Abstract

The typological distinction between negative concord and double negation languages has received increasing attention over the past century beginning with Jespersen (1922). Multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew has been subject to mixed treatment in this regard. Some scholars have treated all multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew as emphatic (Gesenius, Kautzsch & Cowley 1910; Dahood 1975; Holmstedt 2016) while others have labeled these constructions as pleonastic (Jouon & Muraoka 2006). Snyman (2004) determines that Biblical Hebrew is neither a negative concord language nor a double negation language based upon his assessment that "BH does not exhibit multiple negation elements." In this thesis I explore a novel approach to evaluating the typological treatment of multiple negation in Biblical Hebrew. The criteria I use are derived from crosslinguistic observations made by Zeijlstra (2004a) and van der Auwera & van Alsenoy (2016), identifying the linguistic traits exclusive to negative concord languages (e.g. preverbal negative markers, paratactic negation, and banning true negative imperatives). I demonstrate the presence of these phenomena in Biblical Hebrew, determining it to be an NC language. I also discuss the implications these findings have on the current typology.

Degree

College and Department

Linguistics and English Language

Rights

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