[B-Greek] Two men in one bed?
Harold Holmyard
hholmyard at ont.com
Thu Jul 20 16:04:35 EDT 2006
Dear Fridolin,
>How would you explain the masculine article "O"?
>
>
>
HH: The definite article is modifying EIN and hETEROS: "the one" and
"the other." I don't think there has to be an emphasis on the gender of
the person. The definite article can function as a demonstrative
pronoun: "this one," "that one." The word DUO seems to refer to two
human beings, without concern for gender. In its generic use the article
singles out an individual who is typical of its class, and the class
here is person, or human being. So the hO would simply have a generic
function, specifying, now one of the persons, now the other. The
masculine may function as the default gender when there are no
particular details.
Yours,
Harold Holmyard
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