This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenme... more This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenment and early Modern literary Hebrew under the influence of adverbial participle constructions in substrate languages, primarily Yiddish and Russian. Circumstantial secondary predicates differ from depictive secondary predicates, which are well-attested in Classical Hebrew.
Unlike written Hebrew, the analytic form of the possessive pronoun dominates in Modern Hebrew. Th... more Unlike written Hebrew, the analytic form of the possessive pronoun dominates in Modern Hebrew. The cases in which the synthetic form is used are described in this paper from three points of view: lexicosemantic, syntactic and sociolinguistic. The synthetic form is usually chosen with abstract nouns defining periods of time, opinions, feelings, social status and relations, while the analytic form is normally used with concrete nouns, especially names of objects and animals. The two exceptions are names of body parts and names of family relationship, which appear relatively often with synthetic possessive pronouns, especially in the speech of eldery people and Israelies from Yemenite families. Insertedclauses of various kinds, as well as direct address are always used with the synthetic pronoun.
This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenme... more This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenment and early Modern literary Hebrew under the influence of adverbial participle constructions in substrate languages, primarily Yiddish and Russian. Circumstantial secondary predicates differ from depictive secondary predicates, which are well-attested in Classical Hebrew.
This paper traces the history of two Hebrew items that are largely considered incorrect in contem... more This paper traces the history of two Hebrew items that are largely considered incorrect in contemporary normative discourse, but appear in ancient Hebrew texts.
In Classical Hebrew, and most significantly in Rabbinic Hebrew, adverbial prepositions often become subordination particles with the addition of the particle ש-. However, some of these constructions are viewed by certain Modern Hebrew speakers, especially in the educational system, as substandard usage. The first part of the paper portrays the lexico-syntactic development of בגלל ש- and למרות ש- versus the history of their normative status.
In the second part of the paper the usage of the Aramaic construct form ברת (‘daughter of’) in Hebrew is discussed. ברת is found in Classical Aramaic (alongside its alternative בת, which is also the Hebrew cognate); but unlike its masculine counterpart בר (‘son of’) it is very rarely used in Classical Hebrew. In later times, however, the originally Aramaic בר and ברת were integrated into Hebrew with several figurative meanings (e.g., expressing ability, like -able in English and French), but normativists often consider ברת a mistake and recommend replacing it with בת (possibly due to the influence of Babylonian Aramaic, where בת is the prevalent construct form).
Often, a single Hebrew root generates intransitive verbs both in Pa'al and Nif'al templates. In m... more Often, a single Hebrew root generates intransitive verbs both in Pa'al and Nif'al templates. In many cases, the Nif'al verb tends to have a marked aspectual meaning, such as inchoative, ingressive, cumulative or semelfactive, dependent on the semantics of the root and on the possibility of the Pa'al verb to indicate a durative action. The common denominator of all these meanings is punctiliarity. The aspectual contrast between intransitive Pa'al verbs and their Nif'al counterparts is not an innovation of Modern Hebrew but it has developed some new expressions, probably inspired by Yiddish and Slavic languages which have various aspectual prefixes. Some Nif'al verbs with a marked aspectual meaning are only documented in Early Modern literature, but are no more existent in the Contemporary Hebrew.
The aim of this study is to map the distribution of the prepositions le- and el preceeding NP com... more The aim of this study is to map the distribution of the prepositions le- and el preceeding NP complements of various verbs in Contemporary Hebrew. Our main conclision is that the preposition el typically serves verbs of motion whose complement destination (targets, goals). The preposition le- in it's basic form is equally possible in the same semantic envitonment of el when it is not used with a pronominal suffix. In this case only suffixed forms of el are expected. The analysis of verbs that do not indicate motion but have the same distribution of preposition usage shows that they all govern metaporic goals, such as focus of attraction or goal of a communicative or mental activity.
The preposition le- has a wide spectrum of dative usages. Its pototypical function is with verbs of causing possession to a recipient. In Contemporary Hebrew, this type of verbs includes verbs of speech such as 'amar and siper, while in Biblical Hebrew the same verbs may behave like goal verbs and govern NPs with el both in its basic basic and suffixed forms. Basic and suffixed le- but not el precedes an affected object (benefactive or malefactive), wheather the affection is real or only expected by the Agent. le- is also used before non-obligatory affected objects.
A considerable number of verbs allow both types of complements. Those are verbs of transfer, joining and conparison. The two usages of these verbs are not entirely synonymic. The sole group of verbs that may cause a native speaker to hesitate between the two prepositions in their suffixed forms is some mono-transitive verbs with a peripheral dative meaning which may also be understood as goal verbs.
Removal verbs select two complements with the semantic roles of locatum and location. In many lan... more Removal verbs select two complements with the semantic roles of locatum and location. In many languages, these complements vary in their syntactic realization. Some verbs realize their complements in what we call frame A, where the locatum is the direct object of the verb. Other verbs realize their complements in frame B, where the location is the direct object. The complements of a third group of verbs alternate in their realization between the two frames A/B. In the present study, we first survey the distribution of removal verbs in Biblical Hebrew among the three classes. We then examine those verbs which have remained in use in Modern Hebrew. Our main finding is that the distribution of these verbs is determined by their biblical distribution; namely, they maintain the basic semantic schism between verbs which realize their arguments in frame A (whether or not they also alternate in A/B), and those which realize their arguments in frame B only. This consistently uncovers an aspect of Modern Hebrew syntax that is an organic development of Biblical Hebrew syntax.
In Classical Hebrew and other Semitic languages, some nouns were feminine though they did not hav... more In Classical Hebrew and other Semitic languages, some nouns were feminine though they did not have feminine endings ָה or ת and did not denote females. Usually these nouns belonged to some particular semantic groups. In Modern Hebrew, only a small number of frequently used nouns inherited morphologically unmotivated feminine gender from the earlier historical periods, but "live" semantic analogy no does not work anymore. The only exception is the group of nouns that mean paired body parts and adjacent objects.
This article discusses sentences constructed as in the following example: דני הלך ברחוב מהרהר בעב... more This article discusses sentences constructed as in the following example: דני הלך ברחוב מהרהר בעברו "Dani walked along street, thinking of his past" in literary Modern Hebrew. The article compares depictive constructions (specifying a Subject or to an Object of a sentence), which are documented already in Biblical Hebrew, with related but more complicated participle constructions, syntactically similar to gerundif in some European languages which are an innovation of Modern Hebrew. This syntactic change is explained by the influence of the most important substrate of Modern Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian, and in a later period also English.
Since the begining of the twentieth century, the temporal word כבר has acquired several kinds of ... more Since the begining of the twentieth century, the temporal word כבר has acquired several kinds of nontemporal usage in literary Hebrew. These uses are present mainly in texts representing direct speech - dialogued and monologues by characters - and can accordingly be primary described as a discourse phenomenon. This usage in literary discourse also provides indirect evidence for spoken Hebrew in the early revival period. The nontemporal uses of כבר resulted from the influence of Yiddish and Russian discourse and are especially common in the prose of Brenner and his literary school. The shared element of all the uses of כבר, both temporal and nontemporal, is the indication of one of two parallel sides found in the sentence itself or in its close context.
The authors devide Hebrew denominative verbs in two groups. The first includes verbs whose meanin... more The authors devide Hebrew denominative verbs in two groups. The first includes verbs whose meaning remains close to that of the noun from which they are derived - be far the general case in Hebrew. The second group includes verbs whose meaning has become distanced from that of the original noun. The article focuses on the second group, which is divided into three categories: (1) verbs whose meaning derives from a metaphorical meaning of a noun: e.g., כוכב 'star', metaphorically woutstanding performer' and from this כיכב - 'be an outstanding performer'; (2) verbs that have acquired a metaphorical meaning; e.g. from מגנט 'magnet' we have מִגנט 'magnetize', 'give magnetic properties (to a metal)', and metaphorically 'attract the attention (of people)'; and (3) verbs that underwent a semantic change at the moment of their derivation from the noun, in such a way that in many cases the normal speaker fails to link the nominal meaning to the verb: e.g., from שכם 'shoulder' to השכים 'get up early in the morning'. The authors claim that this third category is extremely rare in Hebrew in all its historical layers whereas it is common in some other languages, in Italian and Russian foe example. It is suggested here that this pecularity of Hebrew is perhaps due to the rigid structure of its verbal declination and to its lack of semantic affixes.
In the modern meaning of the term, parenthesis, or an inserted clause, is modestly represented ... more In the modern meaning of the term, parenthesis, or an inserted clause, is modestly represented in ancient Hebrew literature. In modern Hebrew, on the other hand, it is an important part of the syntactic structure of both written and spoken language. The gradual development of one of the most important parenthetical groups, namely expressions semantically related to feelings, like לאושרי, לצערי, לתמהוני, is described in this paper. The Hebrew expressions are compared to German, Yiddish and Russian ones, by which they were influenced. The study is based on the corpus of the Historical Dictionary Project of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, Modern Literature Section, and on the author's corpus of Russian literature in early Hebrew translations .
This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenme... more This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenment and early Modern literary Hebrew under the influence of adverbial participle constructions in substrate languages, primarily Yiddish and Russian. Circumstantial secondary predicates differ from depictive secondary predicates, which are well-attested in Classical Hebrew.
Unlike written Hebrew, the analytic form of the possessive pronoun dominates in Modern Hebrew. Th... more Unlike written Hebrew, the analytic form of the possessive pronoun dominates in Modern Hebrew. The cases in which the synthetic form is used are described in this paper from three points of view: lexicosemantic, syntactic and sociolinguistic. The synthetic form is usually chosen with abstract nouns defining periods of time, opinions, feelings, social status and relations, while the analytic form is normally used with concrete nouns, especially names of objects and animals. The two exceptions are names of body parts and names of family relationship, which appear relatively often with synthetic possessive pronouns, especially in the speech of eldery people and Israelies from Yemenite families. Insertedclauses of various kinds, as well as direct address are always used with the synthetic pronoun.
This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenme... more This article discusses the development of circumstantial secondary predicates in late Enlightenment and early Modern literary Hebrew under the influence of adverbial participle constructions in substrate languages, primarily Yiddish and Russian. Circumstantial secondary predicates differ from depictive secondary predicates, which are well-attested in Classical Hebrew.
This paper traces the history of two Hebrew items that are largely considered incorrect in contem... more This paper traces the history of two Hebrew items that are largely considered incorrect in contemporary normative discourse, but appear in ancient Hebrew texts.
In Classical Hebrew, and most significantly in Rabbinic Hebrew, adverbial prepositions often become subordination particles with the addition of the particle ש-. However, some of these constructions are viewed by certain Modern Hebrew speakers, especially in the educational system, as substandard usage. The first part of the paper portrays the lexico-syntactic development of בגלל ש- and למרות ש- versus the history of their normative status.
In the second part of the paper the usage of the Aramaic construct form ברת (‘daughter of’) in Hebrew is discussed. ברת is found in Classical Aramaic (alongside its alternative בת, which is also the Hebrew cognate); but unlike its masculine counterpart בר (‘son of’) it is very rarely used in Classical Hebrew. In later times, however, the originally Aramaic בר and ברת were integrated into Hebrew with several figurative meanings (e.g., expressing ability, like -able in English and French), but normativists often consider ברת a mistake and recommend replacing it with בת (possibly due to the influence of Babylonian Aramaic, where בת is the prevalent construct form).
Often, a single Hebrew root generates intransitive verbs both in Pa'al and Nif'al templates. In m... more Often, a single Hebrew root generates intransitive verbs both in Pa'al and Nif'al templates. In many cases, the Nif'al verb tends to have a marked aspectual meaning, such as inchoative, ingressive, cumulative or semelfactive, dependent on the semantics of the root and on the possibility of the Pa'al verb to indicate a durative action. The common denominator of all these meanings is punctiliarity. The aspectual contrast between intransitive Pa'al verbs and their Nif'al counterparts is not an innovation of Modern Hebrew but it has developed some new expressions, probably inspired by Yiddish and Slavic languages which have various aspectual prefixes. Some Nif'al verbs with a marked aspectual meaning are only documented in Early Modern literature, but are no more existent in the Contemporary Hebrew.
The aim of this study is to map the distribution of the prepositions le- and el preceeding NP com... more The aim of this study is to map the distribution of the prepositions le- and el preceeding NP complements of various verbs in Contemporary Hebrew. Our main conclision is that the preposition el typically serves verbs of motion whose complement destination (targets, goals). The preposition le- in it's basic form is equally possible in the same semantic envitonment of el when it is not used with a pronominal suffix. In this case only suffixed forms of el are expected. The analysis of verbs that do not indicate motion but have the same distribution of preposition usage shows that they all govern metaporic goals, such as focus of attraction or goal of a communicative or mental activity.
The preposition le- has a wide spectrum of dative usages. Its pototypical function is with verbs of causing possession to a recipient. In Contemporary Hebrew, this type of verbs includes verbs of speech such as 'amar and siper, while in Biblical Hebrew the same verbs may behave like goal verbs and govern NPs with el both in its basic basic and suffixed forms. Basic and suffixed le- but not el precedes an affected object (benefactive or malefactive), wheather the affection is real or only expected by the Agent. le- is also used before non-obligatory affected objects.
A considerable number of verbs allow both types of complements. Those are verbs of transfer, joining and conparison. The two usages of these verbs are not entirely synonymic. The sole group of verbs that may cause a native speaker to hesitate between the two prepositions in their suffixed forms is some mono-transitive verbs with a peripheral dative meaning which may also be understood as goal verbs.
Removal verbs select two complements with the semantic roles of locatum and location. In many lan... more Removal verbs select two complements with the semantic roles of locatum and location. In many languages, these complements vary in their syntactic realization. Some verbs realize their complements in what we call frame A, where the locatum is the direct object of the verb. Other verbs realize their complements in frame B, where the location is the direct object. The complements of a third group of verbs alternate in their realization between the two frames A/B. In the present study, we first survey the distribution of removal verbs in Biblical Hebrew among the three classes. We then examine those verbs which have remained in use in Modern Hebrew. Our main finding is that the distribution of these verbs is determined by their biblical distribution; namely, they maintain the basic semantic schism between verbs which realize their arguments in frame A (whether or not they also alternate in A/B), and those which realize their arguments in frame B only. This consistently uncovers an aspect of Modern Hebrew syntax that is an organic development of Biblical Hebrew syntax.
In Classical Hebrew and other Semitic languages, some nouns were feminine though they did not hav... more In Classical Hebrew and other Semitic languages, some nouns were feminine though they did not have feminine endings ָה or ת and did not denote females. Usually these nouns belonged to some particular semantic groups. In Modern Hebrew, only a small number of frequently used nouns inherited morphologically unmotivated feminine gender from the earlier historical periods, but "live" semantic analogy no does not work anymore. The only exception is the group of nouns that mean paired body parts and adjacent objects.
This article discusses sentences constructed as in the following example: דני הלך ברחוב מהרהר בעב... more This article discusses sentences constructed as in the following example: דני הלך ברחוב מהרהר בעברו "Dani walked along street, thinking of his past" in literary Modern Hebrew. The article compares depictive constructions (specifying a Subject or to an Object of a sentence), which are documented already in Biblical Hebrew, with related but more complicated participle constructions, syntactically similar to gerundif in some European languages which are an innovation of Modern Hebrew. This syntactic change is explained by the influence of the most important substrate of Modern Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian, and in a later period also English.
Since the begining of the twentieth century, the temporal word כבר has acquired several kinds of ... more Since the begining of the twentieth century, the temporal word כבר has acquired several kinds of nontemporal usage in literary Hebrew. These uses are present mainly in texts representing direct speech - dialogued and monologues by characters - and can accordingly be primary described as a discourse phenomenon. This usage in literary discourse also provides indirect evidence for spoken Hebrew in the early revival period. The nontemporal uses of כבר resulted from the influence of Yiddish and Russian discourse and are especially common in the prose of Brenner and his literary school. The shared element of all the uses of כבר, both temporal and nontemporal, is the indication of one of two parallel sides found in the sentence itself or in its close context.
The authors devide Hebrew denominative verbs in two groups. The first includes verbs whose meanin... more The authors devide Hebrew denominative verbs in two groups. The first includes verbs whose meaning remains close to that of the noun from which they are derived - be far the general case in Hebrew. The second group includes verbs whose meaning has become distanced from that of the original noun. The article focuses on the second group, which is divided into three categories: (1) verbs whose meaning derives from a metaphorical meaning of a noun: e.g., כוכב 'star', metaphorically woutstanding performer' and from this כיכב - 'be an outstanding performer'; (2) verbs that have acquired a metaphorical meaning; e.g. from מגנט 'magnet' we have מִגנט 'magnetize', 'give magnetic properties (to a metal)', and metaphorically 'attract the attention (of people)'; and (3) verbs that underwent a semantic change at the moment of their derivation from the noun, in such a way that in many cases the normal speaker fails to link the nominal meaning to the verb: e.g., from שכם 'shoulder' to השכים 'get up early in the morning'. The authors claim that this third category is extremely rare in Hebrew in all its historical layers whereas it is common in some other languages, in Italian and Russian foe example. It is suggested here that this pecularity of Hebrew is perhaps due to the rigid structure of its verbal declination and to its lack of semantic affixes.
In the modern meaning of the term, parenthesis, or an inserted clause, is modestly represented ... more In the modern meaning of the term, parenthesis, or an inserted clause, is modestly represented in ancient Hebrew literature. In modern Hebrew, on the other hand, it is an important part of the syntactic structure of both written and spoken language. The gradual development of one of the most important parenthetical groups, namely expressions semantically related to feelings, like לאושרי, לצערי, לתמהוני, is described in this paper. The Hebrew expressions are compared to German, Yiddish and Russian ones, by which they were influenced. The study is based on the corpus of the Historical Dictionary Project of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, Modern Literature Section, and on the author's corpus of Russian literature in early Hebrew translations .
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In Classical Hebrew, and most significantly in Rabbinic Hebrew, adverbial prepositions often become subordination particles with the addition of the particle ש-. However, some of these constructions are viewed by certain Modern Hebrew speakers, especially in the educational system, as substandard usage. The first part of the paper portrays the lexico-syntactic development of בגלל ש- and למרות ש- versus the history of their normative status.
In the second part of the paper the usage of the Aramaic construct form ברת (‘daughter of’) in Hebrew is discussed. ברת is found in Classical Aramaic (alongside its alternative בת, which is also the Hebrew cognate); but unlike its masculine counterpart בר (‘son of’) it is very rarely used in Classical Hebrew. In later times, however, the originally Aramaic בר and ברת were integrated into Hebrew with several figurative meanings (e.g., expressing ability, like -able in English and French), but normativists often consider ברת a mistake and recommend replacing it with בת (possibly due to the influence of Babylonian Aramaic, where בת is the prevalent construct form).
The preposition le- has a wide spectrum of dative usages. Its pototypical function is with verbs of causing possession to a recipient. In Contemporary Hebrew, this type of verbs includes verbs of speech such as 'amar and siper, while in Biblical Hebrew the same verbs may behave like goal verbs and govern NPs with el both in its basic basic and suffixed forms. Basic and suffixed le- but not el precedes an affected object (benefactive or malefactive), wheather the affection is real or only expected by the Agent. le- is also used before non-obligatory affected objects.
A considerable number of verbs allow both types of complements. Those are verbs of transfer, joining and conparison. The two usages of these verbs are not entirely synonymic. The sole group of verbs that may cause a native speaker to hesitate between the two prepositions in their suffixed forms is some mono-transitive verbs with a peripheral dative meaning which may also be understood as goal verbs.
In Classical Hebrew, and most significantly in Rabbinic Hebrew, adverbial prepositions often become subordination particles with the addition of the particle ש-. However, some of these constructions are viewed by certain Modern Hebrew speakers, especially in the educational system, as substandard usage. The first part of the paper portrays the lexico-syntactic development of בגלל ש- and למרות ש- versus the history of their normative status.
In the second part of the paper the usage of the Aramaic construct form ברת (‘daughter of’) in Hebrew is discussed. ברת is found in Classical Aramaic (alongside its alternative בת, which is also the Hebrew cognate); but unlike its masculine counterpart בר (‘son of’) it is very rarely used in Classical Hebrew. In later times, however, the originally Aramaic בר and ברת were integrated into Hebrew with several figurative meanings (e.g., expressing ability, like -able in English and French), but normativists often consider ברת a mistake and recommend replacing it with בת (possibly due to the influence of Babylonian Aramaic, where בת is the prevalent construct form).
The preposition le- has a wide spectrum of dative usages. Its pototypical function is with verbs of causing possession to a recipient. In Contemporary Hebrew, this type of verbs includes verbs of speech such as 'amar and siper, while in Biblical Hebrew the same verbs may behave like goal verbs and govern NPs with el both in its basic basic and suffixed forms. Basic and suffixed le- but not el precedes an affected object (benefactive or malefactive), wheather the affection is real or only expected by the Agent. le- is also used before non-obligatory affected objects.
A considerable number of verbs allow both types of complements. Those are verbs of transfer, joining and conparison. The two usages of these verbs are not entirely synonymic. The sole group of verbs that may cause a native speaker to hesitate between the two prepositions in their suffixed forms is some mono-transitive verbs with a peripheral dative meaning which may also be understood as goal verbs.