عنوان

The concord of collective nouns and verbs in Biblical Hebrew:

Number

TLpq304456855

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

The concord of collective nouns and verbs in Biblical Hebrew:

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

K. A. Massey

Title Proper by Another Author

A controlled study

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

M. V. Fox

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

The University of Wisconsin - Madison

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

1998

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

176

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

The University of Wisconsin - Madison

Text preceding or following the note

1998

Text of Note

Collective nouns in Biblical Hebrew can take either singular or plural verbs. Previous biblical studies have tended to explain that the variation is intentional on the part of the writer, expressing either a difference in meaning or some stylistic emphasis. This dissertation examines the variation from the standpoint of Markedness Theory, which predicts that in certain environments the variation is attributable to grammatical constraints. The study examines items from the Deuteronomic History (Deuteronomy through 2nd Kings) in which a collective subject governs a verb in a verb-subject word order. To a statistically significant degree, the predictions of Markedness Theory are proven true. The overall complexity of the sentence is shown to influence the choice of verb number, with the most complex sentences favoring plural verbs. Also demonstrated in this dissertation is a tendency for reported speech to favor singular verbs, even within complex sentences. Mentions of collective subjects in material preceding its governing a verb are studied to determine if such previous statements effect number. Only cases in which the collective is explicitly defined as plural seemed to favor plural verbs. Several possible sources used in the compilation of the Deuteronomic History are examined, though no provable difference in their verbal concord can be established. Finally, this study reexamines the Priestly Source in light of the findings of this study. Previous research had asserted that the Priestly Source is a later stratum because of a perceived tendency to favor plural verbs with collective subjects. In light of the findings of this study, the Priestly Source is not provably different from other sources in its rate of verbal concord.

Bible

Hebrew

Language, literature and linguistics

Linguistics

Markedness

Philosophy, religion and theology

K. A. Massey

M. V. Fox

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y