Towards a discourse-pragmatic description of left-dislocation in biblical Hebrew

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This is an exploratory investigation into the discourse-pragmatic function(s) of the so-calledLeft-Dislocation construction in Biblical Hebrew. This inquiry is a part of a larger investigationinto the nature and function of word order variation in Biblical Hebrew. In light of past researchon Biblical Hebrew word-order variation, specifically concerning Left-Dislocation constructions,it is concluded that a re-analysis of Left-Dislocation constructions in Biblical Hebrew is calledfor. Advancements within the fields of cognitive-functional linguistics and discourse-pragmatics(information-structure) have afforded numerous avenues towards a more comprehensivecognitive-oriented frame of reference for ascertaining the functions of Biblical Hebrew word order variation.The discourse-pragmatic and cognitive-functional notion of information-structure serves as thebasis for the theoretical framework employed in the present investigation. Information-structureis principally concerned with the question as to why grammars of natural language offer speakersa variety of morphosyntactic and prosodic options for expressing the same propositional content.Since the Left-Dislocation construction is a universal syntactic phenomenon, typologicalinformation regarding the form and function of Left-Dislocation constructions across languagesserved as a critical source of insight into the prototypical formal features and functional domainsof the construction within Biblical Hebrew. The insights garnered from cross-linguistic datainformed the parameters employed in the construction and construal of a random data-set of onehundred cases of Left-Dislocation drawn from the narrative portions of the Hebrew Biblestretching from Genesis to 2 Chronicles.The investigation of our data-set, within the confines of a discourse-pragmatic framework,reveals that Left-Dislocation constructions in Biblical Hebrew are principally employed tofacilitate the topic-promotion of identifiable but inactive discourse-referents. These referentscould be the primary or secondary topics of the sentences in which they are used.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University