Generally "to" and "from" are opposites, but in at least one circumstance they mean the same thing in Hebrew.
By DR. JOEL M. HOFFMANHebrew Hear-Say logo(photo credit: )
Generally "to" and "from" are opposites, but in at least one circumstance they mean the same thing in Hebrew. Can you think of what it is?
As we work toward the answer, let's take a closer look at the two words. "To" in Hebrew is the prefix l-, as in l'dan (to Dan) or li (to me).
"From" is a little more complicated. It comes in two varieties, the simple prefix mi- (as in mi-Dan, from Dan) or the full word min (as in min Dan), which is much more formal but means the same thing.
The prefix mi- enjoys a few variations when it joins with the pronominal suffixes. "From me" is mimeni, and "from you" is either mimcha (masculine) or mimech (feminine). "From him" is mimenu, a word that, confusingly, also used to mean "from us." Nowadays Israelis use mei-itanu for "from us."
Both of these prefixes have multiple meanings. In addition to direction, "from" is used in comparisons to mean "than." So "stronger than him" is either yoter hazak mimenu (more strong from-him) or, more commonly and simply, hazak mimenu, literally, "strong from-him," with the comparative "more" implied. "From" is also used to express time gone by. Mei-olam, literally, "from eternity" (or "from the world" - it's a long story) means "eternity before now."
But "to" is the really interesting word. It's used for physical direction (as in l'yisrael, to Israel) as well as what we might call metaphoric direction (for example, mishehu natan li et hakesef, someone gave the money to me). It also completes mi-, representing time yet to go by. L'olam, literally, "to eternity," means "eternity from now on." All of eternity, therefore, is mei-olam ul'olam.
Perhaps more interesting, l- in Hebrew forms what linguists call the benefactive dative. The "dative" part of that phrase is just the "to" forms. Even English has dative pronouns, though they sound just like the accusatives (direct objects). "Him" can be accusative or dative: "I saw him" (accusative) or "I gave him a gift" (dative). In the Hebrew versions of these, the accusative "him" is oto, while the dative is lo.
The word "benefactive," though, is a bit misleading, because in spite of its literal meaning clearly having something to do with "good," in the technical phrase "benefactive dative," it means "affecting, whether for better or for worse." That is, the benefactive dative can be benefactive or malefactive.
And it's the benefactive dative that gives us one answer to the puzzle that begins this week's column. The sentence, "someone stole my radio" has at least three Hebrew renditions. The most straightforward is the literal mishehu ganav et haradio sheli. But that's very awkward in Hebrew.
More colloquial is mishehu ganav mimeni et haradio, literally, "someone stole from-me the radio." (Another week we'll discuss why "the radio" means "my radio.") The use of mimeni (from me) here is intuitive for English speakers, because, after all, the radio was taken "from me." But the most natural way to phrase the sentence in Hebrew is the counterintuitive mishehu ganav li et haradio, "someone stole to-me the radio." Why "to"? Because it's the benefactive dative.
The way to think of the sentence is "someone stole my radio" (that's the mishehu ganav et haradio part) and "I was affected by the stealing" (that's the li part). The li also augments the meaning of "it was my radio," though, as I say, we'll have to wait for another week to see precisely how.
We don't have a benefactive dative in English, but, at least in many dialects, we have something pretty close. In "someone ate the apple on me," the "on me" part is like a benefactive dative, and it means "I was affected by the apple-eating." The Hebrew version would be mishehu achal li et hatapuah. The difference, though, is that "on me" has to be negative, while li can be positive, too. (Some English dialects do have a true benefactive dative, allowing things like "I'm going to get me some food," or, at the risk of playing into a stereotype about the people who use this construction, "I'm going to kill us some dinner," that is, ani aharog lanu k'tzat ochel.) "To whom it may concern" is usually a greeting, but it could also be a concept, and in Hebrew whom it concerns is expressed by "to."
The writer teaches at HUC-JIR in New York City.
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