The Semantics of Aspect and Modality: Evidence from English and Biblical Hebrew (Studies in Language Companion Series 34)

This volume provides a critical overview of research in tense, aspect and modality, as well as in the semantics of the verbal system in biblical Hebrew. The author suggests a new approach for analyzing the biblical Hebrew verb system, showing it to be tenseless. The overall approach adopted in the book is basically of truth conditional semantics and adheres closely to Kamp's DRT (Discoure Representation Theory). For each phenomenon covered, the relevant literature is surveyed and critically discussed with reference to English and, when relevant, to other languages. The conclusions arrived at are then applied to biblical Hebrew. Editorial page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Table of Contents 6 Preface 10 Chapter 1. Introduction — Temporality in Language 12 1.1 Tense and Aspect 12 1.1.1 Reference-Time 13 1.1.2 Modality 20 1.2 The Verbal System in Biblical-Hebrew 21 1.2.1 The Problem 21 1.2.2 The Corpus 35 1.2.3 The Biblical Hebrew Verb System and the Temporal Parameters 39 1.2.4 Method 42 NOTES 46 Chapter 2. Sequence 47 2.1 Definition of Sequence 47 2.2 The Sequence Aspect in Biblical-Hebrew 67 2.2.1 The Sequential Forms 68 2.2.2 Formulas, Hyhdiyadums and paraphrases 73 2.2.3 wayhi: and wha:ya: 81 2.2.3.1 The Predicative Function of wayhi: and wha:ya: 82 2.2.3.2 The segmentational function of wayhi: and wha:ya: 87 2.2.4 The Non-Sequential Forms 94 2.2.5 The Biblical Hebrew Forms and Tense Interpretation 95 NOTES 96 Chapter 3. Inclusion: The Progressive Aspect 100 3.1 Definition of The Progressive Aspect 101 3.1.1 Inclusion and the Narrative Discourse 105 3.1.2 The Interaction of the Progressive Aspect with the Aktionsarten 108 3.2 Inclusion in Biblical-Hebrew 114 NOTES 125 Chapter 4. Modality 128 4.1 Necessity and Possibility 128 4.1.1 Epistemic "must" and "may" 132 4.1.2 Future Statements 134 4.1.3 Conditionals 137 4.1.4 Counterfactuals 141 4.1.5 Generics and Habituais 142 4.1.6 Deontic Modality 150 4.1.7 Negation and Interrogatives 151 4.2 Modality in Biblical Hebrew 153 4.2.1 The Modal Forms 154 4.2.2 The Non-Modal Forms 167 4.3 Conclusion 172 NOTES 172 Chapter 5. The Perfect Aspect: Simultaneity, Anteriority and Backgrounding 174 5.1 Definition of Perfect 174 5.1.1 Simultaneity 174 5.1.2 Anteriority 176 5.1.3 Backgrounding 184 5.1.4 Counterfactuals 185 5.2 The Perfect Aspect in Biblical Hebrew 186 5.2.1 Simultaneity in BH 186 5.2.2 Anteriority in BH 188 5.2.3 Backgrounding 195 5.2.4 The Perfect Aspect and Modality 200 5.2.5 Conclusion 203 NOTES 204 Chapter 6. Conclusions and Suggestions for Future Research 206 References 213 Name Index 222 Subject Index 225 9027230374,(Eur.),/,1-55619-845-0,(US) John Benjamins Publishing Co. “The semantics of aspect and modality” will be of interest both to linguists working on temporality, as a general phenomenon in language, and Hebraists investigating the semantics of the verbal forms in biblical Hebrew.
Tense, aspect and modality are among the most challenging discussed areas of language. Similarly, the semantics of the verbal system in biblical Hebrew has been investigated since the Middle Ages. Galia Hatav provides extensive critical overviews of research in both areas, and suggests a new approach for analyzing the biblical Hebrew verb system, showing it to be tenseless.
The overall approach adopted in the book is basically of truth conditional semantics, and adheres closely to Kamp’s DRT (Discourse Representation Theory). For each phenomenon covered, the relevant literature is surveyed and critically discussed, with reference to English, and when relevant to other languages, too. The conclusions arrived at are then applied to biblical Hebrew.
However, despite the sophisticated semantic theory the book is also meticulous in its attention to philological details of the Hebrew text, lending to a particulary harmonious combination of formal and discourse approach. The biblical Hebrew part of the book will be of interest mainly to Hebraists, but linguists dealing with temporality in general may find it useful as an interesting illustration for a tenseless exotic language. "Tense, aspect and modality are among the most challenging discussed areas of language. Similarly, the semantics of the verbal system in biblical Hebrew has been investigated since the Middle Ages. Galia Hatav provides extensive critical overviews of research in both areas, and suggests a new approach for analyzing the biblical Hebrew verb system, showing it to be tenseless. The overall approach adopted in the book is basically of truth conditional semantics, and adheres closely to Kamp’s DRT (Discourse Representation Theory). For each phenomenon covered, the relevant literature is surveyed and critically discussed, with reference to English, and when relevant to other languages, too. The conclusions arrived at are then applied to biblical Hebrew."--Back cover Topics covered in this study include: the verbal system in biblical Hebrew; the biblical Hebrew forms and tense interpretation; modality in biblical Hebrew; and the perfect aspect in biblical Hebrew.