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Biblical Gothic and the configurationality parameter

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

Stephen A. Berard
Stephen A. Berard
Affiliation:
Wenatchee Valley CollegeWenatchee, WA 98801
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Abstract

This article proposes a configurationality parameter based solely on the issue of criteriality for fulfillment of the fundamental function of syntax, which is the establishment of linkage between lexemes and their grammatical relations. The two alternative linking systems discussed here are structural and morphological (S-systems and M-systems). S-systems are found in all language, whereas M-systems are found only in certain languages, and there only in isolated pockets which co-occur with specificity gaps in the respective S-system. In the past, observations about the authenticity and idiomaticness of the language of the Gothic Bible have been based on the examination of very limited phenomena as well as on subjective impressions. A general methodology is suggested here for thorough comparison of the Gothic with the Greek original. Application of this methodology to four sample chapters reveals significant and consistent variation in certain areas, although very little variation is found in the area of word order. The latter fact, along with some other considerations, suggests that Gothic had an M-system somewhat comparable to that of Koine Greek.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , July 1993 , pp. 111 - 162
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 1993

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