Frequency analysis of the major lexical groups in Maggid davar divination book

Abstract

In the middle of 16th century, the Mediterranean port of Ancona entered a period of prosperity. The Jewish community of that period produced a number of important documents including the divination book Maggid davar manuscript. The present paper concentrates on the analysis of some of the lexical groups in that document. Among mostly extended groups discussed there are those connected with “trade”, “fellowships”, “marriage”, “offsprings”, “road” etc. The analysis results are systematized in the form of bar graphs, which are bringing forward the correlations of different lexical groups. The accumulated data appears to be crucial while studying the interest structure of the Jewish community which created them.