Editing History of Hebrew grammar (section)

==History of studies in Hebrew grammar==
{{Further information|Hebraist}}
The [[Masoretes]] in the 7th to 11th centuries laid the foundation for grammatical analysis of Hebrew. As early as the 9th century [[Judah ibn Kuraish]] discussed the relationship between Arabic and Hebrew. In the 10th century, [[Aaron ben Moses ben Asher]] refined the [[Tiberian vocalization]], an extinct pronunciation of the [[Hebrew Bible]].

The first treatises on Hebrew grammar appear in the [[High Middle Ages]], in the context of [[Midrash]] (a method of interpreting and studying the Hebrew Bible). The [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]] tradition originated in [[Abbasid]] [[Baghdad]] around the 7th century. The ''[[Diqduq]]'' (10th century) is one of the earliest grammatical commentaries on the Hebrew Bible.<ref>G. Khan, J. B. Noah, ''The Early Karaite Tradition of Hebrew Grammatical Thought'' (2000)</ref>

[[Solomon ibn Gabirol]] in the 11th century composed a versified Hebrew grammar, consisting of 400 verses divided into ten parts. In the 12th century, [[Ibn Barun]] compared the [[Hebrew language]] with [[Arabic language|Arabic]] in the [[Islamic grammatical tradition]].<ref>Pinchas Wechter, Ibn Barūn's Arabic Works on Hebrew Grammar and Lexicography (1964)</ref>
11th to 12th century grammarians of the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain]] included [[Judah ben David Hayyuj]], [[Jonah ibn Janah]], [[Abraham ibn Ezra]], [[Joseph Kimhi]], [[Moses Kimhi]] and [[David Kimhi]]. Ibn Ezra gives a list of the oldest Hebrew grammarians in the introduction to his ''Moznayim'' (1140). [[Profiat Duran]] published an influential grammar in 1403.

[[Judah Messer Leon (15th century)|Judah Messer Leon]]'s 1454 grammar is a product of the [[Italian Renaissance]]. Hebrew grammars by [[Christian Hebraist|Christian authors]] appeared during the [[Renaissance]]. [[Hieronymus Buclidius]], a friend of [[Erasmus]], gave more than 20,000 francs to establish a branch of Hebrew studies at [[Leuven|Louvain]] in [[Flanders]]. [[Elijah Levita]] was called to the chair of Hebrew at the [[University of Paris]]. [[Cardinal Grimani]] and other dignitaries, both of the state and of the Church, studied Hebrew and the [[Kabbalah|Cabala]] with Jewish teachers; even the warrior [[Guido Rangoni]] attempted the Hebrew language with the aid of [[Jacob Mantino]] (1526). [[Pico de la Mirandola]] (d. 1494) was the first to collect Hebrew manuscripts, and [[Reuchlin]] was the first Christian author to write a vocabulary and short grammar of the Hebrew language (1506).<ref>[http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/~db/0001/bsb00017321/images/index.html?id=00017321&groesser=&fip=xsyztsxdsydewqenxssdasyztsw&no=212&seite=1 Online version of ''De rudimentis hebraicis'']</ref> A more detailed grammar was published in 1590 by [[Otto Walper]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZjY8AAAAcAAJ ''Grammatica linguae sanctae'' at Google Books]</ref>
[[Conrad Gesner]] (d. 1565) was the first Christian to compile a catalogue of Hebrew books.
[[Paul Fagius]] and [[Elia Levita]] operated the first Hebrew printing office in the 1540s. Levita also compiled the first Hebrew-[[Yiddish]] dictionary.

Through the influence of [[Johannes Buxtorf]] (d. 1629) a serious attempt was made to understand the post-Biblical literature, and many of the most important works were translated into Latin.  [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]]' ''Hebrew Grammar'' appeared in 1813.