Biblical Hebrew Forum

[yochanan bitan <ButhFam AT compuserve.com>]

> "Sequentiality is not the semantic meaning of wayyiqtol."

I would prefer to say: "past thematic sequentiality is the primary semantic
implication of vayyiqtol"
"future thematic sequentiality is the primary semantic implication of
veqatal."

your methodology doesn't like semantic and implication in the same line.
sorry. but many linguistic theories allow or assume even more flexible
derivations of semantics (e.g. relevance theory). see also lyons 1968, p.
317. but like i've said, hebrew only has two main tense categories
(prefix/suffix) and only two main pragmatic categories (sequential,
non-sequential). and that has to cover just about everything. which it
does. your theory and approach needs an algorithm that is as flexible as
the language and without divorcing all semantic reference.

braxot
randall buth