Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Matthew Anstey" <manstey AT portal.ca>]

Gday Mark,

You wrote,

>I know that the lack of accord is common, but the question is, "why?"
>Speakers of inflected languages simply *don't* talk like that (I speak
>two inflected languages fluently); they inflect the words automatically,
>whether speaking or writing. Even in English, except for Ebionics and
>parodies of Ebionics, no one says "I be" or "he go."
>
>So why would (or even, "how could") a speaker of Hebrew write "they (fem.
>plur.) did (masc. sing.)"?

Can a "why" question be answered with reference to just textual data in the
MT? Perhaps sociolinguistics, or some other recent field of study would shed
light on your question. Also, how would you explain the shift in English
nowadays with sentences like this, "The student liked to exercise very much.
This preference was based on their great stamina." The word "their" does not
agree in number with "the student," but this is accepted grammar now.
Another example (from Givon) is "If you see anybody there, tell them to ..."
The "them" used to be unacceptable.

So, I cannot answer your question. But if the language is understandable,
and communicates, is 100% concord necessary?

Matthew