Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Doug Kasten <doug.kasten AT juno.com>]

Dave,

I'm not exactly following everything pertaining to this thread.  However,
I thought I spotted serious problems with your examples below.  Comments
after your four examples.

On Wed, 27 Jan 1999 22:36:57 -0700 "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
writes:
>Peter,
>> I am now starting to understand your privative model, thank you for 
>> the explanation. Presumably you would say that an English simple 
>> present is unmarked. So, consider: 
>> 
>> 1. This morning I read the newspaper.
>> 2. Every morning I read the newspaper.
>> 3. *This morning I write a letter to my mother.
>> 4. Every morning I write a letter to my mother.
>> 
>> Why is 3 not permissible (except perhaps in a rather special 
>discourse 
>> context), whereas 1 is OK? Because there is an alternative form:

#3 IS possible, as is #1 with pronunciation 'reed'.  Imagine this
context, which is perhaps not common but not at all contrived:
        I get up early one morning and there're a million things to do. 
My wife wants me to fix whatever and with firmness in my voice I say,
"This morning I read the paper and I write a letter to my mother."  This
expresses a volitional aspect to the predication, as well as an immediacy
perhaps beyond "I'm going to....".  Perhaps I've identified your special
discourse context, but I don't consider it unusual in any way.

>> 
>> 5. This morning I wrote a letter to my mother.
>> 
>> But how does your model account for this difference in behaviour 
>> between "read" and "write"?
>
>The above examples assume that "read" is the same word in both 
>sentences, but it's not.  In spoken language the former is 
>pronounced "red" and the latter "reed," as you know.  The 
>"alternate form" for "read" is present, it's just not represented as 
>such in the written script.  Hence, in the "real" language there is no 
>
>difference in behavior.
>
>Dave Washburn
>http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
>A Bible that's falling apart means a life that isn't.
>
Peace,
Doug
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