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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] בעדי

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>
  • To: Barry <nebarry AT verizon.net>
  • Cc: B-Hebrew Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] בעדי
  • Date: Sun, 28 Apr 2013 20:38:46 -0400

1. You are mistaken to consider this exchange waste of time.

2. If so, then (simplified) Biblical Hebrew is being spoken today.

3. Sorry, but "two (or more) languages descended from the same source language" is vague. Did Arabic split from Hebrew?

4. Not everybody.

5. Sorry, but this is not Hebrew etymology. Root based Hebrew was never a different language. Comparison with Indo-European languages is invalid.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Apr 28, 2013, at 8:18 PM, Barry wrote:

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





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