Discourse Particles in Biblical Hebrew Directives
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Date
2012
Authors
Lyavdansky, Alexey
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Abstract
Discourse particles in Biblical Hebrew are a relatively recent subject of study.
It is yet to be determined, which linguistic expressions in Biblical Hebrew
should be counted as discourse particles, or discourse markers. Moreover, the
functions of already known discourse particles in Biblical Hebrew were not
properly assessed. The present paper is focused on the functions of discourse
particles in Biblical Hebrew directive utterances (requests, commands, suggestions, permissions). The study was carried out on the basis of the analysis of all directive utterances (directive turns in dialogue) within the biblical
Book of Judges. Contrary to the previous studies of Biblical Hebrew discourse
particles, the attention is drawn not only to the functioning of a certain particle (form-to-function approach), but the attempt is made to determine a slot,
which may be filled with a particle or its synonym, or left unfilled (functionto-form approach). The functional slots for discourse particles are created by
discourse structure of a turn in dialogue. Most of the directive utterances in
dialogue are composed of the core discourse act(s), represented by imperative
clause(s), and the supportive discourse act(s), usually represented by assertive
clause(s). Discourse particles are put either before the core discourse act in
the directive utterance, or before the supportive discourse act. The main part
of the article is dedicated to the analysis of seven discourse particles used in
Biblical Hebrew directive utterances: ki, ʔ
aḥăre ʔ
ăšär, (wǝ)ʕattå, nå, hinne,
hălo, and raq. The result of the study shows, that some of these particles may
be grouped together as synonyms, because they are used in the same positions:
ki and ʔ
aḥăre ʔ
ăšär; (wǝ)ʕattå and nå; hinne and hălo. On the other hand, they
are not absolute synonyms, which is exemplified by the contrastive analysis
of ki and ʔ
aḥăre ʔăšär. Since the particle raq is used rarely as a discourse
marker, the examples in the Book of Judges are not sufficient to formulate
even a preliminary conclusion. The status of nå as a discourse particle is not
yet clear; the question needs further investigation. The results of this study
are preliminary and will be tested in a future publication, based on a broader
source material.
Description
Keywords
Bible, Bible study, Hebrew, Hebrew directives, Biblical Hebrew, article
Citation
Lyavdansky A. Discourse Particles in Biblical Hebrew Directives / Alexey Lyavdansky // Judaica Ukrainica : Annual Journal of Jewish Studies. - 2012. - Vol. 1. - P. 9-28.