Final sentences in biblical Hebrew narrative prose form Genesis to 2 Kings

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Final sentences are a neglected area of research in Biblical Hebrew. Apart from aninvestigation by Mitchell (1879) in the previous century, and a more recent article byMuraoka (1997), this is certainly an area of Biblical Hebrew grammar in need of research.Biblical Hebrew grammars propound a variety of ways final constructions can supposedlybe expressed. The main thesis of this study is that the diversity of final constructions inBiblical Hebrew is not merely different syntactic realizations of the same semanticmeaning, but that each syntactic construction carries definite semantic nuances.Traditional grammars, because they are sentence-based, present some shortcomings in thedescription of final sentences. I will briefly expose some of the linguistic presuppositionsof traditional grammars, and their inherent limitations with respect to the study of finalconstructions.Recent developments in general linguistics, especially the variety of approaches subsumedunder the broad classification textlinguistics, create new opportunities to address BiblicalHebrew grammar. I will explore this relatively recent developments to the study oflanguage, in order to determine whether insights from studies conducted in terms of thisparadigm can be used to describe final constructions more adequately.A number of theses are presented in Chapters 2 and 3, which are evaluated in Chapters 4to 6. The findings are presented in a summary of at the end of each chapter. The finalresults of this investigation are summarized in Chapter 7.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University