Abstract
אולי is a biblical word that expresses possibility, hope, doubt, fear, and condition. Common to all these is the element of uncertainty, the semantic core of biblical אולי in all its uses. The assumption of this paper is that study of a word's meaning must take into account the textual and situational context in which the word appears. אולי expressing hope is tightly linked to a textual pattern having a regular two-part structure. In the first part of the utterance, the speech act is directive, while the second part beginning with אולי, includes the result that ...
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 81-104 |
| Journal | Hebrew Studies: a journal devoted to Hebrew language and literature of all periods |
| Volume | 42 |
| State | Published - 2001 |