Academic texts typically use acronyms to refer to books in Tana"ch, Talmud, and rabbinic literature. I am presently working on editing the citations given within a translation to bring them more in line with academic standards. However, I have only been able to find abbreviations for biblical books and sha"s. Is there any resource for academic abbreviations for other sefarim in Rabbinic literature?
Asked
Active
Viewed 209 times
5
-
3To closure voters: This question is 100% explicitly about Judaism. – Isaac Moses Aug 13 '14 at 13:05
-
Thanks, @IsaacMoses, I was beginning to wonder whether I should re-ask on Academia.SE, rather than on Mi Yodeya – Noach MiFrankfurt Aug 13 '14 at 13:19
-
2Related (and not closed): http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/7171/3 – WAF Aug 13 '14 at 18:08
-
1@IsaacMoses I cast the first close vote and am not sure why this is about Judaism. If I ask for a list of fonts used by publishers who happen to be Jewish book publishers, would that be on topic? This is a question which has to do with something Jewish, but so is a question about matzah ball recipes – Y e z Aug 14 '14 at 01:34
-
2@YEZ This is about study of Jewish texts. There is no more Jewish activity. – Isaac Moses Aug 14 '14 at 01:35
-
1@IsaacMoses Are questions about where I could buy ink to print a sefer on topic? Just trying to figure out the parameters here. – Y e z Aug 14 '14 at 01:42
-
@YEZ, is there reason to believe that experts on Judaism would be more likely than the general population to be able to answer? – Isaac Moses Aug 14 '14 at 01:44
-
2@IsaacMoses Yes. How about questions about Jews, which is explicitly off-topic? I think generally experts on Judaism happen to be more aware of that also. Experts on Judaism aren't more likely to know this, or that, because of their expertise in Judaism, it's because of external details. – Y e z Aug 14 '14 at 01:49
-
@YEZ, Questions about Jews that are not about Judaism are off-topic. Questions about Jews that are about Judaism are on-topic. Knowing how to cite Jewish sources is so strongly tied to expertise in Judaism that I have trouble understanding your position here. – Isaac Moses Aug 14 '14 at 01:52
-
Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Y e z Aug 14 '14 at 01:52
-
@YEZ Regarding your comparison to fonts.... this question is open, and this question is closed..... (could not post to chat room; room was frozen 3 days ago) – MTL Aug 31 '14 at 15:34
-
@Shokhet http://chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/17431359#17431359 – Y e z Aug 31 '14 at 20:34
-
@Shokhet wow. Those two look like they ought to have the same disposition, one way or the other. – Isaac Moses Sep 02 '14 at 18:40
3 Answers
2
Try the preface of an academic-style book on Talmud. The better editions of the Jastrow dictionary have an abbreviations page that I believe covers Talmud Bavli, Yerushlami, and Medrash including some names and lots of academic abbreviations other than titles.
Yitzchak
- 5,311
- 16
- 34
-
There's an online edition of Jastrow here. English abbreviations begin on the second page of Abbreviations. – Isaac Moses Aug 13 '14 at 17:29
-
1I've been using that online edition for years and never once bothered to look for the abbreviations page! Editing in now. – Yitzchak Aug 13 '14 at 17:31
-
2
Yes! I have always found קובץ ראשי תיבות וקיצורים and אוצר ראשי תיבות (free older print on HebrewBooks) to be extremely useful in breaking down roshei teivos that I did not understand.
Additionally, while I haven't used them at all (and therefore can't vouch for their reliability/usefulness), these websites (1, 2) from a Google search may also be of use to you.
MTL
- 19,073
- 4
- 51
- 161
1
Look in the luach roshei teivos in the back of the tanya. You'll find most of them there. Let me know if this helps
Dovid Benizri
- 783
- 5
- 14
-
1Rashei teivot work if I'm looking for the Hebrew forms, I'm looking for standard academic ones though. – Noach MiFrankfurt Aug 13 '14 at 02:07
-
2
-
1
-
@DoubleAA, I realise, however since I am editing the citations in a translation, it seems kind of backwards to use Hebrew r"t. – Noach MiFrankfurt Aug 13 '14 at 19:21
-
-
@DoubleAA, as above, the translation is in English, so the citations should use Latin characters (like Deut. 6:4 for Devarim 6:4). See links in question – Noach MiFrankfurt Aug 13 '14 at 19:35
-
2@NoachmiFrankfurt I believe that DoubleAA is hinting that you ought to edit the question so that readers know, without digging, that you specifically want English abbreviations. – Isaac Moses Aug 14 '14 at 02:39