Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Kirk" <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
> 
> On 08/09/2005 21:09, Karl Randolph wrote:
> 
> > Hey Peter:
> >
> > Here I think you overstate your case. And don't lump me together 
> > with Kevin as here I am arguing the same side as you.
> >
> >
> 
> I know, Karl. My point is that assuming just one meaning for any 
> word can lead people astray in many different directions.
> 
>...
> 
> -- Peter Kirk
> peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> http://www.qaya.org/

Peter:

This is why it is so important to try to 
analyze each lexeme within the semantic 
domains of its parent language, and not as 
one would translate it.

CLM is a good example. There's no equivalent 
to it in English. The word "shadow" seems to 
cover more of its meaning than any other, 
but even that is but a shadow (excuse me for 
the pun) of the Hebrew meaning. If one 
insists that it has only the semantic domain 
covered by the English word "shadow", that 
is wrong.

To give an example of a language closer to 
English, to say "I go on the train" in 
German comes out as "Ich fahre mit dem Zug." 
The semantic domain for "gehen" is smaller 
than for "go" in English, this is where the 
semantic domain for "go" intersects with 
that of "fahren" in German. Similarly, "mit" 
in German has a semantic domain that 
intersects with that from "on" in English. 
Therefore, if one wants to understand German 
thoroughly, one must understand it according 
to its own semantic domains, not as how one 
would translate it.

Or to say it in mathematical terms, the set 
of meaning for "travel" in English is a full 
subset of the word "go", while in German the 
set of meaning for "gehen" is smaller, so 
that the set of meaning for "fahren" only 
intersects "gehen" instead of being a subset 
thereof. Similarly, the set of meaning for 
CLM in Biblical Hebrew is far larger than 
the set of meaning for "shadow" in English, 
yet the two sets only intersect, each having 
meaning outside the intersection. The hard 
part is trying to describe the set of 
meaning for CLM when there is no close 
equivalent in English.

Similarly, when one studies Biblical Hebrew, 
one must consider how a word is used in the 
language; does it have any complex lexemes, 
how does it work in idioms, are there any 
metaphoric uses, what about other literary 
devices like irony or satire, and so forth? 
And above all, I understand Biblical Hebrew 
as referring to action or function, with 
form only a secondary emphasis. It is within 
these considerations that I see a single 
meaning, I don't even consider English.

I agree with you, if one insists on a 
certain *English* meaning, that can lead to 
all sorts of headaches, if not worse.

Karl W. Randolph.



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