In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the abs... more In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the absolute and construct states (e.g. שְׁלֹשָׁה vs. שְׁלֹשֶׁת). The construct form is used in complex numbers, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים "three thousand", and as syntactic heads in definite construct phrases, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים. This paper focuses on a third usage of the numerical construct which is not found at all in Modern Hebrew and is unusual in Biblical Hebrew: as syntactic head of indefinite construct phrases, e.g., שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים "three days". Construct phrases share phonological and syntactic traits with compounds, lexical units formed from a multi-word phrase by a diachronic lexicalization process. A compound has the syntactic status of a word, and typically has a semantically opaque, non-compositional meaning. In this study we show that, in addition to the complex numerals, indefinite numerical construct phrases can be grouped into three semantic categories,: 1) measure expressions, 2) frequency/duration expressions, and 3) expressions with non-specific quantity reference. We argue that use of the construct state in these expressions emphasizes a semantic and syntactic resemblance to the compound. Just as the compound designates a unitary concept, measure, frequency and duration expressions designate abstract quantities measured in terms of units. The third category resembles the measure expression in that the counted entities are not significant in and of themselves, but only as part of an overall quantity. The systematic use of constructs in numerical יוֹם phrases suggests that these phrases have undergone a degree of lexicalization.
Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics
Construct phrases are nominal expressions consisting of a noun in the construct state, termed the... more Construct phrases are nominal expressions consisting of a noun in the construct state, termed the construct, and an immediately adjacent nominal phrase, the annex. Biblical Hebrew has four kinds of construct phrases containing numerals: phrases with a definite nominal annex, complex numeral phrases, approximative phrases and phrases with an indefinite nominal annex. The first three constructions are found in Modern Hebrew, but not the fourth. In this paper we provide semantic interpretations for the four numeral construct phrase types, accounting for these constructions within a theoretical approach to the cross-linguistic properties of numeral phrases. Adopting the semantic analysis in Rothstein (2013, 2017b), which treats numerals as a type of property expression in the sense of Chierchia (1985), we show that the four constructions fall into two groups. In the first group, containing the complex numeral and the indefinite measure phrase, the construct numeral is an argument of a f...
A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clau... more A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clauses and a variety of other types of clauses such as interrogatives and conditionals, but not in ordinary affirmative sentences. Examples from classical Biblical Hebrew include the pronoun מאומה “anything” and the semantically-bleached noun דבר “a thing,” which has been produced from the ordinary noun דבר “word, matter, action” by the process of grammaticalization. This paper examines the noun דבר in the non-biblical DSS with the purpose of determining whether it is used as there as an NPI, as in Biblical Hebrew, or as an ordinary semantically-bleached noun, as in Rabbinic Hebrew. The results show that the diachronic development of דבר in the DSS appears to be at an earlier stage than classical Biblical Hebrew, despite the later dating of the scrolls. This finding is explained as a special kind of pseudo-classicism.
A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clau... more A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clauses and a variety of other types of clauses such as interrogatives and conditionals, but not in ordinary affirmative sentences. Examples from classical Biblical Hebrew include the pronoun מאומה “anything” and the semantically-bleached noun דבר “a thing,” which has been produced from the ordinary noun דבר “word, matter, action” by the process of grammaticalization. This paper examines the noun דבר in the non-biblical DSS with the purpose of determining whether it is used as there as an NPI, as in Biblical Hebrew, or as an ordinary semantically-bleached noun, as in Rabbinic Hebrew. The results show that the diachronic development of דבר in the DSS appears to be at an earlier stage than classical Biblical Hebrew, despite the later dating of the scrolls. This finding is explained as a special kind of pseudo-classicism.
The question-response interchange in biblical dialogue is of great linguistic as well as literary... more The question-response interchange in biblical dialogue is of great linguistic as well as literary interest. In order to successfully serve purposes such as characterization and plot development, question-response interactions in a literary composition must authentically reflect the linguistic forms and conversational practices characterizing natural spoken language. The present study analyzes the linguistic characteristics and patterns of use of responses to questions in Biblical Hebrew dialogue. Its findings show that the semantics and syntax of answers to yes/no questions are closely related to the affiliation or misaffiliation of the answer with the question’s accompanying assumptions, expectations, and agendas. These associations between semantic/syntactic types and social cooperativeness, which closely resemble those found in modern spoken conversation, contribute to the authenticity of the style of biblical dialogue, and enable the question-response interaction to function effectively on the literary level.
Semitic, Biblical, and Jewish Studies in Honor of Richard C. Steiner (ed. Aaron J. Koller, Mordechai Z. Cohen and Adina Moshavi; Bialik and YU Press)., 2020
Modern Hebrew features two indefinite pronouns formed from nouns denoting basic ontological categ... more Modern Hebrew features two indefinite pronouns formed from nouns denoting basic ontological categories: iš ‘anyone’, from the noun meaning ‘man’, and davar ‘anything’, from the noun meaning ‘thing’. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the biblical ancestor of davar had already been grammaticalized as an indefinite pronoun in the classical BH prose corpus (Gen-2 Kgs). The results establish that biblical dābār had a semantically-bleached usage with the same distribution, semantic interpretation and rhetorical effects as the indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā. In this usage dābār functioned, like mǝʾūmā, as a negative polarity item (NPI) with minimizing meaning. The development of the NPI usage of dābār in the biblical period was the first stage in a grammaticalization path ultimately leading to the formation of the indefinite pronoun.
The indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā, usually rendered ‘anything’, has been identified by several schol... more The indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā, usually rendered ‘anything’, has been identified by several scholars as belonging to a linguistic category known as the negative polarity item (NPI). NPIs are words or phrases that cannot occur in simple episodic affirmative clauses, but are grammatical in negative clauses and certain other non-affirmative contexts. This paper presents a detailed analysis of mǝʾūmā in in biblical and contemporaneous extra-biblical texts, in the light of cross-linguistic research on NPIs, with the aim of elucidating its syntactic properties, contextual restrictions, semantic denotation, and rhetorical effects. The results of this study demonstrate that mǝʾūmā belongs to the group of emphatic NPIs, which express a minimal value on a scale and have the rhetorical function of intensification. mǝʾūmā is shown to occur (with only one possible exception) only in known NPI licensing environments, including negative, interrogative and conditional clauses, as well as in a clause with covert negation. In its semantic denotation mǝʾūmā expresses a minimal value on a contextually determined scale and involves an implicit “even”. On the rhetorical level mǝʾūmā has the characteristic intensifying effect of the emphatic NPI, often involving hyperbole. These results have significance for Bible translation, indicating that the standard rendering of mǝʾūmā with English anything does not adequately convey the intensifying force of the Hebrew indefinite pronoun.
forthcoming, in Linguistics for Hebraists and Biblical Scholars, eds. J. A. Cook & R. D. Holmstedt. Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic. Book is under contract to Eisenbrauns.
In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the abs... more In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the absolute and construct states (e.g. שְׁלֹשָׁה vs. שְׁלֹשֶׁת). The construct form is used in complex numbers, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים "three thousand", and as syntactic heads in definite construct phrases, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים. This paper focuses on a third usage of the numerical construct which is not found at all in Modern Hebrew and is unusual in Biblical Hebrew: as syntactic head of indefinite construct phrases, e.g., שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים "three days". Construct phrases share phonological and syntactic traits with compounds, lexical units formed from a multi-word phrase by a diachronic lexicalization process. A compound has the syntactic status of a word, and typically has a semantically opaque, non-compositional meaning. In this study we show that, in addition to the complex numerals, indefinite numerical construct phrases can be grouped into three semantic categories,: 1) measure expressions, 2) frequency/duration expressions, and 3) expressions with non-specific quantity reference. We argue that use of the construct state in these expressions emphasizes a semantic and syntactic resemblance to the compound. Just as the compound designates a unitary concept, measure, frequency and duration expressions designate abstract quantities measured in terms of units. The third category resembles the measure expression in that the counted entities are not significant in and of themselves, but only as part of an overall quantity. The systematic use of constructs in numerical יוֹם phrases suggests that these phrases have undergone a degree of lexicalization.
The Biblical Hebrew clausal adverb hălō is synchronically distinct from the combination of interr... more The Biblical Hebrew clausal adverb hălō is synchronically distinct from the combination of interrogative hă and negative lō. Syntactic and pragmatic evidence confirms that hălō in some of its occurrences is non-interrogative in meaning, and exhibits the syntactic traits of a clausal adverb, rather than those characteristic of the combination of the interrogative and negative particles. The clausal adverb hălō occurs in various pragmatic contexts, including answers to questions, announcements, predictions, and, most commonly, justifications. In most of these uses, the clausal adverb hălō has a parallel in the presentational clausal adverb hinnē. The present study examines the use of hălō as a discourse marker of justification in Biblical Hebrew. The justificational use of hălō is found in both poetic and prose texts, and in the classical as well as the late strata of Biblical Hebrew. Altogether, seventy-four occurrences of justificational hălō were identified. hălō can justify a preceding or a following claim. The claims justified by hălō are of various types, including direct assertions, presuppositions, and implications of rhetorical questions, directives, and oaths. In its justification of all of these types of claims, hălō can be compared to hinnē. A characteristic of justificational hălō which distinguishes it from hinnē is its occurrence in the middle of a three-part argument structure in which the claim is repeated for persuasive effect.
Rhetorical questions expressing premises are situated at the intersection of two disciplines whos... more Rhetorical questions expressing premises are situated at the intersection of two disciplines whose object of study is argumentation: dialectic and rhetoric. This paper examines arguments in biblical prose whose premises take the form of rhetorical questions, utilizing insights from modern dialectical and rhetorical theories of argumentation. The corpus for this study is the prose portions of Genesis-2 Kings. The nearly 130 arguments in the corpus were found to exhibit clear logical structures after undergoing reconstruction, although these structures are not necessarily logically conclusive. In this, biblical arguments are typical of argumentation in natural conversation. With a few exceptions, the modes of argumentation can be classified as modus tollens, denying the antecedent, argument by consequences, or inductive reasoning. The rhetorical question plays a significant rhetorical role in these arguments, boosting the persuasive force of a disputed premise or a less-than-compelling logical relation between premises and conclusion.
In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the abs... more In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the absolute and construct states (e.g. שְׁלֹשָׁה vs. שְׁלֹשֶׁת). The construct form is used in complex numbers, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים "three thousand", and as syntactic heads in definite construct phrases, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים. This paper focuses on a third usage of the numerical construct which is not found at all in Modern Hebrew and is unusual in Biblical Hebrew: as syntactic head of indefinite construct phrases, e.g., שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים "three days". Construct phrases share phonological and syntactic traits with compounds, lexical units formed from a multi-word phrase by a diachronic lexicalization process. A compound has the syntactic status of a word, and typically has a semantically opaque, non-compositional meaning. In this study we show that, in addition to the complex numerals, indefinite numerical construct phrases can be grouped into three semantic categories,: 1) measure expressions, 2) frequency/duration expressions, and 3) expressions with non-specific quantity reference. We argue that use of the construct state in these expressions emphasizes a semantic and syntactic resemblance to the compound. Just as the compound designates a unitary concept, measure, frequency and duration expressions designate abstract quantities measured in terms of units. The third category resembles the measure expression in that the counted entities are not significant in and of themselves, but only as part of an overall quantity. The systematic use of constructs in numerical יוֹם phrases suggests that these phrases have undergone a degree of lexicalization.
Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics
Construct phrases are nominal expressions consisting of a noun in the construct state, termed the... more Construct phrases are nominal expressions consisting of a noun in the construct state, termed the construct, and an immediately adjacent nominal phrase, the annex. Biblical Hebrew has four kinds of construct phrases containing numerals: phrases with a definite nominal annex, complex numeral phrases, approximative phrases and phrases with an indefinite nominal annex. The first three constructions are found in Modern Hebrew, but not the fourth. In this paper we provide semantic interpretations for the four numeral construct phrase types, accounting for these constructions within a theoretical approach to the cross-linguistic properties of numeral phrases. Adopting the semantic analysis in Rothstein (2013, 2017b), which treats numerals as a type of property expression in the sense of Chierchia (1985), we show that the four constructions fall into two groups. In the first group, containing the complex numeral and the indefinite measure phrase, the construct numeral is an argument of a f...
A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clau... more A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clauses and a variety of other types of clauses such as interrogatives and conditionals, but not in ordinary affirmative sentences. Examples from classical Biblical Hebrew include the pronoun מאומה “anything” and the semantically-bleached noun דבר “a thing,” which has been produced from the ordinary noun דבר “word, matter, action” by the process of grammaticalization. This paper examines the noun דבר in the non-biblical DSS with the purpose of determining whether it is used as there as an NPI, as in Biblical Hebrew, or as an ordinary semantically-bleached noun, as in Rabbinic Hebrew. The results show that the diachronic development of דבר in the DSS appears to be at an earlier stage than classical Biblical Hebrew, despite the later dating of the scrolls. This finding is explained as a special kind of pseudo-classicism.
A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clau... more A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that occurs grammatically in negative clauses and a variety of other types of clauses such as interrogatives and conditionals, but not in ordinary affirmative sentences. Examples from classical Biblical Hebrew include the pronoun מאומה “anything” and the semantically-bleached noun דבר “a thing,” which has been produced from the ordinary noun דבר “word, matter, action” by the process of grammaticalization. This paper examines the noun דבר in the non-biblical DSS with the purpose of determining whether it is used as there as an NPI, as in Biblical Hebrew, or as an ordinary semantically-bleached noun, as in Rabbinic Hebrew. The results show that the diachronic development of דבר in the DSS appears to be at an earlier stage than classical Biblical Hebrew, despite the later dating of the scrolls. This finding is explained as a special kind of pseudo-classicism.
The question-response interchange in biblical dialogue is of great linguistic as well as literary... more The question-response interchange in biblical dialogue is of great linguistic as well as literary interest. In order to successfully serve purposes such as characterization and plot development, question-response interactions in a literary composition must authentically reflect the linguistic forms and conversational practices characterizing natural spoken language. The present study analyzes the linguistic characteristics and patterns of use of responses to questions in Biblical Hebrew dialogue. Its findings show that the semantics and syntax of answers to yes/no questions are closely related to the affiliation or misaffiliation of the answer with the question’s accompanying assumptions, expectations, and agendas. These associations between semantic/syntactic types and social cooperativeness, which closely resemble those found in modern spoken conversation, contribute to the authenticity of the style of biblical dialogue, and enable the question-response interaction to function effectively on the literary level.
Semitic, Biblical, and Jewish Studies in Honor of Richard C. Steiner (ed. Aaron J. Koller, Mordechai Z. Cohen and Adina Moshavi; Bialik and YU Press)., 2020
Modern Hebrew features two indefinite pronouns formed from nouns denoting basic ontological categ... more Modern Hebrew features two indefinite pronouns formed from nouns denoting basic ontological categories: iš ‘anyone’, from the noun meaning ‘man’, and davar ‘anything’, from the noun meaning ‘thing’. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the biblical ancestor of davar had already been grammaticalized as an indefinite pronoun in the classical BH prose corpus (Gen-2 Kgs). The results establish that biblical dābār had a semantically-bleached usage with the same distribution, semantic interpretation and rhetorical effects as the indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā. In this usage dābār functioned, like mǝʾūmā, as a negative polarity item (NPI) with minimizing meaning. The development of the NPI usage of dābār in the biblical period was the first stage in a grammaticalization path ultimately leading to the formation of the indefinite pronoun.
The indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā, usually rendered ‘anything’, has been identified by several schol... more The indefinite pronoun mǝʾūmā, usually rendered ‘anything’, has been identified by several scholars as belonging to a linguistic category known as the negative polarity item (NPI). NPIs are words or phrases that cannot occur in simple episodic affirmative clauses, but are grammatical in negative clauses and certain other non-affirmative contexts. This paper presents a detailed analysis of mǝʾūmā in in biblical and contemporaneous extra-biblical texts, in the light of cross-linguistic research on NPIs, with the aim of elucidating its syntactic properties, contextual restrictions, semantic denotation, and rhetorical effects. The results of this study demonstrate that mǝʾūmā belongs to the group of emphatic NPIs, which express a minimal value on a scale and have the rhetorical function of intensification. mǝʾūmā is shown to occur (with only one possible exception) only in known NPI licensing environments, including negative, interrogative and conditional clauses, as well as in a clause with covert negation. In its semantic denotation mǝʾūmā expresses a minimal value on a contextually determined scale and involves an implicit “even”. On the rhetorical level mǝʾūmā has the characteristic intensifying effect of the emphatic NPI, often involving hyperbole. These results have significance for Bible translation, indicating that the standard rendering of mǝʾūmā with English anything does not adequately convey the intensifying force of the Hebrew indefinite pronoun.
forthcoming, in Linguistics for Hebraists and Biblical Scholars, eds. J. A. Cook & R. D. Holmstedt. Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic. Book is under contract to Eisenbrauns.
In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the abs... more In both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, many of the cardinal numbers have different forms for the absolute and construct states (e.g. שְׁלֹשָׁה vs. שְׁלֹשֶׁת). The construct form is used in complex numbers, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים "three thousand", and as syntactic heads in definite construct phrases, as in שְׁלֹשֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁים. This paper focuses on a third usage of the numerical construct which is not found at all in Modern Hebrew and is unusual in Biblical Hebrew: as syntactic head of indefinite construct phrases, e.g., שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים "three days". Construct phrases share phonological and syntactic traits with compounds, lexical units formed from a multi-word phrase by a diachronic lexicalization process. A compound has the syntactic status of a word, and typically has a semantically opaque, non-compositional meaning. In this study we show that, in addition to the complex numerals, indefinite numerical construct phrases can be grouped into three semantic categories,: 1) measure expressions, 2) frequency/duration expressions, and 3) expressions with non-specific quantity reference. We argue that use of the construct state in these expressions emphasizes a semantic and syntactic resemblance to the compound. Just as the compound designates a unitary concept, measure, frequency and duration expressions designate abstract quantities measured in terms of units. The third category resembles the measure expression in that the counted entities are not significant in and of themselves, but only as part of an overall quantity. The systematic use of constructs in numerical יוֹם phrases suggests that these phrases have undergone a degree of lexicalization.
The Biblical Hebrew clausal adverb hălō is synchronically distinct from the combination of interr... more The Biblical Hebrew clausal adverb hălō is synchronically distinct from the combination of interrogative hă and negative lō. Syntactic and pragmatic evidence confirms that hălō in some of its occurrences is non-interrogative in meaning, and exhibits the syntactic traits of a clausal adverb, rather than those characteristic of the combination of the interrogative and negative particles. The clausal adverb hălō occurs in various pragmatic contexts, including answers to questions, announcements, predictions, and, most commonly, justifications. In most of these uses, the clausal adverb hălō has a parallel in the presentational clausal adverb hinnē. The present study examines the use of hălō as a discourse marker of justification in Biblical Hebrew. The justificational use of hălō is found in both poetic and prose texts, and in the classical as well as the late strata of Biblical Hebrew. Altogether, seventy-four occurrences of justificational hălō were identified. hălō can justify a preceding or a following claim. The claims justified by hălō are of various types, including direct assertions, presuppositions, and implications of rhetorical questions, directives, and oaths. In its justification of all of these types of claims, hălō can be compared to hinnē. A characteristic of justificational hălō which distinguishes it from hinnē is its occurrence in the middle of a three-part argument structure in which the claim is repeated for persuasive effect.
Rhetorical questions expressing premises are situated at the intersection of two disciplines whos... more Rhetorical questions expressing premises are situated at the intersection of two disciplines whose object of study is argumentation: dialectic and rhetoric. This paper examines arguments in biblical prose whose premises take the form of rhetorical questions, utilizing insights from modern dialectical and rhetorical theories of argumentation. The corpus for this study is the prose portions of Genesis-2 Kings. The nearly 130 arguments in the corpus were found to exhibit clear logical structures after undergoing reconstruction, although these structures are not necessarily logically conclusive. In this, biblical arguments are typical of argumentation in natural conversation. With a few exceptions, the modes of argumentation can be classified as modus tollens, denying the antecedent, argument by consequences, or inductive reasoning. The rhetorical question plays a significant rhetorical role in these arguments, boosting the persuasive force of a disputed premise or a less-than-compelling logical relation between premises and conclusion.
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