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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| Published in | Stellenbosch papers in linguistics plus Vol. 65; pp. 67 - 87 |
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| Main Author | |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
Department of General Linguistics of Stellenbosch University
2023
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| Online Access | Get full text |
| ISSN | 2224-3380 2224-3380 |
| DOI | 10.5842/65-1-970 |
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| Abstract | 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. |
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| AbstractList | 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. |
| Author | Andrason, Alexander |
| AuthorAffiliation | University of Cape Town |
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| Keywords | Serial verb constructions dynamization of typology prototype/canon North-West Semitic (Canaano-Akkadian, Ugaritic, Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic) |
| Language | English |
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| Title | Serial Verb Constructions in North-West Semitic languages: From a synchronic radiation back to the ‘Big Bang’ |
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