[B-Greek] Qualitative Predicate Nominatives
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Oct 6 11:52:17 EDT 2006
On Oct 6, 2006, at 11:42 AM, Brian Abasciano wrote:
> Woops! I meant to say in number 2:
>
> "So he thinks these are normally qualitative, sometimes indefinite,
> and rarely (if ever -- the two studies on this found no instances)
> indefinite."
I think you ended up writing this exactly as you did in your original
formulation. What I find in Wallace (p. 262) is this:
"A general rule about the construction can now be stated: An
anarthrous pre-verbal PN is normally qualitative, sometimes definite,
and only rarely indefinite."
>
> Brian Abasciano
>
> Re:
>
> The recent discussion of John 1:1 has raised a couple questions I
> want to pose. So this is a spin-off of that discussion that will
> hopefully be more grammatical in focus. If this is inappropriate,
> just let me know.
>
> (1) Can a predicate nominative (PN) that is qualitative have the
> sense of a mere adjective? I would think not, that describing
> something in effect as belonging to a class indicates a
> thoroughgoing possession of the properties of the class. So, as I
> mentioned to some off list, when 1 John 4:8 says, e.g., that "God
> is love", it does not simply mean that God is loving, but that he
> is loving through and through, wholly loving, so much so that he
> can almost be equated with love.
What good does it do to say "can ALMOST be equated with love"? Either
it CAN or it CAN'T. Aren't we dealing with rhetorical figurative
expression here? I rather doubt that we can formulate strict
grammatical rules to govern such usage.
>
> (2) Most NT scholars have taken Colwell's rule to indicate that
> anarthrous pre-verbal PN's are normally definite. Wallace corrects
> this, but on the basis of the research with which he corrects this,
> he also states that it is a general rule that anarthrous pre-verbal
> PN's are rarely, if ever, indefinite (Wallace, 262). So he thinks
> these are normally qualitative, sometimes indefinite, and rarely
> (if ever -- the two studies on this found no instances) indefinite.
> Do you agree?
I do sincerely hope that any thread ensuing upon this subject-matter
can steer clear of John 1:1.
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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