Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] XSD

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] XSD
  • Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:17:22 -0500

Dave:

We have gone over "strike" before, but it is illustrative
of what needs to be watched for when assessing the
meanings of lexemes.

1) Within a particular field, a lexeme may have a
specialized usage that is not reflected in the general
use of the term. For example, "uncertainty" in physics,
as in Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, has a far
different meaning than in a novel where "the hero looked
about with uncertainty, had he done the right thing?"
Similarly, "strike" within the context of baseball, has
a specialized meaning not found outside of baseball. A
similarly specialized usage is found in labor relations.
These specialized usages may have historical connections
to the original meaning that have been obscured over time.

2) We need to look out for compound lexemes, where one
lexeme combined with another make for a different meaning.
"Strike out" is one such compound lexeme, "strike up"
another. Compound lexemes are properly separate words
from the simple lexemes, such as "strike" alone. German
has grammaticized such compound lexemes so they are easy
to recognize, whereas languages such as English and
Chinese have not, yet all three languages have compound
lexemes. Even so, the compound lexemes must be recognized
as compound lexemes in order to have a correct
understanding of a text.

I have not noticed any compound lexemes in Biblical Hebrew.
Has anyone else in this forum found any such?

One thing I have noticed is that Biblical Hebrew seems to
have fewer specialized meanings for theological concepts
than do modern European languages.

Karl W. Randolph.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>

...
>
> Consider the word "strike": it can mean to hit (strike the rock and
> water will come out), to miss (in baseball), to begin something (strike up a
> conversation), to stop something (go on strike), a positive event (strike a
> bargain), a negative event (strike that from the record), to name just a
> few.
> ...
>
> --
> Dave Washburn
> http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
> "Well, if I'd wanted a safe life, I guess I wouldn't have
> married a man who studies rocks." - Betty Armstrong (Fay Masterson)

--
___________________________________________________________
Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.com
http://promo.mail.com/adsfreejump.htm





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page