[B-Greek] A Scarecrow Theory of Aspect

Richard Lindeman oblchurch at msn.com
Sat Dec 17 10:01:53 EST 2005


A Scarecrow Theory of Aspect

 

Ok, here is a new aspect theory that I am playing with.  Do you remember the
scarecrow in the "Wizard of Oz"?  He was made entirely of straw and wanted a
brain.  Toward the end of the movie the Wizard of Oz handed him a diploma,
the one thing that was lacking for him to display his intelligence. 

 

Here is my "Scarecrow Theory of Aspect".  

 

Translate this.    "EGRAFON" 

Is it correct Greek? Yes.  Does it have aspect? Yes, I believe that it does!
Am I able to determine the nuances of it's aspect as intended by the author?
No.  There are certain things missing for me to be able to do that. 

 

What is missing?  First of all, I don't know what the time reference is for
this expression.  Secondly, I don't know what the focus of this expression.
And thirdly, I don't know the context.  Think of things as being the diploma
that was given to the scarecrow.  If I just knew these things, then perhaps
I could discover the hidden meaning of aspect that is encoded in the verbal
expression "EGRAFON". 

 

Think of the time reference as being Time R.  Think of the focus as being
Focus F.  The immediate Focus F I am talking about is the subject of the
verb itself.  The immediate Time R I am talking about is the time being
referenced by the verb itself. I need these pieces of information in order
to determine aspect.  But I am also lacking one more thing. context.  For
the purposes of this scarecrow theory, let's refer to the elements of
context as being Time R2 and Focus F2.  

 

Ok, now I have all the elements that are needed in order to determine the
hidden meaning of the author that we call "Aspect".  According to the
Scarecrow analogy the formula for aspect MUST BE determined by the
intersection of Time R2 + Focus F2 with Time R + Focus F.  Makes sense to
me!



Blessings, 

 

Rich Lindeman  

 




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