Clarifying Apposition in Ugaritic // The Displacement of “Parallelism”

Abstract

The juxtaposition of two constituents of the same category, such as noun apposition (e.g., “Niqmaddu, the king”) or noun -numeral apposition (e.g., “thirty (shekels), lapis lazuli”), is a fundamental noun modification strategy, alongside adjectival modification, noun cliticization (i.e., the bound relationship), and relativization. Though studies of Ugaritic grammar have long noted the use of apposition, particularly with numerals, the distribution and semantics of apposition are worthy of a focused analysis, which I will undertake in this study. Moreover, I will provide an initial investigation into the possible relationship between verb phrase or clausal apposition (types of apposition rarely recognized in Ugaritic or Biblical Hebrew studies) and the use of “parallelism” in poetic texts.