The Accusative-Initial Sentence in YOS 10 omen texts

Ait Said-Ghanem, Nadia

Abstract

Word-order in Akkadian is generally described as SOV, and although other word-orders than SOV are visible in texts when they are examined individually, trends over an entire corpus remain difficult to establish. Buccellati (1996: 396) recommended that to make word order trends visible, a representative body of texts would have to be tested statistically. In this respect, Old Babylonian omen texts constitute a useful corpus to investigate for trends. In this corpus, protases and apodoses regularly begin with a nominative, a prepositional phrase/adverb, or an accusative. Old Babylonian omens in the YOS 10 collection are particularly noteworthy for the recurrence of apodoses that not only begin with an accusative object but also contain a suffixed pronoun that resumes the sentence-initial accusative and is always attached to the verb. To discuss word-order trends in Old Babylonian omens and this specific type of apodosis construction, the present article begins a three-part series that will present non-SOV sentence structures in protases and apodoses, beginning with the accusative-initial sentence. This discussion will focus on the structure of accusative-initial apodoses in YOS 10 omen texts and their function. Linguistic studies, both ancient and modern, describe the accusative object as a constituent that carries new information in the sentence, in contrast to the nominative subject that carries old or shared information. On the basis of the value of the accusative, accusative-initial sentences can not only be analysed as focus, but can also be viewed as sentences that communicate new information first via the accusative. Their function is to contrast nominative-initial sentences that communicate old or shared information first, via the nominative.

Citation

Ait Said-Ghanem, N. (2019). The Accusative-Initial Sentence in YOS 10 omen texts. Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 113(1), 139-150. https://doi.org/10.3917/assy.113.0139

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 26, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 20, 2019
• Deposit Date: Jan 11, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 21, 2119
• Journal: Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale
• Print ISSN: 0373-6032
• Electronic ISSN: 2104-3817
• Publisher: Presses Universitaires de France
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 113
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 139-150
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/assy.113.0139
• Keywords: Assyriology; Akkadian; Grammar; Decolonising Grammar; Old Babylonian Omens; Sentence Structure; Arabic