[B-Greek] Understanding Greek Verb Tense/Aspect

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Apr 8 10:18:58 EDT 2004


At 9:52 AM -0400 4/8/04, Barry W. Hickey wrote:
>Greetings.
>
>I'm slowly working my way through Mounce's BBG. After reading Chapter 15
>(Introduction To Verbs) I'm not sure I correctly understand what Mounce is
>saying about tense, aspect, and the like.  My initial understanding of
>Greek verb tense is as follows:
>
>1) Tense does NOT convey when the action took/is taking place.
>2) Tense only refers to the form of the verb.
>3) Aspect is to be `discovered` based up on the form/tense of the verb.
>4) Apect refers solely to the kind of action: perfective, imperfective, or
>stative.
>
>Am I correct in my understanding or have I missed the boat?
>
>Lastly, can anyone suggest some supplemental material to BBG with regards
>to tense/aspect/aktionsart that a beginner would be able to comprehend?

Let me anticipate Rod Decker's offering of his excellent expansion and
revision of Mounce's chapter 15:

http://faculty.bbc.edu/rdecker/documents/MounceCh15rev.pdf

I think you'll find it helpful.
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



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