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Re: verbs = nouns? (in Hebrew)

From:Dan Sulani <dnsulani@...>
Date:Wednesday, January 10, 2001, 12:11
On 9 Jan, Steg wrote:

>Wow, i never heard of ShTtR being used as a verb at all. If i heard it i >would assume it meant something to do with "policing" and not >punishment..
I guess that in ancient times, policemen weren't expected to be social-workers, psychologists, negotiators, investigators, etc. as they are today. BTW, from the same root (shin-tet-resh) comes the word "mishtar" which is less "govenment", than "a leadership which enforces its rules". ("govenment", /memSala/, comes from a different root.)
>/megalem/.... now *that's* a useful verb. I think i've been using >/mesaxek/ all this time :-) .
Same general idea, different nuances. /mesaxek/ literally means "he plays" (It's also used when referring to what kids [or kids-at-heart ;-) ] do.) In a theatrical context it means acting in general. The word for "actor" is /saxkan/ and what he does on stage _is_ /mesaxek/. /megalem/ is more like "playing the part of". The general idea seems to be that the actor's personality is a "shapeless mass" and thus he is able to mold himself (morph? :-) ) into being any part he is playing. Perhaps a better translation of /megalem/ would be "he portrays".
>Although would it matter (at least etymologically) that /kohen/ is >spelled without a vav? And by /golem/ do you mean like The Golem, >vav-less and with a segol, or is it actually the same pattern as /Somer/, >etc.?
Vav-less and with a segol. By "the same pattern" I was referring to how the words _sounded_ in Israeli pronounciation, trying to stay with the _o_e_ vowel pattern. I wasn't referring to the written forms or the historical developments they reflect.
>PS- i don't remember if you responded to it... did you see a few months >(or maybe less) ago when i mentioned that i had found a book on >children's acquisition of Hebrew at my campus bookstore's random book >sale? it talked about the *_`alo_ for _alav_ issue, among other things.
Sorry, Steg. I don't recall that post, but it does sound interesting. Are you referring here to the suffix for "his, plural"? If so, perhaps the book has information which might be of use to me: Among the children whose speech I treat, there are some who consistantly pronounce -alav as /alo/. Could you possibly provide me with the name of the book and the author? Maybe I can get hold of a copy over here. Thanks. Dan Sulani -------------------------------------------------------------------- likehsna rtem zuv tikuhnuh auag inuvuz vaka'a. A word is an awesome thing.