Discourse-based perspectives: Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew

Berman, Ruth A.

doi:10.1075/slcs.124.12ber

In:Impersonal Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspective
Edited by Andrej L. Malchukov and Anna Siewierska
[Studies in Language Companion Series 124] 2011
► pp. 323–356

Get fulltext from our e-platform

Download Book PDF

Revisiting impersonal constructions in Modern Hebrew

Discourse-based perspectives

Ruth A. Berman | Tel Aviv University

Published online: 20 July 2011

https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.124.12ber

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 (22)

Cited by 22 other publications

Order by:

Rossi, Giovanni

2025. At the Edges of Requests. In Systems of Social Action, ► pp. 195 ff.

Notarius, Tania

2022. Impersonal Verbal Constructions in Biblical Hebrew: Active, Stative, and Passive. Journal for Semitics 30:2

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.

Berman, Ruth & Lyle Lustigman

2020. Acquisition and Development of Verb/Predicate Chaining in Hebrew. Frontiers in Psychology 10

Bolozky, Shmuel & Ruth A. Berman

2020. 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. Impersonal and pseudo-impersonal constructions. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 539 ff.

Nir, Bracha

2020. A usage-based typology of Modern Hebrew syntax. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 659 ff.

Taube, Dana

2020. Voice distinctions. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew [Studies in Language Companion Series, 210], ► pp. 331 ff.

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.

Zadunaisky Ehrlich, Sara

2019. Paradigmatic literacy features in children’s argumentation in peer talk. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 19:2 ► pp. 224 ff.

Hernández-Green, Néstor

2018. Tres fuentes de las construcciones impersonales en otomí. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas 18:1 ► pp. 137 ff.

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.

LUSTIGMAN, LYLE & RUTH A. BERMAN

2016. Form and function in early clause-combining. Journal of Child Language 43:1 ► pp. 157 ff.

Seroussi, Batia

2016. Lexical development in Hebrew. In Acquisition and Development of Hebrew [Trends in Language Acquisition Research, 19], ► pp. 175 ff.

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. 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. 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.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2025. 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.