Animal names and categorisation in the Hebrew Bible : a textual and cognitive approach

Abstract

The subject matter of this study is animal names in the Hebrew Bible. Centring on a corpus-linguistic analysis of every word for an animal or type of animal used within the text, it sheds light on the methods and paradigms of categorisation used by the ancient Hebrews and thus on previously unknown aspects of their worldview. The discipline of cognitive linguistics, in particular the prototype theory of categories, is used to interpret the various types and levels of animal classification; a theory on spatiality as the main basis for classification is developed, and new light is shed on a wrongly undervalued theory of cleanness/uncleanness. This theoretical work is also applied to certain texts to prove its usefulness in helping with the translation and interpretation of problematic words and passages.