theos and ho theos'--

Dave Washburn dwashbur at nyx.net
Fri Mar 2 23:58:57 EST 2001


Greg,
> 
> << What evidence do you
>  have for a predicate nominative carrying simultaneous nuances of two or
>  more, for example, QEOS in 1:1 being both qualitative and indefinite? >>
> 
> 
> I believe we can both agree that nouns convey both a definite and an 
> indefinite semantic in numerous instances. Right? That being said, I accept 
> that fronting (along with extraposition) is a Greek device that allows for a 
> certain emphasis of the noun, which emphasis _I think_ is of a qualitative 
> nature. 

I'm not sure I can agree with this, especially in the case of a 
*proper* noun.  Common nouns, sure.  Most can convey both 
nuances.  But a proper noun is different.  My given name is David; 
somehow I can't see someone looking at me and saying "You're 
very David."  So the question, within the grammatical framework 
you're constructing, becomes whether QEOS is a proper noun or 
not.  If it is, then the question of definiteness is a non-issue.  To 
find out whether John ever uses the word as a common noun we 
have to (again I say :-) examine his usage of the word.  Thus, the 
question becomes more a semantic one than a syntactic one.  I 
personally think the fronting is done to form a chiasmus with 
LOGOS and QEON in the previous clause, but that's just me.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
"No study of probabilities inside a given frame can ever
tell us how probable it is that the frame itself can be
violated."  C. S. Lewis



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