An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax

given language, where the base is not merely Latin or a few languages but a
broadly representative sample of all language. Not all languages have been
studied, to be sure, but enough have been described in detail that few surprises are
expected. Studies in language universals and language typologies, pioneered by
Joseph H. Greenberg, have recently assumed a major role in linguistics. 26
e The essence of structuralist method is, as noted earlier, a systematic approach to a
level or other domain. Thus we ask questions such as: how do the units differ?,
how do contrasts operate?, and how are oppositions used? The ways in which
answers are elaborated are the ways the various structuralisms are differentiated.
One major concept is markedness: in a paired opposition, one member of the pair
is considered unmarked (i.e., simpler, shorter, more “obvious,” more “natural”),
while the other member is considered marked. In the sound system of English,
there is a voiceless:voiced contrast for consonants, and each of the pairs p:b, t:d,
k:g has an unmarked, voiceless member (p, t, k) and a marked, voiced member (b,
d, g). The voicing (vibration of the vocal cords) is the “mark” of the marked
members. 27 English morphology contrasts singular and plural, and each of the
pairs door:doors, book:books, fiche:fiches has an unmarked, singular member
(door, etc.) and a marked, plural member (doors, etc.); the plural ending is the
“mark” of the marked members. In cases in which the usual meaning of that mark
is irrelevant, the mark can take on other meanings. The plural form ‘waters’ does
not have an ordinary plural sense; rather, it usually has the sense of referring to
great quantity of water in a natural setting (‘the waters of the Nile,’ ‘the waters of
Baden-Baden’). The marked plural forms are longer in physical terms and more
complex in semantic terms, [Page 57] usually (though not always) with the
meaning “plural.” Hebrew has a double set of markedness contrasts for number.
Singular is unmarked in opposition to plural, and singular and plural together are
unmarked in opposition to dual. This double scheme can have a straightforward
representation: singular םוֹי is one syllable, plural םימָ ִ י is two syllables, dual
םִי מֹי ַ֫
is three syllables. Markedness is not always so simple, and the mark is not
always so clearly an added feature or element. 28 In terms of higher linguistic units,
the structure of a marked opposition is often difficult to work out. The medieval
26
J. H. Greenberg, ed., Universals of Language (Cambridge: MIT, 1966) is the still
engaging preliminary survey; cf. B. Comrie, Language Universals and Language
Typology (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1981).
27
For the psychological correlates of this distinction, see Greenberg, New Invitation to
Linguistics, 109–14.
28
Multiple-markedness systems can take various forms, often involving a notion of
neutralization. For example, we might oppose English ‘man’ and ‘women’ as
unmarked: marked, with ‘human’ as neutral (i.e., for the ‘mark’ of gender). On the
relation between unmarked forms and the zero (German Null) morpheme, see Richter,
GAHG 1. 104–30.