LINGUIST List 9.1729

Sun Dec 6 1998

Sum: Syntactic research in Biblical Hebrew

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Asya Pereltsvaig, Biblical Hebrew

Dear Linguists,
About two weeks ago I posted a query on Biblical Hebrew. Here's the
original message:

I am looking for syntactic research of Biblical Hebrew, preferably in
the generative framework. Any references/ suggestions are welcome. I
will post a summary if there is enough interest.
Thank you very much,
Asya

I received an impressive number of answers. My thanks to the following
people (in no particular order):
Marc Picard
Guido Mensching
Allan Huffman
Wayne Leman
George Huttar
Shu-ing Ingrid Shyu
David Scaratt
Vincent DeCaen

Here are some of the suggestions I've received:

from Guido Mensching:
I wrote a very short commentary on case assignment in Biblical Hewbrew
infinitive clauses, which will appear in my book about Romance
infinitive constructions to appear next year in Oxford University
Press. If you wish, I can send you a preliminary draft of this
passage.

>From Alan Huffman:
For work on Bibilcal Hebrew in a generative framework, you should
contact Prof. Joseph Malone, at Barnard College (Columbia U), who is a
linguist basically of the generative persuasion, who specializes in
Hebrew and Semitic linguistics.

from Wayne Leman:
Here is a book which is not within the generative framework, but,
instead, atheoretical discourse linguistics:

Biblical Hebrew and Discourse Linguistics, edited by Robert D. Bergen.
1994. SIL and Eisenbrauns (P.O. Box 275, Winona Lake, IN 46590-0275 USA)

See the Biblical Hebrew subsection of my Biblical Languages section at
my Bible Translation site:

http://www.mcn.net/~wleman/bibletranslation.htm

I know there has been quite a bit published in recent years on Modern
Hebrew, but I don't know how much has been written on Biblical Hebrew
within a generative framework. Nowadays, of course, linguists tend to
specialize within what used to be called the generative framework, now
working within government and binding theory, role and reference
grammar, functionalism, etc.

Why don't you try to contact Talmy Givn at the University of Oregon
Dept. of Linguistics. The Internet address for the faculty page is:

http://logos.uoregon.edu/uoling/faculty/

It looks like Dr. Givn's email address is not posted, so try going
through Dr. DeLancey's address.

from George Huttar:
I think Aya Katz's Rice University dissertation may be in a generative
 framework. She has an article in a fairly recent _Journal of
 Southwest Linguistics_ based on her dissertation.

 For non-generative, try Talmy Givon and Robert Longacre. The
 following may have a couple articles from a generative point of
view:
 Bergen, Robert D., ed. 1994. Biblical Hebrew and Discourse
 Linguistics. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

from Vincent De Caen:
try looking at the website below and get back to me. my 1995
dissertation should be on a link there too.

Marc Picard send a list of 161 references on Biblical Hebrew, which I do
not include here for the sake of space. If you are interested, please
get in contact with me and I will send you the list.

Thanks again to everybody who responded. Best wishes,
Asya


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*********************************
Asya Pereltsvaig
Department of Linguistics - McGill University
1001 Sherbrooke St. West
Montreal, Quebec, CANADA, H3A 1G5
*********************************