The Call of *Yaqtulu: The Central Semitic Imperfective, Nominalisation and Verbal Semantics in Cyclical Flux

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Abstract

The article discusses the discrepancy between the *yaqattal and *yaqtulu imperfectives (the former known from East Semitic, Ethiosemitic and Modern South Arabian and the latter from Central Semitic). It argues that original nominalised phrases such as “he is a killer” came about based on an earlier “he is one who killed”, and that these were subsequently reinterpreted as imperfectives. A comparison is made with Modern South Arabian “insubordination”, and further lines are drawn into the attested development of Biblical Hebrew and Ugaritic and to the problems such a development imply for exegetical work. Arguments con-cerning the cladistics of West Semitic are also offered, and the possibility of an initial rise of *yaqtulu already in Proto-West Semitic is cautiously supported.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)435-451
Number of pages17
JournalUgarit-Forschungen
Volume50 (2019)
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

ISBN: 978-3-86835-280-1

Subject classification (UKÄ)

  • General Language Studies and Linguistics
  • History of Religions
  • Religious Studies

Free keywords

  • yaqattal
  • yaqtulu
  • Central Semitic
  • relatives
  • grammaticalization
  • nominalization
  • Northwest Semitic
  • Hebrew
  • Ugaritic

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