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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] exodus, dating of linguistics

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: Michael Abernathy <mabernathy AT isot.com>
  • Cc: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] exodus, dating of linguistics
  • Date: Sat, 29 May 2004 12:33:28 -0700

On 29/05/2004 12:38, Michael Abernathy wrote:

Peter,
I admit that there is more conformity to a written language; however, in the
English language you continue to find a great deal of diversity in spelling
until Webster published a standard dictionary for us to use. ...


Well, yes, but there is a considerable variety of spelling in the Hebrew Bible, and the form which we have is probably the result of some later partial standardisation.

... I believe you
also find that the written language varied considerably until we had the
standards of Shakespeare, the printed Bible, and finally a printed grammar.
Prior to these, the written language reflected the dialect. ...


Well, yes, prior to the establishment of a literary norm there was considerable variability. But once it was established there was much more uniformity, in both Hebrew and English, and many other languages for that matter. The standard form of a Bible probably had something to do with the establishment of uniformity, in both cases as it certainly did also in German.

... Even now,
regional differences can be seen in both written and spoken English. For
example, a small region of southern Ohio refers to the rear storage
compartment of a car as a "boot." ...


As everywhere (as far as I know) in the UK. This is certainly an interesting regional variation, perhaps indicating late migration from Britain to that area. But would a native of this region use "boot" in a written work intended for national circulation? Probably not, as they would be aware that this is not the most widespread usage.

... Almost everywhere else in the country, it
is a "trunk." I believe it is the same area of the country that universally
calls every soft drink a "pop." Their neighbors to the east and the west
refer to it as a "soda" or a "soda pop." Given any isolation in time or
geography, I expect that we should find that locals used a different
vocabulary and when they used the same words spelled those words
phonetically according to the local pronunciation.
Sincerely,
Michael Abernathy
I am ready to believe that the Hebrew Bible helped them develop a consistent
use for the language.


Indeed, I have no doubt of this. But it does not imply a single editor or a small school of editors as you first suggested. One possible model is that the first few books were indeed from such a single source, and that later books were written in imitation of the style of these early books, which quickly became established as a stylistic model at least for this kind of genre.

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





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