[B-Greek]Deponency (was; 2nd aorsit of ERCHOMAI FOLLOW UP)

bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca bertdehaan at gosympatico.ca
Thu Apr 1 19:25:21 EST 2004


 I wrote:
 
>   "Stephen C. Carlson" wrote: 
> 
> > Forget about deponents--they only confuse the issue.
> > If a verb has more than root, all bets are off, and
> > you just have to memorize it.  But even for verbs with
> > only one root, Greek verbs can be active in one tense
> > but middle in another (BAINW vs. BHSOMAI), as Carl
> > pointed out already.  Deponency is neither a necessary
> > nor sufficient explanation for what's going on with
> > ERCOMAI.
> > 
> > Coming from Latin, which does have a real deponent
> > system, I was naturally very inclined to hold on to
> > the concept of deponency in Greek.  But it hurt more
> > than helped in Greek.  The Greeks didn't have a word
> > for it, and we probably shouldn't either.  Rather,
> > the more appropriate approach is to understand the
> > interest or involvement of the subject in the action
> > when we see a Greek middle.  Based on suggestions
> > made here earlier, and Carl has made them, a rough
> > guide to understanding Greek middles with an English
> > gloss is to use some form of the verb "get."  Take
> > ERCOMAI for example.  It is as middle in the present
> > tense as the English idiom "get oneself somewhere."
> 
> 
>  For the sake of understanding why the term "deponent" is not legitimate for Greek but is for Latin, can someone explain what a deponent verb is in Latin?
> (I think that the Dutch verb "deponeren" (which means deposit or put down) comes from the same Latin word where we get 'deponent', so I'm guessing that it involves putting down.)
----------------
I should have read all the posts before asking this question. I think my question has been answered.
 
 Thank you.
 Bert de Haan.
 





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