Biblical Hebrew Forum

[David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>]

> RF:
>
> On p. 33 of my dissertation we read: "This means
> that features of the verbal system that cannot be
> changed or cancelled represent "semantic
> meaning," while features that can be changed or
> cancelled, represent  "conversational pragmatic
> implicature".
>
> This shows that I do not claim that semantic
> meaning "exists wholesale across language".
> And it is not true that the concept is never
> defended!  On p. 33 I used the "plod"-example,
> and in the following pages I discussed the
> uncancellable characteristics of dynamicity,
> durativity, and telicity in contrast with the
> cancellable characteristics of statitivy and
> punctiliarity. The discussion was illustrated by
> examples.

Hi Rolf,

Rolf, I presented linguistic literature in my review that reveals that 
the so-called uncancellable characteristics can in fact be cancelled. 
Now, you can keep on stating that such characteristics are 
uncancellable, but that is just your opinion. Others who do not hold to 
a principal of uncancellability in relation to these procedural traits 
need not be convinced about your extrapolation to tense and aspect. For 
that is indeed what it is: you have not demonstrated that 
uncancellablity of meaning is a proper linguistic concept to bring to 
the analysis of tense and aspect, you extrapolate such from procedural 
traits etc. This is what I meant by "wholesale". But like I've said, 
your analysis of procedural traits is open to challenge as well as the 
"plod" example as well as the "have" example you presented on this list.

All that I'm saying is that the entirely rigid application of your basic 
principals will not be sensitive enough to the intricacies of language. 
And the sticking point is when we actually get down to specific examples 
from the text. Like I've maintained the last few years, I simply cannot 
see how wayyomer in every occurrence can be conceptualised 
imperfectively. I just can't. And you've never dealt with such an 
example like this to convince those of us who cannot see as you see.

Regards,
David Kummerow.