Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

But if you came across a word which occurs only once in the Bard's works
and whose meaning was uncertain from its context (and if, as with the
Hebrew Bible, there were little other surviving contemporary
literature), might it not help to ask what it means in modern English?

Peter Kirk

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim West [mailto:jwest AT highland.net]
> Sent: 17 May 2002 19:35
> To: Biblical Hebrew
> Cc: b-hebrew AT franklin.metalab.unc.edu
> Subject: RE: OFF TOPIC Modern Hebrew question
> 
> At 11:17 AM 5/17/02 -0400, you wrote:
> >I agree with the contention, but another angle on the issue is, who
would
> >teach Shakespeare without being able at least to read Modern English,
> even to
> >converse in it? I don't know, because I've never gone through such a
> program,
> >but I wonder whether it is normal for someone to teach older stages
of,
> say,
> >German, French, or English without knowing the modern form of the
> language?
> 
> one question-- what on earth does MODERN english have to do with
> shakespeare?  he didnt write modern english.  who cares if someone can
> read
> modern english if they are teaching russian students.  they would want
to
> read middle english wouldnt they- if they wished to read billy's stuff
and
> modern english and middle english are leagues apart!
> 
> jim
> 
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 
> Jim West, ThD
> Adjunct Professor of Biblical Studies
> Quartz Hill School of Theology
> 
> Biblical Studies Resources
> http://web.infoave.net/~jwest
> 
> *de omnibus dubitandum est*
>