Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Prof. Dr. Rivka Halevy
Professor Emeritus
Department of Hebrew and Jewish Languages
Official Research Profile: ResearchGate – Rivka Halevy
Expertise: Modern Hebrew Linguistics; Hebrew Syntax; Hebrew Semantics; Hebrew Pragmatics; Linguistic Typology; Semitic Linguistics; Grammaticalization; Corpus Linguistics; Discourse Studies; Cognitive Linguistics.
Member of Editorial Board of European Hebrew Journal
CURRICULUM VITAE
Academic Profile
Prof. Dr. Rivka Halevy is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Languages at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her academic career has been devoted to the study of Modern Hebrew from the perspectives of syntax, semantics, pragmatics, linguistic typology, and comparative Semitic linguistics.
Her research combines usage-based linguistics, typology, construction grammar, and discourse analysis to investigate the structure and development of Modern Hebrew. She has made significant contributions to the study of existential constructions, dative experiencer constructions, grammaticalization, reciprocal constructions, phraseology, and the interaction between syntax and the lexicon.
Throughout her academic career, Prof. Halevy has published extensively on Modern Hebrew grammar and has contributed to major international reference works in Hebrew linguistics. Her work bridges descriptive Hebrew linguistics with broader questions in general linguistics and language typology.
QUALIFICATIONS
Ph.D. in Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Graduate studies in Hebrew Literature, Linguistics, and History of Art, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
ACADEMIC POSITIONS AND APPOINTMENTS
Professor Emeritus, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Languages, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Senior Lecturer, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Languages, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
RESEARCH
Prof. Halevy’s research focuses on the grammar of Modern Hebrew within a typological and functional framework. Her work examines syntactic constructions that differ from traditional subject-predicate patterns and explores the interaction between syntax, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse.
A major area of her research concerns existential constructions, dative experiencer constructions, reciprocal constructions, reflexive constructions, grammaticalization, phraseology, lexical semantics, and the relationship between syntax and the lexicon. Her studies frequently compare Hebrew with other Semitic and Indo-European languages, contributing to broader discussions in linguistic typology.
She has also published important work on corpus-based approaches to Hebrew, construction grammar, and cognitive linguistics.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Modern Hebrew
Hebrew Syntax
Hebrew Semantics
Hebrew Pragmatics
Linguistic Typology
Semitic Linguistics
Grammaticalization
Construction Grammar
Phraseology
Discourse Studies
Corpus Linguistics
Cognitive Linguistics
Lexical Semantics
Comparative Linguistics
PUBLICATIONS
Selected Publications
Non-subject Oriented Existential, Possessive and Dative-Experiencer Constructions in Modern Hebrew: A Cross-Linguistic Typological Approach. STUF – Language Typology and Universals, 2023.
What Makes the Dative-Experiencer Construction in Modern Hebrew Different from Its Counterparts in European Languages? Language Typology and Universals, 2023.
The Existential Construction in Spoken Modern Hebrew: A Typological and Syntactical-Pragmatic Perspective. Journal of Speech Sciences, 2022.
Transitivity and Valence. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew. John Benjamins, 2020.
Impersonal and Pseudo-Impersonal Constructions. In Usage-Based Studies in Modern Hebrew. John Benjamins, 2020.
The Existential Construction and its Type-Shifting Instances in Colloquial Modern Hebrew. In La prédication existentielle dans les langues naturelles. Presses de l’Inalco, 2020.
The ‘Swift of Foot’ Construction and the Phrase Structure of the Adjectival Construct in Hebrew. Studies in Language, 2016.
The Reinvention of the Construction of Verb + Non-Lexical Subject-Coreferential Pronoun in Modern Hebrew. Journal of Semitic Studies, 2015.
Understanding the Locative Alternation in Swarm-Drip Verbs: Evidence from Hebrew. Hebrew Studies, 2013.
The Grammaticalization of Bipartite Reciprocal Markers in Hebrew. Hebrew Studies, 2011.
Between Syntax and Lexicon. Magnes Press, Jerusalem, 1998.
Hebrew on a Lexical Emphasis: Restricted Collocations in Contemporary Hebrew. 1993.