[B-Greek] word order Luke 11:45
Elizabeth Kline
kline-dekoning at earthlink.net
Sun May 29 23:32:56 EDT 2005
On 5/29/05 6:59 PM, "Carl W. Conrad" <cwconrad2 at mac.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, May 29, 2005, at 02:34PM, Elizabeth Kline
> <kline-dekoning at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> On 5/28/05 10:56 PM, "Iver Larsen" <iver at larsen.dk> wrote:
>>
>>> 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.
>>
>> Please consider Luke 11:45, where a lawyer responds to Jesus' denunciation
>> of the Pharisees.
>>
>> APOKRIQEIS DE TIS TWN NOMIKWN LEGEI AUTWi: DIDASKALE, TAUTA LEGWN KAI hHMAS
>> hUBRIZEIS.
>>
>> APOKRIQEIS in the first position serves to tie the new information to the
>> old. Within the quoted speech TAUTA LEGWN also in the first position, serves
>> the same purpose. The most salient new information in the quoted speech is
>> in the final position. hUBRIZEIS is the least predictable element and it is
>> all the way to the the right (last position).
>>
>
> I think I'd prefer to say that KAI hHMAS is the stressed element here, more
> so than hUBRIZEIS. I confess to being one who believes that the final
> position in a clause CAN be emphatic, but I think it is less emphatic here.
> I'd English it to bring out the emphasis thus: "When you say THAT, it's not
> just the Pharisees you're bad-mouthing, but US as well!"
Dr. Conrad,
I can see your point. In light of Jesus' preceding remarks hUBRIZEIS may not
qualify as the least predictable element. If we assume that hUBRIZEIS can be
more or less taken for granted given the style and content of Jesus'
diatribe then KAI hHMAS would by default become the new information.
I think you are probably right. Note however that the issue isn't exactly
one of emphasis although it is certainly related to emphasis. The new
information is not always emphatic. I used the phrase "most salient new
information" which was not the best choice of words since salience might be
taken to mean emphasis in some quarters.
Elizabeth Kline
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