Premodern Philosophic and Scientific Hebrew Terminology: Studies on its Emergence and the Creation of an Internet-Based Historical Lexicon – PESHAT

The creation of the pre-modern Hebrew scientific and philosophical terminology began at the end of the first millennium C.E. and lasted until the 16th century. We wish to study systematically and create a lexicon of this pre-modern specialized Hebrew vocabulary in the disciplines of philosophy (including the natural sciences), mathematical sciences, astrology, and linguistics.
Presented here is a three-part research project:
(i) The constitution of a historical lexicon of pre-modern Philosophic and Scientific Hebrew Terminology (PESHAT);
(ii) The construction of a website for PESHAT, equipped with advanced search functions;
(iii) Studies on the constitution of the pre-modern philosophic and scientific Hebrew terminology, leading up to a Handbook of the History of Philosophic and Scientific Hebrew Terminology.
(i) We seek to create a lexicon of Philosophic and Scientific Hebrew Terminology (PESHAT). We will draw on the relevant original writings, as well as on the existing but incomplete lexica, in order to establish a large terminological corpus. Each main entry will offer: a headword in Hebrew, English, French, and German; medieval equivalents in Arabic, Latin and Greek; a definition; large selection of text extracts in which the term occurs; where legally possible, hyperlinks to the full texts.
(ii) PESHAT will be put on an on-line freely accessible data-base, equipped with MorfixTM, a particularly advanced search engine, capable to identify morphologically different forms of lexemes. The website will be of a wiki type, allowing its continued evolution through the (controlled) input of the scholarly community. As the first enterprise of its kind, it may serve as a model for similar projects in other languages, especially Arabic.
(iii) Concomitantly, we will launch a research program on the historical development of the premodern Hebrew terminology. In due course it will result in a printed volume: Handbook of the History of Philosophic and Scientific Hebrew Terminology. Despite its innovative and ambitious character, this project presents a low risk factor, for it is based on established scholarly methods and on existing Internet technology. A demo version of our site can already be seen at: demo.commugen.com (user name: PESHAT; password: DFG-ANR).
Funders can be confident that our project will yield a tangible, publicly visible and highly useful The Israel Academy of the Hebrew Language kindly offered its scientific cooperation in this project.