From: David Kummerow <farmerjoeblo AT hotmail.com>
To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [b-hebrew] Quotable quotes of Isaac Fried!
Date: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:56:52 +1000
Here's some quotable quotes from our resident linguistic sceptic Isaac
that I've gathered in my discussions with him in the recent months.
While they're quite good for a laugh, they also give a snapshot into the
subjective, imaginative, and fanciful nature of his work as all of his
claims below are all asserted without supporting evidence. But it's
ultimately a waste of time trying to point out the errors of his work as
his opinion on anything challenging his view is summed up succinctly in
a quotation below: "[I] DON’T GIVE A HOOT." Which explains his common
"response" of simply not replying when his error has been clearly
pointed out, allowing him to "maintain" his view without modification.
It's rather comical that someone with only a smattering of linguistic
knowledge (enough to get himself into difficulty; see last quote where
it is clear that he is entirely confused over phonemic status in
suggesting that phonemes(!) "represent the seven fundamental, or
primitive, concepts of language") embarks on a pseudo-linguistic
etymological study, claims that linguistics is only for students of
linguistics and that etymological study has nothing to do with
linguistics(!), makes absurd claims regarding pronominal compounding and
number of vowels, attributes morphemic status to phonemes -- and yet
STILL wants to claim that his ideas are "the most significant, if not
the ultimate, contribution to the understanding of the Hebrew language
in the last 1000 years"!!! Read on:
“What you call ‘linguistic methodology’ is of concern to students of
linguistics only, it has no bearing whatsoever on the study of Hebrew
etymology and grammar. For example, the question if a certain
‘linguistic unit’ is a morpheme or not is of interest to a linguistics
student only, wanting on a test to please his professor and get a good
grade. Otherwise, the correct answer to this question is WE DON’T GIVE A
HOOT.” [https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew/2008-June/035964.html]
“The whole edifice of the Hebrew language, its Semitic relatives, and
possibly also the tongues of the West, is composed of seven phonemes
representing the seven fundamental, or primitive, concepts of language.
These immutable fundamental concepts are the building blocks of meaning,
and each root of the language is compiled of at least one such concept.
In writing, the fundamental concepts are accurately, and invariably,
fixed by certain letters.” [The Analytic and Synthetic Etymology of the
Hebrew Language, p.1]
“You […] mak[e] a grave mistake in spurning my ideas on the structure of
the Hebrew word. They are possibly the most significant, if not the
ultimate, contribution to the understanding of the Hebrew language in
the last 1000 years. If you miss them it will be your own great loss.”
[https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/b-hebrew/2008-June/035964.html]
Regards,
David Kummerow.
[b-hebrew] Quotable quotes of Isaac Fried!,
David Kummerow, 07/02/2008