The goal of the volume is to shed fresh light on Modern Hebrew from perspectives aimed at readers interested in the domains of general linguistics, typology, and Semitic studies. Starting with chapters that provide background information on the evolution and sociolinguistic setting of the language, the bulk of the book is devoted to usage-based studies of the morphology, lexicon, and syntax of current Hebrew. Based primarily on original analyses of authentic spoken and online materials, these studies reflect varied theoretical frames-of-reference that are largely model-neutral in approach. To this end, the book presents a functionally motivated, dynamic approach to actual usage, rather than providing strictly structuralist or formal characterizations of particular linguistic systems. Such a perspective is particularly important in the case of a language undergoing accelerated processes of change, in which the gap between prescriptive dictates of the Hebrew Language Establishment and the actual usage of educated, literate but non-expert speaker-writers of current Hebrew is constantly on the rise.
Author(s): Ruth A. Berman
Series: Studies in Language Companion Series
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 700
City: Amsterdam
Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew
Editorial page
Title page
Copyright page
Table of contents
List of authors
Acknowledgements
Transcription, transliteration, Hebrew-specific coding
A. Orthographic elements
B. Broad phonemic transcription of spoken Hebrew
C. Hebrew-specific glossing and coding conventions
References
Introduction
Chapter summaries
Part I. Background
Part II. Morphology-lexicon
Part III. Syntax
References
Part I. General background
Chapter 1. Setting Modern Hebrew in space, time, and culture
1. Introduction
1.1 The speech community
2. Genetic affiliation and nomenclature
3. Linguistic research: From prescriptivism to descriptivism
References
Chapter 2. Historical overview of Modern Hebrew
1. Timeline
2. The impact of the classical strata of Hebrew
3. The modernization of Hebrew
References
Chapter 3. Genetic affiliation
1. The Semitic family
2. Hebrew morphology as Semitic
2.1 The consonantal root system
2.2 Pronominal system
2.3 Nominal system
2.4 Verbal derivation (verbal stems)
2.5 Verbal inflection
3. Lexicon
4. The controversial status of Modern Hebrew
References
Chapter 4. Sociolinguistics of Modern Hebrew
1. The multilingual setting of Modern Hebrew
1.1 Languages of Ashkenazi Jews
1.2 Languages of Sephardi Jews
1.3 Languages of Mizraḥi Jews
1.4 Russian, Ethiopian, global languages, and transnationalism
1.5 Impact of foreign languages on Modern Hebrew
1.6 Interaction with Palestinian Arabic
2. Communal varieties of Modern Hebrew
2.1 Two major dialect types
2.2 Intersecting varieties of Modern Hebrew
3. Registers, genres, codes and styles
3.1 Register scale
3.2 Spoken language in literature
3.3 Performing arts (theater, film, drama)
3.4 Song and music
3.5 Mass communication and media
3.6 Digital language
3.7 Hybrid bilingual codes
4. Language, gender, and power
4.1 Gender bias and countermeasures
4.2 Gendered symbols and stereotypes
4.3 Male as norm?
5. Language ideology and educational policies
6. Linguistic landscape
7. Concluding comment
References
Chapter 5. Prescriptive activity in Modern Hebrew
1. Introduction
1.1 Prescription, norms, and standards
1.2 Prescriptive discourse
1.3 Prescriptivism, ideology, and nationality
1.4 Attitudes towards prescriptivism
2. Prescriptive activity in Modern Hebrew
2.1 The pre-state period (1889–1948)
2.2 Prescriptivism in Israel since 1948
3. Some illustrations
3.1 Pronunciation
3.2 Grammatical structure
3.3 Lexicon
4. Concluding notes
References
Chapter 6. Notes on Modern Hebrew phonology and orthography
1. Introduction
2. The phoneme inventory of Modern Hebrew
2.1 Consonants
2.2 Vowels
3. Some diachronic processes leading to current sound patterns
4. Phonotactics
5. Stress
6. Notes on Hebrew orthography
References
Part II. Morpho-lexicon
Chapter 7. Inflection
1. Introduction
2. Pronouns
2.1 Independent, free pronouns
2.2 Dependent pronouns
3. Verb inflection
3.1 Root and templates
3.2 Tense inflection
3.3 Mood inflection
3.4 Infinitives, gerunds, and action nominals
3.5 Agreement marking for person, gender and number inflection
4. Nouns
4.1 Gender inflection: Masculine and feminine
4.2 Number inflection
4.3 Construct state inflection
5. Adjectives
5.1 Gender inflection in adjectives
5.2 Number inflection
6. Concluding remarks
References
Chapter 8. Derivation
1. Introduction
2. Structural classes of Hebrew derivational morphology
2.1 Root and pattern interdigited (non-linear) affixation
2.2 Stem plus suffix linear affixation
2.3 Zero-derivation
2.4 Reduplication
3. Derivational morphology in verbs
3.1 Structure and use of binyan patterns
3.2 Derivational verb families
3.3 New-verb derivation
4. Derivational morphology in nouns
4.1 Ontological categories
4.2 Morphophonological facets of noun derivation
5. Derivational morphology in adjectives
5.1 Linear formation: Denominal adjectives
5.2 Non-linear adjective formation
5.2.3 Non-productive adjectival structures
6. Adverbial constructions
7. Concluding notes
References
Appendix A. List of sources
Chapter 9. Parts of speech categories in the lexicon of Modern Hebrew
1. Introduction
1.1 What’s “a word” in Hebrew?
1.2 Old versus new words
1.3 Conventional dictionaries and the mental lexicon
1.4 Role of morphology in the Hebrew lexicon
1.5 Sources of data
1.6 Quantitative breakdowns of parts-of-speech
2. Types of lexical categories
2.1 Open class content words
2.2 Closed class grammatical functors
2.3 Intermediate elements
3. Productivity and innovation in the MH lexicon
References
Chapter 11. Nominalizations
1. Introduction
1.1 Other verb-related nouns
1.2 Data-base
Three “verbal noun” constructions in MH
1.3 Criteria of nominalness
1.4 Properties of ‘verbal nouns’ in MH
2. Derived action nominals [vnom]
2.1 Morpho-phonological properties of action nominals
2.2 Lexico-semantic properties of vnoms
2.3 Syntactic properties
2.4 Distribution of vnom constructions in MH
3. Gerunds
4. Infinitives
5. Comparing the structure and use of three verbal nouns in MH
6. Concluding notes
References
Part III. Syntax
Chapter 12. Agreement alternations in Modern Hebrew
1. Introduction
2. Feminine–masculine alternations
2.1 Plural marking
2.2 Dual–plural marking
2.3 Numerals and gender agreement
2.4 Plurals and gender agreement
2.5 Gender agreement: Summary
3. Personal–impersonal alternations
3.1 Verb-initial clauses
3.2 The existential yeš
3.3 The question-word / quantifier eyze
3.4 Personal-impersonal agreement: Summary
4. Form/meaning alternations
4.1 Place names
4.2 Names of firms
4.3 Agreement variations with the noun be’alim ‘owner(s)’
4.4 Summary
5. Controller alternations
5.1 Construct state NPs
5.2 The copular construction
5.3 Summary
6. Conclusions
References
Chapter 14. Genitive (smixut) constructions in Modern Hebrew
1. Introduction
1.1 Constructions analyzed
1.2 Sources of data
2. Binominal N^ N(P) smixut genitive constructions
2.1 Bound N^ N(P) constructions
2.2 Free analytical genitives
2.3 Double-marked complex genitives
2.4 Alternation between genitive constructions
3. Other binominal constructions
3.1 Construct-state adjective + noun [ac]
3.2 Head noun + denominal adjective (daj)
4. Concluding discussion
References
Chapter 16. Negation in Modern Hebrew
1. Introduction
2. Data and methodology
3. Quantitative results
4. Wide-scope negation
4.1 The negator ‘lo’
4.2 The negator ‘al’
4.3 The negator ‘en’
5. Narrow-scope negation
5.1 Contrastive negation
5.2 Preposing
6. Negative indefinites
7. Negation and prosody
8. Negation-based discourse markers
9. Non-linguistic negation
10. Concluding comments
References
Chapter 17. List constructions
1. Introduction
2. Sentence level vs. discourse level
3. Number of listees
4. Cognitive processes, coherence relations, and discourse functions
5. Semantic relations and discourse functions
6. Lists and discourse structure
7. Prosody
8. List interpreters
9. Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Chapter 18. A usage-based typology of Modern Hebrew syntax: How Semitic?
1. Introduction
2. Bi-clausal constructions: Clauses and their combination
2.1 Inter-clausal relations in modern Hebrew
2.2 Inter-clausal relations: Examples from biblical Hebrew prose
3. Concluding comments
References
Index
