Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 24/08/2005 20:38, Jim West wrote:

> ...
>
> Isn't there a difference between a phrase and a compound lexeme?  You 
> have cited a phrase which is rendered in English as "ordain" but in 
> Hebrew it simply means "fill the hands".  Are you suggesting that if a 
> word in English is the manifestation of a phrase in Hebrew that it is a 
> compound lexeme?
>
>  
I am suggesting that a compound lexeme is a made up of two or more words 
which are (usually) lexemes in their own right but where the meaning of 
the whole is something different from the sum of the meanings of the 
parts. That is certainly true of MILLE' YAD, as of Karl's English 
examples "strike out" and "strike up". Of course Karl's definition may 
be a little different from mine, so let's see what he says.

Well, he didn't question my definition, but asked:

> Correct me if I am wrong, but did not Moses put something 
> into their hands during the consecration ceremony, hence 
> "filling their hands"? Thus "filling their hands" was a 
> referral back to that action?
>
>  
I don't think there is any record of any physical item being put into 
the hands of the priests. Metaphorically, I suppose some kind of 
authority was put into their hands. But I would accept that there is a 
fine line between compound lexemes and metaphor. "Strike out" can 
similarly be understood in terms of metaphor, and "strike up" doesn't 
even need a metaphor when you realise that it is an extended sense of 
striking drums and/or strings.

George wrote:

> Lev 19.17 WaY.aQ:R"B )eT_HaM.iN:XfH WaY:MaL.") CaP.oW MiM.eN.fH 
>
> As you can see, the priest received part of the offering.
>
>  
You have the wrong reference here. I think you mean 9:17, and KaP.oW 
rather than CaP.oW. Note that 1) this is not part of the ordination 
ceremony, but the start of Aaron's regular ministry 2) the word used is 
KAP not YAD 3) the priest is filling his own palm whereas ordination was 
done by someone else, Moses in the case of Aaron 4) ordination is not 
just a matter of filling someone's hand with grain, but has a very 
specific significance which goes far beyond this.

Yitzhak wrote:

> My understanding is that compound lexemes are rare due to the nature
> of Hebrew, but isn't the most obvious one (that comes to my mind at least)
> "bly(l" of "bl(y)" and "y(l"? ...


He is working here from a very different definition of "compound lexeme" 
from Karl and myself. He is referring to single words each made up from 
two or more root morphemes. Karl and I seem to be referring more to 
single concepts represented by two or more words.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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