Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 11/22/06, Isaac Fried wrote:

>  I am not responding to you directly; it is as I say to my students: when I
> say you I do not mean YOU. Yet it should be pedagogically and
> psychologically interesting to see how the mind of a hyperactive dilettante
> works, particularly when emotionally driven. So let us see what you pile on
> us:

Unfortunately very little, because you failed to answer any of my questions.
Instead, you responded to practically all other sentences almost individually.
You did leave some out, leaving us to wonder if it was accidental or
something more.  For example:

> YS: You are expected to know how theories are proposed.
>
> IF: I know, I know. I think I know.
>
> YS: You have easy access to a university library
>
> IF: The access is not so easy, I have to cross a busy street.

You missed a sentence, "You are expected to know the value of
offering your book to criticism from your peers in the linguistics
department."  That says it all.

> I know that my book: "The Analytic and Synthetic Etymology of the Hebrew
> Language" is one of the most significant books ever written on the Hebrew
> language. The theory behind it is very simple, as a good theory should be,
> but it is profound in its implications; it actually solves the enigma of the
> Hebrew language. I suggest that you drop for a while your preoccupation with
> "cognate languages" and concentrate on this book instead. The effort is
> worthwhile, and if you understand it, then I promise you the kingdom of
> language.

Well, not every good theory ends up being simple.  Just as I am not sure that
every good theory addresses and refutes competing explanations, is falsifiable
or explains why things are so, not just how they are so.  But most good 
theories
have all those properties.

As for the book, I started to read the introduction, but I noticed
that I didn't get
my pair of emerald glasses.  I guess you only get that when you buy the book.

Sorry for the typos.

Yitzhak Sapir