GAR in Phil. 1:8 and Paratactic Connectors

Edgar Foster questioning1 at yahoo.com
Wed Oct 13 17:02:05 EDT 1999


In a message dated 99-10-12 11:13:25 EDT, Carl Conrad
writes:

<< Perhaps I don't quite understand what you mean by a
paratactic
function of
 GAR. It may very well be that I have a different
feeling for ordinary
Greek
 style than the model you're using implies. My own
sense is that the
vast
 array of particles the Greek thinker/speaker/writer
has at his/her
command
 and that seem often untranslatable to us play a role
in structuring
speech
 in larger units. We really have to see the larger
paragraph as the
basic
 unit of Greek discourse rather than the individual
sentence that we so
 readily punctuate with a period.  >>

Thanks for your suggestions regarding the function of
GAR. Basically I'm trying to determine where the
textual unit beginning with Phil. 1:3 
culminates. As you pointed out in your submission, the
unit could end in either verse 7 or 8. But it seems
much more reasonable to view Phil. 1:8 as a
continuation of 1:3-7. This is basically a discourse
analysis issue that relates to the macrostructure of
the text and how the epistle coheres vis-a'-vis it's
constituent parts. While I am aware that B-Greek
doesn't focus on the macrostructure per se,
determining cohesion shifts and text markers seems to 
be within the list's boundaries. 

I derived the terminology "paratactic connector" from
D.A. Black, who writes: 

"these verses [Phil. 1:3-8] are one long sentence in
Greek (or possibly two if GAR in 1:8 is to be
interpreted as a paratactic connector rather than a
hypotactic subordinator)" (Linguistics For Students of
NT Greek, p. 177).

On the other hand, Richard A. Young uses the phrase
"paratactic relation," and defines it as 'coordinating
conjunctions connecting any size unit of 
equal structural rank'. He subsequently describes
hypotactic relations as 'subordinating conjunctions
used to connect dependent clauses to independent 
ones'. So I think that in the long run, we're talking
about similar concepts in slightly different ways. Of
course, I know you are aware of all this and 
more. I just wanted to explain why I used the
terminology I did. 



=====
Edgar Foster
Classics Major
Lenoir-Rhyne College

http://www.egroups.com/list/greektheology/


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