Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Moon-Ryul Jung" <moon AT saint.soongsil.ac.kr>]

Dear Galia, thanks for your comments on my questions. Let me ask some
clarifying questions.

On 05/23/99, "Galia Hatav <ghatav AT aall.ufl.edu>" wrote:
> Dear Moon-Ryul,
> 
>       I am sorry for not answering so far. I have not been in my office
> for a few days (and I can't get my e-mail at home - I still live the
> cave...)  I want also to tell you and the other people on the list that I
> am going home (Israel) for the whole summer, so as from Tuesday this week I
> won't have access to my e-mail. So if I don't answer it is not because I
> choose not to.
> 
> >Dear Galia, I enjoyed reading your book, The Semantics of
> >Aspect and Modality. I tried to apply your theory of the
> >progressive (qotel) and the perfect (qatal) to Jer 26:4-6.
>       I am so glad. Thank you. Recall, however, that the corpus I did my
> research on was the books attributed to the First Temple period, and only
> the prose parts of those book.  Yet, one of the projects I am dreaming to
> persue is to apply the theory to the later periods of the language, and
> maybe to poetry to which Jer belongs for being prophecy.  However, let me
> see if I am capable to do that now superficially on your example.
> 
> >
> >Let me quote the verses (with a free translation):
> >
> >4 If ye will not hearken unto me,
> >to walk in my law, which (a) I have set before you,
> >5 to hearken unto the words of my servants the prophets,
> >whom I (b)***am repeatedly sending unto you***,
> >(c) even rising early and sending [them],
> >(d)** but ye have not hearkened ***,
> >6 then will I make this house like Shiloh.
> >
> >1) The phrase (b) is a translation of participle sholeach.
>       That is how I understand it, too, in this context. However, while
> this is the form used in Modern Hebrew for habituals, this is not the form
> used in BH, at least not in the books Gen-Kgs from the First Temple period.
> 

I came to the conclusion that the participle in (b) should be interpreted
as habitual, partly based on the theory of coercision by Marc Moens, which
you refered to in your book.
For example, in the case of "he is blinking", it can be interpreted as
habitual, because the process of blinking is instantaneous and 
it is hard to refer to the inside of the blinking process. Simiarly,
the sentece (b) is interpreted as habitual; otherwise it would mean that 
God was in the process of sending each prophet, and it does not fit
in with the context. Anyway, I feel happy that you agree with my 
interpretation.
I was puzzled over this sentence, because a number of official English 
translation take it as "I have sent unto you".

(c) is a translation of absolute infinitives.
> >I would say that the (a), (b), (c), and (d) have
> >the same reference time, the time of speaking.
>       It looks like it. It also makes sense within the framework I
> suggest for the First Temple books.
> >I take the participle clause (b) to describe habitual
> >state that holds at the reference time.
>       See my comment above.
> >
> >2) The phrase (d) is a translation of "w+lo+shmaoutem"
> >(x+gatal). 

> Yes, negative clauses
> are considered background (Labov, Reinhart and others). The question is
> why, temporally speaking. In this case it seems that the "not listening"
> happens, so to speak, at the same time when the prophets speak. This makes
> it share the same R-time. 

It seems that the qatal refers to the state that is achieved by their not
listening which happened repeatedly before the R-time. 

Wish you a good trip home!

Moon-Ryul Jung
Assistant Professor
Dept of Computer Science
Soongsil University,
Seoul, Korea 


I have devoted a few words about negation in my
> book, but I was not able to get to far with explaining it in terms of
> temporality.
> >
> >What do you think of my decisions?
>       Thank you for sharing your analysis with me.
> 
> Galia
> 
> >Respectfully,
> >Moon-Ryul Jung
> >Assistant Professor
> >Dept of Computer Science
> >Soongsil University, Seoul, Korea
> >
> >
> >Respectfully
> >Moon-Ryul Jung
> >Assistant Professor, Dept of Computer Science, Soongsil Univ,
> >Seoul, Korea
> >
> >
> >
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