On so-called ‘existentials’: A typological problem (original) (raw)
Related papers
The paper deals with the non-typical structure and coding properties of ‘existential-like’ utterances in Colloquial Modern Hebrew (CMH), with reference to parallels in some major Indo-European languages. The construction explored consists of an invariable (neuter) predicate incorporating an empty referential subject (S) morpheme, plus an explicit postverbal NP representing the logic-semantic subject (S′) that is eficient in topicality and behaves like an O (though it is not a Patient argument). This construction exhibits inconsistency and instability in several aspects of its encoding. Taking the structure-based approach as its starting point, the paper’s main argument is that the construction under investigation is a special impersonal construction displaying a split between the grammatical S and semantic S′. Typologically, it proposes a unified account of the construction in both synthetic inflectional languages like Hebrew, which do not require an expletive/ dummy-subject, and in analytic inflectional languages like English, German and French that do require it. The paper disputes the assumption that the postverbal NP in this construction is an O or an S that became an O. The underlying assumption of the paper is that a construction is a form-meaning-function unit; accordingly, the construction at hand is examined not only from the structural and semantic viewpoint but also from the viewpointof functional sentence perspective and the speaker’s perspectival choice with respect to the construal of the event.
2016
The paper deals with the non-typical structure and coding properties of 'existential-like' constructions in Colloquial Modern Hebrew (CMH), with reference to parallels in some major Indo-European languages. The construction explored consists of an invariable (neuter) predicate incorporating an empty referential subject (S) morpheme, plus an explicit postverbal NP representing the logicsemantic subject (S′) that is deficient in topicality and behaves like an O (though it is not a Patient argument). This construction exhibits inconsistency and instability in several aspects of its encoding. Taking the structure-based approach as its starting point, the paper's main argument is that the construction under investigation is a special impersonal construction displaying a split between the grammatical S and semantic S′. Typologically, it proposes a unified account of the construction in both synthetic inflectional languages like Hebrew, which do not require an expletive/dummysubject, and in analytic inflectional languages like Germanic languages and French that do require it. The paper disputes the assumption that the postverbal NP in this construction is an O or an S that became an O. The underlying assumption of the paper is that a construction is a formmeaning-function unit; accordingly, the construction at hand is examined not only from the structural and semantic viewpoint but also from the viewpoint of functional sentence perspective and the speaker's perspectival choice with respect to the construal of the event.
The existential construction in Spoken Modern Hebrew 2023
Journal of Speech Sciences vol.11
This contribution is part of the Debate section that dialogues with the two-part paper "The Syntax of Existential Constructions" by Shlomo Izre'el from Tel-Aviv University published in Volume 11 in 2022. In this response and rejoinder to Izre'el's monumental paper on existential constructions in spoken Israeli Hebrew, I call attention to the fact that unlike European languages, Hebrew is a non-subject oriented or non-configurational language type, and highlight that existential particle yeš in Hebrew is a TAM marker. I further enhance on the multifactionality of constructions featuring particle yeš far beyond bare assertion of existence. In addition, I refer to the high productivity of competitive configurations to the bare existential yeš construction based on a range of eventive-situative and locational verbs that are widespread in current use of Hebrew.
PRESENTATIVE-EXISTENTIAL SENTENCES AS UNIPARTITE SENTENCES: A VIEW FROM SPOKEN ISRAELI HEBREW
In: S. Masalóva, V. Polyakov, V. Solovyev (eds.). Cognitive Modeling: Proceedings of the Fourth International Forum on Cognitive Modeling (30 September – 7 October, 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel). Rostov-on-Don: Science and Studies Foundation. 79-88., 2018
The standard existential construction in Hebrew consists of distinctive existential particles, jeʃ (affirmative) or ejn (negative). Where time, aspect, or or non-assertive modalities of existence are to be expressed, verbal forms of √hjj ‘be’ are used instead. According to the approach taken here, where syntactic components take their conceptual status from a complex analysis of which the primary originating force is contextual, affirmative presentative-existential sentences — in all their variants — are regarded as unipartite sentences (or clauses), i.e., sentences that include only a predicate domain, without any subject component. The predicate domain thus consists of a lexical nucleus (‘pivot’) preceded by an existential-assertive modal expression, be it either a particle or a suppletive verb. The Hebrew verb includes a verbal stem and a personal marker, either non-referential or referential. In the case of the latter configuration, the person marker agrees in gender and number with the pivot and functions as a focus component.
De Gruyter, 2023
This paper sheds light on the alignment of Existential, Possessive and Dative-Experiencer constructions prevalent in Modern Hebrew that involve ambiguity of syntactic relations. Data-driven and employing a strictly typological approach, the study argues that the constructions in question are fundamentally related, and that they do not conform to the typological criteria of 'subject-oriented' languages, like most Indo-European languages. It is suggested that an inner relationship holds between the constructions in question. As a non-subject oriented language that does not require entities of referential prominence to be encoded as subjects or topics, Hebrew tends to configure non-volitional events as happening, or coming from outsideexisting with reference to the entity experiencing them or who is involved in them as Benefactive or Possessor.
An overt syntactic marker for genericity in Hebrew
In this paper I argue for the existence of an overt syntactic marker for genericity in Hebrew nominal predicative sentences, which will be called Pron (following Doron’s (1983) terminology), and discuss the implications of this claim for a number of topics dealt with in current theories of genericity. I begin with a background about the distribution of Pron, and make the initial claim about the connection between Pron and genericity. In section 3 and 4 I examine in detail two possible distributions of Pron, and claim that characterizing the generic /nongeneric distinction they create should be done in terms of both quantificational and kind referring genericity. In section 5 I reject an analysis of the data in terms of the stage / individual distinction. Finally, I discuss the compatibility of three Syntax-Semantics interface theories (Diesing 1992, Chierchia 1992 and Ramchand 1996) with the Hebrew data.
Non-canonical ext-like construction in Modern Hebrew
John Benjamins, 2016
The paper deals with the non-typical structure and coding properties of ‘existential-like’ constructions in Colloquial Modern Hebrew (CMH), with reference to parallels in some major Indo-European languages. The construction explored consists of an invariable (neuter) predicate incorporating an empty referential subject (S) morpheme, plus an explicit postverbal NP representing the logicsemantic subject (S′) that is deficient in topicality and behaves like an O (though it is not a Patient argument). This construction exhibits inconsistency and instability in several aspects of its encoding. Taking the structure-based approach as its starting point, the paper’s main argument is that the construction under investigation is a special impersonal construction displaying a split between the grammatical S and semantic S′. Typologically, it proposes a unified account of the construction in both synthetic inflectional languages like Hebrew, which do not require an expletive/dummy subject, and in analytic inflectional languages like Germanic languages and French that do require it. The paper disputes the assumption that postverbal NP in this construction is an O or an S that became an O. The underlying assumption of the paper is that construction is a form-meaning-function unit; accordingly, the construction at hand is examined not only from the structural and semantic viewpoint but also from the viewpoint of functional sentence perspective and the speaker’s perspectival choice with respect to the construal of the event.
2012
Hebrew is a nominative-accusative language. The basic unmarked word order in Modern Hebrew is SV(O). However, it allows, and in some cases requires, sentences which are predicate initial. The rhematic order (VS) in "sentence-focus" (SF) constructions is realized with a small group of verbs, crucially existentials (thetic), verbs of emergence, occurrence and their opposites, assertion of possession, impersonal modals, and phraseological expressions. In such cases there are significant discrepancies, e.g. in case marking, verbal agreement and constituent order, and often constraints on pronominalization and coreferentiality and on separation of S (viz. the semantic subject) from the predicate by intervening lexical material.