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

Abstract

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