Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 20/09/2005 08:35, Vadim Cherny wrote:

> > > Of course, not. As I described, and what is a standard method of 
> > > scientific proof, a hypothesis can be accepted if no contradicting 
> > > facts can be brought against it, and if the hypothesis is simler 
> > > than others.
> >
> >
> > This is not proper scientific method. A hypothesis like this which 
> > cannot in principle be falsified cannot be established by the absence 
> > of falsification.
>
> Peter, you need to read something on logic and scientific methods.
> Every hypothesis can be proved false. It is especially easy with mine: 
> just bring any examples where the use of yiqtol is meaningless if we 
> read it either as future tense (with deictic shift, if it is 
> contextually clear) or in idiomatic meaning.


No, your hypothesis cannot be proved false if you answer every 
counter-example by proposing a deictic shift for which there is zero 
evidence, or else that every attested sense of a word like "would" has 
an "idiomatic meaning" and the word in fact means something for which it 
is never used.

> > I dispute that such deictic shifts exist in Hebrew, at least unless 
> > you can provide evidence of them. I accept that they exist in Russian 
> > in the case of indirect speech and similar.
>
>
> Peter, just think of what you wrote here. What evidence of deictic 
> shifts could be there besides the shifts themselves? Using yiqtol for 
> past events in emphatic narration is just such evidence. ...


No, it is not, it is baseless speculation.

> ... a. Does idiomatic usage of yiqtol (say, ci-yiqtol turns) 
> invalidate yiqtol-as-future tense any more than idiomatic usage of 
> would in English invalidates general function of "would" as future 
> tense? ...


"Would" NEVER indicates future tense and never has done. This is a 
mother tongue speaker telling you that, with support from several other 
mother tongue speakers on this list, as well as from reference books. 
While you continue to assert this untruth it is a complete waste of time 
to continue interaction with you.

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



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