Studies In Semitic Grammaticalization

This groundbreaking study examines the historical development of the Semitic languages from the point of view of grammaticalization, the linguistic process whereby lexical items and constructions lose their lexical meaning and serve grammatical functions.

Collected in this volume are articles published over the last three decades, which deal with various aspects of Semitic languages in general, the structure of Hebrew, history of Arab grammatical tradition, Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic, Syriac syntax, and particularly with Ethiopian languages (Amharic and Old Amharic Gurage, Harari and Comparative Ethiopian). While discussing general, language-specific and comparative issues, special attention is devoted in these studies to syntax, to the examination of linguistic methodology and to the contribution of Semitics to the Science of language.

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2000 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, University of Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: This work places the theory of Transformational Grammar into the foreground presenting it applied to Arabic and partly to Hebrew. In the first part of this work the theory is presented summarizing all rules and principles that are relevant for this subject. In the second and third part of this work the analyses of Abdelkader Fassi-Fehri and Ur Shlonsky are examined with regard to the syntactic structure of Arabic and Hebrew. Finally, it may be observed that this work more or less applies a syntactic theory to a language rather than advancing a new one itself.

The empirical findings of this study establish that prepositions remain central to Arabic language users. It shows that they utilize them for construction of phrases, linked clauses, and organization of discourse, among other notable functions.