[B-Greek] 1 Cor. 14:8 word order

Iver Larsen iver at larsen.dk
Sun May 29 01:56:18 EDT 2005


Text: KAI GAR EAN ADHLON SALPIGC FWNHN DWi

> ... why isn't it
>         KAI GAR EAN ADHLON FWNHN SALPIGC DWi
> or
>         KAI GAR EAN ADHLON FWNHN DWi SALPIGC
>
> Why is the object split?
>
> --
> Mike Sangrey

As far as I understand it, it is a matter of relative prominence. The less
predictable an element is, the more it comes to the left, and the more
predictable it is, the more it comes to the right.

The focus in this sentence is the concept of "unclear". But many things can
give unclear sounds, so it is natural to have the sound-giver come next, the
trumpet. With those two concepts stated, the rest is predictable. The
"sound" is needed grammatical to complete the noun phrase functioning as
object, but gives little new semantic content, and the "giving" is in this
context almost semantically empty, and therefore comes last.

These are slight and subtle nuances, and it would, of course, still be
possible to say your number 1. Your number 2 is grammatically correct, but
sounds less natural to me, given the intended emphasis.

Iver Larsen




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