Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no>]

Dear Nir,

I will wait for your analysis.  In the meantime I have a challenge to those 
who believe that the semantic meaning of WAYYIQTOL is different from the 
semantic meaning of YIQTOL, and/or believe that that WAYYIQTOL has past tense:

How will you explain the past reference of all the YIQTOLs and WAYYIQTOLs in 
Psalm 18? How can you uphold your model with so many "exceptions" to it? 
(There are scores upon scores of similar "exceptions")

I will add another challenge:

The verbs of Proverbs 31:10-29  describe the characteristics of an excellent 
wife. There are 18 QATALs, 5 YIQTOLs, 9 WAYYIQTOLs, 2 passive participles, 1 
Niphal participle, and 1 active participle, all having present reference. If 
the YIQTOLs and WAYYIQTOLs have the opposite meaning, and the WAYYIQTOLs have 
past tense, how can the 5 YIQTOLs and 9 WAYYIQTOLs in this context have 
present reference?

But what about the 18 QATALs with present reference, do they have the the 
same semantic meaning as the YIQTOLs and WAYTYIQTOLs, because they have the 
same present reference? The answer is No.  If we analyze the use of the verb 
forms by using event time, reference time, and the deictic center, we may 
find that QATAL and WEQATAL, both being perfective have some characteristics 
that are similar with YIQTOL, WAYYIQTOL, and WEYIQTOL that are imperfective, 
and other characteristics that are different. In other words, the two aspects 
are not mutually exclusive in Hebrew, as the English aspects are, but they 
have some common characteristics and some different characteristics. 
Communication is to make some parts of a meaning potential visible and keep 
other parts invisible. Therefore, in contexts where aspectual details are not 
important, both aspects can be used with the same temporal reference. This 
can be illustrated by the difference between phonemic and phonetic 
transcription. Th
 e phonetic transcription is more complex and detailed compared with  the 
phonemic one, because it also portrays articulatory differences. Two or more 
different phonemic transcriptions can be subsumed under one phonetic 
transcription. But when details are important, differences are expressed by 
different phonetic transcriptions.

Moreover, in a clause there is an interplay of several factors in addition to 
the aspects, such as lexical meaning, stems,  aktionsart and stativity, 
singularity versus plurality, definiteness versus indefiniteness, addition or 
non-addition of objects, indirect objects,  adverbials, and different 
particles. So even if imperfective and perfective verbs are used with the 
same time reference, the interplay of the aspects with other factors of the 
clauses, may signal particular differences of meaning.

The important question is: How can several YIQTOLs and WAYYIQTOLs occur 
together in one text, all having past reference, and then in another text, 
all having present reference, if the meaning of the WAYYIQTOL is the opposite 
of the YIQTOL?



Best regards,


Rolf Furuli
Stavern
Norway
 
 
Fredag 24. Mai 2013 22:13 CEST skrev "Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." 
<nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>: 
 
> dear rolf,
> 
> thanks for your detailed answer. i'll need to read it carefuly...
> 
> nir cohen
> 
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