Journal
Interpreter: A Journal of Mormon Scripture 13 (2015)
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What Command Syntax Tells Us About Book of Mormon Authorship
Title
What Command Syntax Tells Us About Book of Mormon Authorship
Publication Type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2015
Authors
Carmack, Stanford (Primary)
Journal
Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship
Pagination
175-217
Volume
13
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Abstract
The variety of command syntax found in the Book of Mormon is very different from what is seen in the King James Bible. Yet it is sophisticated and principled, evincing Early Modern English linguistic competence. Interestingly, the syntactic match between the 1829 text and a prominent text from the late 15th century is surprisingly good. All the evidence indicates that Joseph Smith would not have produced the structures found in the text using the King James Bible as a model, nor from his own language. The overall usage profile of command syntax seen in the Book of Mormon strongly supports the view that the Lord revealed specific words to Joseph Smith, not simply ideas.
Table of Contents
Subject Keywords
Grammar
Syntax
Bibliographic Citation
Terms of use
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