[B-Greek] Aktionzart

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Thu Feb 24 15:21:04 EST 2005


At 1:41 PM -0600 2/24/05, José Antonio Septién González de Cosío wrote:
>I am studyng the infinitive greek and trying to understand what kind of
>action (aktionzart) is expressed by  1)the infinitive present middle voice
>and 2) the infinitive orist middle voice. I just couldn't to see anything
>about this issue in many greek grammars.
>Thanks for your help.

The word is actually "Aktionsart" with an S, not a Z; it's German for "kind
of action" and it refers to the inherent nature of a particular verb,
e.g.., whether it is essentially a a verb denoting a process or rather a
verb denoting complete performance. You may say that the Aktionsart of a
present middle infinitive is "durative" as in POREUESQAI, "be on one's way"
or that the Aktionsart of an aorist middle infinitive is "perfective" as in
GRAYASQAI, "get something in writing." Some verbs by virtue of the
essential mode of action they indicate may be more commonly used in the
present, others in the aorist.
-- 

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/



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