Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Ancient Language Acquisition

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Trevor Peterson <06peterson AT cua.edu>
  • To: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Ancient Language Acquisition
  • Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 20:12:33 -0500

Peter Kirk wrote:

On 01/03/2004 15:39, Trevor Peterson wrote:

... It would seem counterproductive for students to internalize a conglomerate that is not really any one dialect.



Doesn't this apply equally to all methods of learning ancient languages?

My point is that when beginning students are led to communicate in an ancient language, there is a greater risk of internalizing inappropriate configurations. As long as you're focused solely on reading existing texts, at least whatever you're working with is authentic data (assuming none of it is later forgery). And yes, the risk is still there for students to combine features of different dialects in the biblical material (although steps can be taken to reduce the likelihood of this happening). But I think the danger tends to increase when two-way communication is sought, because the whole Hebrew Bible is a small enough corpus as it is to come up with the necessary material. If it were restricted to particular dialects, there would be even less to work with. The other factor that increases the danger in this situation is that under more traditional methods it takes a lot longer for students to internalize the material; by that point, they have had time to acquire a fuller picture of the language, which can provide a useful corrective to whatever misconceptions may arise. A student learning by the methods applied for conversational spoken language will necessarily absorb phrases and structures before understanding how they work. Undoubtedly, it provides a faster track to fluency; but if the result is thorough acquisition of a poor construct, it could do more harm than good to the student's future learning.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page