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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Clearing up the morphology of Hebrew, CV and CVC

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com>
  • To: Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Clearing up the morphology of Hebrew, CV and CVC
  • Date: Thu, 6 Oct 2011 19:40:37 -0700

Randall:

On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 2:43 PM, Randall Buth <randallbuth AT gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 9:36 PM, K Randolph <kwrandolph AT gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Let’s look at your evidence:
>>
>
> Please do. You've ignored it.
>

No, I didn’t ignore it, rather I discounted it.

>
>
>> Arabic, different language and late, irrelevant.
>> Aramaic, different language and what evidence for vowels is there that is
>> not late?
>> MT points, late after a time when it is admitted that unstressed vowels
>> were dropped.
>>
>
> Sorry, but your dismissal is simply ignorance of historical linguistics. It
> is all verifyible data for those with the background to evaluate it. So
> you wish to present speculation as evidence and simply ignore historical
> linguistics and massive amounts of data that verify patterns. That is your
> choice. In academics this is called 'untenable'. I thought that maybe you
> were ready to evaluate evidence and learn something.
>

I question some of the presuppositions of “historical” linguistics.
Languages and language families both lose and gain phones and phonemes.
Languages within a family develop at different rates, even those that close
geographically can be very different in their developments. Close languages
can go on divergent development paths. Therefore, one cannot count on being
able to use cognate languages as guides to studying a target language. It is
speculation to use them as evidence, proof will have to come from the target
language.

>
> This ends the thread in my perspective.
>

We have been through this discussion before, with the same results. I know
enough of language development over history that I need more evidence than
just generalized calls for comparison with cognate languages and an appeal
to authority “for those with the background to evaluate it”. I need evidence
from Hebrew itself (more accurately in this case, direct transliterations
from Hebrew to other languages).

I don’t know why you brought up this issue again. I am willing to agree to
disagree and go on to other subjects.

Karl W. Randolph.




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