Insubordination in Modern South Arabian
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Olga Kapeliuk
Abstract
The term ‘insubordination’ is used to describe the case of a subordinate verb becoming the main verb of a sentence. In Modern South Arabian (MSA) a relative verb without an antecedent may act as the finite verb of an independent sentence. The MSA main relative verb is analyzed as the equivalent of an active participle together with copula zero, which leads to a comparison with Amharic and other modern Ethiosemitic (ES) languages in which a relative verb, followed by the copula – mandatory in these languages – is often used as the main predicate. After a review of the main points of convergence between modern ES and MSA in general, the function of the ES relative, plus copula, is analyzed as static predication as opposed to the dynamic predication of the ordinary verb. It appears in introductory passages of a literary text where the characteristics of the main character are presented.
Abstract
The term ‘insubordination’ is used to describe the case of a subordinate verb becoming the main verb of a sentence. In Modern South Arabian (MSA) a relative verb without an antecedent may act as the finite verb of an independent sentence. The MSA main relative verb is analyzed as the equivalent of an active participle together with copula zero, which leads to a comparison with Amharic and other modern Ethiosemitic (ES) languages in which a relative verb, followed by the copula – mandatory in these languages – is often used as the main predicate. After a review of the main points of convergence between modern ES and MSA in general, the function of the ES relative, plus copula, is analyzed as static predication as opposed to the dynamic predication of the ordinary verb. It appears in introductory passages of a literary text where the characteristics of the main character are presented.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
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Introduction
- Afroasiatic 1
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Part I. Afroasiatic
- Did Proto-Afroasiatic have marked nominative or nominative-accusative alignment? 11
- The limits and potentials of cladistics in Semitic 23
- Lexicostatistical evidence for Ethiosemitic, its subgroups, and borrowing 41
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Part II. Forms and functions
- Reconsidering the ‘perfect’–‘imperfect’ opposition in the Classical Arabic verbal system 61
- The imperfective in Berber 85
- Condition, interrogation and exception 105
- The semantics of modals in Kordofanian Baggara Arabic 131
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Part III. Predication and beyond
- Insubordination in Modern South Arabian 153
- Possessive and genitive constructions in Dahālik (Ethiosemitic) 167
- The characterization of conditional patterns in Old Babylonian Akkadian 185
- Locative predication in Chadic 203
- Unipartite clauses 235
- The Interaction of state, prosody and linear order in Kabyle (Berber) 261
- Index 287
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
-
Introduction
- Afroasiatic 1
-
Part I. Afroasiatic
- Did Proto-Afroasiatic have marked nominative or nominative-accusative alignment? 11
- The limits and potentials of cladistics in Semitic 23
- Lexicostatistical evidence for Ethiosemitic, its subgroups, and borrowing 41
-
Part II. Forms and functions
- Reconsidering the ‘perfect’–‘imperfect’ opposition in the Classical Arabic verbal system 61
- The imperfective in Berber 85
- Condition, interrogation and exception 105
- The semantics of modals in Kordofanian Baggara Arabic 131
-
Part III. Predication and beyond
- Insubordination in Modern South Arabian 153
- Possessive and genitive constructions in Dahālik (Ethiosemitic) 167
- The characterization of conditional patterns in Old Babylonian Akkadian 185
- Locative predication in Chadic 203
- Unipartite clauses 235
- The Interaction of state, prosody and linear order in Kabyle (Berber) 261
- Index 287
