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b-hebrew - Re: b-hebrew digest: September 01, 1999

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  • From: Bill Rea <cctr114 AT its.canterbury.ac.nz>
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: b-hebrew digest: September 01, 1999
  • Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 10:00:46 +1200 (NZST)


Paul Zellmer wrote:-

>We may only have a semantic disconnect here, but these are two
>completely different items in my understanding. The root is the lexical
>base (in hebrew, generally three consonants) that bear the basic
>semantic meaning of the lexical entry.

When I was in Hebrew class we were cautioned in no uncertain terms
that this approach was purely for convenience. We were taught that
the root was a theoretical entity extracted from the fact that
actual words which share the root often have similar or related
meanings. But in reality the root doesn't actually have a meaning and
the lexical meaning of actual words always takes precedence over any
theoretical meaning one might derive from the root.

So which is right? I wouldn't normally ask this question, but Paul
posts so intelligently here I feel need to clarify this. Also,
in my experience people who speak about the root meaning of words
often are trying to load extra meaning onto a word which in reality it
cannot bear. So we need to be careful with roots even if Paul's
right.

Bill Rea, Information Technology Services, University of Canterbury \_
E-Mail b dot rea at its dot canterbury dot ac dot nz </ New
Phone 64-3-364-2331, Fax 64-3-364-2332 /)
Zealand
Unix Systems Administrator (/'





  • Re: b-hebrew digest: September 01, 1999, Bill Rea, 09/02/1999

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