An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

4.8 Sentence
Mic 1:2
a The sentence has traditionally been defined as “a complete thought expressed in
words.” Such a definition fails in two ways. First, it defines the sentence only in
notional[Page 78] terms and not in descriptive terms, that is, one is not able to
decide from the surface structure when a thought has been completed. Second, it
does not distinguish a sentence from the extended discourse of which it is a part;
one could say that an entire discourse is a “complete thought expressed in words.”
Linguists have experienced as much difficulty as traditional grammarians in
approaching this problem: “It must be admitted,” writes F. I. Andersen, “that, in
spite of constant discussion, no foolproof definition of sentence has been achieved
in theoretical linguistics.” 16
b One way of developing descriptive criteria for defining the sentence relies on the
melodies and tonal stresses that accompany its words. A declarative sentence in
English is marked by dropping the tone at the end; the tone is raised at the end of
an interrogative sentence. Melodic signals are expressed in writing by punctuation
marks (periods, question marks, exclamation points, etc.). Such an approach is of
limited use in Biblical Hebrew because the Masoretic accentuation system—
though intended to mark off relationships of words in a chant—does not coincide
precisely with the grammatical units. 17
c In his work on Hebrew, Andersen settled on the definition, “A sentence is a
grammatically self-contained construction,” that is, “The grammatical functions of
all constituents in a sentence may be described in terms of relationships to other
constituents in the same sentence.” 18 This definition is similar to our notion of the
sentence as the unit having the “highest rank” in compositional analysis. It is not
clear that Andersen’s definition is theoretically adequate; he himself later
acknowledged: “Grammatical completeness…may prove as hard to establish as
completeness of thought.” 19
16 F.I. Andersen, The Hebrew Verbless Clause in the Pentateuch (Journal of Biblical
Literature Monograph 14; Nashville: Abingdon, 1970) 20. Some linguists drop the
term altogether. M. A. K. Halliday, for example, treats a sentence as a unit of writing
(and of information); a clause complex, in contrast, is a unit of grammar (and of
syntax); see Introduction to Functional Grammar (London: Edward Arnold, 1985) Cf.
n. 1 above on the definition of “word.”
17 Cf. M. B. Cohen, “Masoretic Accents as a Biblical Commentary,” Journal of the
Ancient Near Eastern Society 4 (1972) 2–11.
18 Andersen, Hebrew Verbless Clause, 20.
19 Andersen, The Sentence in Biblical Hebrew (The Hague: Mouton, 1974) 22.