Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

The letter B is the root of BA, 'come', which is 'to be' (BA it is  
not a process but the state of being present). So, WAYIGA$ sounds to  
me BA)-HIY)-GA$, which is exactly what it is. Writing W for B is just  
a visual trick to momentarily blind us. The word ZIYB-AH, 'pus' is  
disgusting, but ZIYW-AH, 'shine, emit electromagnetic pus', is a cute  
Hebrew girl's name.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jan 29, 2011, at 11:49 PM, fred burlingame wrote:

> Hello Isaac;
>
> That was a clever turn of a phrase.
>
> How do you reach the conclusion that the root, single letter B,  
> means basically "come, be, exist, have substance?" By reasoning  
> back from the actual usages of the descendant or child, two and  
> three letter roots?
>
> Does your paragraph "2" below imply a past tense for the "qatal"  
> form, subject to usage exceptions?
>
> Very interesting that the ancient hebrew language enjoyed more  
> flexibility than the modern language. It sounds like the evolution  
> of languages mirrors the evolution of governments ... more and more  
> rules.
>
> regards,
>
> fred burlingame
>
> On Sat, Jan 29, 2011 at 8:33 PM, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
> 1. Grammaticalization made the language ever more formal and rigid,  
> yet, WA-YI-$LAX essentially means (it come to pass that)-(he)-(send).
> 2, "qatal' is just short for he-qatal-him, the past being the  
> "natural" tense for an act.
> 3. I don't give a hoot for the opinion of "mainstream" educators,  
> book sellers and academics. They are to me the ox snugly following  
> the rut.
> 4. The letter B is the root of BA, 'come, be, exist, have substance'.
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University