Compound subjects with hH?

Paul Zellmer zellmer at cag.pworld.net.ph
Sat Sep 5 18:38:05 EDT 1998


Ben Crick wrote:

> On Sat  5 Sep 98 (16:12:52 +0800), zellmer at cag.pworld.net.ph wrote:
> > In our review of James 2:14-16, we came across in verse 15 the
> > following construction:
> >
> > EAN ADELFOS hH ADELFH GUMNOI hUPARXWSIN ...
>
>  Dear Paul:
>
>  It's verse 15 : EAN ADELFOS *H* ADELFH KTL...
>

Thanks, Ben.  Carl already pointed out the transcription error.

>  The word H is with a smooth, not a rough breathing; and a grave accent:
>  "If a brother *or* a sister be naked...". The verb hUPARCWSIN is 3rd Pl
>  Present Active Subjunctive, plural because it is a compound subject,
>  ADELFOS H ADELFA [either, or both].
>

It's the "both" that I'm looking for another example of.  Could you
point me to one?

>  We have the same convention in these gender-equal P.C. days; "he or she
>  are", not "he or she is".

Maybe in your dialect, but this is true only in a subjunctive use in my
dialect, and then only with the form of past tense (if he or she
*were*).  In fact, it is one of the marks of the subjunctive.  In greek,
however, the subjunctive is marked in the verb itself, not in its
number, right?

> We even use the plural pronoun for the non-
>  gender specific pronoun he/she when it is singular. "If someone wants to
>  come, *they* should say so beforehand".

This is a traditional way of getting around the "he/she".  Again, in
greek, it is not
a conventional use for this.  They simply used 3ms, right?

> I daresay it is the same in modern
>  Filipino?
>

Actually, Filipino does not have a 3ms or 3fs pronoun.  It has only a
common pronoun
for the third person singular.  This is a very common feature in the
language family
that Filipino is part of.If you or someone else could help me with
another example of
H as a coordinating conjuction, I would be greatly appreciative.

Paul
--
Paul and Dee Zellmer, Jimmy Guingab, Geoffrey Beltran
Ibanag Translation Project
Cabagan, Philippines

zellmer at faith.edu.ph




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