Some Dynamics of Word Order in Biblical Hebrew

Abstract

In Biblical Hebrew verbal sentences, suffixed particles and other short adverbial elements tend not to occur where the syntactic rules would lead one to expect them, but instead are located closer to the verb. This phenomenon is well known, but a number of its features have not been described in detail. Three case studies are proposed, revealing some of the dynamics involved in the placement of short adverbial elements. Analyzed through a comparative and typological framework, the Hebrew data suggest that alongside sentence syntax and discourse grammar, prosodic considerations play a role in determining word order.