A Second Look at Double Preverbal Constituents

Abstract

A SECOND LOOK AT DOUBLE PREVERBAL CONSTITUENTS* Nicholas A. Bailey SIL International nicholas_bailey@sil.org A review of Doppelt besetztes Vorfeld: Syntaktische, pragmatische und übersetzungstechnische Studien zum althebräischen Verbalsatz. By Walter Gross. BZAW 305. Pp. xiv + 347. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2001. Cloth, € 98.00. $118.17. Walter Gross, known for other works on Biblical Hebrew constituent order,1 has bravely set out to explore some rough terrain: clauses with two (or more) preverbal nominal constituents, especially in poetry, and how translators have handled such clauses. This insightful and richly illustrated work has important implications for the fields of Biblical Hebrew grammar, discourse, and rhetorical structure. To be sure, to appreciate such a work, a significant investment is required on the part of the reader. “Pragmatics” and specifically the subfield of “information structure” are still relatively immature and many notions such as “topic” and “focus,” which Gross employs, are hotly debated among linguists. Still, these fields potentially have much to offer the Hebrew grammarian, exegete, and translator. In fact, an exegete’s job is not truly complete until such meaning has been accounted for. Along these lines, I offer here a critical assessment of Gross’s contribution, pointing to several areas—particularly his definitions and method—where alternative perspectives would help. In assessing Gross, I refer to several current linguistic theories, especially Lambrecht’s (1994), which has, to different degrees, been the basis for Heimerdinger (1999), Shimasaki (2002), and van der Merwe.2 * I wish to thank Nick Lunn and Stephen Levinsohn for their helpful comments on drafts of this article. 1 See especially W. Gross, Die Satzteilfolge im Verbalsatz alttestamentlicher Prosa: Untersucht an den Büchern Dtn, Ri und 2Kön (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1996). 2 K. Lambrecht, Information Structure and Sentence Form: Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representations of Discourse Referents (Cambridge: Cambridge University, 1994). See C. H. J. van der Merwe, “Explaining Fronting in Biblical Hebrew,” JNSL 25 (1999): 173–186, and his review of Gross (Die Satzteilfolge) in C. H. J. van der Merwe, “Towards a Better Understanding of Biblical Hebrew Word Order,” JNSL 25 (1999): 277–300. See J.-M. Heimerdinger, Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), and a critical review of the same in S. H. Levinsohn, “Review of Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew Narratives,” JOTT 14 (2002): 126–147. See K. Shimasaki, Focus Structure in Biblical Hebrew (Bethesda, Md.: CDL Press, 2002) and a critical review of the same in R. D. Holmstedt, “Adjusting Our Focus,” HS (2003): 129–138. Neither Heimerdinger nor Shimasaki have exhausted the usefulness of applying Lambrecht’s theory to Hebrew. Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 254 Review Essay With the exception of some of his technical terms, I have usually translated quotations from Gross into English in order to make his claims more accessible . German spellings, for example, Topik, Fokus, etc., indicate his notions, since they often diverge with other definitions of topic and focus that I mention. 1.¬BOOK SUMMARY Gross’s study concerns finite verbal clauses with multiple preverbal nominal constituents—which I will simply call “preverbals.” Gross describes these nominal constituents as in the Vorfeld “pre-field,” that is, before a finite verb, as opposed to ones in the Hauptfeld “main field,” that is, following a finite verb. Gross presents the following clause schema, which I have slightly modified for the present reader (pp. 5–6). The first preverbal, P1, precedes the second preverbal, P2, (and P3). other sentence conjunctions, particles, and adverbs, e.g., hto, Nkl, hnh P1 P2 (P3) “preverbal constituents 1, 2, and 3” … w Vorfeld “pre-field” (preverbal area) Verb area Hauptfeld “main field” (postverbal area) By preverbal nominal constituents, Gross means any nominal, with or without a preposition. This designation excludes vocatives and constituents in casus pendens (i.e., left-dislocation), as well as conjunctions, particles, and some deictics and adverbials, which can additionally occur preverbally (i.e., before P1). The “verb” area holds the finite verb itself plus any particles (e.g., al or la) or any infinitive absolute of the same root that might accompany it. There are ten chapters in the book. The supplements include...