[B-Greek] Re: Criteria for evaluating NT Greek Intro Grammars

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Feb 20 07:46:49 EST 2004


At 12:16 PM +0100 2/20/04, W. Fulton wrote:
>At 11:07 PM -0600 2/18/04, Joseph Weaks wrote:
>>I know this comes up alot, the which-is-the-best-intro-grammar
>>question, but I wonder if it is worth folks offering not simply which
>>grammars are good, but which criteria make for a good grammar. For
>>instance, Carl is most helpful by citing difficulties with Machen or
>>Mounce. He did not say what makes Funk's so good.
>
>Dr. Conrad replied:
>> I applaud this very sensible suggestion for a more objective basis for
>> choosing a textbook for Beginning Greek.
>
>What makes a list of evaluation criteria difficult at this point in the
>discussion
>is that we have not yet defined what it is that we want to evaluate. Joseph
>talks about "a grammar," yet his sample list of criteria is heavy on learner
>features like memory aids and teaching methods. In his answer, Carl talks
>about "a textbook," but the books he refers to mostly call themselves
>"grammars" (Mounce, Adam, and Funk). Machen's introduction bears the
>broad title _New Testament Greek_ but David Paul Fahrenthold, who has
>used it, calls it "a good beginning Greek grammar."
>
[snip]
>
>So, getting back to Joseph's proposal to set up evaluation criteria, what
>exactly
>are we talking about?
>
>- a traditional reference grammar like Wallace or Smyth
>- a classroom grammar where the language is explained systematically, but
>   primarily from a structural viewpoint
>- a general textbook based on a language teaching program
>
>All of these book types have their place, but we can't expect them to do the
>same jobs equally well.

Warren's remarks are certainly well-taken, but I didn't think there was
that much ambiguity in yesterday's discussion; I think we're all pretty
much aware that  English "grammar," much like the Greek GRAMMATIKH
,although it may refer to the formal body of structures and functions of a
language, is commonly used for that component of elementary education
associated with "reading and writing" (what we still think of as the
fundamental concern of a "grammar school," however many other concerns are
focal to elementary education. And I think that yesterday's discussion was
focused most fundamentally upon textbooks for teaching and learning ancient
Greek, whether Classical Attic or NT Koine, and NOT upon reference grammars
(apart from suggestions, such as Anne Nyland's, that reading Goodwin's
Greek grammar "as if it were a novel" on public transportation trips is
good for one's mind, perhaps even one's soul!). We were talking about
"primers" and "textbooks," about the books most useful for the first steps
in learning ancient Greek. I didn't really think there was any
misunderstanding about that. Nevertheless, I think it's true that the
better "beginning Greek textbooks" or books that remain useful beyond one's
first year of learning Greek: that Funk intended his book to be so is
evident from the title, "A Beginning-Intermediate GRAMMAR of Hellenistic
Greek." The utility of Greek primers beyond the first year of study of
Greek surely lies in the quality and range of their morphological and
syntactical appendices that students continue to consult as they go on to
develop more advanced skills in reading and analysis of those ancient texts
for which they undertook the onerous task of learning Greek in the first
place. And I do think that the quality of that appendix in primers is not
an insignificant criterion for evaluating Greek primers. Two of the very
best of those appendices in primers, in my judgment, are Funk's third
volume of his three volume set and several appendices in volume 2 of
"Reading Greek" (volume subtitled, "Grammar, Vocabulary, and Exercises."

So perhaps that's one of the criteria that ought to be employed in
evaluating "textbooks," beginning grammars" or "primers" of ancient Greek:
do the character of the instruction and presentation of essentials of the
language make the book(s) in question worth keeping and referring to once
one has past the first year of study of Greek?
-- 

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/



More information about the B-Greek mailing list