Biblical Hebrew Forum

[yochanan bitan-buth <ButhFam AT compuserve.com>]

rolf-->The reason why we misunderstand one another and disagree, may, to a
certain
>extent, be that we use different terminology. 
...
>When I speak of "semantic meaning" I have in mind a meaning that is
>uncancellable.

I understand that and have said that it artificially restricts real
language. 

I don't see us misunderstanding but disagreeing. I understand the "100%
subjective system(s)" only too well, and they're not new. 

That is why I wrote the 'mess' of Gn 1, of what biblical Hebrew wasn't.
Because the ssystem you advocate would predict it and allow it. 
Not only do you have a chorus of ancient witnesses against 'your' system,
internal consistency against it (I'll take 95% to mean consistent), but it
would generate bad/wrong/false texts if allowed to operate on its own. I
think that you need to come to grips with that. 

And if you don't accept these witnesses, at least let modern Arabic point
you in the right direction. Ask an Arab whether 'lam yaktub', all by
itself, doesn't mean "he did not write" and aspectually/temporally similar
to kataba?

bivraxot
Randall Buth