The linguistics of humor and the study of wordplay in the Hebrew Bible
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3989/sefarad.022-005Keywords:
Hebrew Bible, Paronomasia, Phonetic distance, Scripts opposition, Verbal humorAbstract
Confirming the presence of wordplays in the BH is a controversial issue, since vary among specialists the criteria for 1) their definition, 2) their classification, and 3) the understanding of their functions. This article examines recent approaches to the phenomenon in biblical studies by reviewing the work of some specialists. The focus will be on the disparity of the criteria used and the resulting terms and classifications. Moreover, the methodologies used in the biblical field will be contrasted with others of the current linguistics. Therefore, firstly, some of the results of the most recent linguistic research in the field of wordplay will be presented to show: 1) differences in perception, cataloging and characterizing the wordplay between linguistics and Bible studies, and, as a result, 2) a possible way forward for the latter.
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Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad
Grant numbers BES-2017-080622
European Social Fund
Grant numbers FFI2016-75064-P
