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b-hebrew - Subordination, including irrealis conditions

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  • From: peter_kirk AT sil.org
  • To: <brocine AT earthlink.net>, <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Subordination, including irrealis conditions
  • Date: Fri, 08 Oct 1999 11:00:02 -0400


Dear Bryan,

Thanks for your reply to my posting re relative timing. For some
reason (I think a glitch in the SIL mail server) I did not get any
b-hebrew messages yesterday, but I found yours on the website. I would
be grateful for an E-mail copy of your reply.

I suspect that the nub of the matter may well be what can be
considered subordinate. We should not assume that Hebrew fits a nice
Indo-European pattern in which subordinate clauses are marked by
unambiguous subordinating conjunctions. Niccacci's idea that shift of
the verb from first to second place in some sense marks subordination
may be closer to the real thing.

After all, German marks subordination by shifting the verb - usually
to the end, but there is also a direct parallel to Vince's
old-fashioned English example, with a past subjunctive verb in first
position marking an irrealis conditional clause. If I remember
rightly, "if I were here, I would..." can be either "Wenn ich hier
wa"re,..." or "Wa"re ich hier,...", both of which have the verb
shifted from the normal second position, and in the second there is no
other indication of subordination.

Peter Kirk




  • Subordination, including irrealis conditions, peter_kirk, 10/08/1999

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