John 17:23, support Clay
c stirling bartholomew
cc.constantine at worldnet.att.net
Mon Aug 19 16:32:59 EDT 2002
on 8/19/02 12:04 AM, Randall Buth wrote:
> (MPOUQ GRAFEI)
> I was uneasy when I saw the line above about 'present subjunctive indicating a
> wish ... THEREFORE incomplete"
>
> There is a basic principle of language involved. The word in question was WSIN
> 'they would be'. It is a "be" verb which should raise red flags for most
> linguists, but more importantly in this case, there is only one subjunctive
> form available. There is no possibility of an 'aorist'/(a.k.a. 'perfective' in
> general linguistics) subjunctive for this verb EINAI.
>Therefore it would be
> wrong to make a point of this. A person should not give something a special
> (a.k.a. 'marked' in general linguistics) classification for which another
> option does not exist. That doesn't mean that WSIN is not a continuative, by
> nature it is. But here it is functionally just subjunctive.
Randall has pointed out an aspect of this question that I had not
considered. A important point however and one which has a lot of general
usefulness beyond this particular application.
Thanks Randall.
Meanwhile,
the reason I didn't have a problem with WSIN TETELEIWMENOI has more to do
with methodology and reading habits. I generally don't bother to do internal
analysis on a functional unit once the functional unit has been identified
as such.
Let me illustrate with a different example. A week or so ago a question was
asked about EIS TI, "What is the function of EIS in EIS TI?" I answered the
question by explaining the semantic function of EIS and its relationship to
TI. My answer was misleading in a way because it suggested that there was
more to learn from EIS TI (a functional unit) by looking into the internal
architecture of the unit. It just so happens that in the case of EIS TI, the
internal architecture is somewhat transparently related to the function of
the larger unit and so it isn't a totally futile exercise. However, once a
functional unit has been identified it is really kind of pointless to look
inside. It can lead to dead ends and misunderstandings since not all
functional units are transparent.
So when I encountered, WSIN TETELEIWMENOI (jn 17:23) I read it as a
functional unit. Didn't even bother to raise the question that was bothering
Matthew.
Clay
--
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062
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