[B-Greek] More Grammar Books
Stephen Baldwin
stbaldwi at hotmail.com
Sun Oct 8 22:46:28 EDT 2006
Hello Charles, everyone:
First of all, I greatly appreciate all the list/off-list advice received.
Thanks to all who shared their thoughts.
It would seem as if Smyth is the name that crops up most consistently in
response to my original question. I already have Wallace, but he doesn't
fill the aching void...
As Charles states below, Wallace generally describes how the grammar is used
rather than what the grammar is. Mounce is very good but incomplete and
sometimes leaves ambuguities. For example, he is very thin on things like
the optative, pluperfect, comparitive, superlative and other less common
grammatical areas. It is these gaps I am seeking to fill, along with having
something with which to compare with Mounce and will go into greater detail
than Mounce does.
>>
Smyth is exceptionally good if you want to know why a given verb have a
funny-looking aorist or why certain stem changes occur.
<<
he sounds just my man! This is the sort of obscure information I like to
know about...
Incidentally, I also own Mounce's Morphology which is also generally
excellent. But there are a few typos and mistakes that even I have detected.
If anyone knows of an addendum or listing of errors/corrections, please let
me know...
I'm interested in an off-topic way on the debate concerning the medium of
these texts. For a quick look up or for searching, who can beat an on-line
system? But to read in-depth a detailed, technical text, ink and paper wins
hands down. I guess in utopia we have all these resources in all the formats
at our beck and call...:-)
Regards
Steve Baldwin
stbaldwi at hotmail.com
>From: <cmeadows3 at verizon.net>
>To: Stephen Baldwin <stbaldwi at hotmail.com>, b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
>Subject: Re: [B-Greek] More Grammar Books
>Date: Sun, 08 Oct 2006 14:30:42 -0500 (CDT)
>
>
>Stephen,
>
>I too "grew up" on Mounce, although I had a strong background already in
>Latin.
>
>I would get Wallace and Smyth. Wallace is a syntax book - not a grammar -
>but it is full of good info. I generally use it as a reference and have
>not read all the way through. Smyth (I think) is the best reference
>grammar. I have Smyth, Robertson, BDF, Moulton/Turner, Gulick, Jannaris,
>McKay and others - but I have used (as a reference grammar) Smyth probably
>more than the others put together. Robertson seems more topical - pages
>and pages on the infinitive and its origins for example. Smyth is
>exceptionally good if you want to know why a given verb have a
>funny-looking aorist or why certain stem changes occur. BDF comparatively
>is harder to read I think.
>
>I concur with the recommendation of Porter's Idiom book - it is a good
>introduction to basic grammar and syntax - although biased in terms of verb
>meanings given Porter's aspect only view of the Greek verb.
>
>Charles Meadows
>Marshall University
>USA
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