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  • From: Peter_Kirk AT SIL.ORG
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re[2]: WP
  • Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 01:13:29 -0500 (EST)


Dear Rolf, Dave etc,

Do you appreciate an Old Master by first examining every brush stroke?
Do you enjoy music only after first analysing every note?
Do you really understand real utterances in your own language, say
what your family members say to you, on a word-by-word basis?

I don't have time or competence to attempt a proper answer to your
arguments, but I am quite convinced that you are both wrong! One
important piece of evidence is that we usually disambiguate homonyms
in our own languages quite automatically from the context. There is of
course a case for clause-based and word-based analysis, but the
meaning of a word cannot be determined apart from the clause it is
part of, and the meaning of a clause cannot be determined apart from
the discourse it is part of. So to start with the clause grammar, or
even worse the word grammar, is what is like reading the mystery novel
from the wrong end or like appreciating art by brush strokes.

Peter Kirk




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