Language:
English
Year of publication:
2016
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Semitic Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
61,2 (2016) 299-318
Abstract:
Many derivations of the definite direct object marker in Northwest Semitic have been suggested, but the enigma of its origins still persists. Classic and contemporary studies have concluded that the source of the particle may be nominal, verbal, prepositional, pronominal, or an amalgam of deictic elements. Each of these explanations, however, fails to account adequately for both the full spectrum of the attested realizations and the origin of the grammatical function. This study suggests a new solution: the direct object markers in Northwest Semitic derive from the Proto-Semitic oblique pronouns, *su’āti and *si’āti . After the loss of the case system, the Proto-Northwest Semitic reflexes of these pronouns were grammaticalized as object markers. Following the loss of the original pronouns and cliticization, phonological changes in each daughter language resulted in the various Northwest Semitic forms.
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