Isaac:
The reasons I consider this discussion closed are contained in your paragraph below. That is a statement of philosophy, not linguistics. I do not think there is any support for that philosophic position within the linguistics of Biblical Hebrew.
While there are many nouns even in Biblical Hebrew that are not connected with any roots (some of them are recognizably loanwords, how many of those not recognizably loanwords yet are?), those that are connected with roots invariably show a connection to the function, i.e. action, indicated by the root. This is what I notice as a lexicographer, not a philosophic presupposition that I have imposed onto Hebrew.
What you describe may be true of modern Israeli Hebrew, but that's a language that I don't know.
Karl W. Randolph.
On 6/19/07, Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu> wrote:
Karl,
I am afraid you commit a grave and fundamental error in mixing up the root [SHORESH], the act [POAL], and the noun [SHEM]. The root is a material state; there is nothing else it can be. It becomes an act in the presence of actors who cause a body to assume the state indicated by the root. A noun refers to a body having the properties indicated by the root.
Isaac Fried, Boston University
On Jun 19, 2007, at 11:21 AM, K Randolph wrote:
Isaac:
I am merely a lexicographer, not a philosopher nor theologian,
therefore I will not enter into a philosophic argument whether or not
"...and there can not be, a Hebrew root of the meaning "to be
unknown"". Rather, in using a concordance to examine its uses in
Tanakh, and comparing it to synonyms and contrasting to antonyms, as
well as analyzing noun and other derivatives from the same root, "to
be(come) unknown" is the closest equivalence in modern English.
Secondly, in analyzing Biblical Hebrew usages, your claim "The hebrew
root indicates a material state." cannot be maintained; even most
nouns refer to actors, not static objects.
Your objections appear to be philosophic, not linguistic, and as such,
I consider this discussion closed.
Karl W. Randolph.
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