Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Karl,

Could you provide me with some examples for "homonyms for roots  
containing
X", please.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Oct 30, 2007, at 1:38 PM, K Randolph wrote:

> Isaac:
>
> On 10/29/07, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> > Karl,
> >
> > The two suppositions are, of course, not symmetrical. If two letters
> > merge the evidence is lost, but if a letter splits, the splinters are
> > left with us.
> >
> > Isaac Fried, Boston University
> I looked back over the homonym tables that Peter Kirk and I discussed
> a while back. In the list that Peter devised based on scholarly
> consensus, even though the percentage of homonyms for roots containing
> X is higher than average, it is within the standard deviation for
> homonyms for all roots. Because its percentage is within the standard
> deviation, it would seem that evidence from within Hebrew for X to
> have come from two original letters is weak.
>
> The expectation is that if X originally came from two original
> letters, then the percentage of homonyms containing a X should be
> significantly higher than average.
>
> I also checked the list as I had it after adjusting for action based
> definitions instead of form based, and in that second list the
> percentage is even closer to average.
>
> Therefore, based on statistics, the evidence that Biblical Hebrew
> originally had two letters X that combined into one is weak at best.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
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