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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 31: 47 - Suffix -UT

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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Genesis 31: 47 - Suffix -UT
  • Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:51:53 -0500

David,

Whenever you look at an U and an I [also O and E] in a Hebrew word you see a universal identity marker [also known as a personal pronoun], invariably. If T is not radical, then it is a personal pronoun, invariably. I have said this repeatedly on this list [also, of course, in my book, which can be seen in its entirety at www.hebrewetymology.com].
It is for illustrative purposes only that I specifically read -U- as HU), and -I- as HI). Consider the example of $-U-LAX, $AL-U-AX, and $ALX-U, of the root $LX, 'send'. Even though the latter means 'THEY have sent' I permit myself to read it as $ALX-HU) by virtue of the universality of U.
I am preparing now a reply to Kenneth Greifer in which I will elaborate on this in some greater detail.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Nov 28, 2007, at 5:47 PM, David Kummerow wrote:


Hi Isaac,

Who said anything about "mechanical translation"? I thought we were
attempting a semantic analysis here with this discussion? If so, BH
melek and malkut equate semantically, or overlap semantically, with
English "king" and "kingdom" respectively. The -ut suffix is joined to
malk-, but crucially not to address the addressee and simultaneously
point out some third-person referent. If anything, I would say that your
own approach is far too "mechanical" in finding personal pronouns in
every nook and cranny. Just because there is a 'u' and a 't' does not
mean that we have to see a morphological makeup of one or two personal
pronouns, only that we have here two phonemes, /t/ and /u/, which,
unsurprisingly due to their phonemic status, are found in some personal
pronouns also many, many other words and morphemes in BH.

Regards,
David Kummerow.


Pere,

The flow chart should go, methinks, this way

----------> MELEK, king

MLK, root
----------> MALKUT, kingdom, kingship

Now, matters become befogged because we jump from one language to
another and think that by mechanical translation we achieve
understanding. To understand the Hebrew you need to explain to yourself
what MELEK and MALKUT mean without using the English equivalents, only
the root MLK.

Isaac Fried, Boston University




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