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  • From: David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] A different generation of biblical scholarship
  • Date: Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:13:41 +1100

Hi Karl,

See below:



Bill:
In looking at the history of languages and literary styles, the only thing
we can say for certainty about changes over history is that there is no
universally true, linear pattern which all languages follow. Languages gain,
and lose phonemes over time, and there is no way to predict exactly how and
why. Different people's literary styles can be vastly different, even within
the same language within the same time period. Again no way to predict it.
The only way to trace it is afterwards, through looking at recorded
evidence: either by looking at a large body of literature of known venue, or
by looking at the same document in several versions, and tracing its change
over time.


Karl, this is simply incorrect. Language change is neither completely arbitrary nor limitless. It is not true to say that no predications can be made. Why the position of formalist linguistic theory as to the existence of Universal Grammar? Or the functionalist argument as to the existence of typological universals or prototypes?

In contrast to your seeming "belief" here, grammaticalization studies have demonstrated that predications can in fact be made. Two areas in BH that I'm currently familiar with are the loss of stative verbs and the rise of a nonverbal copula. Both language changes are entirely predictable on typological traits of the language: the first by the shift from aspect to tense (see eg Cook's dissertation which raises this, the first work relating to BH to the best of my knowledge to do so) and the second by the interaction between marked attributive noun phrases, null-encoded predicate nominals, and what Hebraists have labelled the tripartite verbless clause.

[snip]


Karl W. Randolph.


Regards,
David Kummerow.




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