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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Hebrew - dialect of canaanite

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>
  • To: Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Hebrew - dialect of canaanite
  • Date: Thu, 29 Jun 2006 11:47:25 +0100

On 29/06/2006 00:47, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:
...
No, it does not. Hebrew can be compared and
contrasted to cognate languages irrespective of
whether one accepts Biblical historical claims or
one's position on Biblical historicity. This is
because the comparison of cognate languages is
a process that takes into account purely linguistic
features, and has no place for any historical
claim of any kind. Using Biblical historical
claims as if they have a bearing on such a
comparison is simply wrong.

You are going too far here. Yes, languages can be compared without reference to any historical data, and a meaningful picture can be built up. But in practice linguistic studies surely make use of known historical information. I guess that one could derive simply from studying modern Romance languages that they had a common ancestor around 2000 years ago, probably spoken in what is now Italy. But it is on the basis of known historical data, not pure linguistic reconstruction, that that language is identified as Latin and as having been spread by the Roman Empire. And similar undisputed historical data can be used for study of Semitic languages.

The problem with this comes when uncertain or disputed historical data are used as part of the linguistic reconstruction. The result of this is that the linguistic reconstruction becomes entangled with the historical issues. It is at least in principle possible for the linguistics to be of real help in resolving the historical uncertainty, as well as vice versa. Or we may simply end up with multiple scenarios, covering both history and linguistic development, and no way to decide between them.

--
Peter Kirk
E-mail: peter AT qaya.org
Blog: http://speakertruth.blogspot.com/
Website: http://www.qaya.org/





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