Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Rolf Furuli <furuli AT online.no>]

Dear list-members,

I do not want to take part in this discussion, because we know so 
little with certainty about the languages of the past. For example, 
"Proto-Semitic" is a linguistic stage that is assumed to have 
existed, but we know absolutely nothing about it, and we would not 
loose anything if we discarded the concept altogether.  When I teach 
Akkadian, I teach my students the traditional phonological 
viewpoints, and I use the sign values found in Labat. But at the same 
time I tell them that this is not the final truth, and that several 
traditional viewpoints regarding Akkadian-for example the 
explanations of the verbal system,and the value of the syllables-can 
be challenged. I teach the students that a true scientific approach 
is to accept that the traditional grammars  are the best we have at 
present. But at the same time they should keep in mind that grammars 
of ancient languages are based on induction, and because of the 
Problem of Induction, they may contain many errors. Thus, I view an 
appeal to "150 years of phonological work" as a dogmatic statement.

The basic reason for writing this post is Barry's personal attack on 
James. We should treat each other in a civil way as colleagues. We 
should never accuse a list-member of having a particular 
agenda-because we cannot know that. As a matter of fact, ancient 
history, chronology, and linguistics cannot be proven in the 
philosophical sense of the word. Claims that science has *proved* 
this or that regarding the past (or even often regarding the present) 
are hopelessly native. In relation to finds and data from the ancient 
past, each of us serve as a jury. Proofs are lacking, so our duty is 
to make a judgment regarding the circumstantial evidence that exist. 
If one judge this evidence differently from us, we should not doubt 
his or her motives.


Best regards,

Rolf Furuli Ph.D
University of Oslo



> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Randall Buth" <randallbuth AT gmail.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 2:26 AM
> To: "James Christian" <jc.bhebrew AT googlemail.com>
> Cc: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Reflection on Randall's Statement
>
> >  Well, that means that we who recognize three Akkadian vowels I, A, U (and
> >  E +/O)
> >  are sitting with the whole field of Semitic studies and 150 years of
> >  phonological
> >  work. And we/they have recognized that the evidence is compelling.
> >  And you are sitting alone trying to believe that any voice from the street
> >  has
> >  equal weight by saying "I don't/can't see evidence". It's not our
> >  fault or responsibility.
> >  As Sapir said, "It is amazing how far you'd go to simply refuse to
> >  even read evidence
> >  against your position."
> >  And the evidence is massive and far beyond the practical constraints
> >  of a public
> >  email list. We can summarize for someone, but that person must have a
> >  desire
> >  to learn.
>
> This reminds me of an experience as  a college freshman, taking, of all
> things, an a "history of political science" course, in which the instructor
> (whom I remember as one of the the best professors I ever had outside of my
> major) taught using classic texts, starting with Aristotle's Politics.
> There was a group of "agenda" students in the class -- chances are if if any
> one has been around a university long enough for any reason you have
> encountered the like -- who absolutely insisted that we couldn't know what
> Aristotle really wrote because we couldn't be sure that the knowledge of
> ancient Greek had been accurately preserved.  No amount of evidence would
> convince them otherwise, and they would have gone on incessantly had the
> professor finally not told them (politely) to shut up and not bring up the
> issue again.
>
> That's what I think James is -- an agenda student, and he sure has been
> successful in diverting lots of list energy to considering that agenda.  If
> he really thinks he has something, let him interact with the range of
> published literature and publish his thesis, and see how that fares.  In the
> meantime, maybe the list could discuss issues related to biblical Hebrew as
> a language, rather than spelling and historical linguistics?
>
> N.E. Barry Hofstetter
>
> Fecisti nos ad te et inquietum est cor nostrum, donec requiescat in te...
>     -- Augustine, Confessions 1:1