Historically, grammarians have viewed tenses as simple, unanalysable pieces of grammatical information. Portmanteau tenses may combine tense, aspect, and modality, but these are the main categories. Suzanne Fleischman has proposed a radically new paradigm in which not only verbal forms but entire discourse contexts are analysed as clusters of oppositional properties to which markedness values apply. It is in the interaction of the cluster of properties associated with a verbal form and those associated with its discourse context that we find the locus of verbal meaning. This interactive meaning is illustrated by examples from Psalm 18, demonstrating that morphological forms have the effect of either drawing non-prototypical situations closer to the prototype or drawing situations farther away from the prototype.
{"title":"Morphology and Markedness: On Verb Switching in Hebrew Poetry","authors":"Elizabeth Robar","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9322","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9322","url":null,"abstract":"Historically, grammarians have viewed tenses as simple, unanalysable pieces of grammatical information. Portmanteau tenses may combine tense, aspect, and modality, but these are the main categories. Suzanne Fleischman has proposed a radically new paradigm in which not only verbal forms but entire discourse contexts are analysed as clusters of oppositional properties to which markedness values apply. It is in the interaction of the cluster of properties associated with a verbal form and those associated with its discourse context that we find the locus of verbal meaning. This interactive meaning is illustrated by examples from Psalm 18, demonstrating that morphological forms have the effect of either drawing non-prototypical situations closer to the prototype or drawing situations farther away from the prototype.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45488822","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper first indicates the implications of the mixed results obtained by using three disparate analytical methods to infer relationships among biblical text portions based upon their spelling practices. Next, a sketch is provided of matres lectionis (“mothers of reading”) in Biblical Hebrew and of the Andersen-Forbes classification system. Vowel features are specified, and examples presented. The notion of transmissional textual change is introduced. The criticality of comparing the results provided by different analytical methods is emphasised. Next, three complementary analytical methods are introduced in turn, and their results are appraised. Clustering is a heuristic data exploration method, its prime result being that the spelling of the Torah sets it well apart from the other portions of the Hebrew Bible. Clustering, however, produces many other provocative portion groupings inviting investigation. While multidimensional scaling also gathers the Torah portions, it also yields its own tantalising juxtapositions. Seriation orders the portions along a timeline. It results in an expected horseshoe-shaped band of portions, albeit rather “puffy.” Also, some of its text-portion orders are suspicious. While many results produced by the three methods are encouraging, many are perplexing. Envisioned future application of evolving methods to our BH text-portion data may well enhance the trustworthiness of our inferences.
{"title":"The Significance of Three Methods of Grouping Biblical Hebrew Text Portions","authors":"A. Forbes","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9320","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9320","url":null,"abstract":"The paper first indicates the implications of the mixed results obtained by using three disparate analytical methods to infer relationships among biblical text portions based upon their spelling practices. Next, a sketch is provided of matres lectionis (“mothers of reading”) in Biblical Hebrew and of the Andersen-Forbes classification system. Vowel features are specified, and examples presented. The notion of transmissional textual change is introduced. The criticality of comparing the results provided by different analytical methods is emphasised. Next, three complementary analytical methods are introduced in turn, and their results are appraised. Clustering is a heuristic data exploration method, its prime result being that the spelling of the Torah sets it well apart from the other portions of the Hebrew Bible. Clustering, however, produces many other provocative portion groupings inviting investigation. While multidimensional scaling also gathers the Torah portions, it also yields its own tantalising juxtapositions. Seriation orders the portions along a timeline. It results in an expected horseshoe-shaped band of portions, albeit rather “puffy.” Also, some of its text-portion orders are suspicious. While many results produced by the three methods are encouraging, many are perplexing. Envisioned future application of evolving methods to our BH text-portion data may well enhance the trustworthiness of our inferences.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41549812","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article surveys the three sources at our disposal for the recovery of ancient northern Hebrew: a) Israelian Hebrew, that is, the dialect present in those portions of the Bible with a northern provenance; b) inscriptions from the northern kingdom of Israel, including Kuntillet ‘Ajrud; and c) Samaritan Hebrew. The overall goal is to determine the common lexical and grammatical features of this complex of northern Hebrew dialects from the biblical period, many of which are shared with Phoenician and Aramaic, though not with Judahite Hebrew.
{"title":"Israelian Hebrew, Inscriptions from the North of Israel, and Samaritan Hebrew: A Complex of Northern Dialects","authors":"Gary A. Rendsburg","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9719","url":null,"abstract":"This article surveys the three sources at our disposal for the recovery of ancient northern Hebrew: a) Israelian Hebrew, that is, the dialect present in those portions of the Bible with a northern provenance; b) inscriptions from the northern kingdom of Israel, including Kuntillet ‘Ajrud; and c) Samaritan Hebrew. The overall goal is to determine the common lexical and grammatical features of this complex of northern Hebrew dialects from the biblical period, many of which are shared with Phoenician and Aramaic, though not with Judahite Hebrew.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48956725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper provides a descriptive analysis of address rules governing two nominal types of free forms of address (i.e., personal names and titles), which are used between two human beings in biblical Hebrew prose. Using the bi-dimensional power/solidarity model as a theoretical framework (Brown and Gilman 1960; Brown and Ford 1961), I attempt to show whether the usage of personal names and titles in biblical Hebrew exhibits unique rules and patterns or accords with their claim of “linguistic universal”—the linguistic form referring to an inferior is used mutually by intimate equals, while the form referring to a superior is used mutually by distant equals. After describing the general rules of address, I attempt to identify possible examples of what Brown and Gilman call “expressive shift,” that is, strategic violation of address rules to communicate the speaker’s temporary feelings and attitudes.
{"title":"Free Forms of Address and the Cases of Expressive Shift in Biblical Hebrew","authors":"Young Bok Kim","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9297","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9297","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides a descriptive analysis of address rules governing two nominal types of free forms of address (i.e., personal names and titles), which are used between two human beings in biblical Hebrew prose. Using the bi-dimensional power/solidarity model as a theoretical framework (Brown and Gilman 1960; Brown and Ford 1961), I attempt to show whether the usage of personal names and titles in biblical Hebrew exhibits unique rules and patterns or accords with their claim of “linguistic universal”—the linguistic form referring to an inferior is used mutually by intimate equals, while the form referring to a superior is used mutually by distant equals. After describing the general rules of address, I attempt to identify possible examples of what Brown and Gilman call “expressive shift,” that is, strategic violation of address rules to communicate the speaker’s temporary feelings and attitudes.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47291533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper offers a provisional evaluation of both the use of the particle ’et preceding a nominal functioning as a direct object and of the reversed word order, as these two groups of syntactic hallmarks are often regarded to be emphatic. The first part of this paper describes a selection of cases from Manuscript a of the Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) in which ’et is used differently compared with the Masoretic book of Isaiah (MT). Next, it provides selected examples within non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, in order to investigate the double direct object and the shift in verb complementation. The second part of this paper deals with four categories affected by the phenomenon of reversed word order in both the biblical and non-biblical DSS, i.e., subject preceding the verb, direct object preceding the infinitive, apposition, and binary expressions. The conclusion suggests two alternatives to emphasis as the main cause of the alleged idiosyncrasies in the use of ’et and in reversed word order, respectively. The results reveal some insights into the increased frequency of the particle ’et both in the biblical and non-biblical DSS, under certain syntactic circumstances, and into the shift from initial-focus to end-focus in a number of categories—albeit in a transitional stage—prevalent in non-biblical DSS.
{"title":"The Varieties of DSS Hebrew as Reflected in Two Syntactic Traits, and the Sociolinguistic Situation Underlying the Qumran Hebrew Variety","authors":"M. Colasuonno","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9325","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9325","url":null,"abstract":"This paper offers a provisional evaluation of both the use of the particle ’et preceding a nominal functioning as a direct object and of the reversed word order, as these two groups of syntactic hallmarks are often regarded to be emphatic. The first part of this paper describes a selection of cases from Manuscript a of the Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) in which ’et is used differently compared with the Masoretic book of Isaiah (MT). Next, it provides selected examples within non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls, in order to investigate the double direct object and the shift in verb complementation. The second part of this paper deals with four categories affected by the phenomenon of reversed word order in both the biblical and non-biblical DSS, i.e., subject preceding the verb, direct object preceding the infinitive, apposition, and binary expressions. The conclusion suggests two alternatives to emphasis as the main cause of the alleged idiosyncrasies in the use of ’et and in reversed word order, respectively. The results reveal some insights into the increased frequency of the particle ’et both in the biblical and non-biblical DSS, under certain syntactic circumstances, and into the shift from initial-focus to end-focus in a number of categories—albeit in a transitional stage—prevalent in non-biblical DSS.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49402975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The article outlines the phenomenon of direct reported speech in the Hebrew Bible and presents some of the guiding principles for the recently undertaken revision of the speech level markup in the Andersen-Forbes Morphology and Syntax Database. For the revised version of the markup, a higher number of unusual forms of direct speech has been included, such as implied direct speech and direct speech introduced by quotative frames without verbs of speech. The article argues that a simplified markup strategy is often both methodologically and theoretically appropriate for texts that are vague, ambiguous, and/or generally underspecified with respect to direct speech. The simplified markup strategy means that when there is uncertainty as to whether a given point of transition in the text marks either the beginning or the end of a unit of reported speech, one should assume that the current state of affairs continues.
{"title":"Reported Direct Speech in the Hebrew Bible and in the Andersen-Forbes Morphology and Syntax Database","authors":"Ulf Bergström","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9319","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9319","url":null,"abstract":"The article outlines the phenomenon of direct reported speech in the Hebrew Bible and presents some of the guiding principles for the recently undertaken revision of the speech level markup in the Andersen-Forbes Morphology and Syntax Database. For the revised version of the markup, a higher number of unusual forms of direct speech has been included, such as implied direct speech and direct speech introduced by quotative frames without verbs of speech. The article argues that a simplified markup strategy is often both methodologically and theoretically appropriate for texts that are vague, ambiguous, and/or generally underspecified with respect to direct speech. The simplified markup strategy means that when there is uncertainty as to whether a given point of transition in the text marks either the beginning or the end of a unit of reported speech, one should assume that the current state of affairs continues.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44262532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Taking a functional, cognitive, and communication-oriented approach, this paper posits that in ancient Hebrew, the noun ’îš often played a distinctive role: to signal to an audience that its referent is essential for grasping the depicted situation. In such cases, this noun’s meaning resides mainly on the level of the discourse between the speaker and the audience, rather than on the semantic level. Three types of biblical evidence are presented in support of this idea: ’îš-headed appositions, relative clauses that either serve in lieu of a substantive or modify ’îš, and clauses that introduce an unquantified subset of a known group. The tests involve comparing cases where ’îš is present in a referring expression versus similar cases where it is absent. The study found that all of the studied cases with ’îš were sketching a new or modified situation, in which this noun’s referent was profiled as a key participant. In contrast, all cases without ’îš treated the referent of interest as a given element. The hypothesis accounts for 129 biblical instances of ’îš that scholars had deemed pointless or puzzling. Hence it yields a Hebrew Bible text that is more coherent and informative.
{"title":"The Noun ’îš in Ancient Hebrew: A Marker of Essential Participation","authors":"David E. S. Stein","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9321","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9321","url":null,"abstract":"Taking a functional, cognitive, and communication-oriented approach, this paper posits that in ancient Hebrew, the noun ’îš often played a distinctive role: to signal to an audience that its referent is essential for grasping the depicted situation. In such cases, this noun’s meaning resides mainly on the level of the discourse between the speaker and the audience, rather than on the semantic level. Three types of biblical evidence are presented in support of this idea: ’îš-headed appositions, relative clauses that either serve in lieu of a substantive or modify ’îš, and clauses that introduce an unquantified subset of a known group. The tests involve comparing cases where ’îš is present in a referring expression versus similar cases where it is absent. The study found that all of the studied cases with ’îš were sketching a new or modified situation, in which this noun’s referent was profiled as a key participant. In contrast, all cases without ’îš treated the referent of interest as a given element. The hypothesis accounts for 129 biblical instances of ’îš that scholars had deemed pointless or puzzling. Hence it yields a Hebrew Bible text that is more coherent and informative.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45968621","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Since the time of Gesenius, scholars have rightly grounded their determinations of linguistic dating of the biblical texts on the comparison of pairs of features that can be contrasted as early and late. However, at times Hebraists also identify terms as indicative of either Classical Biblical Hebrew (CBH) or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) on account of their relatively exclusive occurrence in either one corpus or the other. In this study I demonstrate the propensity of scholars to identify such terms in an impressionistic manner and unwittingly fall victim to a probability illusion long known by cognitive psychologists as the small sample fallacy. Conversely, I will show that in seeking lexical terms that are indicative of CBH and LBH respectively, they overlook other terms that are far more indicative and significant from a statistical perspective. To arrive at these conclusions, I employ data generated by the recently launched Tiberias Stylistic Classifier for the Hebrew Bible. Tiberias marshals cutting edge advances in the field of machine learning and computational linguistics to empower users to easily conduct their own experiments analysing and classifying the texts of the Hebrew Bible through the measurable features of linguistic data, and providing them with verifiable results. As an illustration of what is at stake, I reference the debate surrounding the linguistic profile of Genesis 24.
{"title":"Determining the Significance of Lexical Features as Indicative of CBH and LBH: Insights from the Tiberias Stylistic Classifier for the Hebrew Bible","authors":"Joshua Berman","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9302","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9302","url":null,"abstract":"Since the time of Gesenius, scholars have rightly grounded their determinations of linguistic dating of the biblical texts on the comparison of pairs of features that can be contrasted as early and late. However, at times Hebraists also identify terms as indicative of either Classical Biblical Hebrew (CBH) or Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) on account of their relatively exclusive occurrence in either one corpus or the other. In this study I demonstrate the propensity of scholars to identify such terms in an impressionistic manner and unwittingly fall victim to a probability illusion long known by cognitive psychologists as the small sample fallacy. Conversely, I will show that in seeking lexical terms that are indicative of CBH and LBH respectively, they overlook other terms that are far more indicative and significant from a statistical perspective. To arrive at these conclusions, I employ data generated by the recently launched Tiberias Stylistic Classifier for the Hebrew Bible. Tiberias marshals cutting edge advances in the field of machine learning and computational linguistics to empower users to easily conduct their own experiments analysing and classifying the texts of the Hebrew Bible through the measurable features of linguistic data, and providing them with verifiable results. As an illustration of what is at stake, I reference the debate surrounding the linguistic profile of Genesis 24.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41908651","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This study proposes a novel semantics for the Biblical Hebrew qatal form that includes both perfective and perfect/anterior meanings. I begin by evaluating other theories of qatal and give six criteria with which they might be evaluated, showing past analyses to be inadequate. These criteria are given as an external check on what makes a satisfactory analysis more generally, and though we can learn from past contributions, they ultimately fall short in one of these six areas. In contrast, I show that my theory meets these six criteria for what makes an adequate theory. The single meaning that I give for the qatal form is labelled a “perfect,” which I define as an aspectual form that refers to a temporal interval in which either a state holds with a possible preceding event or an event takes place that potentially precedes a state. This is qatal’s particular contribution to the context, though it may have different interpretations as it interacts with various verbal predicates and syntactic and discourse contexts. With this meaning, I account for all the temporal uses of qatal as well as the more difficult optative/precative and counterfactual interpretations. While qatal’s varied uses are recognised and explained, we are able to hold to a single meaning for the form, which is the simplest explanation possible, and this meaning is shown to be typologically and historically plausible.
{"title":"The Meaning of Qatal","authors":"Kevin Grasso","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9299","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9299","url":null,"abstract":"This study proposes a novel semantics for the Biblical Hebrew qatal form that includes both perfective and perfect/anterior meanings. I begin by evaluating other theories of qatal and give six criteria with which they might be evaluated, showing past analyses to be inadequate. These criteria are given as an external check on what makes a satisfactory analysis more generally, and though we can learn from past contributions, they ultimately fall short in one of these six areas. In contrast, I show that my theory meets these six criteria for what makes an adequate theory. The single meaning that I give for the qatal form is labelled a “perfect,” which I define as an aspectual form that refers to a temporal interval in which either a state holds with a possible preceding event or an event takes place that potentially precedes a state. This is qatal’s particular contribution to the context, though it may have different interpretations as it interacts with various verbal predicates and syntactic and discourse contexts. With this meaning, I account for all the temporal uses of qatal as well as the more difficult optative/precative and counterfactual interpretations. While qatal’s varied uses are recognised and explained, we are able to hold to a single meaning for the form, which is the simplest explanation possible, and this meaning is shown to be typologically and historically plausible.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49404257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Partial agreement refers to sentences that have conjoined subjects but a singular verb. Although word order is commonly cited in the Biblical Hebrew literature as affecting partial agreement, there is no consensus regarding such an effect. This syntactic study of all clauses with a compound subject in Genesis–2 Kings reveals that a singular verb always agrees with the initial conjunct. The results are incorporated in a cross-linguistic typology of partial agreement. Other key results are that only a coordinate compound headed by an R-expression (rather than a pronoun) is a subject, and that partial agreement is the dominant pattern when the verb and first conjunct are contiguous. A two-step process of Agree—first in syntax and then in phonology—is able to produce the optional partial agreement patterns, laying a better foundation for future studies to analyse the semantic and discourse-analysis effects on verb agreement.
{"title":"A Re-examination of Verb Agreement with Conjoined Subjects in Biblical Hebrew","authors":"Jesse Scheumann","doi":"10.25159/2663-6573/9295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.25159/2663-6573/9295","url":null,"abstract":"Partial agreement refers to sentences that have conjoined subjects but a singular verb. Although word order is commonly cited in the Biblical Hebrew literature as affecting partial agreement, there is no consensus regarding such an effect. This syntactic study of all clauses with a compound subject in Genesis–2 Kings reveals that a singular verb always agrees with the initial conjunct. The results are incorporated in a cross-linguistic typology of partial agreement. Other key results are that only a coordinate compound headed by an R-expression (rather than a pronoun) is a subject, and that partial agreement is the dominant pattern when the verb and first conjunct are contiguous. A two-step process of Agree—first in syntax and then in phonology—is able to produce the optional partial agreement patterns, laying a better foundation for future studies to analyse the semantic and discourse-analysis effects on verb agreement.","PeriodicalId":42047,"journal":{"name":"Journal for Semitics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44749548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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