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Verb form switch as a marker of discourse hierarchy in Semitic: a case study on Syrian Arabic

Persson, Maria LU orcid (2014) p.117-128
Abstract
Surveying Syrian Arabic narrative text, this article explores the use of a switch of verb forms to indicate larger digressions from the main line of a story. The study follows similar analyses of other varieties of Arabic as well as Biblical Hebrew. Isaksson (2007, 2009a) identified specific marking for comments of circumstantial character not only on phrase and clause level but also on text level. Whereas the traditional concept of the circumstantial clause implies a comment to a main clause, Isaksson pointed out that similar clauses and phrases may function on a higher textual level to modify a whole paragraph (cf. Bloch 1965, 74). Furthermore, he detected discourse markers that set them off from the rest of the narrative. In Persson... (More)
Surveying Syrian Arabic narrative text, this article explores the use of a switch of verb forms to indicate larger digressions from the main line of a story. The study follows similar analyses of other varieties of Arabic as well as Biblical Hebrew. Isaksson (2007, 2009a) identified specific marking for comments of circumstantial character not only on phrase and clause level but also on text level. Whereas the traditional concept of the circumstantial clause implies a comment to a main clause, Isaksson pointed out that similar clauses and phrases may function on a higher textual level to modify a whole paragraph (cf. Bloch 1965, 74). Furthermore, he detected discourse markers that set them off from the rest of the narrative. In Persson (2009a) I explored circumstantial comments on text level in modern urban Gulf Arabic. Carrying the analysis one step further than Isaksson, I found that, in addition to phrases and clauses, the device for marking an off-line clause was also employed to set apart whole paragraphs as comments to the main narrative. In the present article, I survey older, Syrian Arabic data drawn from the texts collected by Bloch and Grotzfeld (1964). The study includes phrases and clauses but also larger pieces of commentary texts. The results confirm previous findings concerning the role of gram switching as a marker of discourse hierarchy. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
From Tur Abdin to Hadramawt. Semitic studies. Festschrift in Honour of Bo Isaksson on the occasion of his retirement
editor
Davidovich, Tal ; Lahdo, Ablahad and Lindquist, Torkel
pages
117 - 128
publisher
Harrassowitz Verlag
ISBN
978-3-447-10265-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Arabic (015016005)
id
e20d7904-c3b0-47c0-b4c0-a44971caa53e (old id 4239092)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 09:58:55
date last changed
2021-12-02 11:20:55
@inbook{e20d7904-c3b0-47c0-b4c0-a44971caa53e,
  abstract     = {{Surveying Syrian Arabic narrative text, this article explores the use of a switch of verb forms to indicate larger digressions from the main line of a story. The study follows similar analyses of other varieties of Arabic as well as Biblical Hebrew. Isaksson (2007, 2009a) identified specific marking for comments of circumstantial character not only on phrase and clause level but also on text level. Whereas the traditional concept of the circumstantial clause implies a comment to a main clause, Isaksson pointed out that similar clauses and phrases may function on a higher textual level to modify a whole paragraph (cf. Bloch 1965, 74). Furthermore, he detected discourse markers that set them off from the rest of the narrative. In Persson (2009a) I explored circumstantial comments on text level in modern urban Gulf Arabic. Carrying the analysis one step further than Isaksson, I found that, in addition to phrases and clauses, the device for marking an off-line clause was also employed to set apart whole paragraphs as comments to the main narrative. In the present article, I survey older, Syrian Arabic data drawn from the texts collected by Bloch and Grotzfeld (1964). The study includes phrases and clauses but also larger pieces of commentary texts. The results confirm previous findings concerning the role of gram switching as a marker of discourse hierarchy.}},
  author       = {{Persson, Maria}},
  booktitle    = {{From Tur Abdin to Hadramawt. Semitic studies. Festschrift in Honour of Bo Isaksson on the occasion of his retirement}},
  editor       = {{Davidovich, Tal and Lahdo, Ablahad and Lindquist, Torkel}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-447-10265-0}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{117--128}},
  publisher    = {{Harrassowitz Verlag}},
  title        = {{Verb form switch as a marker of discourse hierarchy in Semitic: a case study on Syrian Arabic}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}