Biblical Hebrew Forum

[K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>]

Arnaud:

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 2:56 AM, Arnaud Fournet 
<fournet.arnaud AT wanadoo.fr>wrote:

> Karl:
>
>
>
>> Science is limited to the physical universe where observations can be
>> made. Linguistics is the scientific study of languages, which can be
>> observed. Dead languages (i.e. no longer spoken as a native tongue), like
>> Biblical Hebrew, can be studied only in so far as they have been written
>> down, and we can analyze those writings.
>> Karl W. Randolph.
>>
>>  ***
>
> That's an interesting point.
>
> In a previous mail, you discussed the *grammatical* structure of a proverb.
>
> How do you *observe* grammar and syntactical connections and relationships?
>
> IMHO only words and sounds can be observed in the ultra-empirical approach
> that you seem to defend, grammar and semantics are mental operations, or
> what else are they?
> How do you observe these mental operations?
>
> Best
>
> Arnaud Fournet
>
> One can’t observe mental operations, not even among modern people.

Science, of which linguistics is part, is not a mere cataloguing a list of
isolated observations, rather it includes recognizing patterns within those
observations. In linguistics, those patterns include recognizing nouns,
verbs, declensions, etc. Syntax and grammar are complex patterns, but
observable.

My problem is not with speculation per se, because speculation can often
help us recognize patterns, but it becomes a problem when it is elevated to
be equal with observation or even superior thereto, when it could very well
be wrong.

An example of the scientific method can be found at
http://www.wikinfo.org/index.php/Scientific_Method_from_science_textbooks

Karl W. Randolph.