Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Barry <nebarry AT verizon.net>]

On 4/28/2013 5:06 PM, Isaac Fried wrote:
> 1. As to "People generally do not write in a language they do not
> speak", Biblical Hebrew and spoken Hebrew (as possibly used by King
> David when mundanely conversing with his wives and children, as opposed
> to the language he used to address God) are not "different" languages.

Ok, I think I would agree... So why claim that we don't know if biblical 
Hebrew was never spoken?

> 2. "Cognate" is nebulous, as it says nothing on the genetic
> relationships between these "cognates".

"Cognate" simply means two (or more) languages descended from the same 
source language. Latin and Greek are obvious examples, Hebrew and Aramaic...

> 3. "real study" = stuffing the head with baloney made up by some eminent
> mumblers.

I see – everybody else is mistaken, and you are here to set us straight.

> 4. I am absolutely ignorant of what you mean by Hebrew etymology. Please
> explain.

Etymology simply means the development or history of the word in its 
language, often going back to when the language was a different 
language. I haven't studied historical linguistics for Semitic 
languages, but an example in English would be "nice," which can be 
traced back to the Latin *nescius* (foolish, ignorant). It comes into 
English through Norman French, and the semantic range suffers grievously 
along the way. It's also a good warning against assuming that the 
earlier use of the word must carry the same meaning as the later (the 
genetic fallacy).

Don't worry, after this response, I won't waste any more of your time.

--
N.E. Barry Hofstetter
Semper melius Latine sonat
The American Academy
http://www.theamericanacademy.net
The North American Reformed Seminary
http://www.tnars.net
Bible Translation Magazine
http://www.bible-translation.net

http://my.opera.com/barryhofstetter/blog