Hebrew and Aramaic Terms in the Latin Talmud

In my paper I will offer an insight into the use of Hebrew and Aramaic terms in the Latin Talmud, as they appear in the Latin translation of tractate Sanhedrin. In particular I will address the use of the Hebrew term yeshivah that is of particular interest both from a phonetological and semantic point of view. On the one hand, the Latin translator provides with the marked transcription gessiva, as it most probably reflects the phonetic habits of the 13 th century French-German Jewry; on the other hand, in a number of cases, the Latin translator provides with this transcription (gessiva), although the bilingual Hebrew-Aramaic text reads differently. With respect of this latter issue, I will then elaborate on the Latin translator’s strategy for rendering the original text into Latin and I will argue that the constant use of the transcribed Hebrew term gessiva (that is: yeshivah) reflects the specific intent of producing an “antiquarian” translation: namely, a Latin translation that has a specific “touch” of antiquity, when it is read by modern readers.