Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Other languages in the Tanakh

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Karl Randolph <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • Cc: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Other languages in the Tanakh
  • Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2003 15:09:31 -0800

On 16/11/2003 02:45, Karl Randolph wrote:

Peter:

When I studied journalism, the professors carefully emphasized that “libel”
is the deliberate propagation of known falsehoods. If a fact is not known to
be a falsehood until after publication, it is not libel. If the fact is true,
then it is not libel.

Well, you could have tried to rely on the ignorance defence, but what you wrote about Külling’s PhD dissertation makes that harder now.

...


In particular that?s how I read Elaine Keown?s posting on this subject on the
11th. Do you think I read more into it than what is there? I know in other
aspects, e.g. writing, theological concepts, etc., that?s exactly what BDB
did, so it fits the pattern if they did with lexemes as well.



Elaine mentioned in general terms that there are loan words from many languages in BDB. I think almost anyone would agree that among more than 8000 words in the dictionary there are some loan words, although there might be wide disagreement on how many. That is very different from a presupposition that nearly every word is a loan word, something which I have never seen in any dictionary, and never heard anyone except you suggest.


I didn’t say that nearly every word is a loan word. You put words in my mouth
I did not say. I merely said of those words claimed to be loan words (a small
percentage of the total number), I read Elain Keown’s post as saying that BDB
claimed most are load words into Hebrew. I don’t deny that there are loan
words into Hebrew, particularly during and after the Galut Babel, but the
claim that most claimed loan words are loan words into Hebrew, especially
from Greek and other sources, is a stretch.


What you wrote was:

When a word is found in both Biblical Hebrew and another language, they [BDB]
seem to make the presupposition that the word is a loan word into Hebrew.

BDB note cognates in other languages to a high proportion of the Hebrew words in their lexicon, though not, I agree, to "nearly every word" which was an exaggeration. Most of these cognates are in other Semitic languages, which suggests that most are true cognates from a common proto-Semitic origin rather than loan words in either direction. You take BDB's noting of cognates as implying a presumption that these words are loan words into Hebrew. That is a misunderstanding of BDB. I don't think it's Elaine's misunderstanding.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page