[Biblical-languages] A threat to the integrity of the Hebrewlanguage?

Ken Penner pennerkm at mcmaster.ca
Fri Jul 18 14:22:08 EDT 2003


> Please let me know how you react to these two proposals and which 
> general approach you prefer. I will pass on any comments I receive 
> (unless requested otherwise) to those who are considering the 
> proposal, 
> via the Unicode list, or more personally if requested or if 
> that seems more appropriate to me.

Dear Peter,

My PhD research is on the changes in the Hebrew verbal system between the
Bible and the Mishnah, using the Dead Sea Scrolls as evidence. Besides this,
I am currently encoding Qumran Hebrew texts into Unicode. I certainly do not
want to see the Biblical texts encoded differently than the Dead Sea Scrolls
or the Mishnah! Your "alternative proposal" using a BREAK character is far
preferable. Even though at first glance it looks like a kludge, it is more
elegant (simple) than the original proposal. Kludges are to be avoided
because they do not take all possible future scenarios into account. But the
Biblical text is a closed set; there are no unforeseen circumstances. Even
if there were, your proposal using a BREAK character is still extremely
versatile.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include scrolls of biblical texts (not always agreeing
with BHS), and quote biblical material in otherwise non-biblical documents
(as so do the rabbinic writings). If I wished to vocalize such texts, which
encoding would I use? The current encoding? Or the new?

Feel free to quote me by name.

Ken Penner, M.C.S. (Regent College), M.A. (McMaster)
Ph.D. (cand.), Religious Studies, 
Biblical Field (Early Judaism major)
McMaster University
Hamilton, Canada
pennerkm at mcmaster.ca
Vocabulary Memorisation Software: 
http://socserv.socsci.mcmaster.ca/westerholm/flash or http://sensoft.nav.to



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