[B-Greek] word order Luke 11:45

Elizabeth Kline kline-dekoning at earthlink.net
Tue May 31 13:41:25 EDT 2005


On 5/29/05 10:40 PM, "Iver Larsen" <iver at larsen.dk> wrote:

> APOKRIQEIS DE TIS TWN NOMIKWN LEGEI AUTWi
> I find that the simplest description that seems to me to work well, is the
> principle of *relative* importance (salience if you what). In the example
> you give, APOKRIQEIS is salient, or relatively most important in the clause.
> It indicates un unpredictable interjection, rather than a predictable answer
> to a question. Next comes "one of the law-teachers", introducing the
> speaker. The LEGWN carries little semantic import. AUTWi is most
> predictable, since the context makes it expected that this person would
> respond to Jesus, who is the person in the centre of attention making a
> speech.

The pragmatic function and initial position of APOKRIQEIS could also be
explained as a link between what precedes and what follows.

> 
> DIDASKALE, TAUTA LEGWN KAI hHMAS hUBRIZEIS
> The vocative naturally comes first as a form of  address and formal respect.
> The last sentence has two clauses (or propositions). In the first clause,
> TAUTA is emphasized rather than LEGWN, because the topic is: "Those words
> you have just said". In the second clause KAI hUMAS is relatively more
> important than the insulting. Everyone listening knew that the Pharisees
> would be insulted by Jesus' words. The point of this law-teacher is that
> "we, too", feel insulted. hUMAS is emphasized partly by its position but
> also by the intensifier KAI (even, also).

I would treat TAUTA LEGWN KAI hHMAS hUBRIZEIS as one unit not two. Again,
TAUTA LEGWN is initial for the same reason that APOKRIQEIS is initial. I
agree that KAI hUMAS is the most unexpected new information in this unit.

I don't think TAUTA LEGWN or APOKRIQEIS rank very high as unexpected new
information. They are both moderately predictable. For this reason I would
not look there for an explanation of their initial position. They are both
required to tie the response the the preceding statements. In that role they
will be found before the response.


Elizabeth Kline 





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