[B-Greek] Suppressed agent

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sun May 7 09:06:41 EDT 2006


There really is nothing extraordinary about this: look at Wallace's  
account of the "Causative Active" (p. 411-12) or Smyth on Causative  
active verbs (§1711, http://tinyurl.com/ka5lz) and Causative middle  
(§1725, http://tinyurl.com/el86p). Standard English for this usage is  
"get something done" (e.g. "get something written," or "have  
something written").

On May 7, 2006, at 6:12 AM, gfsomsel at juno.com wrote:

> In Jn 19.21 which you reference
> ELEGON OUN TWi PILATWi hOI ARXIEREIS TWN IOUDAIWN, "MH GRAFE."
> I don't know where you are getting the idea of a "suppressed"  
> agent.  MH GRAFE is a negative command, a 2nd present impv which is  
> negated by MH.  As such the agent cannot be suppressed -- it is the  
> one to whom they are speaking, "Don't (you) do this . . ."  As such  
> it is automatically understood.  It is not like the (real or  
> supposed) attempt to avoid mentioning the divine name where a 3rd  
> pers vb is used in the passive.  E.g. Mt 5.4
> <!--StartFragment-->MAKARIOI hOI PENQOUNTES,
> hOTI ** AUTOI PARAKLHQHSONTAI ** There one might ask "Who is the  
> agent?"  In a 2nd pers form the agent is (almost always) known.
>
>
> george
> gfsomsel
> _________
>
> -- Mitch Larramore <mitchlarramore at yahoo.com> wrote:
> As a follow up to the recent discussion of Active
> verbs with suppressed agent, here is a command issued
> in the 2nd person, called by some a Causitive Active,
> but again has a suppressed, remote agent(s).
> Apparently while Pilate was having the inscription
> written to place it on the cross, the Jews issue a
> command to him: MH GRAFE.
>
> Here again we have a suppressed agent as part of a
> Causitive Active verb. Pilate is instructing
> underlings to write an inscription for the cross of
> the king of the Jews. The Jews protest and command him
> not to (write) have written "king of the Jews." Pilate
> is having the agents actually write the insciption (so
> most commentaries). How does this example further
> inform us on how 'suppressed agents' are to be understood?
>
> Mitch Larramore
> Sugar Land, Texas
>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad2 at mac.com
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/





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