The Verb ib and the Construction ib=f r sDm. On modal semantics, graphemic contrast, and gradience in grammar

Based on graphemic, morphological, syntactic, and semantic evidence, the paper shows that a clear-cut distinction can be made between a verb ib expressing an epistemic judgment (“to think”) and a non-verbal predicative construction ib=f r sDm (literally “his heart is towards hearing”), expressing volition (“to want”). In a second step, the volitional construction ib=f r sDm is shown to occasionally display features of syntactic gradience, reflecting its quasi-verbal semantics (“volitive agent-oriented moda-lity”): in particular, this construction can combine with a marker of passive voice, a verbal category that is otherwise alien to non-verbal constructions. Problematic late occurrences of the construction ib=f r sDm are discussed in turn: in some of these, ib=f may have been subjected to alternative construals as a verb.