Changes of Syntactic Patterns in the Textual Tradition of the Book of Isaiah: A Corpus-Linguistic Approach

What it is about

Part of a project to build a valency lexicon of all verb patterns in the Hebrew Bible from the ETCBC database: every verb is listed with all the constituents that occur with it, sorted by form rather than by meaning. The test case is the alternation of the prepositions אֶל and עַל, which grammars explain as late, Aramaic-driven drift (עַל replacing אֶל). For בָּטַח "trust" in Isaiah the author finds that אֶל appears where the complement is the divine name, so the choice is lexically conditioned. Comparing MT Isaiah with the great Isaiah scroll (1QIsaᵃ), the scroll replaces אֶל by עַל nine times but עַל by אֶל fifteen times, so the Aramaic-influence account fails; the scroll's copyist rather levels a verb's second occurrence to match its first in the same passage.

Ideas

I1. A valency table for the Torah: for each verb lemma, the frames it occurs with (bare object, אֵת-object, each preposition), counted from the trees, listed by form; alternations within one lemma (אֶל ~ עַל, בְּ ~ עַל) flagged for inspection.
I2. For each alternation, test conditioning by the complement's lemma (e.g. divine name vs other nouns) before calling it free variation or a dating feature.
I3. A "levelling" check: within one passage, does a verb's second use copy the preposition of its first? A measurable signature of scribal harmonisation to compare MT with the Samaritan Pentateuch if Mova ever holds it.

For Mova

I1 is a natural output of the Torah dictionary (macula dict): add a frames column per lemma, which feeds The lexicon and the prepositions section of 05-pronouns-particles.md. I2 is a note for 12-biblical-mishnaic-modern.md on dating features. I3 is a later measure for chapter 12 once a second witness is converted.

Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. DOI 10.7146/hn.v4i1.142164

@inproceedings{oosting2017changes,
  title = {{Changes of Syntactic Patterns in the Textual Tradition of the Book of Isaiah: A Corpus-Linguistic Approach}},
  author = {Oosting, Reinoud},
  booktitle = {HIPHIL Novum 4},
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.7146/hn.v4i1.142164},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.7146/hn.v4i1.142164}
}

References

11 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

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Folmer, M. L. The Aramaic Language in the Achaemenid Period: A Study in Linguistic Variation. Ph.D. thesis, Leiden University (1995). Kutscher, E. Y. The Language and Linguistic Background of the Isaiah Scroll (I Q Isa a ), Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah 6. find
New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (1989). Oosting, R. H. The Role of Zion/Jerusalem in Isaiah 40–55: A Corpus-Linguistic Approach, Studia Semitica Neerlandica 59. find
Brill, Leiden (2013). Pulikottil, P. Transmission of Biblical Texts in Qumran: The Case of the Large Isaiah Scroll 1QIsa a , Journal for the study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement Series 34. find
Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield (2001). Rooker, M. F. Biblical Hebrew in Transition: The Language of the Book of Ezekiel, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 90. find
Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield (1990). SESB: Hardmeier, C., E. Talstra, and B. Salzmann. Stuttgarter Elektronische Studienbibel / Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible. find
Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft and Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap, Stuttgart and Haarlem (2009 3 ). Tov, E. Hebrew Bible, Greek Bible, and Qumran: Collected Essays, Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 121. find
Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen (2008). Ulrich, E. (ed.) The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcription and Textual Variants. find
Brill, Leiden (2010). Williamson, H. G. M. Isaiah 1–5: A Critical and Exegetical Commentary, The International Critical Commentary. find
TandT Clark, London (2006). Young, I. and R. Rezetko with the assistance of M. Ehrensvärd. Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts (2 volumes). find

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