Part of
Impersonal Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspectiveEdited by Andrej L. Malchukov and Anna Siewierska
[Studies in Language Companion Series 124] 2011
► pp. 323–356
Edited by Andrej L. Malchukov and Anna Siewierska
[Studies in Language Companion Series 124] 2011
► pp. 323–356
Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew
Discourse-based perspectives
The study focuses on three impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew: subjectless sentences with 3rd person plural main verbs, subjectless sentences with modal operators that take a complement clause, and sentences with generic pronoun subjects. Structural and semantic analyses elaborate on earlier studies in a discourse-embedded functional perspective based on authentic adult-child conversational interchanges and extended texts elicited from schoolchildren, adolescents, and adults in Hebrew and other languages. These serve to demonstrate the effects of such usage-based factors as genre, age-schooling development, as well as target language typology. The study concludes by arguing for a confluence of structural devices that combine to form a cline of impersonalization in the expression of a more or less depersonalized discourse stance. Keywords: discourse; genre; Hebrew; impersonals; language development; subjectless
Cited by
Cited by 21 other publications
Ben-Zvi, Galit & Ronit Levie
2016. Development of Hebrew derivational morphology from preschool to adolescence. In Acquisition and Development of Hebrew [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 19], ► pp. 135 ff. 
Berman, Ruth & Lyle Lustigman
2020. Acquisition and Development of Verb/Predicate Chaining in Hebrew. Frontiers in Psychology 10
BERMAN, RUTH A.
2014. Cross-linguistic comparisons in child language research. Journal of Child Language 41:S1 ► pp. 26 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2016. Linguistic Literacy and Later Language Development. In Written and Spoken Language Development across the Lifespan [Literacy Studies, 11], ► pp. 181 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2016. Typology, acquisition, and development. In Acquisition and Development of Hebrew [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 19], ► pp. 1 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2017. Chapter 13. Developing construals of a narrative event sequence. In Social Environment and Cognition in Language Development [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 21], ► pp. 199 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2020. Chapter 11. Nominalizations. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 375 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2022. The view from Hebrew: A commentary on Kidd and Garcia (2022). First Language 42:6 ► pp. 740 ff.
Berman, Ruth A.
2022. Developmental Pathways in Child and Adult Hebrew: The Case of the Subordinator še-. In Developing Language and Literacy [Literacy Studies, 23], ► pp. 3 ff.
Bolozky, Shmuel & Ruth A. Berman
2020. Chapter 9. Parts of speech categories in the lexicon of Modern Hebrew. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 265 ff.
Halevy, Rivka
2020. Chapter 15. Impersonal and pseudo-impersonal constructions. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 539 ff.
Hernández-Green, Néstor
2018. Tres fuentes de las construcciones impersonales en otomí. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 18:1 ► pp. 137 ff.
Keshev, Maayan & Aya Meltzer-Asscher
2021. Noisy is better than rare: Comprehenders compromise subject-verb agreement to form more probable linguistic structures. Cognitive Psychology 124 ► pp. 101359 ff.
LUSTIGMAN, LYLE & RUTH A. BERMAN
2016. Form and function in early clause-combining. Journal of Child Language 43:1 ► pp. 157 ff.
Nir, Bracha
2020. Chapter 18. A usage-based typology of Modern Hebrew syntax. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 659 ff.
Notarius, Tania
2022. Impersonal Verbal Constructions in Biblical Hebrew: Active, Stative, and Passive. Journal for Semitics 30:2
Reshef, Yael
2019. From written to spoken usage. In Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 256], ► pp. 179 ff.
Rubinstein, Aynat
2019. Existential possessive modality in the emergence of Modern Hebrew. In Language Contact, Continuity and Change in the Genesis of Modern Hebrew [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 256], ► pp. 55 ff.
Seroussi, Batia
2016. Lexical development in Hebrew. In Acquisition and Development of Hebrew [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 19], ► pp. 175 ff.
Taube, Dana
2020. Chapter 10. Voice distinctions. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 331 ff.
Zadunaisky Ehrlich, Sara
2019. Paradigmatic literacy features in children’s argumentation in peer talk. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 19:2 ► pp. 224 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 18 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.