Passive Paradox: Demoted Agent Promotion in Biblical Hebrew

Bibliographic information:

Scott N. Callaham, “Passive Paradox: Demoted Agent Promotion in Biblical Hebrew,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 124 (2012): 89-97.

Description:

Description:

Like many languages, Biblical Hebrew employs the passive voice to demote the agents of action in verbal clauses. However, a handful of biblical passages also promote agents to the syntactically-prominent preverbal slot. This study demonstrates that demoted agent promotion is a rare focus phenomenon that forcefully highlights the agent.

Publisher:

Walter de Gruyter (website: http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zatw.2012.124.issue-1/zaw-2012-0006/zaw-2012-0006.xml)

Leave a Comment