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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Potiphar's title

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Potiphar's title
  • Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 13:37:59 -0700

On 10/07/2003 10:30, Stephen C. Carlson wrote:

Actually, there is a method for distinguishing between cognates and
loanwords, and it involves looking at the reconstructed proto-Semitic etymon
and seeing if the reflexes of the word are consistent or inconsistent with
the set of sound changes for each language. Since this has not been done in
this thread, it is premature to assert that the term in question is a
loanword.

Stephen


Stephen, you have a point. The full technical arguments for this being a loan word have not been presented in this thread. But they have been studied by many competent scholars for at least 100 years (as quoted in BDB), and it certainly seems to be the scholarly consensus, as repeated in Kohler and Baumgartner, that this particular word is a loan word into Hebrew from Akkadian. In a case like this, if you wish to challenge the accepted results, it is not enough to say "not proven", serious arguments are required.

--
Peter Kirk
peter.r.kirk AT ntlworld.com
http://web.onetel.net.uk/~peterkirk/






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