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Document Details : Title: On Some Biblical Basic Speech Verbs Author(s): SHATIL, Nimrod Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Volume: 56 Date: 2019 Pages: 315-327 DOI: 10.2143/ANES.56.0.3286821 Abstract : Using the theoretical framework of cognitive semantics, this article claims that most unmarked speech verbs in Hebrew and closely related languages were originally movement or transference verbs. They present a metaphor related to conveying a message out of the inner container — that is, the לב ‘The Inner Man’ — in an upwards direction (mostly) or forwards. These verbs are (moving from the more general to the more specific): נָשָׂא קוֹל ‘raise one’s voice’; אָמַר ‘say’; דִבֵּר ‘speak’; הִגִּיד ‘tell’. The evidence for this claim is the fact that the roots of these verbs often contain notions of height and leading — ‘rule-lead’, ‘leader-ruler’ (the verb’s agent) and ‘matter-thing’ (the cognate object) — in Hebrew and other languages of the West Semitics branch. This article claims, for instance, that the original meaning of dbr in Arabic is related to notions of height and transference and the meaning ‘rear’, often considered the original meaning, could be a result of a change of perspective from zoocentric to anthropocentric. |
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