A syntactic analysis of phrasal coordination in Biblical Hebrew
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Date
2020-11
Authors
Scheumann, Jesse Roy
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
This study provides a syntactic analysis of phrasal coordination in Biblical Hebrew (BH). Iinvestigate every occurrence of conjunction waw at the phrase (as opposed to the clause) levelin the Pentateuch, a total of 2,714 tokens, employing the framework of Minimalist Syntax.My analysis draws upon cross-linguistic typology studies on coordination, and employs a complexity approach that treats language as a connected whole with the interacting levels of syntax, semantics, prosody, morphophonology, and discourse. Much of what has been written on waw consists primarily of semantic observations on clausal coordination. Common questions considered in previous studies include the following: Should one always translate waw, and how many meanings and uses are associated with waw? By approaching coordination with waw from a semantic viewpoint, it is impossible to determine precisely how coordination is distinct from either subordination or apposition. This thesis demonstrates the value of developing a sound linguistic theory of the structure of coordination and the function of the coordinator. I argue that the structure is hierarchical with the conjuncts as specifier and complement and the coordinator as a defective head. Within this framework, I answer three questions. First, does waw have one or multiple functions? Second, what determines when waw occurs overtly? Third, how does waw interact with prosody, linear order, syntactic categories, scope-taking elements, and verbal agreement? As a result of coordination being a hierarchical structure, I demonstrate that waw always forms a sub-constituent with one of the conjuncts. As a proclitic, the allophones of waw are determined either by the phonology of the second conjunct or by how the second conjunct aligns with a prosodic break as represented by the Masoretic accents. Further, the usage of pronominal suffixes consistently binds the second conjunct to the first, a direct consequence of the hierarchical structure of coordination in BH. As a result of the conjuncts functioning as specifier and complement, I show that neither conjunct can move and that all cases of “split coordination” are a result of clausal ellipsis: gapping, stripping, or right node raising. Cases of conjunct drop and “comitative waw” are better explained as involving ellipsis or a verbless clause. In cases of initial coordination, the first waw functions not as a coordinator but as a parasitic Focus particle. Finally, there are only two types of coordination structure with more than two conjuncts: multiple coordination, which consists of multiple coordinator heads and allows for sub-constituency, and final coordination, which consists of multiple specifiers and does not allow for sub-constituency. As a result of the coordinator being a head element, it maintains a function when it is null-expressed. Within multiple coordination, a null coordinator marks the left edge of a subconstituent structure; completely-null coordination blocks a sub-constituency reading. As a defective head, waw projects the category of the first conjunct, and may merge different syntactic categories, as long as they hold a semantic coherence in relatedness or resemblance. Moreover, waw allows negation, the object marker, and prepositions to take either narrow or wide scope over the conjuncts, producing distributive or collective readings of the conjuncts. In relating this theory to apposition, this study creates new knowledge by distinguishing four structures: stacked appositives, embedded appositives, coordinate-complex appositives, and coordinated appositives. The final category provides both a motivation and a limitation for coordinating co-referential phrases in BH. This study also makes a novel contribution regarding partial agreement with conjoined subjects. BH always favours the higher, rather than closest, conjunct—something not reported in another partial-agreement language—and I interpret the significance of the pattern of optional agreement using a complexity approach.
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Keywords
Miller-Naude C. L., Thesis (Ph.D. (Hebrew)) - University of Free State, 2020, Coordination, Sub-constituency, Apposition, Subordination, Ellipsis, Verbal agreement, Generative syntax, Biblical Hebrew