Biblical Hebrew Forum

[yochanan bitan <ButhFam AT compuserve.com>]

bryan,
since you asked, seriously:

robert hetzron is a bright, highly qualified semitist and ethiopist (i've
heard he knows hebrew very well), who taught/teaches at UC Santa Barbara.
Randy Garr teaches there now so I guess that robert hetzron may have
retired or gone elsewhere.

Hetzron's comment that hebrew is NOT ASPECT 
( "...the traditional label 'aspect' for these [two verb forms, the
prefixed and affixed] is unjustified and rests on indefensible arguments") 
sounds quite GOOD. i wouldn't be surprised if givon would agree with him,
once everyone's terms are understood. 

on the hebrew verb hetzron is most known for his article "The Evidence for
Perfect *y'aqtul and Jussive *yaqt'ul in Proto-Semitic." JourSemStud 14,
1969:1-21. 

personally, i found mcFall to be chasing a non-real, inhuman, imaginary
language. see my "The Hebrew Verb in Current Discussion", Journal of
Translation and Textlinguistics, 5, no2, 1992: 91-105, as to why.

blessings
randall