But already in late Biblical Hebrew, in other words, those sections written
after the Galut Babel, not only was the Hebrew simpler but it also shows the
influence of Aramaic. ...
It is precisely these simplifications that lead to the conclusion that
the language was living. Mind you, I don't think they were all
simplifications, just changes. And I am thinking primarily of
grammatical forms, not loan words. The contrast with a dead language is
that the latter becomes frozen or fossilised, with the grammatical forms
of the classical language copied without gradual change. The graduation
classical BH - late BH - DSS Hebrew - Mishnaic Hebrew shows the kind of
gradual grammatical changes, e.g. in the verb system e.g. gradual loss
of WAYYIQTOL forms and reanalysis of YIQTOL as future, characteristic of
a living language rather than a fossil.
--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work) http://www.qaya.org/