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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] comparative historical linguistics was Re:Nun-Tav-Vetroot

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  • From: "stoneyb" <stoneyb AT touchwood.net>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] comparative historical linguistics was Re:Nun-Tav-Vetroot
  • Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 06:50:55 -0600



-----Original Message-----
From: Isaac Fried [mailto:if AT math.bu.edu]
> All a pronoun is is a universal identity marker, and is therefore
meaningful in all the cases I brought up.

I don't know what a "universal identity marker" is, but a pronoun by
definition must act both syntactically and semantically as a substitute
for a contextually identificable noun to which it refers. "-er" does
not. It can transform a verb into a noun representing the verb's agent
(play > player), or a noun representing an activity into another noun
representing one who pursues that activity (football > footballer), or a
noun representing a place into another noun representing an inhabitant
or native of that place (London > Londoner). But it can't refer to a
noun and it can't act as a noun.

Translated into programming jargon: a pronoun is a variable, "-er" is a
function.

> Notice that the equality does not say er=are.
Well, it appears from your address that you're the mathematician, but
the equation you presented was "prison+er=prison+are" - if I subtract
"prison" from both sides "er=are" is exactly what I get!

Stoney Breyer
Writer/Touchwood, Inc.







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