Discontinuous Syntax: article

Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Discontinuous Syntax: article

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Stirling Bartholomew wrote:The text is a dubious textual variant, most probably a scribal error, this would divert the discussion from the syntax question. The variant reading shows a nominative masculine singular article which could be joined with a nominative masculine singular participle. The article is clause initial the participle clause final. The several other constituents in the clause including the finite verb are all sandwiched between the article and what could be construed as an articular participle if the syntax permits such a construction. The point at issue with the classics scholar is that this syntax isn't permissible Greek. According to him you will not find this syntax in ancient greek texts. [excluding dubious variants which can explained by scribal error, one dropped letter].
I get your point - the way that some movies leave the key to understanding till the end - to steer things along a certain line that would be the less easier to follow if more was supplied.

What genre of ancient Greek are you looking at? Verse or prose? My reason for asking is that I have always thought of Classical Greek (even Attic literature) as a number of co-existing dialects with varying rules or tendencies.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Discontinuous Syntax: article

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Soph. Ajax 1126

{ΜΕ.} Δίκαια γὰρ τόνδ' εὐτυχεῖν κτείναντά με;

R.C. Jebb
What, is it right that the man who murdered me should prosper?

Here the participle forms a constituent with a demonstrative pronoun separated by the infinitive εὐτυχεῖν.



[1] Word Order, Focus, and Clause Linking in Greek Tragic Poetry
Bruce Lovat Fraser Darwin College
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Stirling Bartholomew
Posts: 1141
Joined: August 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm

Re: Discontinuous Syntax: article

Post by Stirling Bartholomew »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
Stirling Bartholomew wrote:The text is a dubious textual variant, most probably a scribal error, this would divert the discussion from the syntax question. The variant reading shows a nominative masculine singular article which could be joined with a nominative masculine singular participle. The article is clause initial the participle clause final. The several other constituents in the clause including the finite verb are all sandwiched between the article and what could be construed as an articular participle if the syntax permits such a construction. The point at issue with the classics scholar is that this syntax isn't permissible Greek. According to him you will not find this syntax in ancient greek texts. [excluding dubious variants which can explained by scribal error, one dropped letter].
I get your point - the way that some movies leave the key to understanding till the end - to steer things along a certain line that would be the less easier to follow if more was supplied.

What genre of ancient Greek are you looking at? Verse or prose? My reason for asking is that I have always thought of Classical Greek (even Attic literature) as a number of co-existing dialects with varying rules or tendencies.
I was actually started down this path by textual variant in Codex Bezae Acts, however the variant fails on several levels, it just doesn't work so why talk about it? It turns out that there are more examples of hyperbaton in verse than prose. But I think it is found in Herodotus. I am not a reader of Herodotus so I have found some samples of participle hyperbaton in Tragedy. None of the examples so far fit the formula article ... finite verb … participle where the article agrees with the participle.

Now I need to go back to work on my projects.
C. Stirling Bartholomew
Post Reply

Return to “Syntax and Grammar”