Copyright

Jacobus A. Naudé, Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé

Published On

2023-09-25

Page Range

pp. 6–66

Language

  • English

Print Length

61 pages

Generative Linguistics as a Theoretical Framework for the Explanation of Problematic Constructions in Biblical Hebrew

Chapter of: Linguistic Theory and the Biblical Text (pp. 6–66)

This article provides a brief, historical overview of seven decades of generative linguistic theory, from its inception by Chomsky in 1957 to the present day, with special emphasis on its emerging concepts. The major contributions of the application of generative linguistic theory to the identification and explication of problematic construc-tions in Biblical Hebrew are illustrated. Finally, the article describes the prospects for further research in Biblical Hebrew using linguis-tics in general and generative linguistics in particular through a programmatic approach to the meaning-making processes of the languages of the biblical text. Keywords: Pronominalisation, topicalisation, left dislocation, ex-traposition, quantification, negation

Contributors

Jacobus A. Naudé

(author)
Senior Professor in the Department of Hebrew at University of the Free State
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8680-0476

Jacobus A. Naudé (DLitt, University of the Free State, 1996) is senior professor in the Department of Hebrew, University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa). His research publications focus on pre-modern Hebrew linguistics, especially from generative and complexity theoretical perspectives, religious translation, and translation theory. He serves on the editorial boards of Folia Orientalia and Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages, among others, and is a co-editor of the series Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic published by Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press. He is a co-author of A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar (2nd ed., Bloomsbury, 2017).

Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé

(author)
Senior Professor in the Department of Hebrew at University of the Free State

Cynthia L. Miller-Naudé (PhD, University of Chicago, 1992) is senior professor in the Department of Hebrew, University of the Free State (Bloemfontein, South Africa). Her research publications focus on pre-modern Hebrew linguistics, especially syntax and pragmatics, the syntactic structures of Shilluk (a Nilo- Saharan language of South Sudan), and Bible translation. She is a co-editor of the series Linguistic Studies in Ancient West Semitic published by Eisenbrauns/Penn State University Press. She also co-edited Diachrony in Biblical Hebrew (Eisenbrauns, 2012).