The lexicon of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic
JPA vocabulary is western Aramaic, shared in large part with Samaritan and Christian Palestinian Aramaic, and full of Greek (and some Latin) words: the Jews of Roman and Byzantine Palestine lived in a Greek-speaking administration and economy. This file gives the core words, a table of JPA–JBA pairs with counts, and the loanwords.
Sources: Sokoloff 2002b, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period (3rd ed. 2017; in copyright, wanted); Jastrow 1903 (public domain; cited s.v.); Krauss 1898–1899, Griechische und lateinische Lehnwörter im Talmud, Midrasch und Targum (public domain, on disk; see sources.md); Sperber 1984, A Dictionary of Greek and Latin Legal Terms in Rabbinic Literature. Counts: unpointed tokens, Guggenheimer Yerushalmi (CC BY; "Y") and Wikisource Bavli (CC BY-SA, measurement only; "B"), 2026-10-17.
1. JPA against JBA: word pairs
The pairs below differ in the two Talmuds; counts show how cleanly. A "—" means the word is not the usual one for the meaning in that dialect.
| meaning | JPA | Y | B | JBA | Y | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| now | כְּדוֹן | 419 | 0 | הַשְׁתָּא | 1 | 974 |
| to them | לוֹן | 731 | 0 | לְהוּ | 9 | 4 024 |
| there | תַּמָּן | 1 667 | 11 | הָתָם | (Hebrew homographs) | 2 411 |
| this (f.) | הָדָא | 2 117 | 23 | הָא | 6 734 | |
| this (m.) | הָדֵין, אָהֵן | 244, 93 | הַאי | 6 | 2 246 | |
| there is | אִית | 880 | 772 | אִיכָּא | 6 | 2 488 |
| there is not | לֵית | 585 | 653 | לֵיכָּא | 3 | 381 |
| how | הֵיךְ | 218 | 0 | הֵיכִי | 1 399 | |
| also | אוּף | 188 | 0 | נַמִי | 6 858 | |
| because, for the sake of | בְּגִין | 250 | 2 | מִשּׁוּם | 5 360 | |
| himself | גַּרְמֵיהּ | 60 | 1 | נַפְשֵׁיהּ | ||
| much, very | סַגִּין | 61 | 0 | טוּבָא | 0 | 191 |
| take | נְסַב | 55 | 2 | שְׁקַל / שָׁקֵיל | 20 / 0 | 137 / 177 |
| a person, someone | בַּר נַשׁ | נש 279 | נש 3 | אִינִישׁ, pl. אִינָשֵׁי | 4 | 347 |
| something | מִידְּעַם (targum), מִילָּה | מִידֵּי | 27 | 906 | ||
| his father | אֲבוֹי | 78 | 1 | אֲבוּהּ, אֲבוּהִי | ||
| the world | עָלְמָא (Hebrew עוֹלָם more often) | 18 | 643 | עָלְמָא | ||
| see | חֲמָא, חָמֵי | 160, 159 | (חמא is also a name) | חֲזָא, חָזֵי | 100, 428 | |
| durative | — | קא 0 | 2 828 | קָא | ||
| let us say | נִימַר | 55 | נֵימָא | 400 | ||
| shall we say / let him say | — | לימא 3 | 903 | לֵימָא | ||
| if you say | אִין תֵּימַר | 382 | וְכִי תֵּימָא | 488 | ||
| what are we dealing with | מַה נָן קַיָּימִין | 106 | הָכָא בְּמַאי עָסְקִינַן | 481 | ||
| this implies | הָדָא אָמְרָה | 513 | שְׁמַע מִינַּהּ | 697 | ||
| bread | פִּיתָּא | 18 | 10 | רִיפְתָּא | 1 | 53 |
| small | זְעֵיר | 13 | 0 | זוּטָא | ||
| the colleagues | חֲבֵרַיָּא | 189 | (רַבָּנַן) | |||
| before (a person) | קוֹמֵי | 1 161 | קַמֵּי | |||
| when | כַּד | 323 | כִּי | 5 736 | ||
| where? | הֵן | (with "if") | הֵיכָא | 986 |
Other well-known pairs (Sokoloff 2002a, 2002b s.vv.; Dalman 1905), not counted here:
| meaning | JPA | JBA |
|---|---|---|
| knife | סַכִּינָא | סַכִּינָא (same) |
| child, boy | טְלֵי | יָנוּקָא, דַּרְדְּקָא |
| girl | טְלִיתָא | רַבִיתָא |
| why | לָמָּה | אַמַּאי |
| yes | אִין | אִין, הֵן |
| no | לָא | לָאו, לָא |
| thus | הָכֵין | הָכִי |
| go out | נְפַק | נְפַק |
| enter | עֲלַל | עַיֵּיל |
| look, behold | הָא | הָא, חֲזִי |
2. Core vocabulary of the stories
From the Yerushalmi passages in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic texts, annotated: כִּיתְנָא "flax"; חֲמָר "donkey"; מַרְגְּלִי "pearl"; תּוּבָן "straw"; סוֹגִּין "much" (sōgīn); לָעֵי "toil"; זְבַן "buy"; עֲסִיק "occupied"; אַרְפֵּי "let go"; חֶלְמָא "dream" (בְּחֶילְמַאי "in my dream"); קוֹפָּד "meat" (Jastrow s.v. קוּפְדָא); מוֹעֲדָא "festival"; רִגְלִי "festival" (lit. "foot, pilgrimage"); קָלָא "voice, news"; גְּזַר דִּין "decree, sentence"; צוֹם "fast"; עוּלֶם "young man".
3. Greek and Latin loanwords
JPA has hundreds of Greek words; many reached the Bavli through Palestinian sources, but their density is far greater in the Yerushalmi, the midrash and the Palestinian targums (Krauss 1898–1899; Sperber 1984; Sokoloff 2002b). Jastrow's etymologies, checked in the local JSONL (2026-10-17):
| word | meaning | source (Jastrow s.v.) | where (Jastrow's citations) |
|---|---|---|---|
| אִיקוֹנִין | image, picture; features | εἰκόνιον | Targ. Y. Gen 4:5 |
| פַּלְטִין | palace | palatium, παλάτιον | Targ. Y. II Gen 12:15 |
| קֵיסָר | emperor | Caesar, Καῖσαρ | y. Berakhot 9 (12d) |
| לִגְיוֹן | legion | legio | Berakhot 32b |
| אִיסְטְרַטְיוֹט | soldier, officer | στρατιώτης | y. Sheqalim 5 (49a) |
| פְּרַקְלִיט | advocate | παράκλητος | m. Avot 4:11 |
| קָטֵיגוֹר / סָנֵיגוֹר | accuser / advocate | κατήγορος / συνήγορος | m. Avot 4:11; Rosh Hashanah 26a |
| פְּרַגְמַטְיָא | business, goods | πραγματεία | Bava Metzia 42a |
| אַרְכוֹן | ruler, magistrate | ἄρχων | y. Berakhot 5 (9a); Targ. Job 21:28 |
| דּוּכָּס | duke, commander | δούξ (Latin dux) | Lam. R. 1:5; Avodah Zarah 11a |
| בַּרְבְּרוֹן | barbarians; in y. Bava Metzia a barbarian | βαρβάρων (gen. pl.) | Lam. R., introduction; y. Bava Metzia 2:5 (Guggenheimer text: בַּרְבְּרוֹן הֲוָה "was he a barbarian?") |
| מַרְגְּלִיתָא, מַרְגְּלִי | pearl | μαργαρίτης | y. Demai 1 (22a); y. Bava Metzia 2:5 |
| אֲוִירָא | air | ἀήρ | Targ. Y. Exod 19:17 |
| פְּרוֹזְבּוּל | prosbul | πρὸς βουλῇ (Krauss: προσβολή) | m. Sheviit 10 |
| סִירְקַאי | a Saracen, Arab (?) | (Greek Σαρακηνός? — Jastrow refers to סִידְקִי; uncertain) | y. Bava Metzia 2:5 |
Checked 2026-10-18 (second pass) against Krauss 1898–1899, vol. II (the dictionary; read from the page images, vol. II page = PDF page − 412 of the scan on disk): אִיקוֹנִין εἰκόνιον (II 40), פַּלְטִין παλάτιον / palatium (II 457), קֵיסָר Καῖσαρ (II 535, with jBerakhot 12d), לִגְיוֹן legio (II 304–305), אִיסְטְרַטְיוֹט στρατιώτης, "soldier, also officer" (II 84, with jSheqalim 49a), פְּרַקְלִיט παράκλητος (II 496), קָטֵיגוֹר κατήγορος (II 524–525), סָנֵיגוֹר συνήγορος (II 404), פְּרַגְמַטְיָא πραγματεία (II 478), אַרְכוֹן ἄρχων (II 129), דּוּכָּס δούξ (II 189–190), מַרְגְּלִיתָא μαργαρίτης (II 350–351), אֲוִירָא ἀήρ (II 18): all agree with Jastrow's etymologies. Two differ: for בַּרְבְּרוֹן Krauss separates the genitive plural βαρβάρων of the midrashim (Gen. R., Lev. R., Lam. R. introduction) from the y. Bava Metzia 8c word, which he takes as a singular "barbarian" built by analogy (II 163), as the Guggenheimer reading "was he a barbarian?" also requires; and for פְּרוֹזְבּוּל he derives the word from προσβολή "delivery (of the document)" and records the Talmud's own πρὸς βουλευταῖς (bGittin 36b), while Löw's note in the same entry still allows πρὸς βουλήν (II 482): Jastrow's πρὸς βουλῇ and Krauss's προσβολή stand side by side. סִירְקַאי is not in Krauss (unchecked; it stays uncertain). Kohut's Aruch completum was not needed for these words.
Notes: the Greek words are used in Aramaic grammar: with the determined ending (קֵיסָרָא), Aramaic plurals (אִיקוֹנִין), and suffixes. Their spelling varies widely in the manuscripts. A Mova lexicon should keep the Greek source word and the dictionary that proposes it.
4. Hebrew in JPA
The Yerushalmi is more Hebrew than the Bavli: many statements of the Palestinian amoraim are in Mishnaic Hebrew, and the Aramaic of its anonymous layer is shorter. In the Guggenheimer text, the Hebrew article and Hebrew function words are very frequent; a per-sentence classifier must expect long Hebrew stretches with short Aramaic links (אֲמַר לֵיהּ, הָדָא אָמְרָה, תַּמָּן תַּנִּינָן). The midrashim (Genesis Rabbah, Leviticus Rabbah) are mostly Hebrew with Aramaic stories.
5. JPA and the Zohar
Some formulas of the Zohar are JPA, not Babylonian: כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אָמַר "as you say" for introducing a verse (72× in the Yerushalmi; the Zohar uses it constantly), and the Palestinian targums' expansions (the Cain and Abel dispute) are part of the midrashic background of the Zohar. See Formulas and discourse of the Zohar.
The Elamur team
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/jpa/lexicon/