cognate verbs

[Anstey, Matthew]

Dera LingTypers,

A question about cognate verbs.

In Hebrew (of all periods) we find two so-called infinitives, the
infinitive absolute and the infinitive construct. The infinitive
construct is a regular infinitive, but the infinitive absolute is
normally cognate to the main verb, functioning as a cognate object
according to Asya Pereltsvaig (2001). He divides cognate object uses
into argument cognate objects and (manner/focus) adverbial cognate
objects. So in Mod Heb:

argument cognate object
dani	xiyex			xiyux	same'ax
danny	smile:PST.3MSG	smile:INF.ABS	happy
'Danny smiled a happy smile'

adverbial cognate object
dani	maher		kar'a			kri'a
'et	ha-mixtav
danny	quickly	read:PST.3MSG	read:INF.ABS	ACC	ART-letter
'Danny gave the letter a quick read'

But, as Pereltsvaig points out, in Biblical Hebrew, adverbial cognate
objects are used mainly for contrastive focus or emphasis:

sakol			yisakel                
stone:INF.ABS	stone:NPST.3MSG
'He will be *surely* stoned'

Pereltsvaig therefore calls such infinitive absolutes FACOs: focussed
adverbial cognate objects. The reason Pereltsvaig retains the "object"
part of the label is because he argues they are nominal forms rather
than verbal, because "these forms never have any verbal morphology on
them... FACOS never bear any tense, mood, causative, or passive
morphology." However, few agree with this nominal analysis, as there are
numerous examples such as:

hochorev				nechervu
ham-melakim
destroy:PASS.CAUS.INF.ABS	destroy:MEDP.ANT.3MPL	ART-kings
'the kings *must* have fought one another'

But if then Infinitive Absolutes in Biblical Hebrew are verbal and the
majority of uses are to emphasise either the predication or the
illocutionary force, the label "object" seems inappropriate.

My question is, therefore, what would be a typologically appropriate
label/description of cognate verbs that function adverbially to
focus/emphasise the main predicate? What sort of construction is this? 

Some further examples of its uses are as follows (as one can see,
context/pragmatics does lots of work in interpretation). For want of a
better term, I have glossed the infinitive absolute verb as INF.ABS.

qano			'eqneh
pay:INF.ABS		pay.NPST.1SG
'I *insist* on paying'

shim`u		shamoa`
hear:IMPV.2MSG	hear:INF.ABS
'listen up!'

homleach			lo	humlachat
rob:PASS.CAUS.INF.ABS	NEG	rob:PASS.CAUS.2MSG
'you were *definitely* not robbed'

ha-malok		timlok
INT-reign:INF.ABS	reign:NPST.2MSG
'will you *actually* reign?'

he-'akol		'akalnu
INT-eat:INF.ABS	eat:ANT.2MSG
'have we eaten *anything*?'

lu		shaqol		yishshaqel
COND.NEG	weigh:INF.ABS	weighs:NPST.PASS.3MSG
'if only it *could* be weighed'

ha-yadoa`		neda`			ki
INT-know:INF.ABS  know:ANT.1PL	that
'How could we *possibly* know that?'

wa-yehi		'ak	yatso'		yatsa'
and.COP.3MSG	only	go.out:INF.ABS	go.out:ANT.3MSG
'and it was only *immediately* after he left ...'


Thanks for your comments/questions/suggestions in advance,

Matthew


Pereltsvaig, Asya
        2001    Cognate objects in Modern and Biblical Hebrew. In: Jamal
Ouhalla-Ur Shlonsky (eds.), Themes and Issues in Arabic and Hebrew,
1-33. The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.


Mr Matthew Anstey (manstey at csu.edu.au)
Charles Sturt University
School of Theology

Address:
St Mark's National Theological Centre
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