Subject, Theme and Agent in Modern Standard Arabic

267 Pages·1998·3.69 MB·English

by  Hussein Abdul-Raof

Subject, Theme and Agent in
Modern Standard Arabic

Subject, TheIne and
Agent in Modern
Standard Arabic
Hussein Abdul-Raof
~ ~~~;~;n~~;up
LONDONANDNEWYORK
Firstpublishedin1998
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,
Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
TransferredtoDigitalPrinting2007
© 1998 Hussein Abdul-Raof
Typesetin PalatinobyLaserScript, Mitcham, Surrey
All rights reserved. No part ofthis bookmaybe reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form orby any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, withoutpermission in
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for thisbookis available from the BritishLibrary
LibraryofCongress in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this bookhasbeen requested
ISBN 0-7007-0672-0
Publisher'sNote
Thepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprint
butpointsoutthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalmaybeapparent
To My Wife

Contents
Page
Abstract xi
Acknowledgement xii
Chapter One - Introduction 1
1.1 Objective of Our Study 1
1.2 The Data 7
1.3 Abbreviations and Symbols 11
1.4 Phonemic Transcription 13
Chapter Two - Subject in Arabic 15
2.1 Introduction 15
2.2 Modern Western Tradition 15
2.3 Traditional Arab Account 17
2.4 Grammatical Framework 18
2.4.1 The Noun Phrase 19
2.4.2 Simple Sentence 22
2.5 SUBJECT 25
2.6 SUBJECT, mubtada' and fa:9il 35
2.6.1 mubtada' 36
2.6.2 fa:9i1 38
2.7 Conclusion 40
Chapter Three - Theme-Rheme in Arabic 43
3.1 Introduction 43
3.2 Constituent Ordering 64
3.2.1 Introduction 64
3.2.2 Fronted Constituents 65
viii Subject, Theme and Agent in Modern Standard Arabic
3.2.3 Initial Adjuncts, Disjuncts and Conjuncts 69
3.2.4 Extraposed Constituents 74
3.2.5 Differences Between D.O.(l) and D.O.(2) Structures 82
3.3 Functions of Ordering 84
3.3.1 Introduction 84
3.3.2 FC's Functions 85
3.3.3 EC's Functions 93
3.4 Conclusion 111
Chapter Four - Agent in Arabic 115
4.1 Introduction 115
4.1.1 The Concept of Agent in Modern Linguistics 115
4.1.2.1 Prototypical Features of Agent 116
4.1.2.2 Noun-Based and Verb-Based Accounts 117
4.1.2.3 Agent in Relation to Other Case Roles 118
4.1.3 Agent in Arabic Grammar and Linguistics 119
4.1.3.1 Classical Grammarians 120
4.1.3.2 Recent Accounts 121
4.2 Present Analysis 121
4.2.1 Introduction 121
4.2.2 Prototypical Features of Agent 127
4.2.3 The Verb 153
4.2.3.1 Introduction 153
4.2.3.2 Semantic Types of Verb 154
4.2.3.3 Verb Forms in Arabic 165
4.2.3.3.1 Shapes of Arabic Verb Forms 166
4.2.3.4 Coreferential Case Roles 171
4.2.3.5 Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Principles 174
4.3 Conclusion 181
Chapter Five - Interaction of Subject, Theme and Agent 185
5.1 Introduction 185
5.2 SUBJECTand THEME 187
5.2.1 Structural Characteristics 187
5.2.2 Pragmatic Functions 188
5.2.3 Other Scholars' Views 191
5.2.4 Present Analysis 193
5.3 SUBJECTand AGENT 208
5.3.1 Semantic Conditions 208
5.3.2 Other Scholars' Views 209
5.3.3 Present Analysis 210
Contents ix
5.4 SUBJECT, THEME and AGENT 218
5.4.1 Other Scholars' Views 218
5.4.2 Present Analysis 218
5.5 Conclusion 235
References 239