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
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