L1 Effects on the Articulation of Samaritan Hebrew

In this thesis, I will discuss the effects of the linguistic divide in the Samaritan community with respect to the articulation of the liturgical language of Samaritan Hebrew.

I first encountered the Samaritans in 2010 while on my first visit to the Palestinian city of Nablus. I had been to Israel many times prior, yet as a young Jewish American, I had never before had the opportunity to travel to the Palestinian Territories. Given the prominence of the political situation, I originally set out with no other goal in mind then to learn of the effects of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on those living in the West Bank.

Prior to that first visit, I had only ever heard of the Samaritans tangentially, and was therefore very surprised to learn of the community on Mount Gerizim. I spent only an afternoon in the Samaritan village yet learned not just how they have been affected by the conflict, but also of their history and traditions. The Samaritans left such an impression on me that, when the time came four years later to determine a topic for my undergraduate thesis, I remembered this visit, and recalling its original purpose, decided to explore yet another facet of the conflict - namely, how it has indirectly affected the linguistic heritage of the Samaritan tradition.