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b-hebrew - RE: b-hebrew digest: November 12, 2001

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Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

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  • From: "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>
  • To: "B Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: RE: b-hebrew digest: November 12, 2001
  • Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 12:20:32 -0700


> Hebrew word order is (usually) V-S-O. Verb, subject, object.
> Greek word order is (usually) S-O-V, Subject, object, verb.

Well, maybe and maybe not, particularly for Hebrew. The main
reason that it is often asserted that Hebrew order is VSO is
because of the predominance of the wayyiqtol form in the Bible.
This does not mean, however, that VSO was the "normal" word
order in conversational classical hebrew was VSO, merely that in
narrative prose that's the order we have preserved most often. My
own view is that the wayyiqtol is the result of a transformation that
moves the verb to first position from a "base" SVO order. But
that's just my view.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with
it.
-Emerson




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