[B-Greek] Periphrastic expressions

Alex and Alison Hopkins alexali at surf.net.au
Fri Sep 23 07:51:29 EDT 2005


Mitch Larramore asked

>What new semantic feature did the periphrastic construction add to
Ancient Greek that it (the Greek language) didn't already have? 

Mitch, I don't have time to summarise its various points, but in case
you may have the interest to search it out, there is a thoughtful
article by Prof. J Gonda, 'A Remark on 'Periphrastic' Constructions in
Greek' which addresses your question in some detail.  Originally in ME
IV, 12 (1959), pp 97-112, it was reprinted in J. Gonda, Selected Studies
(volume 1), 1975.  Your question refers to Ancient Greek, and Gonda's
article is mainly concerned with Greek earlier than the NT.

Alex Hopkins
Melbourne, Australia




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