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  • From: "K Randolph" <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Verbal Aspect (was Tenses - Deut 6:4)
  • Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 14:39:28 -0800

David:

As I have stated before, the main thing I have done in Hebrew is read
the text 20 times or thereabouts, and the major thing I have done
besides reading the text is analyze lexeme definitions.

But in reading the text over and over again, sort of like letting it
flow over me like a child learning a language, I found that many of
the nice, neat patterns I was taught in class often have so many
exceptions that the exceptions sometimes seem to outnumber the rule
following examples. To make it even more interesting, in many
difficult to read verses it can be demonstrated that words are
mispointed: a verb changed to a noun or visa versa, gatal to a
participle, etc. where later Hebrew also had materes lectionis but BH
often does not.

As Peter says, some of the exceptions may be mispointing.

I have not made a detailed study of aspect vs. tense, nor of
incomplete vs. complete use of aspect (I think it is more complex than
that), so beyond recognizing psychological preferences for certain
uses of aspect that tend towards certain tenses, which is an allowance
for such a big hole that one can drive a truckful of exceptions
through it, I hesitate making a hard and fast rule. "Tendency" ≠
"absolute rule".

Karl W. Randolph.

On 3/7/07, David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com> wrote:
Hi Karl,

I agree with you in real language there is largely a correlation between
aspect and tense as you say.

But, regarding BH, what do you do with the examples of the "incomplete
aspect" used for "complete action" and the "complete aspect" used for
"incomplete action"?

Regards,
David.


> Dear Rolf, Peter, David, et al.:
>
> I have been lurking on this thread, now to add my 2¢.
>
> While I agree with Rolf that there is no evidence of
> grammaticalization of tense in Biblical Hebrew, there is yet a
> psychological component to aspect, by which the narrator will tend to
> use the complete aspect to refer to the past, and the incomplete or
> completing aspect for the future. The major exception is where the
> completing aspect is used to complete (carry forward) a narration
> referring to the past. The complete aspect can be used for a future
> event, where the expectation is that the event will happen once and
> once only, otherwise the narrator will psychologically prefer to use
> the incomplete aspect as the event has at that time not yet been
> completed.
>
> While psychological preferences are not in themselves
> grammaticalization, they can give the appearance of such, hence
> David's claim.
>
> Strict grammar is one thing, but when analyzing written texts, we
> should not ignore the psychological element also involved with
> language use.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.




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