Untersuchungen zur verbalen Valenz im biblischen Hebraisch. By MICHAEL MALESSA.

Abstract

Constructions with a direct object, a prepositional phrase, an infinitive, or a complement clause constitute an interface between syntax and the lexicon. As Hebrew dictionaries predominantly focus on meaning, while grammars cannot pay sufficient attention to individual verbs, a more systematic account of the numerous forms of verbal complementation was long overdue. Michael Malessa's dissertation, supervised by Takamitsu Muraoka and defended in 2003, successfully addresses this need from a mostly synchronic perspective, based on the customary albeit simplistic distinction between ‘Classical’ and ‘Late Biblical’ Hebrew. It proceeds from verb valency, that is, the idea that different verbal predicates require different numbers of arguments, including the subject, in order to arrive at well-formed sentences (pp. 1–26). Dependency grammar, which defines structure by means of the relation of a word (in this case the verb) to its various dependents, serves as a descriptive framework, because it is both rational and close to the linguistic surface.