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b-hebrew - Re[2]: Can Hebrew "tense" be relative to context not deictic

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  • From: peter_kirk AT sil.org
  • To: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re[2]: Can Hebrew "tense" be relative to context not deictic
  • Date: Tue, 05 Oct 1999 16:20:05 -0400


Dear Joe,

You asked:

"OK, you got my attention with the change in header. Now, please
pardon me and catch me up on (at least one thing): where is/what is
the 'deictic point', in general terms, or as specifically used by
Peter and/or Rolf?"

Well, I was made to seem ignorant earlier by not knowing this one.
Rolf seems to use it as a name for the time of speaking or writing (or
presumably the notional time of writing in the case of fiction etc).
Thus in English "I came" refers to an event before the deictic point =
time of speaking and so is past, and "I will come" refers to an event
after the deictic point and so is future. Another case of a long word
for something very simple, it seems. Perhaps Rolf can explain if there
are more subtleties involved in the concept.

Peter Kirk





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