<html>
<body>
<font size=3 color="#000080"><i>At 11:16 18-04-19 -0400, Akiva
Miller via Mesorah stated the following:<br>
</i></font><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=3>I see a
gigantic difference between Medieval Aramaic vs Shakespearean
English.<br><br>
The latter was a spoken language where the grammar and meaning was
commonplace, even if only a few could read and write. The illiteracy may
have led to rampant spelling errors, but that's about it.<br><br>
The former was a foreign language, which people were familiar with only
to whatever extent they knew gemara; I can all too easily imagine how
their writing must have been riddled with ignorant
errors.</font></blockquote><font size=4 color="#000080"><br>
Please try to recall that 80 percent of English people were illiterate at
the time of Shakespeare. (But Shakespeare was not.)<br><br>
Do you really think that paetanim who wrote in Aramaic were also
illiterate? (Also at the time of Shakespeare.)<br><br>
I have known and spoke to illiterates and semi-literates in English,
Hebrew and Spanish. They have no idea of singular and plural,
tense, subject and object, spelling, pronunciation. Except for when
they have no choice, they never read anything; nor do they write.
Compare that with the Aramaic of the Middle Ages, and with Shakespeare's
contemporaries.<br><br>
How about Hebrew at that time? From the fifth century CE on, Hebrew
was no longer used anywhere in the world as an everyday spoken language.
However, it continued to be widely used as a literary language up until
its modern revival as a spoken tongue. So regarding your criticism
of Aramaic being in a state of illiteracy at that time, the same
criticism would seem to apply to Hebrew. Something doesn't
scan.<br><br>
Your facts may well indeed be facts, but the conclusion you draw is not
in consonance with the facts, in my humble opinion. But I will
fight to the death for your right to express your opinions.<br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#800000">
-----------------------<br>
Mo'adim lesimha<br>
------------------------<br>
<i>IRA L. JACOBSON<br>
</i>---------------------------<br>
<i><a href="mailto:laser@ieee.org" eudora="autourl">
mailto:laser@ieee.org<br><br>
<br>
</a></font></i></body>
</html>