Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

I would add that the abstract/concrete-mindset idea seems to be a bit 
outdated, or at least the lines are more blurred than they were a century 
ago.  I would also quibble just a bit with the idea that most nouns are 
"derived" from verbs; it seems rather to be the case that both a noun and a 
verb may be "derived" (if that's the applicable word) from a common root-set, 
e.g. DBR can be either a noun or a verb depending on what the speaker/writer 
wanted to say/write.  I don't think it's really the case that DFBFR is 
derived from DIB."R, but rather they both project from a common entry in the 
mental lexicon and are surface realized with the appropriate pronunciation 
according to what the speaker intended.

Is that obfuscatory enough?????

On Tuesday 22 June 2004 12:08, Tony Costa wrote:
> Chris, all grammarians understand "Torah" and "Sheol" as feminine nouns. I
> would encourage you to consult the classical Hebrew-English Lexicon by
> Brown, Driver and Briggs on these two words and their derivations.
>
> Tony Costa
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "wattswestmaas" <wattswestmaas AT eircom.net>
> To: "B-Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.Ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 22, 2004 11:58 AM
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Torah and Sheol - a response
>
> > Dear learned members,
> >
> > Hallo,  Thanks for the responses on this however I really feel I need to
> > address the points being made that these are nouns.  In ENGLISH they are
> > nouns I agree but not in hebrew.  I understand that hebrew is very much a
> > concrete language (as opposed to abstract), and that very few nouns are
>
> TRUE
>
> > nouns by western understanding.  The majority of nouns are actually
>
> derived
>
> > from verbs,  I personally find this indicative of a subtle but important
> > manner of perceiving the world around them.
> >
> > Hence and therefore, did I ask if these 2 "nouns" were actually a
>
> participle
>
> > and infinite construct direct from the root verb rather than simply
> > saying that they were nouns.  After all 'shepherd' is a noun to us but it
> > was a verbal thought to the hebraic mindset. (just to use a common
> > example).
> >
> > If some of you believe that I am travelling down a wrong road here then
> > please explain.
> >
> > Thanks  Chris.
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > b-hebrew mailing list
> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
>
> _______________________________________________
> b-hebrew mailing list
> b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Learning about Christianity from a non-Christian
is like getting a kiss over the telephone.