[B-Greek] Jn 1:1 HN (was) cf. ESTIN

Steven Lo Vullo slovullo at mac.com
Tue May 4 17:23:34 EDT 2004


On May 4, 2004, at 3:44 PM, DJNordlund at aol.com wrote:

> EIMI is the lexical form of the verb, which is usually the 1st person,
> singular, present, active, indicative form (I have been told).  I has 
> a number of
> shades of meaning including (but not limited to) :
>
> I am, exist, live, am present.
>
> ESTIN is the 3rd person, singular, present, active, indicative form of 
> EIMI,
> while HN is the 3rd person, singular, imperfect, active, indicative 
> form of
> EIMI.  They are both just different conjugations of the same verb, 
> EIMI, and
> hence share the same core meaning but with different aspect.

Yes, EIMI is the lexical form of the verb. But ESTIN and HN  are not 
different conjugations, but rather different forms *within* the 
respective conjugation. "Conjugation" is defined thus in the Handbook 
of Biblical Greek:

"The inflectional pattern of a word (especially verbs); or, likewise, a 
class of verbs with similarly inflected forms. The term can also refer 
to the presentation of such a set of words in a table or a list."

So "conjugation" refers to pattern or class rather than to forms within 
the pattern or class.

Also, the difference in these forms' person, number, and tense doesn't 
have anything to do with aspect (as the word is commonly understood).
============

Steven Lo Vullo
Madison, WI




More information about the B-Greek mailing list