0. Introduction 0.1. Definitions CHAPTER THREE SYNTAX of the NON-VERBAL CLAUSE Non-Verbal Clauses Clauses Have Two Main Constitu

CHAPTER THREE

SYNTAX OF THE NON-VERBAL CLAUSE

0. Introduction 0.1. Definitions Non-verbal clauses clauses have two main constituents, a subject (Su) and a predicate (Pr), and a nexus relationship between these terms. 1 To this core may be added an adverbial phrase of time, place, mode etc. 2 I will call sub ject the element that is known, either from the literary or the pragmatic context. The subject is generally a definite noun phrase or its equivalent (a pronoun, a g_-dause).3 The predicate is the element that brings new infor mation about the subject, it may consist of: a) an adjective phrase4 b) an indefinite substantive phrase c) a definite substantive phrase d) a pronoun (personal, demonstrative, interrogative) e) an adverb f) a prepositional phrase. The nexus relationship is what ties subject and predicate together. It is ex pressed by the clause as a whole; it may be indicated morphologically (by the status absolutus), analytically (by an enclitic personal pronoun) or not at all. The term nominal clause will be restricted to clauses with a nominal or pronominal predicate (classes a, b, cord), while clauses where the predicate is an adverb or a prepositional phrase (classes e or f) will be termed adver bial clauses. A descriptive non-verbal clause is a clause with as predicate an

1 This definition excludes g-clauses, which will be treated in the next chapter. Also excluded from the present chapter are adnominal clauses of the type .,._i» <~ r<~ "(a man who) is deaf', and temporal clauses introduced by :\:>. Of these clauses it is sometimes doubtful whether they could function as independent clauses. Dependent clauses introduced by causal ~. ~ i\,:,, are included. The syntax of these clauses seems to be identical with that of independent non-verbal clauses. 2 The clause may be introduced or connected by one of the particles: r. ~. ~=· rO>l, ~. ~~. ~ 3 An exception are the clauses of the type en:, «~.a. (section 3.2.3.) where the Su, the known element, is the prepositional phrase. Nonnally, however, such clauses are constructed with li-.r<, see Chapter IV 1.2. 4 This category does not include active participles in the status abso/utus. The predicative active participle is part of the verbal paradigm, see G. Goldenberg, "On Syriac Sentence Structure", in M. Sokoloff, ed., Arameans, Aramaic and the Aramaic Literary Tradition (Ramat Gan, 1983). pp. 97-140, pp. l 13f. 78 CHAP1ER THREE indefinite noun-phrase (classes a and b) or an adverbial phrase (classes e and f). A clause with as predicate a definite noun (or pronoun) phrase is an identiticatory non-verbal clause.

0.2. Theory of the non-verbal clause5 The most usual type of non-verbal clause is structured around a nucleus consisting of the Pr+ an enclitic persona~ pronoun (e.p.p.). 6 The e.p.p. refers to the Su and accords with it in gender and number. This nucleus suffices to constitute a clause, e.g. Nr<' i..u. "you are true" If the Pr consists of more than one word the enclitic personal pronoun is at tached to the first word of the Pr (but smichut and preposition + noun are counted as one word). E.g. ~:1 ~r<' re.i~ ~r<' "they are as the angels of heaven" To this nucleus an explicit Su may be added, either before or after the nu cleus. Examples: Su-Pr-e.p.p. am ~ ~,ial "For my yoke is easy" Pr-e.p.p.-Su ..al:) ~r<' r<'"ir6> .,s::, "The sons are free men" The negation of this type of non-verbal clauses is with r<'am rd, which im mediately precedes the predicate and is conjugated in accordance with the Su. The use of r<'am rd excludes the use of an e.p.p. Examples: la hwa-Pr ~'ill\ aam rd "They·are not two" Su-la hwa-Pr r<'~:1 r<'am rd r<'mlr<" "God is not (a god) of the dead" This description is valid for all non-verbal clauses except for the following types. a) With some adjectives in the absolute state an e.p.p. is not needed to build a clause. In this case the bare adjective constitutes the clause nucleus.7 E.g. r<"mlr<" h. bh rrtrro18tv trri TOY 8e:6v. An explicit Su may be added before or after this nucleus, without changing the basic structure. E.g.

5 For the theory of the non-verbal clause I am dependent on Goldenberg, "Syriac Sentence". Major differences between the treatment of Goldenberg and the one presented in this chapter are a) the theory of the negative non-verbal clause (Section 5.) b) the introduction of the distinction between descriptive and identificatory non-verbal clauses (Section 2.). 6 The enclitic personal pronoun is enclitic in the sense that nonnally no other element, not even the particles ~, or ~ can come between the Pr and the enclitic personal pronoun: Pr + e.p.p. fonn a prosodically closed group. 7 It will be argued that these adjectives in the status absolutus are verbalized; see the discussion at the end of section I. I. Goldenberg termed these predicative adjectives "participials". To be completely consistent, clauses with a participial as Pr should be treated in a separate chapter, since they represent a different clause structure than clauses constructed with an e.p.p. (and yet they are not wholly like verbal clauses). However, since the meaning of clauses with adjective + zero is not radically different from that of clauses with adjective + e.p.p. they are treated together in this section.