THE PROGRESSIVE-IMPERFECTIVE PATH IN BIBLICAL HEBREW (PART ONE)

Abstract

This article investigates the imperfective uses of the Biblical Hebrew imperfect and participial predicate in Archaic (ABH), Standard (SBH), and Late Biblical Hebrew (LBH) from the perspective of diachronic typology. It is shown that LBH represents a later stage of the progressive-imperfective path than SBH, whereas the status of ABH is uncertain because of the lack of relevant data. The article makes critical use of the established typological models, arguing that the Biblical Hebrew participial predicate does not belong to any of the most well-known progressive subtypes, and that this fact may explain some deviant usages. On the basis of the biblical evidence, it is suggested that predicative uses of the participle may have different origins, and that the progressive function may have arisen from grammatical reanalysis of an attributive construction. Part one expounds on the semantic and typological features of the progressive-imperfective path, and describes the development from SBH to LBH. Part two deals with the development from ABH to SBH and the question of the origin of the participial predicate.

Keywords

• verb
• aspect
• imperfective
• progressive
• diachrony
• typology