Periphrastic construction "EIMI + Participle" in Acts

clayton stirling bartholomew c.s.bartholomew at worldnet.att.net
Tue May 2 13:06:01 EDT 2000


on 05/02/00 9:43 AM, Georgij Aristov wrote:

> I think I am. But what actually interests me is the question: For what
> purpose does Luke use such periphrastic constructions? What makes him to
> apply a phrase instead of a single word? Is it just a mean of stylistics?

Georgij,

Periphrastic constructions have pragmatic side affects. They slow the reader
down because the are more difficult to process. This slowing of the reader
can be employed for a number of purposes or for no purpose at all. Some of
the possibilities are:

1- draw added attention to the action specified in the verb

2 - create a dramatic peak in an episode

Luke has a habit of choosing more complex constructions if you compare him
to Mark or John. So their may be no authorial intent here at all.   I think
you would need to answer the question about authorial intent in the use of
periphrastic constructions on a case by case basis.

The whole subject of the pragmatic impact of wordiness is treated in books
on text linguistics such as  Robert E. Longacre, <<The Grammar of
Discourse>> (New York: Plenum Press, 2nd edition, 1996).

--  
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062





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