A  Sketch  of  Modern  Hebrew  Syntax  

L303,  Fall  2012  

Basic  Sentence  Structure  •  As  in  English,  the  basic  word  order  in  Hebrew  is  SVO.  

•  This  suggests  the  rule  S  -­‐>  NP  VP  

Basic  Sentence  Structure  •  There  are  a  few  wrinkles,  however.  

Verbless  Sentence  Subjectless  Sentence  

‘The  apple  is  big.’  

‘I  ate  an  apple.’  

The  Noun  Phrase  

AdjecQves  follow  nouns.  

סוס חכם

‘a smart stallion’ Rules:  

NP ➛ N (Adj)

xaxam sus smart stallion

*Oh yeah. The Hebrew text reads left to right.*

The  Noun  Phrase  

The  definite  arQcle  ‘the’  is  a  prefix.  If  we  aUach  it  to  the  noun,  we  must  also  aUach  it  to  the  adjecQve.  

חכםה סוס ה

‘ the smart stallion’ Rules:  NP ➛ N (Adj) NP ➛ N.def (Adj.def)

ha-xaxam ha-sus the-smart the-stallion

The  Noun  Phrase  Some  determiners  follow  the  adjecQve.  But  others,  which  we’ll  call  Pre-­‐determiners  (PDet),  precede  the  noun.  

Rules:  

xaxam sus kol חכם סוס כל

‘each smart stallion’ smart stallion each

‘this smart stallion’

זהה החכם הסוס ha-ze ha-xaxam ha-sus

the-this the-smart the-stallion

NP ➛ (PDet) N (Adj) NP.def ➛ (PDet) N.def (Adj.def) (Det.def)

The  Noun  Phrase  All  NP  elements  (with  the  excepQon  of  pre-­‐determiners)  must  agree  in  number,  gender,  and  definiteness.  

Rules:   ‘all those smart mares’

הןה ותחכמה ותסוסהכל ha-hen ha-xaxamot ha-susot kol

the-them.fp the-smart.fp the-mares(fp) all

NP.ms ➛ (PDet) N.ms (Adj ms) NP.def.ms ➛ (PDet) N.def.ms (Adj.def.ms) (Det.def.ms)

NP.fs ➛ (PDet) N.fs (Adj.fs) NP.def.fs ➛ (PDet) N.def.fs (Adj.def.fs) (Det. def.fs)  

NP.mp ➛ (PDet) N.mp (Adj mp) NP.def.mp ➛ (PDet) N.def.mp (Adj.def.mp) (Det.def mp)  

NP.fp ➛ (PDet) N.fp (Adj.fp) NP.def.fp ➛ (PDet) N.def.fp (Adj.def.fp) (Det.def.fp)  

The  Possessive  Phrase  Possessive  phrases  are  headed  by  the  possessive  marker  (Poss)  šel  ‘of’,  which  takes  a  definite  NP  has  its  complement.  

The  Possessive  Phrase  Possessive  phrases  occupy  the  same  slot  as  determiners  within  the  NP.  

‘all the electrician’s smart mares’

[ kol ha-susot ha-xaxamot [ šel ha-xasmala’i ] ] all the-mares the-smart of the-electrician

NP ➛ (PDet) N (Adj) ({PossP, Det})

The  PreposiQonal  Phrase  PPs  work  much  as  they  do  in  English:  The  Prep  precedes  an  NP.    However,  some  preposiQons  aUach  to  the  NP  as  prefixes.  

‘to a store’ ‘to the store’

el xanut el ha-xanut to store to the-store

PP ➛ Prep NP

‘in a store’ ‘in the store’

be-xanut ba-xanut in-store in.the-store

TransiQve  Verbs  Every  transiQve  verb  selects  a  parQcular  parQcle  to  mark  its  complement,  either  et,  or  a  prefixed  cliQc  such  as  b-­‐  or  l-­‐.  

‘cooked the soup’

bišla et ha-marak cooked.fs OM the-soup

VP ➛ V.et ET NP.def (PP)

•  ET  verbs  

‘cooked soup’

bišla marak cooked.fs soup

VP ➛ V.et NP (PP)

TransiQve  Verbs  

‘they will use the computer’

yištamšu b- (h)a-maxšev use.FUT.3mp the-computer

VP ➛ V.b b- { NP, NP.def } (PP)

•  b-­‐  verbs  

‘we helped the mare’

azarnu l- (h)a-susa help.PAST.1cp the-mare

VP ➛ V.l l- { NP, NP.def } (PP)

•  l-­‐  verbs  

IntransiQve  Verbs  

‘you laughed’

caxakta laugh.PAST.2fs

VP ➛ V.intrans (PP)

‘you laughed in the store’

caxakt b-(h)a-xanut laugh.PAST.2fs in-the-store

Linking  Verbs  

‘seemed short’

nir’e seem.PAST.3ms kacar

VP ➛ V.link Adj (PP)

AUribuQve  Verbs  

‘you called the electrician ugly’

kar’a l- (h)a-xasmala’i mexo’ar call.PAST.2ms the-electrician ugly

VP ➛ V.attrib.1 l- NP { NP, Adj } (PP)

‘you painted the room red’

cavata et ha-xeder adom paint.PAST.2ms the-room red

VP ➛ V.attrib.et ET NP { NP, Adj } (PP)

Clausal  Verbs  

‘I thought you laugh’

xašavti še- [ ata coxek ] think.PAST.1cs that you.ms laugh.PRES.ms

VP ➛ V.clausal Comp S

‘I wanted you to laugh’

raciti še- [ caxakta ] want.PAST.1.cs that laugh.PAST.2ms

Verbs  Taking  InfiniQval  Complements  

‘can laugh’

yaxol [ li-cxok ] can.PRES.ms to-laugh

VP ➛ V.modal VP.inf

‘I must laugh’

carix [ li-cxok ] must.PRES.ms to-laugh

Subject-­‐Verb  Agreement  The  VP  and  subject  NP  must  agree  in  person,  gender,  and  number.