Wikipedia's first sentence called it “original”. Today it says “algerian-jewish grammarian and lexicographer”.
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The opening as it read in 2010
Judah ibn Kuraish ( ), Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer ; born at Tahort , in northern Africa ; flourished in the eighth and ninth centuries. In his grammatical work he advanced little beyond his predecessors, but his contributions to comparative philology are of great value.1 He recognized that the various Semitic languages are derived from one source, and that, although different in their development, they are subject to the same linguistic laws. His Risalah, a letter in Arabic , written in the Hebrew script , to the community at Fez (ed. Bargès and Goldberg, Paris, 1857), is the earliest known contribution to the critical study of the Semitic languages. In the preface he warns the community not to neglect the study of the Targumim , since they are important for a correct knowledge of the Bible , which contains many Aramaisms .2 Judah's grammatical researches were original, and he maintained his views regardless of the Mishnah and the Talmud ; hence he has been, erroneously, considered a Karaite . He is said to have written, in addition to the Risalah, a dictionary, and a book on the Commandments . Of these works, however, nothing certain is known, although Judah himself mentions the dictionary in the Risalah.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 369690661.
The opening as it stood in 2015 7 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Judah ibn Kuraish ( , ), was a North African Jewish grammarian and lexicographer .He was born at Tiaret in North Africa , and flourished in the ninth century.While his grammatical works advanced little beyond his predecessors, he was the first in studying comparative philology in the Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic. He recognized that the various Semitic languages are derived from one source, and that, although different in their development, they are subject to the same linguistic laws. Judah's grammatical researches were original, and he maintained his views regardless of the Mishnah and the Talmud ; hence he has been, erroneously, considered a Karaite .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660247501.
The opening as it stood in 2020
Judah ibn Kuraish ( , ), was an Algerian-Jewish grammarian and lexicographer .He was born at Tiaret in modern day Algeria and flourished in the 9th century. While his grammatical works advanced little beyond his predecessors, he was the first in studying comparative philology in Hebrew , Aramaic and Arabic . He recognized that the various Semitic languages are derived from one source and that although they are different in their development, they are subject to the same linguistic laws. Judah's grammatical researches were original, and he maintained his views regardless of the Mishnah and the Talmud so he has been erroneously considered a Karaite .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 894987604.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Judah ibn Kuraish ( , , fl. 8th-9th centuries CE ), was an Algerian-Jewish grammarian and lexicographer .He was born at Tiaret in Algeria and flourished in the 9th century.While his grammatical works advanced little beyond his predecessors, he was the first to study comparative philology in Hebrew , Aramaic , and Arabic . He recognized that the various Semitic languages are derived from one source and that although they are different in their development, they are subject to the same linguistic laws. Judah's grammatical researches were original, and he maintained his views regardless of the Mishnah and the Talmud so he has been erroneously considered a Karaite .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1175161412.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Judah ibn Kuraish ( Hebrew : יהודה אבן קריש , Arabic : يهوذا بن قريش , fl. 8th-9th centuries CE ), was an Algerian-Jewish grammarian and lexicographer . He was born at Tiaret in Algeria and flourished in the 9th century. While his grammatical works advanced little beyond his predecessors, he was the first to study comparative philology in Hebrew , Aramaic , and Arabic . He recognized that the various Semitic languages are derived from one source and that although they are different in their development, they are subject to the same linguistic laws. Judah's grammatical researches were original, and he maintained his views regardless of the Mishnah and the Talmud so he has been erroneously considered a Karaite .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1254703418. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “original”. Today it says “algerian-jewish grammarian and lexicographer”. Read the current article and compare.
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What Wikipedia says this is
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Then
original
Now
algerian-jewish grammarian and lexicographer
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