Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives

Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives
Author: Jean-Marc Heimerdinger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 289
Release: 1999-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567057941

This study breaks new ground in describing how various linguistic and pragmatic mechanisms affect both the form of the narrative clause and the arrangement of the grammatical elements. The various possible forms that a narrative clause can take are classified in terms of their 'topic-comment' and 'focus-presupposition', and it is argued that the way in which these are articulated dictates the word order in the clause. The outcome of the study demonstrates that the traditional binary distinction between foreground and background, based purely on verb forms, is inadequate. A new model is offered showing how foregrounding is achieved by exploiting cognitive structures or by using specific evaluative devices.

Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives

Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives
Author: Jean-Marc Heimerdinger
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 290
Release: 1999-08-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567057941

This study breaks new ground in describing how various linguistic and pragmatic mechanisms affect both the form of the narrative clause and the arrangement of the grammatical elements. The various possible forms that a narrative clause can take are classified in terms of their 'topic-comment' and 'focus-presupposition', and it is argued that the way in which these are articulated dictates the word order in the clause. The outcome of the study demonstrates that the traditional binary distinction between foreground and background, based purely on verb forms, is inadequate. A new model is offered showing how foregrounding is achieved by exploiting cognitive structures or by using specific evaluative devices.

Parenthesis in Biblical Hebrew

Parenthesis in Biblical Hebrew
Author: Tamar Zewi
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2007
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9004162437

In its examination of parenthesis in Biblical Hebrew, this book presents a linguistic description of Biblical Hebrew parenthetical units through integration of several research disciplines and scholarly approaches: linguistics, discourse studies, text linguistics, textual philology, comparative Semitics, Bible translations, and literature.

Conservatism and Innovation in the Hebrew Language of the Hellenistic Period

Conservatism and Innovation in the Hebrew Language of the Hellenistic Period
Author: Jan Joosten
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2008
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004164049

This volume contains 15 contributions addressing linguistic and philological issues. They seek to relate the Hebrew texts of the Hellenistic period to both earlier and later traditions. The papers deal with the Qumran scrolls, the Apocrypha and the Hebrew Bible.

The Pragmatics of Perception and Cognition in MT Jeremiah 1:1-6:30

The Pragmatics of Perception and Cognition in MT Jeremiah 1:1-6:30
Author: Elizabeth Hayes
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2008-12-10
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 311021122X

Recent advances in cognitive linguistics provide new avenues for reading and interpreting Biblical Hebrew prophetic text. This volume utilises a multi-layered cognitive linguistics approach to explore Jeremiah 1:1-6:30, incorporating insights from cognitive grammar, cognitive science and conceptual blending theory. While the modern reader is separated from the originators of these texts by time, space and culture, this analysis rests on the theory that both the originators and the modern reader share common features of embodied experience. This opens the way for utilising cognitive models, conceptual metaphor and mental spaces theory when reading and interpreting ancient texts. This volume provides an introduction to cognitive theory and method. Initially, short examples from Jeremiah 1:1-6:30 are used to introduce the theory and method. This is followed by a detailed comparison of traditional and cognitive approaches to Biblical Hebrew grammar. These insights are then applied to further examples taken from Jeremiah 1:1-6:30 in order to test and refine the approach. These findings show that Jeremiah 1:1-1:3 establishes perspective for the text as a whole and that subsequent shifts in perspective may be tracked using aspects of mental spaces theory. Much of the textual content yields to concepts derived from conceptual metaphor studies and from conceptual blending theory, which are introduced and explained using examples taken from Jeremiah 1:1-6:30. The entire analysis demonstrates some of the strengths and weaknesses of using recent cognitive theories and methods for analysing and interpreting ancient texts. While such theories and methods do not obviate the need for traditional interpretive methods, they do provide a more nuanced understanding of the ancient text.

Basics of Hebrew Discourse

Basics of Hebrew Discourse
Author: Matthew Howard Patton
Publisher:
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2019-11-26
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 031053576X

The Basics of Hebrew Discourse: A Guide to Working with Hebrew Prose and Poetry by Miles V. Van Pelt, Matthew H. Patton, and Frederic Clarke Putnam is a syntax resource for intermediate Hebrew students that introduces them to the principles and exegetical benefits of discourse analysis when applied to biblical Hebrew prose and poetry.

The Bridling of the Tongue and the Opening of the Mouth in Biblical Prophecy

The Bridling of the Tongue and the Opening of the Mouth in Biblical Prophecy
Author: Gregory Glazov
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2001-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567163660

Glazov demonstrates that the interlinked themes of bridling the tongue and opening the mouth, well-known components of wisdom teaching, are also crucial to understanding much in the prophets, as well as later Jewish and Christian writings, especially liturgical texts. His comprehensive survey and analysis of the theme contribute to both a literary and a historical perspective on the prophetic literature of the Bible.

The Verb in Archaic Biblical Poetry

The Verb in Archaic Biblical Poetry
Author: Tania Notarius
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2013-07-04
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 9004253351

The Verb in Archaic Biblical Poetry: A Discursive, Typological, and Historical Investigation of the Tense System offers a comprehensive analysis of the syntactic, semantic, pragmatic, and discursive properties of the verb in the corpus of archaic" biblical poetry (The Song of Moses, Song of the Sea, Song of Deborah, Song of David, Blessing of Jacob, Oracles of Balaam, Blessing of Moses, and Song of Hannah). The approach integrates modern research on tense, aspect, and modality, while also addressing the complicated philological issues in these texts. The study presents discursive analysis of biblical poetic texts, systemic description of each text’s tense system, and reconstruction of the archaic verbal tenses as attested in part of the corpus.

Congress Volume Basel 2001

Congress Volume Basel 2001
Author: André Lemaire
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2014-09-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004276181

This volume publishes the papers given by invitation at the 17th Congress of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, which was held in Basel from 5-10 August 2001. It presents a state of the art of the current exegesis of the Hebrew Bible, taking into account the latest research in general linguistics and semitic philology, as well as textual criticism (Massora Magna, Septuagint, Qumran manuscripts), ethno-sociology and archaeology. Feminist biblical studies are duly represented as well as the last research on literary criticism on the Pentateuch, especially in its relation to other ancient Near Eastern texts (Neo-assyrian and Aramaic inscriptions). Finally, two contributions throw light on the problem of religious interpretation of the Bible (Resurrection of the Dead and Biblical Theology).

Imagining' Biblical Worlds

Imagining' Biblical Worlds
Author: David M. Gunn
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2002-12-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567189902

The essays in this volume address the interface between biblical studies, archaeology, sociology and cultural anthropology, celebrating the pioneering work of James Flanagan. In particular, this collection explores various ways in which the real ancient world is constructed by the modern critical reader with the aid of various theoretical and practical tools.The contributors to this volume have all been involved with Flanagan and his projects during his academic career and the essays carry forward the important interdisciplinary agendas he has encouraged. Part One deals with his recent interest in spatiality and Part Two with social and historical constructs.This book in James Flanagan's honour represents a significant statement of research in an area of biblical and historical research that is increasingly important yet surprisingly under-represented.