Non-canonical patterns of definiteness agreement in Hebrew

Abstract

This study examines a non-canonical construction in Hebrew: a definite NP consisting of a head noun and an attributive adjective, where the head is not marked with a definite article but the adjective is. This construction deviates from the standard rules of Hebrew grammar, which require agreement in definiteness marking between the noun and its adjective. The analysis is based on a corpus of twelve Hebrew works from the Interim Period and addresses the construction in both Classical Hebrew and the Hebrew of the late Interim Period. The findings reveal that the transition from the former period, when Hebrew was a spoken language, to the latter, when it became predominantly a written language, influenced the distribution and underlying factors of this construction. Furthermore, the transition from the Middle Ages to the Modern Era, two distinct periods within the Interim Period, significantly impacted the Hebrew language, fostering linguistic development and change, even before Hebrew regained its status as a spoken language. The study demonstrates how a single linguistic phenomenon can arise from diverse factors, reflecting the historical and cultural transformations that shaped Hebrew and its speakers over the centuries.