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# Towards a complex analysis of Wayihî + T constructions in Biblical Hebrew

**Authors:** [Josh Westbury](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/josh-westbury/), [Alexander Andrason](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/alexander-andrason/) · **Year:** 2018 · **Venue:** Asian and African Studies 27/1, 50–79 **Link:** [scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106379](https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106379) · **Licence:** copyrighted (free to read, no CC licence) — summary only

[**0** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W2972935067) openalex-snapshot · 2026-10-14[SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University)](https://openalex.org/S4306400300)

- [Publisher's page](https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106379)
- [PDF](https://scholar.sun.ac.za/bitstreams/2a1c178b-5409-4deb-8c2d-de283eca145c/download)
- [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2972935067)

**Authors (2)**

1. [Josh Westbury](https://openalex.org/A5019886629) h 4 · 58 citations · 10 works
2. [Alexander Andrason](https://openalex.org/A5025732228) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8507-9824) · h 14 · 753 citations · 185 works

Citations and author metrics from openalex-snapshot (2026-10-14); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

The full text is not in the library; this card rests on the repository's abstract, so the ideas are provisional. The paper studies וַיְהִי followed by a temporal expression (T) and then a main clause, which is either a wayyiqtol or a (we-)X-qatal clause, from Genesis to 2 Chronicles. In a Construction Grammar and cognitive frame it compares three construction types by the form and meaning of the temporal adjunct, the discourse function and distribution, and the tense–aspect values of the verbs. All share a core function (setting a new temporal frame), but they differ in where in a discourse they occur, and the choice depends on several interacting factors rather than one rule.

## Ideas

- I1. Classify every וַיְהִי + temporal phrase in the Torah by (a) the shape of T (בְּ/כְּ + infinitive, אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים, בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, כַּאֲשֶׁר + qatal), (b) the following main clause (wayyiqtol, וְהִנֵּה, X-qatal), and count the combinations.
- I2. A prag/discourse rule: וַיְהִי + T opens a new episode or scene; mark it as a boundary and do not treat the וַיְהִי as a mainline event.
- I3. Tree check: וַיְהִי + T should not be the root of the sentence when a main clause follows; the main verb should be the root and the וַיְהִי a discourse marker attached to it.

## For Mova

I1 and I2 go to [Discourse: narrative, speech and the shape of a text](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/hbo/09-discourse/) (וַיְהִי) and `tools/macula/src/prag.rs`. I3 is a conversion rule to measure in `tools/macula` against PTNK (`macula compare`) and to record in `13-mova-tools.md` §6.

Topics: [Discourse analysis](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/discourse-analysis/)

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```
@inproceedings{westbury2018complex,
  title = {{Towards a complex analysis of Wayihî + T constructions in Biblical Hebrew}},
  author = {Westbury, Josh and Andrason, Alexander},
  booktitle = {SUNScholar (Stellenbosch University)},
  year = {2018},
  url = {https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106379}
}
```

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