David Kwon and the Genealogical Adam and Eve

As a has-been linguist, polysemy is virtually an obsession of mine, especially on Internet forums. I’m been frustrated by it for years. Moreover, sometimes things get even more confusing when homonymy/homophony arises by “linguistic evolution” coincidence—and that mere coincidence disqualifies that instance as polysemy.

I would say that the Hebrew word NEPHILIM has become a confusing polysemy in a lot of discussions.

Even the simple word ark has its ambiguities (Noah’s ark or the ark of the covenant?), as I was reminded with my very first “assignment” when I consulted for the TV quiz show The Weakest Link. The first question they asked me to approve or edit for broadcast was the ambiguous, “In the Bible, who built the ark?”

Yes, I cringed when I first read the term “Mitochondrial Eve” and realized that the public would totally misunderstand it.

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