عنوان

Semantic Patterns in the D Stem in the Syriac Bible

Number

TLpq2412254328

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Semantic Patterns in the D Stem in the Syriac Bible

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Lupu, Alexandra

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Cook, Edward M

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

The Catholic University of America

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2020

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

299

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

The Catholic University of America

Text preceding or following the note

2020

Text of Note

The D stem verbal conjugation has traditionally been understood to express an intensive function compared to the G stem, which is considered the most basic conjugation in Semitic verbal systems. However, scholars have increasingly recognized that the actual uses attested for D stem verbs cannot all be convincingly subsumed under the label 'intensive'. This study seeks both to describe the different meanings of the D stem in the Peshitta, the Syriac translation of the Bible; and to elucidate any underlying patterns that may explain the acceptability of these different usages. The investigation entails, first, a representative survey of roots attested in both the G and D stem finite forms; and second, a linguistically rigorous analysis of this survey, grounded in current theories of semantic composition, argument structure, transitivity, and verbal plurality, all of which play a role in the usage of the D stem. By applying a broader definition of transitivity than is traditionally invoked, comprising multiple parameters-including clause valency, agentivity of the subject, object affectedness and individuation, and mode and lexical aspect of the verb-all of which contribute to the overall transitivity of a verb, this study explains a large fraction of D stems as higher-transitivity counterparts of the G stem. When the D stem acts on stative and some intransitive G stems, this heightened transitivity produces a more agentive, higher valence factitive verb. The D stem of transitive achievement G stems, meanwhile, either takes on a resultative nuance or encodes plural action, often against multiple direct objects. The study shows how both resultativity and pluractionality involve elements of higher transitivity. When the G stem does not fall into a category that readily accepts a higher transitivity D stem counterpart, the D stem is used to accommodate semantic variants. Even so, many of these D stems exhibit features of heightened transitivity, though they may not be manifested consistently. What therefore emerges from a consideration of the D stem as a whole is that its functions within the Peshitta exist along a continuum, and they depend on the type of G stem that the D stem modifies.

Ancient languages

Biblical studies

Linguistics

Cook, Edward M

Lupu, Alexandra

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y