Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

jim,

let us say we want to check whether (PRWN is hurrian-made-hebrew or
hebrew-made-hurrian.

your algorithm is: check if one can find in (PRWN a hurrian
root/prefix/suffix.if so, you opt for option 2.

let say that isaac would look at the same problem. his algoritm would be:
check if one can find in (PRWN a hebrew root/prefix/suffix. he would
vehemently argue that (PRWN is a hebrew name (option 1): (PR is a hebrew root
and -WN is a hebrew suffix.

after all, the hurrians may have been in the land for centuries, within a
predominantly canaanite-aramite-moabite culture, and may have adapted many
local names and words, maybe even spoke a local dialect.
 
let us say that randall or rev. william would look at the same problem (just
for the sake of argument: their answer would be, clearly, different!!). they
might argue that (PRWN is an irish name because of the ending common to
McMahon, McKilmon, Shannon.

it could also be french, or russian, or quechua, or ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO 
BE.

conclusion: let's talk about more serious issues.

nir cohen