Directional strategies in Biblical Hebrew: Influences on the use of locative 'hey'
Main Article Content
Abstract
In Biblical Hebrew (Hebrew used from 1000 B.C. until 100 A.D.), speakers had three options for indicating movement to(ward) a place or in a direction: they could use a suffixal <hey>, a preposition (either bound or free), or covert accusative marking (realized as null). Which option speakers’ chose did not impact the meaning of the directional phrase. Thus, the phrase 'to Jerusalem' could be realized as any of the following: yerushalaim-ah (locative hey), yerushalaim-øACC (null accusative), el yerushalaim (free preposition), or l-irushalaim (bound preposition).
This study identifies several factors which impacted the relative frequency with which BH writers chose to use locative heyas opposed to other directional strategies. In order to make this identification, I coded tokens of all directional strategies in which locative hey was or could have been used (excluding tokens in which locative hey was impossible for various reasons) from core (uncontroversial) texts in the Standard Biblical Hebrew (pre-586 B.C.) and Late Biblical Hebrew (post-586 B.C.) corpora. Each token was coded for a wide variety of factors; the dataset was subjected to a logistical regression run with GoldVarb X. This analysis selected various factors as significant in BH writers’ choice of directional strategies.
This study identifies four major influences on BH writers’ choice of directional strategies. First, the termination of the noun/adverb stem to which the directional strategy is to be added is significant. If the termination of the stem is, or is homophonous with, another nominal suffix, locative hey probably will not be used. Second, the age of text from which the token is drawn is significant. If the text is older (SBH), then BH writers prefer locative hey over any other strategy (using it 52% of the time). Third, the directional strategy used by other directional constructions in the same clause is significant. When BH writers use two directional constructions in the same clause, they will use the same directional strategy for both more than 80% of the time. Fourth, the ‘degree of transitivity’ of the sentence (as defined by Hopper & Thompson 1980) in which the directional phrase is embedded is significant. BH writers are more likely to use locative hey in ‘less transitive’ sentences (where the verb is imperfect, or the stem is indefinite).
Downloads
Article Details
The Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers (the "Publisher") and Author(s) agree as follows.
1. Publication and Promotion: In consideration of the Publisher's agreement to publish the Work, Author hereby grants and assigns to Publisher the non-exclusive right to print, publish, reproduce, or distribute the Work throughout the world in all means of expression by any method known or hereafter developed, including electronic format. Author further grants Publisher the right to use Author's name in association with the Work in published form and in advertising and promotional materials.
2. Copyright: Copyright of the Work remains in the Author's name.
3. Prior Publication and Attribution: Author agrees not to publish the Work in print form prior to publication of the Work by the Publisher. Author agrees to notify IULCWP before publishing the Work elsewhere.
4. Author Representations: The Author represents and warrants that the Work: (a) is the Author's original Work and that the Author has full power to enter into this Agreement; (b) does not infringe the copyright or property of another; (c) contains no material that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory. Author shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss of expenses arising from breach of any such warranties.
5. Licensing and Reuse: Reuse of the published Work will be governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ). This lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the Work non-commercially; although new works must acknowledge the original IULCWP publication and be non-commercial, they do not have to be licensed on the same terms.