28-04-2024, 01:19 PM
(28-04-2024, 11:23 AM)Koen G wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[...]
Sometimes I think it might help to take this idea even further. For example, 98% of occurrences of EVA-a are provided by [ai, ar, al, am, an, as]. If you leave off [an] and [as], you still get 96%. Something like [ao] accounts for 0.07%. My point is that fretting over the existence of [ao] probably distracts us from what is really going on - a system that predominantly produces [ai, ar, al, am].
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This is what I refer to as the question of what does "always" mean when always never happens (AKA how to avoid special pleading)? So, is '4' (or 'q' if you prefer, he said grinding his teeth) "always" supposed to be preceded by a space? I think it is, but empirically it isn't. In Bio B in the D'Imperio transcription 4 is word-initial 1456 times, line-initial 198 times, and word-medial 22 times (or 1.3% of the time). Are 'M' and 'N' "always" supposed to be word-final? Well, in the same sample they are word- or line-final 879 times and word-medial 26 times (or 2.9% of the time). I think the way to avoid special pleading in those cases is to ask "how does the frequency with which <x> occurs compare to the known frequency of scribal errors in handwritten manuscripts?" Maybe with an added dash of "how often do transcribers disagree about the location of spaces?" thrown in for good measure.
Karl