[B-Greek] Fronting for Emphasis in 1 John
CWestf5155 at aol.com
CWestf5155 at aol.com
Fri Nov 5 10:40:16 EST 2004
In a message dated 11/4/2004 6:38:39 PM Mountain Standard Time,
mitchlarramore at yahoo.com writes:
<<Dr. Culy in 1 John notes quite a few fronting
constructions, each denoting emphasis. I'm wondering
how a letter the size of 1 John (very short) can have
so much emphases based on fronting. With so much
fronting (I'm not even through with the 2nd chapter),
doesn't that tend to negate "emphasis?">>
Dear Mitch,
I'm still waiting for my copy of Culy, which should arrive any time, but I'll
hazard a reply to this anyway.
It is a good question: are the fronted constructions idiosyncratic, stylistic
or thematic?
It is something like the questions about the (over)use of OUN in the gospel
of John (200 out of 499 occurrences) and EUQUS in Mark (41 out of 51
occurrences) or other emphatic or marked constructions that have a higher than expected
occurrence. Are these example just how the writer writes (and does this make
no semantic contribution?), are they something like an exclamation point and
convey urgency and vigor to the whole discourse (saying "this is important!",
or appealing to recipients, etc.) , or is there a relationship between the use
of emphatic/marked constructions and prominence of a marked word, phrase or
sentence?
I believe that this question is primarily answered in 1 John by looking for
patterns of repetition that occur with fronting constructions. Am I right in
thinking this includes constructions such as ESTIN AUTH/AUTOS (or reversed)? I
see patterns that look like thematic fronting to me that combines with deixis.
Cindy Westfall
Adjunct Faculty, Mars Hill Graduate School
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