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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] text on the BH verb structure

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  • From: Kimmo Huovila <kimmo.huovila AT kolumbus.fi>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] text on the BH verb structure
  • Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2013 21:19:16 +0300

On Sat, 31 Aug 2013 18:43:05 +0200
"Rolf" <rolf.furuli AT sf-nett.no> wrote:

> Dear Kimmo,
>
> It is good to hear from you again.
>
> If tense is defined as "grammaticalized location in time (Comrie)," I have
> problems with your statement: "traditional past tense (as a grammatical
> category) does not correspond exactly to the semantic past tense." If we
> accepts Comrie's definition, "semantic past tense" should have have read
> "semantic past reference. We cannot have two different kinds of "past
> tense." This is not nitpicking, but highly significant in a discussion of
> tense and aspect.

To me the difference seems purely terminological. I am fine with your
"semantic past reference". My point is that we should not expect 100 %
correspondence between past reference and a past tense grammatical form even
in tense languages.

> For example, are the WAYYIQTOLs in narrative YIQTOLs with past reference,
> or do they have an intrinsic past tense, or do they represent the
> perfective aspect?

My point is that we need not expect all of them to have past reference or all
of them to describe a perfective situation to say that TMA is relevant for
the analysis of the meaning of the form.

Kimmo Huovila




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