1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910787932803321

Autore

Robar Elizabeth

Titolo

The verb and the paragraph in biblical Hebrew : a cognitive-linguistic approach / / Elizabeth Robar

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Leiden, Netherlands : , : Brill, , 2015

©2015

ISBN

90-04-28311-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (232 p.)

Collana

Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, , 0081-8461 ; ; Volume 78

Disciplina

492.4/56

Soggetti

Hebrew language - Verb

Hebrew language - Paragraphs

Cognitive grammar

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preliminary Material -- 1 A Foundation in Cognitive Linguistics -- 2 Schematic Continuity -- 3 Schematic Discontinuity -- 4 Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Author Index -- Biblical Reference Index -- Subject Index.

Sommario/riassunto

\'Research on the function and semantics of the verbal system in Hebrew (and Semitics in general) has been in constant ferment since McFall’s 1982 work The Enigma of the Hebrew Verbal System . Elizabeth Robar's analysis provides the best solution to this point, combining cognitive linguistics, cross-linguistics, diachronic and synchronic analysis. Her solution is brilliant, innovative, and supremely satisfying in interpreting all the data with great explanatory power. Let us hope this research will be quickly implemented in grammars of Hebrew.\' Peter J. Gentry , Donald L. Williams Professor of Old Testament Interpretation, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY. In The Verb and the Paragraph in Biblical Hebrew , Elizabeth Robar employs cognitive linguistics to unravel the notorious grammatical quandary in biblical Hebrew: explaining the waw consecutive, as well as other poorly understood verbal forms (e.g. with paragogic suffixes). She explains that languages must communicate the shape of thought units: including the prototypical paragraph, with its



beginning, middle and ending; and its message. She demonstrates how the waw consecutive is both simpler and more nuanced than often argued. It neither foregrounds nor is a preterite, but it enables highly embedded textual structures. She also shows how allegedly anomalous forms may be used for thematic purposes, guiding the reader to the author’s intended interpretation for the text as it stands.