Abstract
The verb class of saying in Mishnaic Hebrew contains numerous verbs
covering varied areas of meanings. This paper will discuss one type of
verbs of saying-verbs of speech production that denote a basic act of say-
ing-the production of verbal content by a person. Part One will define the
terms "saying" and "speaking" and clarify the place of verb class of
speech production within the larger group of verbs of saying. Part Two will
discuss the use of the six verbs of speech production in Mishnaic Hebrew:
Ve29 ,?29r ,1'zfl ,Y A ,fl ,13'1. An examination of the deployment of these
verbs shows that of the six verbs in the group, three occur less frequently
and that the verbs are used in halakhic rather than narrative contexts. The
stock of verbs in the group is very scanty in comparison to the parallel bib-
lical group: no new verbs of speech production beyond those found in the
Bible can be found in Mishnaic Hebrew, which lacks about half of the verbs
of speech production that appear in the Bible. Part Three will discuss the
syntactic frame of the verbs of speech production, which has been found to
be different from the general syntactic frame of verbs of saying, with regard
to both complements and adverbials.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 201-215 |
Journal | Jewish Quarterly Review |
Volume | 93 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
State | Published - 2002 |