Transitive verbs with non-accusative alternation in ... - Pluto Huji Ac Il

66
Rivka Halevy
(5) be-’eynav ha-’aforot ra’a hary hištaqfut šel ‘ota
In-his-eyes the-grey saw Harry a-reflection of OM-that
‘eima še-’axaza {??’oto/bo} (Harry Potter, p. 314) (class 8)
terror that-held {??OM-him/in-him}
‘In his gray eyes Harry saw a reflection of that terrible fear that
took hold of him’
(6) ha-kibuš mexarsem {??’et/be-} yexolta šel
the-occupation gnaws {??OM/in-} the-ability-her of
ha-medina lehagen ‘al ‘emdata ha-musarit klapei
the-country to-defend on position-her the-moral towards
ha-’olam (Haaretz 15.2.02) (class 6)
the-world
‘The occupation gradually reduces the country’s ability to defend
its moral position to the world’
As we shall see in some detail below (Section 6), in Hebrew it is almost
predictable that the be- construction influences the verbal meaning and
often triggers a metaphorical reading.
2.1.2. Intentionality
The prepositional construction is marked for intentionality. This is
especially noticeable in verbs of perception and volition (Class 9). In (7),
e.g., ratsa be- means ‘wanted something very much, purposefully’.
(7) tahalix 'oslo haya mivxan še-yisra'el yaxla leharšot
the-process(of) Oslo was a-test that-Israel could to-permit
le-'atsma, še-rov ha-yisra'elim ratsu bo
to-herself, that-most of-the-Israelis wanted in-3SG.MASC.
(Haaretz 21.2.01)(class 9)
‘The Oslo (peace) process was a test that Israel could afford and
that most Israelis desired’
In (8), the nominal form derived from baxar ‘choose’, namely bexira
‘choice’, is not construed with the accusative (baxar ‘et) but with
prepositional (baxar be), to denote ‘an intentional, not random choice’, as
corroborated by the context (‘this one and not another’). 8