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  • From: "Matthew Anstey" <manstey AT portal.ca>
  • To: "B-Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Pragmatics of New Topics
  • Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:02:42 -0700


Gday all,

Dik(1997:316) states that "New Topics across languages have a strong
preference for taking a relatively late position in the clause." He gives
exmaples from English, French, and Russian. A clear example of this in my
view in BH is in Ruth 2:19:

shem ha'ish 'asher 'asithi
the.name of.the.man who I.worked

`immi hayyom bo`az
with.him today [is].Boaz

Boaz is a new topic *to Naomi*, obviously not to the reader. My question is,
do others think that BH generally introduces new topics this way, by
shifting the new topic to a late position in the clause? Can anyone think of
other examples of this of the top of their head? Are there any clear
counter-examples.

With regards,
Matthew Anstey

Reference: Dik, Simon C. 1997. The Theory of Functional Grammar. Part 1: The
Structure of the Clause. 2d rev ed. Functional Grammar Series 20, ed. Kees
Hengeveld. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.





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