this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Emphasis or Assertion?
Subtitle: Remarks on the Paronomastic Infinitive in Hebrew
Author(s): GZELLA, Holger
Journal: Bibliotheca Orientalis
Volume: 67    Issue: 5-6   Date: 2010   
Pages: 488-498
DOI: 10.2143/BIOR.67.5.2071221

Abstract :
Yoo-Ki Kim’s recent dissertation challenges the widely-held view that the so-called paronomastic infinitive in Biblical Hebrew acts as a marker of emphasis. Rather, the author suggests (as some others have done before him) that this construction is related to the notion of assertion, i.e., the speaker’s belief or conviction that the proposition is true. The present review article evaluates Kim’s synchronic analysis; it also attempts to supplement his somewhat cursory discussion of inner-biblical developments and the situation in other Semitic languages.

Download article