Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Kevin Riley" <klriley AT alphalink.com.au>]

-------Original Message-------
 
From: Karl Randolph
Date: 02/15/06 06:00:07
 
 
Oh for a native speaker to interview!
 
Karl W. Randolph.
 
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I think you are wise to ask for "*a* native speaker"  Having read a number
of books where the author has written a linguistic account of a language or
dialect based on 2 or 3 informants generally acknowledged in the community
as speaking the language well, it is obvious that basing your conclusions on
just one speaker frees you from having to constantly mention that not
everyone agrees on doing things the same way.  It is surprising how much
variety you find in a language spoken by only a small community of 100-200
people.  Just think how much confusion and ambiguity would arise if we had
access to *all* the native speakers of Hebrew from Abraham down to the last
native speaker.

Kevin Riley