Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!olivea!apple!agate!shelby!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: mangoe@tove.cs.umd.edu (Charley Wingate) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Documentary Hypothesis and the Homeric Question Message-ID: Date: 29 Nov 90 05:22:18 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 27 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Richard A. O'Keefe writes: >English lesson: > the rule for abbreviations is that an abbreviation ends with an > abbreviation point if and only if the last letter of the abbreviation > differs from the last letter of the word abbreviated. It is perhaps germane to the topic here to point out that American English does not have this rule. The American rule is (quoting the MLA style book) "Abbreviations that end in a small letter are followed by a period." Normally all abbreviations end in a period, whereas acronyms do not. How is this relevant? Consider Mr. O'Keefe copying out Mr. Seimon's text. There's more than an even chance that he is going to "correct" these mistakes. Even if he is trying to copy exactly, his mistakes are likely to "correct" the existing text. I suspect the primary motivation for the DH is the juxtaposition of the "two" creation stories. Ordinarily we do not write like that; it is most easily explained in terms of two stories redacted together. On the other hand, an interleaving of two stories exceeds my credulity; I am much more prone to see that in terms of someone deliberately trying to vary things. -- C. Wingate + "Our God to whom we turn when weary with illusion, + Whose stars serenely burn above this world's confusion, mangoe@cs.umd.edu + Thine is the mighty plan, the steadfast order sure mimsy!mangoe + In which the world began, endures, and shall endure."