Hebrew Studies

This study engages with information structure concepts to explore the pragmatic function(s) of fronted deictic terms in Jeremiah 1:1-2:2. Accounting for deictic terms within the pre-verbal field of Biblical Hebrew sentences is important because like the spoken word, the written text is linear representation of thought that involves deliberate sequencing of constituents. Since the initial constituent in a sentence or paragraph exhibits the "privilege of primacy," an author or speaker may choose to exploit the initial position for various reasons.

Deixis, or the "act of pointing out or indicating elements of a situation by gesture or linguistic expression," is a primary feature of human communication that occurs in both speech acts and in written text. In speech contexts, deictic expressions help to orient the speaker and the addressee in space and time, and provide a deictic center for the communication event. In written texts, an author may use deictic terms to direct the reader forward or backward through the text. Because both discourse level and text level deictic terms require contextual interpretation, such terms exhibit pragmatic function. This study is concerned with identifying specific pragmatic functions for fronted terms. In other words, which deictic terms does an author place in a privileged position, and why?