[B-Greek] Genitive vs Adjective

Mike Sangrey MSangrey at BlueFeltHat.org
Wed May 25 13:42:51 EDT 2005


On Wed, 2005-05-25 at 07:13 -0700, Eddie Mishoe wrote:
<snip>
> I assumed that the "default" way to express an
> adjectival relationship would be with an Adjective.
> So, when a writer "goes out of his way" to express an
> adjectival relationship by not using the "default"
> way, s/he would be giving emphasis. I would easily be
> persuaded away from this position if someone were so
> kind as to show me the error.

Sometimes you don't have an adjective, so you use a genitive.  We do the
same in English.  To illustrate, though not an adjective, we say, "In
English you can turn a noun into a verb."  We don't say, "In English you
can verb nouns."  <smile>  I did not have a verb that did what I wanted
directly, so (to be proper) I chose a phrase to carry the load.

Wallace is right in his description of this particular type of emphasis:
That an author NOT choosing the default lends emphasis.  However,
thinking that adjective is ALWAYS the default is way too simplistic.


-- 
Mike Sangrey
msangrey AT BlueFeltHat.org
Landisburg, Pa.
                        "The first one last wins."
            "A net of highly cohesive details reveals the truth."




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