Time of Participles

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Aug 16 09:28:18 EDT 2002


At 12:38 PM +0000 8/16/02, Mark Wilson wrote:
>Carl:
>
>You wrote:
>-------
>but the rule of thumb is that a present
>>participle coordinates with the time of the main verb, so that "believing"
>>is contemporaneous with the receiving and giving.
>-------
>
>How would you define the difference(s) between adverbial and
>substantival ptcs when it comes to their temporal natures?

For my part I wouldn't even attempt to lay down any principle
distinguishing adverbial from substantival participles in this respect. My
first inclination would be to understand hOI ELQONTES as "those who have
come" (from the perspective of the main verb) and ELQONTES as "when they
had come" or "when they have arrived" (also from the perspective of the
main verb). I think that the semantic character of the verb may in some
instances suggest a difference but I'd want to consider instances case by
case.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
Most months:: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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