המילה האחרונה: מנגנון התצורה של המילה העברית (The Final Word: Mechanism for Hebrew Word Generation) (review)

REVIEWS tyrboh hlymh lC hrwxth Nwngnm :hnwrjah hlymh (The Final Word: Mechanism for Hebrew Word Generation). By Uzzi Ornan. Pp. 228. Haifa: Haifa University, 2003. Cloth, NIS 89. $20.00. Few books deal exclusively with Israeli Hebrew word formation. In recent years, however, a number of substantial studies of the subject have been published . Bolozky (S. Bolozky, Measuring Productivity in Word Formation: the Case of Israeli Hebrew [Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics 27; Leiden: Brill, 1999].) discusses one essential aspect of it, productivity, and Ora Schwarzwald’s 2002 multi-volume tyrbo hygwlwprwmb Myqrp (Studies in Hebrew morphology [Tel Aviv: The Open University of Israel]) constitutes the most comprehensive treatment of Hebrew morphology so far. However, while these two works have been aimed at linguists (or Hebraists) as well as at students of Hebrew linguistics, Ornan’s The Final Word is unique in that in spite of its wide coverage, it is written in such a way that virtually any proficient reader of Hebrew can follow the presentation and related arguments with relative ease—a reflection of Ornan’s celebrated acumen as a master teacher. While others have reformulated and reanalyzed the mechanisms involved in Modern Hebrew word formation, Ornan has been a pioneer in the field, and this volume is an excellent, updated review of his word formation model. He very effectively demonstrates how two different word formation mechanisms operate in the language, one alongside the other—linear derivation, by affixation without affecting the structure of the derivation base, and discontinuous word formation, by integrating a canonical pattern with ‘root’ consonants extracted from the source. Apparently, Ornan was the first to portray the latter mechanism, so characteristic of Semitic languages, as a huge matrix, with patterns on the horizontal axis and roots on the vertical one. Insofar as the pattern/root mechanism is concerned, I am particularly impressed with the lucidity of his explanation on the origin of the myth— reiterated by many prominent linguists—that “all or most of the information in Semitic is in the consonants.” Step-by-step, Ornan traces the development of the ancient alphabet, demonstrating how it moved in Ancient Egyptian from ideographic to syllabic representation, and how Semitic languages adopted the shortened syllabary without the determinatives distinguishing one related syllabary from another. They omitted them either because they did not understand their function, or because they assumed that the distinguishing vowels would be predictable—by sheer frequency, and/or from context. Most syllables ended up being represented by consonants, and continued to be so for many generations to come. Furthermore, because of the likelihood of Hebrew Studies 45 (2004) 286 Reviews ‘roots’ sharing a common core of meaning, it was taken for granted that the root consonants are central, whereas the vowels, as well as affixal consonants, are marginal. This is obviously incorrect: the vowels and the affixes identify the pattern, which may also have a common semantic core, and even if it does not, its role is just as crucial in distinguishing between similarly-looking forms. I also agree with Ornan’s claim that although there are important differences in behavior and distribution between verbs and nouns/adjectives (the most important of which is that the noun system is far more open), there are even stronger reasons to assume that discontinuous verb patterns are essentially the same as nominal and adjectival ones. His accounts for the steady emergence of words that do not belong to any derivation pattern—through sound mergers and shifts, adaptation of borrowings, etc.—are simple, and quite illuminating. Ornan’s treatment of compounds and blends is comprehensive and thorough. The classification is accurate, and most blending processes are accurately explained: weak consonants and repeated ones tend to be elided, expected vowel reduction occurs, etc. The only reservation I have is that the reader misses a sense of what is truly productive. Some colloquial blends are included, but most of them are either Hebrew-Language-Academy-generated, or clever erudite neologisms by sophisticated authors and other literati, and can hardly be claimed to represent true productivity. Equally exhaustive is the classification of acronyms. All major sub-classes are surveyed and accounted for. What is missing is the emphasis on...