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b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Language Evolution - Out of Bounds - Stare decisis

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  • From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
  • To: "Read, James C" <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Language Evolution - Out of Bounds - Stare decisis
  • Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 1:00:10 -0400

James,

Well, I was commenting more on the radio-carbon dating
issue. However, I did find a precident on this topic on
this list (before I joined), see below:

Stare decisis-

Wed Jun 16 15:07:27 EDT 2004

Dear b-hebrew,

Even the evolution of languages is not a topic of
discussion within the mission of b-hebrew. Please end this
topic, and get back on track.

Bryan Rocine
b-hebrew co-chair




> From: "Read, James C" <K0434995 AT kingston.ac.uk>
> Date: 2005/09/22 Thu AM 08:58:46 EDT
> To: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
> CC: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] Language Evolution - Out of
Bounds
>
>
> While I agree with you that this topic has the potential
to go
> out of bounds (especially when we have to explian to you
the
> limitations of dating techniques) I disagree that the
discussion
> is completely out of bounds.
>
> The amount of time that Arabic, Hebrew, Ugaritic, Aramaic
etc. had
> to divrsify from their common ancestor has a direct
relevance on the
> linguistic discussion.
> Historic tesimonies of the origin of the Arabic language
are scarce
> but Genesis tells us that Ishmael came from Abraham's
loins and it
> is reasonable to assume that they spoke the same
language. As Arabic
> tradition does not contradict the long held tradition
that Ishmael
> became the father of the Arabian nation it is not
impossible that
> the Arabic language and the Hebrew of the bible came from
the
> language that Abraham spoke. Now, Abraham is described as
a hebrew.
> Exactly what that term means we do not know. If the
language he spoke
> was exactly the same as the hebrew we see in the bible,
we do not know
> either. Archaic forms such as YHWH seem to suggest that
the language
> had adapted slightly by the days of Moshe and this is not
unreasonable
> as the language would undoubtedly have been affected by a
few hundred
> years of Egyptian slavery.
>
> However, your sweeping claims that all who doubt the
authenticity of
> dating methods are motivated by blind faith was a little
unwarranted.
> I am not some religious maniac born into a Christian
family who has
> brainwashed into rejecting everything that slightly
contradicts the bible.
> I come from a very strong scientific background and am
more qualified to
> speak science than linguistics, especially chemistry
(more especially
> thermodynamics and reaction feasibility). I only became
interested in
> linguistics after being converted by strong scientific
proofs of Yah's
> existence and I can assure you that I was well aware of
the limitations
> of dating well before this time. Your summarial position
on dating betrays
> a surface knowledge of scientific dating methods and it
is you who are
> not acquainted with the facts and are reacting out of a
'faith position'.
>
> Without going into the technicalities (and risking going
out of bounds)
> it is only common sense that when you see that various
scientific dating
> methods vary in different orders of magnitude for the
same object that
> each method is based on different variables and presents
different
> limitations. Your idea that people on this list have
expressed a flat
> refusal to consider scientific dating evidence is more
than a little
> extreme and all who have expressed their limitations have
adequately shown
> that they are more acquainted with the facts than
yourself. No-one here is
> dissing the methods as completely useless and your idea
that that is the case
> is completely unfounded. In many cases the dating methods
can give us a
> relative model and can tell us without a shadow of a
doubt what happened
> before what, although in certain circumstances even here
caution must be
> exercised. In conclusion, dating methods are useful for
constructing a
> relative model but cannot and should not be used as
absolute indications
> of dates.
>
> This email has been scanned for all viruses by the
MessageLabs Email
> Security System.
>

Jack Tladatsi




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