Ungrammatical (illogical) in English?
Al Kidd
akidd at InfoAve.Net
Wed Sep 1 04:49:41 EDT 1999
My question is: Why did Greek settle on a periphrastic construction for the
Future Perfect Active when the concept of using a true Future Perfect
Active was not unknown to them (e.g., TEQNXW = I shall be dead, I shall
have died)?
Why the awkwardness of
TAUTA GEGRAFWS ESTAI
These (things) having-written he will-be
(He will-be having-written these things.)
Good English sense of what the Greek intends is given in the translation
"He will already have written these things" [i.e., 'He will (by the time of
some future event--be it an event either implied by, or explicitly referred
to, in the context) have written these things'].
But my question is: What in the Greek mind accounts for its preference to
have the less elegant solution for the Future Perfect Active?
Al Kidd
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