Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk" <Peter_Kirk AT sil.org>]

"She ran one step" is just about possible in some contexts e.g. "She ran one
step then clapped her hands." It is rather odd as unless she had been
running before and continued to run her one step would not be interpreted as
running.

"She sang one staccato note" ("staccato" meaning very short and sharp,
lasting for much less than one second) is certainly possible if the context
makes it clear that the note is intended to be singing rather than speech or
a scream. E.g. "The singer came on to the stage. She sang one staccato note,
and then the audience erupted into such loud applause that nothing more
could be heard." (although she did continue to sing), or perhaps "... She
sang one staccato note, and at the same moment a shot rang out. She sank to
the floor." (so she actually did only utter the one note, but in the context
it was singing).

Now even one staccato note has some duration. But then even a punctiliar
verb like "find" has some duration as the mental realisation that an object
seen is the object which is sought takes a finite time, which could well be
as long as that of a staccato note. So is there a real difference?

Peter Kirk

----- Original Message -----
From: Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>
To: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, June 30, 2000 6:31 PM
Subject: Re: vayyiqtol, assumption-rolf


> Dear Dave,
>
> The clause "He run to the door." is durative and telic.
>
> The clause  "She sang one staccato note." seems odd to me, we don't sing
> notes but melodies or songs. but I am no native speaker.
>
> If it can be interpreted as "She ran for a second.", it is not odd. This
> clause has the meaning that she, during this second, moved her feet along
> the ground (which is on definition of "to run"), and then it would be
> durative. Similarly, "She sang one staccato note for a second" would be
> durative.
>
> If it has the same force as *"She run one step.", it is odd, and can be
> ignored.
>
>
> >Rolf,
> >
> >Could you give a constructed
> >> example of a sentence that would demonstrate a punctual use of 'run' or
> >> 'sing'?
> >
> >"He ran to the door."  "She sang one staccato note."
> >
>
>
> Ragards Rolf
>
> Rolf Furuli
> University of Oslo
>
>
>
>
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