Clause Structure and World Order in Hebrew and Arabic employs Chomsky's Government and Binding Approach to examine clausal architecture and verb movement in Hebrew and in several varieties of Arabic. Author Ur Shlonsky establishes an analysis of a number of syntactic configurations in Hebrew and then extends this analysis to certain aspects of Arabic clausal syntax. Through this comparative lens, Shlonsky aims to resolve a number of problems in Semitic syntax.

His discussion leads to modifications in the formulation of some syntactic parameters, and his results generate novel and important conclusions concerning the patterning of negation, verb movement, the nature of participles, and the gamut of positions available to clausal subjects.