Linguistic patterns in Jonah

Abstract

Statistical analyses of syllable-word frequencies, parts of speech frequencies, and syllable sequence in the book of Jonah reveal unexpected patterns of usage. Various chi-square test results for direct speech (DS) suggest that ch. 1 differs from chs. 2-3 and from ch. 4 and that chs. 2-3 differ from ch. 4. The narrative (N) portions of the book are examined for the same variables, with confirming and clarifying results. Finally, these linguistic patterns are related to proposals from literary analysis and to various discontinuities put forward by source analysis.