Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Tuesday 29 November 2005 20:08, David Kummerow wrote:
> > On Tuesday 29 November 2005 04:49, you wrote:
> >  > On 25/11/2005 01:05, Dave Washburn wrote:
> >  > > ...
> >  > >
> >  > >I'm one of them.  I find it amusing that anyone uses a statistical
> >  > > argument for a base order of VSO, because the statistics are heavily
> >  > > skewed by the frequency of the wayyiqtol, which just about everyone
> >  > > agrees is a converted (i.e. secondary, not basal) form. ...
> >  >
> >  > I'm not one of them. And I would have thought "just about everyone" is
> >  > an exaggeration. An alternative view which I thought was quite widely
> >  > accepted is that WAYYIQTOL is in fact a more original and ancient
> >  > form, an old proto-Semitic verb form, to which is attached the vav
> >  > marking the clause boundary. Because this form adheres to the original
> >  > VSO word order and is not used in secondary constructions in which the
> >  > verb has moved, the vav has become inseparable. - or perhaps jussives
> >  > are WAYYIQTOLs without their vav. I don't claim that this is
> >  > necessarily true, but I have seen no clear evidence that WAYYIQTOL is
> >  > secondary, rather than primary and reflecting the original dominant
> >  > Hebrew word
> >
> > order.
> > Can you give a reference or two, something published that sets forth this
> > view?  I'll try to do the same for the description I gave.
>
> Eskhult (pg 25) says: "... the manner in which classical Hebrew
> narration lets every single act be featured by its own finite verb,
> clearly precipitates the use of narrative chains, where a connective
> element, as wa-, is indispendible."
>
> Eskhult, Mats. Studies in Verbal Aspect and Narrative Technique in
> Biblical Hebrew Prose. Studia Semetica Upsaliensia 12. Stockholm:
> Almqvist & Wiksell, 1990.
>
> DeCaen takes the view that wayyiqtol is modal coordination, ie jussives
> are wayyiqtol minus way-.
>
> DeCaen, Vincent. "On the Placement and Interpretation of the Verb in
> Standard Biblical Hebrew Prose." PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1995.

I'm not sure I see how these relate to the question of SVO vs VSO base word 
order.

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"Maybe I'll trade it for a new hat."