Biblical Hebrew Forum

["C. Stirling Bartholomew" <jacksonpollock AT earthlink.net>]

On 10/5/04 2:37 PM, "Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net> wrote:

> The biggest problem I see with this idea is that, like so many others, he
> assumes that the basal constituent order in Hebrew is V - S, which may or 
> may
> not be the case.

Agreed.  

>  Most of the grammars out there assume this order mainly
> because the wayyiqtol form is so prevalent in the HB, and this form is 
> always
> clause-initial.  But there is strong evidence that it is a "derived" form
> (for lack of a better term) that has in fact itself been "fronted," and the
> basal order in Heb. is S - V - (O).  If this is the case, then we don't
> really have a pronoun being "fronted" here.  Since this is the first clause
> in a section of direct speech, it would appear to me that it simply
> identifies the new speaker.  Whether that puts emphasis on the "who" rather
> than the "what" is another issue, more involved with pragmatics than with
> syntax.  Or so ISTM.

So lets ignore the position of the pronoun and ask the question why do we
see a pronoun at all? What is the function of the pronoun. I agree this has
to do with issues other than syntax. "Focus" isn't a syntax issue.


Thanks,
Clay Bartholomew