Browsing by Author "Westbury, Joshua R."
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- ItemLeft dislocation in biblical Hebrew : a cognitive linguistic account(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Westbury, Joshua R.; Van der Merwe, Christo H. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The present work consists of an investigation into the form and function(s) of the so-called 'Left Dislocation' construction in Biblical Hebrew. As such, this inquiry is part of a larger domain of research that explores the nature and function of word order variation in Biblical Hebrew. As a result of a pilot study conducted by the present author in 2010, as well as recent advances within the feilds of cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics, and discoursepragmatics— particularly with its sub-discipline known as information structure—a fresh examination of Left Dislocation in Biblical Hebrew is called for. Drawing on research from the aforementioned feilds of study, we propose a cognitive-functional theoretical model that provides a framework for a more comprehensive explanation of Left Dislocation in Biblical Hebrew. Furthermore, this work situates Left Dislocation in Biblical Hebrew against a broader profile of Left Dislocation across langauges. This is accomplished by examining the findings of a range of cross-linguistic studies—with respect to a variety of related and unrelated languages—that are concerned with both the syntactico-semantic and discourse-functional attributes of Left Dislocation. Typological generalizations drawn from these studies are then applied to the identification, classification, and explanation of a data set comprised of over 650 tokens taken from Genesis to 2 Kings. The result of this analysis is twofold. First, a thorough description is provided in terms of the external (i.e. global) and internal syntactico-semantic attributes of tokens comprising the data set. Consistent with typological findings, the data set reflects a taxonomic network of constructional schemas that are classified according to an exemplar model of conceptual categorization. Second, utilizing a cognitive-theoretical model, as well as insights garnered from crosslinguistic studies, the aforementioned syntactico-semantic description is explained in terms of the cognitive-pragmatic motivation for the use of Left Dislocation in BH narrative discourse, as well as the prototypical and non-prototypical discourse function(s) accomplished by the construction therein. Lastly, a developmental framework is proposed that accounts for the form-function variation exhibited by the tokens in our data set. This framework consists of broader developmental processes involving usage-based patterns of language change, as well as a 'panchronic' view of grammar, where synchrony and diachrony are viewed as an integrated whole, and where grammars are always emergent and never completely established.