Serial Verb Constructions in North-West Semitic languages: From a synchronic radiation back to the ‘Big Bang’

The present article argues that Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in North-West Semitic (NWS) languages have emerged from clause fusion. The analysis of the synchronic profiles of SVCs in four of the oldest attested languages of this branch, i.e., Canaano-Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew, and Bibl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inStellenbosch papers in linguistics plus Vol. 65; pp. 67 - 87
Main Author Andrason, Alexander
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University 2023
Subjects
Humanities, Multidisciplinary
Serial verb constructions
dynamization of typology
prototype/canon
North-West Semitic (Canaano-Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic)
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ISSN2224-3380
2224-3380
DOI10.5842/65-1-970

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Summary:The present article argues that Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in North-West Semitic (NWS) languages have emerged from clause fusion. The analysis of the synchronic profiles of SVCs in four of the oldest attested languages of this branch, i.e., Canaano-Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Aramaic, reveals an evolutionary path from less cohesive non-canonical serializing patterns of a pseudo-coordinated character to increasingly more cohesive and canonical serializing patterns. The ultimate source of this path and verbal serialization is reconstructed as conjunctive coordination with two clauses being linked by the predecessor of a coordinator that surfaces as u/w in the four analyzed languages.
ISSN:2224-3380
2224-3380
DOI:10.5842/65-1-970