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  • From: Trevor Peterson <06PETERSON AT cua.edu>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] Re: deriving stems (was:
  • Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 12:54:14 -0500

>===== Original Message From Naama Zahavi-Ely <nxzaha AT wm.edu> =====
>Speaking as a native speaker of (Modern) Hebrew, this is not actually
>true. Native speakers of Hebrew -- and I assume other Semitic languages --
>regularly invent inflections of verb roots by stems to convey new meanings
>and nuances. So do children who grow up speaking Hebrew, as a natural
>stage in the learning of speech. Such inventions are readily understood
>and sometimes enter the regular spoken language.

Interesting. This doesn't seem to agree with what I've seen from others.
Perhaps it's simply a question of emphasis. In English we also construct new
words according to identifiable patterns from other words, but this is quite
a
bit different from what happens when we inflect words on a regular basis.
When
you call this activity "regular," would you say that it is done in a manner
comparable to the way you would inflect a word (say, choosing past, present,
or future tense), or is there more of a consciousness that you are actually
inventing a new word for convenience? When you say they "sometimes enter the
regular spoken language," it makes me think of the latter.

Trevor Peterson
CUA/Semitics





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