In a previous post, I presented an example from the synoptic gospels of how left-dislocations and conditional clauses can be used to introduce new, often hypothetical entities. I also mentioned that I was beginning the analysis of the Hebrew Bible in preparation for an discourse database similar to the LDGNT. I have not tried to insert Hebrew text yet, so consider this an experiment. The example from the last post illustrated the introduction of a person that Jesus wanted to make a comment about. The person was not the most important information, the comment about him/her was.

In this example from the Creation account, the information activated in the left-dislocation is most important, or focal. As I mentioned in my SBL paper on this topic, there is a limit to how complex an entity can be placed into marked focus, i.e. be emphasized by placing it into an initial position in the clause. Left-dislocations provide a handy way to introduce the new entity outside the clause, and then to reiterate it within the main clause using a pronoun of some kind.

In Genesis 2:19, the Lord God has created all the critters, and is bringing them to Adam to see what he will name them. Thus, it is presupposed that he will name them something, it is just a matter of what. The answer to the what is supplied in the left dislocation. Once the entity is introduced in a syntactically detached construction outside the main clause, the pronoun provides a nice, tidy means of reiterating the concept that can be placed into marked focus in position P2. The left dislocation is delimited by the grayscale text, the emphasized resumption by the bolding.

19 וַיִּצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִן־הָאֲדָמָה כָּל־חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְאֵת כָּל־עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם

וַיָּבֵא אֶל־הָאָדָם לִרְאוֹת מַה־יִּקְרָא־לוֹ

וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ הָאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה הוּא שְׁמוֹ׃

19 καὶ ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς ἔτι ἐκ τῆς γῆς πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ

καὶ ἤγαγεν αὐτὰ πρὸς τὸν Αδαμ ἰδεῖν, τί καλέσει αὐτά,

καὶ πᾶν, ὃ ἐὰν ἐκάλεσεν αὐτὸ Αδαμ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν, τοῦτο ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

The answer to “what will he name them” is “whatever the heck he wanted!” Since this is a little cumbersome to emphasize, the dislocation allows you to provide the answer follow up by saying “…this was their name.”

I found a bunch of other nice left dislocations in the early chapters of Genesis, but I will save these for later. I much prefer grammatical dislocations to muscular-skeletal ones. Isn’t syntax wonderful?