Content uploaded by Charbel El-Khaissi
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Charbel El-Khaissi on Jun 19, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
The Syntax of Genitive Constructions in Syriac
Abstract
This study presents a synchronic description of genitive constructions in a dialect of the Aramaic language, known as Syriac. It is a multi-faceted study which considers different aspects of genitive constructions from traditional and contemporary perspectives, before culminating into a reinterpretation under contemporary frameworks. Specifically, the first component relates to Syriac’s nominal inflection paradigm, which reveals interesting processes of syntactic change that helps to explain how definiteness and genitive case is expressed in genitive constructions. This is consolidated by empirical evidence from an ancient manuscript titled, The Chronicles of Joshua the Stylite (Wright, 1882), which forms the basis for a distributional analysis of definiteness and genitive case features. The final component is an account of Syriac’s three basic genitive constructions within a generative framework, and specifically, under Abney’s (1984) DP and Ritter’s (1991) N-to-D movement hypotheses.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.
The adjective is a beleaguered category in biblical Hebrew grammar with many grammars of biblical Hebrew denying that the adjective is a category distinct from substantives. Within a variety of linguistic theories, the status of the adjective as a grammatical category is also debated. Cross-linguistically adjectives exhibit extraordinary variety: in some languages showing similarities to nouns, in others to verbs and in still others to both nouns and verbs. The debate concerning the status of the adjective is mirrored by the broader debate within contemporary linguistics concerning how the issue of grammatical categorisation ought to be approached. In this article, we re-examine the question of whether or not the adjective is a distinct grammatical category from the noun in biblical Hebrew. We approach the question of the status of the adjective as a grammatical category from two perspectives: morphology and syntax.
This paper addresses the notion of close apposition. It begins by analyzing the quintessential appositive construction the poet Burns, arguing that such strings do not have a stable internal structure. This conclusion can be applied to other so-called close appositions, such as we boys, but not to similar-looking structures like my friend Burns or a friend John in linguistics. Most close appositions are characterized by a strong degree of conventionalization and fixity, and remain relatively fossilized schemas, a fact that contributes to their recognizability as specific constructions. However, not all these seemingly binominal constructions have exactly the same constituency, but are rather relatively distinct symbols with distinct functions. The focus of this paper is thus to show how so-called close appositions do not constitute a fixed form. It will also be suggested—although due to space limitations not fully pursued—that both their similarities and the “taxonomic” and “inheritance” ties they share motivate an analysis of close apposition in general as a constructional “network,” understood in a way which is compatible with various forms of Construction Grammar.
This chapter gives a brief overview of the internal classification of the Semitic language family. The scheme promoted here is based on the earlier challenges made by R. Hetzron to the traditional subgrouping of the Semitic family. Problems addressed include the question of a South Semitic group, the features which distinguish the Central Semitic group, and the merits of the tree vs. wave model of classification.
The goal of this book is twofold. On the one hand we want to offer a discussion of some of the more important properties of the nominal projection, on the other hand we want to provide the reader with tools for syntactic analysis which apply to the structure of DP but which are also relevant for other domains of syntax.In order to achieve this dual goal we will discuss phenomena which are related to the nominal projection in relation to other syntactic phenomena (e.g. pro drop will be related to N-ellipsis, the classification of pronouns will be applied to the syntax of possessive pronouns, N-movement will be compared to V-movement, the syntax of the genitive construction will be related to that of predicate inversion etc.). In the various chapters we will show how recent theoretical proposals (distributed morphology, anti-symmetry, checking theory) can cast light on aspects of the syntax of the NP. When necessary, we will provide a brief introduction of these theoretical proposals. We will also indicate problems with these analyses, whether they be inherent to the theories as such (e.g. what is the trigger for movement in antisymmetric approaches) or to the particular instantiations.The book cannot and will not provide the definitive analysis of the syntax of noun phrases. We consider that this would not be possible, given the current flux in generative syntax, with many new theoretical proposals being developed and explored, but the book aims at giving the reader the tools with which to conduct research and to evaluate proposals in the literature.In the discussion of various issues, we will apply the framework that is most adequate to deal with problems at hand. We will therefore not necessarily use the same approach throughout the discussion.Though proposals in the literature will be referred to when relevant, we cannot attempt to provide a critical survey of the literature. We feel that such a survey would be guided too strongly by theoretical choices, which would not be compatible with the pedagogical purposes this book has.The book is comparative in its approach, and data from different languages will be examined, including English, German, Dutch (West-Flemish), Greek, Romance, Semitic, Slavic, Albanian, Hungarian, Gungbe.
This chapter deals with the relevance of some cases of prepositionless genitives in Romance for a general theory of genitive assignment. It examines the peculiar properties of a specific class of Italian N+N compounds, identifying in the juxtaposition genitives of Old French, Occitan, and crucially Old Italian, the possible diachronic antecedent for such construction, which-it argues-is strictly intertwined with Romance construct state. © individual chapters their various authors 2009. All rights reserved.
