GINOMAI
Carl Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun Dec 1 08:02:36 EST 2002
At 9:26 PM -0500 11/30/02, <bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca> wrote:
>
> I have a question about something in your reply; You wrote that GINOMAI
>is always middle voice in meaning, did you mean middle in form but
active
>in meaning? If not, could you explain? Thanks
> Bert de Haan
Yes. I've explained my views on ancient Greek voice more fully in a (now
corrected and slightly-revised) paper that I have posted at my web-site:
http://www.ioa.com/Docs/NewObsAncGrkVc.pdf
(also available for click-download at
http://www.ioa.com/current.html
Briefly: I say that GINOMAI is "always" middle in meaning because it
ALWAYS
has the subject-focus--ALWAYS shows the subject's engagement/involvement
in
the process indicated by the verb. Thus, although there is a perfect
"active" morphoparadigm (GEGONA, GEGONAS, GEGONA, KTL), it bears no
distinct sense different from that of the perfect "middle" form,
GEGENHMAI.
Moreover, there is no distinct difference in sense demonstrable between
the
two morphoparadigms for the aorist, EGENOMHN and EGENHQHN (this is
demonstrated in the appendix of the document referenced above). Finally,
although traditionally GINOMAI has been termed a "deponent" verb, the
concept and usefulness of "deponency" are wholly indemonstrable: while the
form GINOMAI is "middle-passive" (as the doctrine of "deponency"
requires),
the meaning is certainly not "active": the verb is intransitive and takes
no object.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu OR cwconrad at ioa.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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