramaic, and Parallels.” 2nd Meeting of the International Association for Comparative Semitics, Sitges, Spain, June 1, 2006.

5. “The Development of the Amharic Definite Article.” American Oriental Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, March 14, 2008.

6. “The Mehri Language of Oman.” Penn State Institute for the Arts and Humanities, March 20, 2008.

7. “Grammaticalization and the Definite Article in Semitic.” 3rd Meeting of the International Association for Comparative Semitics, Turin, Italy, October 3, 2008.

8. “The Study of Hebrew Grammar from the Talmud to Today.” University of Texas, Austin, March 27, 2009.

9. “The Origins of Definite Articles in Semitic.” Groupe Linguistique d’Études Chamito-Sémitique (GLECS), Paris, France, May 28, 2009.

10. “The Mehri Language of Oman.” Rutgers University, November 11, 2009.

11. “The Study of Hebrew Grammar from the Talmud to Today.” Rutgers University, November 12, 2009.

12. “Some Characteristics of Mehri Dialects.” North American Conference on Afroasiatic Linguistics, Austin, February 14, 2010.

13. “Some Characteristics of Mehri Dialects.” 4th Meeting of the International Association for Comparative Semitics, Zaragoza, Spain, June 10, 2010.

14. “A Short History of the Hebrew Language.” Harvard University, March 9, 2011.

15. “A Survey of the Modern South Arabian Languages.” Harvard University Semitic Workshop, March 9, 2011.

16. “Grammaticalization and the Jibbali Future.” Workshop on Grammaticalization, University of Salford, May 6, 2011.

 

 

ADDITIONAL PROJECTS

Editorial Assistant for J.F. Coakley, Robinson’s Paradigms and Exercises in Syriac Grammar, Oxford University Press, 2002.

Coordinator, Harvard University Workshop in Semitic Philology, 2003-2004.

Series Editor, Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, Leiden: Brill, 2009-present.                         

Editorial Advisor, Journal of Semitic Studies, 2011-present.


AWARDS AND GRANTS
Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching: Fall 2000, Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002, Fall 2003, Spring 2004.

Penn State Institute for the Arts & Humanities Individual Faculty Grant: Fall, 2007.

RESEARCH INTERESTS
Comparative Semitic Linguistics
Biblical and Modern Hebrew Historical Grammar

History of the Field of Hebrew Studies

Biblical Translation and Interpretation

Mehri and Jibbali Morphology and Syntax

Aramaic Historical Grammar and Dialectology

Masoretic Studies

Targumic Studies

Historical Linguistics


Links