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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Uncancellable meaning and Hebrew verbs

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  • From: Martin Shields <enkidu AT bigpond.net.au>
  • To: K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: B-Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] b-hebrew Uncancellable meaning and Hebrew verbs
  • Date: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:50:31 +1000

On 27/06/2009, at 11:11 AM, K Randolph wrote:

What it means in your dialect is irrelevant to standard English. Since
this is a discussion about standard English, we must ignore your
dialect. End of story.

Who speaks this "standard English"? Surely everyone's speech is coloured by regional idiosyncrasies and variations and that any reference to some sort of "standard English" is some sort of Platonic archetype which finds no actual manifestation in the real world (in this I think Gabe made a good point). All we have access to is the actual manifestations of the language. If uncancellable meaning only applies to "standard English" then it is a proposition which has very limited real-world relevance to understanding language.

And (in an attempt to give this at least some passing relevance to Hebrew), why do we suppose that BH should be any different. I think Karl's earlier comment:

Now back to Biblical Hebrew: during the time it was written, from about 1400–400 BC, it remained remarkably stable, with almost no change in lexicography and grammar.

conceals all manner of difficulties which simply cannot allow such a claim to be readily made.

ISTM that there is an almost insurmountable difficulty faced by anyone proposing some form of uncancellable meaning, since only one exception would prove to be the downfall of the theory. OTOH, the identification of some terms which may appear to have uncancellable meaning cannot readily be extrapolated to substantiate the claim that the principle applies across the entire language.

In light of this, what is the uncancellable meaning of "wicked"?

--
Martin Shields,
Sydney, Australia.



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