Is דבר a Negative Polarity Item (NPI) in DSS Hebrew?

A. Moshavi

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

A negative polarity item (NPI) is a word or expression that is only grammatical in non-affirmative contexts such as negative, interrogative, and conditional clauses. An example of a biblical NPI is the indefinite pronoun מְאוּמָה ‘anything'. In a previous paper it was shown that the biblical noun דָּבָר ‘word, matter, action' is undergoing grammaticalization in classical BH, producing a semantically-bleached, but probably still lexical NPI strongly resembling מְאוּמָה. This path is completed in modern Hebrew, where davar is used as an indefinite pronoun ‘anything'. In this paper I look for evidence of grammaticalization of דבר in the Hebrew of the DSS and Ben Sira, comparing its progression to that observable in classical BH. Comparative data from late BH and Rabbinic Hebrew will be considered as well.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2019
Event9th International Symposium on the Language of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira 2019 - Toronto and Hamilton, Canada
Duration: 9 Apr 201911 Apr 2019

Conference

Conference9th International Symposium on the Language of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira 2019
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityToronto and Hamilton
Period9/04/1911/04/19

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  • Conference Invited

    Moshavi, A. (Invited speaker)

    9 Apr 201911 Apr 2019

    Activity: Talk or presentationInvited talk

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