Historical syntax has long been neglected in the study of the Semitic languages, although it holds great value for the subgrouping of this diverse language family. Focusing on the development of adverbial subordination, nominal modifiers and direct speech marking, as well as reviewing changes through language contact and drift, this book is the first step in the syntactic reconstruction of the Aramaic dialect group, the longest-attested branch of the Semitic language family.

Contenu

Table of Contents (page 5) Acknowledgments (page 9) List of Tables (page 11) Abbreviations and Sigla (page 13) Chapter 1: Introduction (page 17)

1.1. Methodology (page 17)
1.2. Historical Syntax in Semitic (page 20)
1.3. Why Aramaic? (page 23)
1.4. Aramaic Dialectology (page 25)
1.5. The Structure of the Work (page 32)
1.6. A Note on Bilingual Texts (page 33) Chapter 2: Adverbial Subordination (page 37) 2.1. Methodological Introduction (page 37)
2.1.1. Adverbial Subordination in Semitic (page 39) 2.2. Adverbial Subordination in Aramaic (page 43)
2.2.1. Inherited Subordinators (page 44)
2.2.2. Result Clauses and Negative Result Clauses (page 50)
2.2.3. The Conditional Clause (page 62)
2.2.4. Causal Clauses (page 82)
2.2.5. Sources for Adverbial Subordination (page 93) 2.3. Conclusions (page 102) Appendix 1: Table 10: Heads and Dependents in Semitic (page 104) Chapter 3: Nominal Modifiers (page 105) 3.1. Order of Constituents in the Nominal Phrase (page 105)
3.1.1. Introduction (page 105)
3.1.2. Order of Attributive Demonstrative in Aramaic (page 111)
3.1.3. Discussion (page 120)
3.1.4. Conclusions (page 148) 3.2. Exception: N-DEM-Attribute (page 149)
3.2.1. Analysis (page 150)
3.2.2. Evidence from eastern Neo-Aramaic (page 154) 3.3. Free Indefinite Relatives (page 157) 3.4. Conclusions (page 161) Chapter 4: Direct Speech Representations (page 163) 4.1. Introduction (page 163)
4.1.1. Speech in the Semitic Languages (page 165) 4.2. Speech in Aramaic (page 168)
4.2.1. Asyndetic Direct Speech (page 168)
4.2.2. Syndetic (page 179)
4.2.3. Quotative Particle (page 189) 4.3. Summary and Conclusion (page 206) Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusion (page 209) 5.1. General Results (page 209)
5.1.1. Subordination (page 210)
5.1.2. Nominal Modification (page 212)
5.1.3. Speech Representation (page 213) 5.2. East-West Dialectal Variations (Late Aramaic) (page 214) 5.3. East-West Dialectal Variations (Neo-Aramaic) (page 216) 5.4. Languages in Contact (page 216)
5.4.1. The Classical Dialects (page 216)
5.4.2. The Modern Dialects (page 217) Bibliography (page 221) Index (page 241)