[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
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