The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew: Linguistic Approaches

382 Pages·1999·24.76 MB·English

by  Cynthia L. Miller

The Verbless Clause in Biblical Hebrew
Linguistic Approaches
Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic
edited by
M. O’Connor and Cynthia L. Miller
The series Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic is devoted to the an-
cient West Semitic languages, including Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, and their
near congeners. It includes monographs, collections of essays, and text edi-
tions informed by the approaches of linguistic science. The material studied
will span from the earliest texts to the rise of Islam.
The Verbless Clause in
Biblical Hebrew
Linguistic Approaches
edited by
ynthia iller
C L. M
EISENBRAUNS
Winona Lake, Indiana
1999
Image on front cover: a portion of Deuteronomy 6, including Deut 6:4, from the
Leningrad Codex. Acknowledgment:
Digital Image of a Photograph by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman, West Semitic
Research in collaboration with the Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center. Courtesy
Russian National Library (Saltykov-Shchedrin).
ç Copyright 1999 by Eisenbrauns.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Cataloging in Publication Data
The verbless clause in Biblical Hebrew : linguistic approaches / edited by
Cynthia L. Miller.
p. cm. — (Linguistic studies in ancient West Semitic ; 1)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57506-036-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Hebrew language—Clauses. 2. Bible. O.T.—Language, style.
I. Miller, Cynthia L. (Cynthia Lynn), 1957– . II. Series.
PJ4711.V47 1999
492.4u5—dc21 98-45884
CIP
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.†‰
Contents
Abbreviations of Terms and Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Abbreviations of Journals and Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
BASIC ISSUES
Pivotal Issues in Analyzing the Verbless Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Cynthia L. Miller
Is There Really a Compound Nominal Clause
in Biblical Hebrew? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Walter Gross
Are Nominal Clauses a Distinct Clausal Type? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Cameron Sinclair
SYNTACTIC APPROACHES
Word Order in the Verbless Clause:
A Generative-Functional Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Randall Buth
A Unified Analysis of Verbal and Verbless Clauses
within Government-Binding Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Vincent DeCaen
Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Features in Identifying Subject
and Predicate in Nominal Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Janet W. Dyk and Eep Talstra
The Tripartite Nominal Clause Revisited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Takamitsu Muraoka
Types and Functions of the Nominal Sentence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Alviero Niccacci
v
vi Contents
SEMANTIC AND PRAGMATIC APPROACHES
Relative Definiteness and the Verbless Clause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Kirk E. Lowery
Macrosyntactic Functions of Nominal Clauses
Referring to Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Lénart J. de Regt
Thematic Continuity and the Conditioning
of Word Order in Verbless Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
E. J. Revell
The Verbless Clause and Its Textual Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Ellen van Wolde
INDEXES
Index of Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Index of Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Index of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Abbreviations of Terms and Phrases
Adj adjective (cf. detAdj, indetAdj)
AdjP adjective phrase
App apposition
attribRC attributive relative clause (cf. RC)
BH Biblical Hebrew
CC contextualizing constituent
CMod clause modifier
CNC compound nominal clause
Conj conjunction
ConjP conjunction phrase
Cop copula
defNP definite noun phrase (cf. NP, detNP, indetNP, indefNP)
demPro demonstrative pronoun (cf. Pro)
detAdj determinate adjective phrase
detNP determinate noun phrase (cf. NP, defNP, indetNP, indefNP)
DetP determiner phrase
detPP determined prepositional phrase
Ex particle of existence (cf. negEx)
f. feminine
GB government-binding theory
gP grammatical predicate (cf. P)
gS grammatical subject (cf. S)
indefNP indefinite noun phrase (cf. NP, indetNP, defNP, detNP)
indetAdj indeterminate adjective phrase
indetNP indeterminate noun phrase (cf. NP, indefNP, defNP, detNP)
indetPP indetermined prepositional phrase
Inf infinitive
interr interrogative word (cf. Q)
interrPro interrogative pronoun
Loc locative; locative interrogative
m. masculine
M mood
MP mood phrase
NC nominal clause (cf. CNC)
negEx particle of negative existence (cf. Ex)
NP noun phrase (cf. defNP, detNP, indefNP, indetNP)
Obj object
vii
viii Abbreviations of Terms and Phrases
P predicate; syntactical predicate (Niccacci) (cf. gP);
preposition (DeCaen) (cf. PP)
PC predicate clause
PComp predicate complement
Pd casus pendens
persPro personal pronoun
pl. plural
pleoPro pleonastic pronoun
PN personal name
pos1 position 1 (i.e., initial position)
pos2 position 2 (i.e., non-initial position)
Poss possessive relation
PP prepositional phrase
PPro1 preposition with suffixed pronoun in first position in clause
PPro2 preposition with suffixed pronoun in second position in clause
Pro pronoun (cf. demPro, interrPro, persPro, pleoPro)
Pro1 pronoun in first position in clause
Pro2 pronoun in second position in clause
P–S predicate–subject order (cf. S–P)
Ptc participle
PtcP participial phrase
Q interrogative (DeCaen) (cf. interr)
RC relative clause (cf. attribRC)
S subject; syntactical subject (Niccacci) (cf. gS)
s. singular
sc supplementary constituent
S–P subject–predicate order (cf. P–S)
spec specification
spec-MP specifier of mood phrase
spec-NP specifier of noun phrase
spec-TP specifier of tense phrase
spec-VP specifier of verb phrase
SVO subject–verb–object
suf suffix
T tense
t trace
Ti time
TP tense phrase
V verb
V1 verb is in initial position
V2 verb is in second position
VComp verbal complement
VO verb–object
Voc vocative
Abbreviations of Terms and Phrases ix
VP verb phrase
VSO verb–subject–object
v(v). verse(s)
X any clausal constituent; any syntactic head (DeCaen)
Y-movement Yiddish-movement
q Qere reading