Demonstratives in Semitic.

• Author: Hasselbach, Rebecca

1. INTRODUCTION

   Semitic languages employ a wide variety of demonstrative pronouns to express basic deictic categories. These pronouns commonly reflect a bipartite system that distinguishes between near and remote deixis. Most West Semitic languages use a reflex of a basic element *[delta]V: for near deixis in the singular, as, for example, Hebrew ze (ms) < *[delta]i, Biblical Aramaic da(') and Ge'ez za (fs) < *[delta]a, while far deixis is either expressed by a suffix -k or the anaphoric pronoun, as in BA dek (ms) and Ge'ez zeku (ms) < *[delta]ik(u), Hebrew hu(') and Old South Arabian h' / hw' (3ms anaphoric pronoun). (1) WS near demonstratives in the plural are most commonly construed around a base 'Vl(lV), as in Hebrew 'elle, Old Aramaic 'l, BA 'elle and 'el, while far deixis is, again, expressed by suffixed -k or the respective anaphoric pronoun. Akkadian, the only East Semitic language for which we have sufficient evidence for the deictic system, differs from most classical WS languages in that it only uses one base for all forms of the pronoun expressing near deixis and a second base for far deixis, both of which are fully declined for gender, number, and case. Neither the pronoun for near nor that for far deixis in Akkadian reflects the common WS demonstrative base *[delta]V:.

   In addition to these basic demonstratives, Semitic languages have a variety of elements that can be affixed to the pronouns, such as * ha, *n and *l(V), as in Classical Arabic ha[delta]a (ms), [delta]alika (ms far deixis), BA dna (ms), and JPA haden (ms). (2) The affixation of such elements can even lead to the loss of the original demonstrative base, as in Syriac hana (ms), JPA han (ms), which must be derived from original * hadena. (3)

   The great variety of elements that can be affixed to each base in individual Semitic languages has led to the reconstruction of a large number of 'demonstratives,' which are only rarely distinguished with regard to function and syntactic context. The absence of a detailed functional analysis is primarily the result of the assumed derivation of these morphemes. Traditional studies of Semitic demonstratives--most of which come from the early twentieth century--derive demonstrative elements from interjections, such as ha and han, which are considered independent elements and, more importantly, share the same basic interjective function. (4)

   The most important of these early-twentieth century studies of demonstrative pronouns were undertaken by Barth in 1907 and 1913. Barth assumed that there existed several demonstrative bases--representing 'real' demonstratives--such as annu, z (d), and hahu with the respective plural 'ullu, and a variety of particles that were used to strengthen deixis, including ha, 'a, hei / hai, la, n, tu, ti, and ka. (5) Most of these strengthening elements are considered PS and are, as mentioned above, derived from particles functioning as interjections attested in individual Semitic languages. Only a few of these elements are thought to be secondary derivations. The element 'a, for example, which has the same distribution and function as ha, is derived from ha. (6) Furthermore, Barth assumes that the demonstrative *hai developed into *ai in some languages on the basis of modern Arabic dialects such as Syrian-Arabic haida (ms), haidi (fs), and Aramaic forms such as the expression 'ydy w'ydy 'this and that' attested in the Babylonian Talmud and demonstratives of the shape 'ydk Paydek/. (7) The base *hai itself is considered PS. The reconstruction of this element for PS is doubtful, however, since in those modern Arabic dialects that have hay, this element is secondarily derived from the commonly used demonstrative base ha- and the feminine ending -i, resulting in ha-y. The original feminine form was then extended to the masculine. (8) A similar development underlies the forms in Aramaic, where hay is used for the fem. in various dialects, such as JPA and Syriac, which then was reanalyzed as a general demonstrative base.

   The element la is found in Hebrew hallaze and Arabic relative pronouns of the type 'alla[delta]i. According to Barth, la sometimes dissimilated to li, resulting in forms such as [delta]alika (ms). (9) On comparative grounds, it is more likely that *li is the original vocalization of this particle (see section IV below), while la is secondarily derived, perhaps from a combination of li and *ha([+ or -]n). The element n, including its biform -na, is reflected in forms such as Ge'ez zentu (ms) and Aramaic 'illen (cp) and dna (ms). (10) Both n and li will be discussed in more detail below.

   Furthermore, Barth suggested that there existed an original demonstrative containing /t/--tu for the masc, ti for the fem., and ta as neuter--that is reflected in Ge'ez zentu (ms), Arabic tilka (fs), and Hebrew zo(')t (fs). (11) Other scholars have connected this /t/ to the fem. ending, not to an original demonstrative element. (12) Although it is true that some AA languages make use of demonstratives with an element /t/, it is disputable whether the /t/ found in Semitic languages reflects an original demonstrative. (13) In Ge'ez, the /t/ of the demonstrative pronouns, which also have biforms without -tu/-ti, is most likely taken from the independent pronouns we'etu (3ms) and ye'eti (3fs). The /t/ in these pronouns represents an original oblique form originally marked by t-insertion, which is also known from other Semitic languages. (14) In other languages, demonstratives with /t/ are primarily used for the fern., as in Hebrew, OSA, Arabic, and Old Aramaic, and should therefore be interpreted as reflecting the fern. ending -t. There is, consequently, no convincing evidence for a reconstruction of a PS demonstrative element *t(V).

   The element -ka is the only element that consistently has been assigned a function. It regularly marks far deixis in those languages in which it occurs.

   In addition to the elements suggested by Barth, other scholars such as Brockelmann reconstructed a demonstrative m, which presumably underlies the Assyrian far demonstrative ammium and the expansion particle in Mehri -(e)meh. (15) Alternatively, this element has been derived from n and been compared to mimation / nunation attested on nouns. (16)

   The most frequently used 'real' demonstrative base, according to Barth, is z / d, which can be extended by all the aforementioned particles. (17) There is no doubt that we can reconstruct a base *[delta]V for WS: that is primarily used for near demonstratives in the singular, but the reconstruction of the original vowel distribution is problematic. Barth assumed that the proto-form, which he considers to be PS, had short /e/ in the masc. and long /a/ in the fern. Arabic subsequently changed the vowel qualities to /a/ in the masc. and /i/ in the fern. on the basis of the fs demonstrative ti. (18) However, the reconstruction of the various vowel qualities as dependent on gender is not generally accepted, as exemplified by the following quote from Fischer (1959):

   Es soll damit nicht gesagt werden, da[beta] da, di, du keinerlei Unterschied der Bedeutungsnuance aufwiesen. Jedoch konnte in den bekannten semitischen Sprachen bis jetzt kein Hinweis darauf entdeckt werden, welcher Art die Bedeutungsdifferenzierung gewesen sein konnte. Sicher scheint nur, da[beta] sie nicht Genus und Numerus betraf. (19) Other explanations for the distribution and function of the original vowels, such as the one of Brockelmann, who, based on Hebrew, suggested that *[delta]l originally represented the genitive from which [delta]u was derived analogically as nominative, have equally not gained wider acceptance.(20) The original distribution and function of the vowels in the base *[delta]V: is still a matter of dispute today. J. Huehnergard, in a recent article about the relative pronouns se- and 'aser in Hebrew, briefly discusses the relationship between the WS det.-rel. pronoun derived from *[delta] and demonstrative pronouns derived from the same base. He states:

   The precise nature of the relationship of the relative pronouns to the demonstratives is not entirely clear, nor is the detailed reconstruction of the paradigms of these demonstratives back to Proto-West Semitic. What does seem likely, both on internal grounds and on the basis of cross-linguistic typology, is that the relative pronouns are derived from the demonstratives. (21) The reconstruction of the common plural base for near deixis is equally uncertain. Barth assumed biforms with different vowel qualities for PS, *'ull and 'ill, while, for example, Bauer and Leander reconstructed forms with only one PS vowel, *i, but with two alternate word-final syllables, *'illa and *'ilay.(22)

   An altogether different reconstruction has recently been postulated by Lipinski, who suggests that demonstratives of the basic shape *hanni-, *halli- and *'ulli- should all be derived from one single proto-form, *hanni-, since the alternation between liquids is allegedly a well-attested phenomenon within Semitic. The Assyrian ammium and other m-elements would similarly reflect a variant of * hanni-. (23) This derivation is highly problematic, since, although a certain variation between liquids does indeed occur in Semitic, it is by far not common enough to account for all the varying forms by a simple interchange of these phonemes.

   In this article, a new attempt shall be made to reconstruct the most basic demonstrative pronouns and particles that can be affixed to demonstrative bases with special emphasis on functional distinctions of these affixes. The study will further consider a cross-linguistic typological analysis of demonstratives which will be compared to Semitic in order to determine whether this kind of analysis is helpful for the reconstruction and understanding of the Semitic data.

2. GENERAL TYPOLOGY OF DEMONSTRATIVES

   The following typological description is based on a detailed study of demonstratives in a large variety of...