two models?
c stirling bartholomew
cc.constantine at worldnet.att.net
Fri Oct 25 12:19:55 EDT 2002
on 10/25/02 6:26 AM, Michael Burer wrote:
> (1) Would you explain briefly what systemic functionalism is and how it
> works as a unifying framework? I am not familiar with that model of
> linguistics.
Would you like me to throw in an executive overview of Einstein's
General Relativity Theory? Have you ever heard of Stanley E. Porter? He has
done a little publishing on Hellenistic Greek in the last 14 years. He is a
proponent of Systemic Functionalism (SFL). Read him, find out.
>
> (2) From what you wrote I understand you to see no connection between
> form and meaning . . .
Wrong again.
Here is: THE MAIN ISSUE
The hybrid categories that combine morpho-syntactic elements with semantic
elements are completely misleading. For example take the "Gnomic Aorist"
Wallace:
******************************
Gnomic Aorist
A. Definition
The aorist indicative is occasionally used to present a timeless,
general fact. When it does so, it does not refer to a particular event
that did happen, but to a generic event that does happen. Normally, it
is translated like a simple present tense. This usage is quite rare in
the NT.
******************************
The semantic notion of timelessness is not a feature of the Aorist form.
Timelessness is not communicated to the reader/listener by verb inflection.
It is completely misleading to talk about a "Gnomic Aorist" in the same way
that it would be to talk about Marxist bananas, since bananas are not
capable of holding political ideologies. When NT Greek students discuss
categories like this they are talking about "nothing at all" since the
"Gnomic Aorist" is a non-existent animal.
The relationship between form and meaning is a very complex topic. If you
don't think this is true, then here is an assignment. Define a set of formal
morpho-syntactic rules that determine when the Aorist has temporal
significance. Come back in five years and tell us what you have come up
with.
csb
--
Clayton Stirling Bartholomew
Three Tree Point
P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062
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