[b-hebrew] b-hebrew Uncancellable meaning and Hebrew verbs
David Kummerow
farmerjoeblo at hotmail.com
Mon Jul 6 22:22:15 EDT 2009
>
> And here is something that DK seems to have overlooked, namely, that
> narrative sequences have different properties that cannot be ascribed to
> the verb forms: B. Comrie (1985) "Tense" p. 63 says:
>
> "In looking for examples of relative time reference, it is essential to
> ensure that the relative time reference interpretation is part of the
> meaning of the form in question, rather than an implicature derived
> from, in part, the context. One area which is particularly confusing in
> this respect is narrative, where one gains the impression that a
> sequence of events which are located temporally one almost immediately
> after the other, the chronological sequence mirrored in a linear order
> of clauses. Thus one might be tempted to think that this sequencing is
> part of the meaning of the verb forms used, thus introducing a meaning
> of 'immediate past' or 'immediate future' relative time reference
> (depending on whether one defined the time reference of the preceding
> verb in terms of the following verb, vice versa). However, as was shown
> in section 1.8 this sequencing of events is a property of the narrative
> itself, quite independent of the verb form used to encode the narrative,
> so that the mere fact that verb forms receive this interpretation in
> narrative is not sufficient evidence for assigning this meaning to the
> verb forms."
Hi Rolf,
Again you've misrepresented me. I haven't overlooked it, it's just that
I haven't expressed my view on this in print. I agree with Comrie. Also,
I don't take sequencing as being part of the semantics of wayyiqtol.
Please don't suggest that I do, because I don't. Where I have I stated
otherwise that you can point to? If I have that I can't remember, then I
retract what I said.
Regards,
David Kummerow.
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