[B-Greek] Word Divisions
Alan Bunning
bunning at verizon.net
Thu Apr 19 10:08:32 EDT 2007
> Here again I think that the usage of the MSS is significant:
> the compounded forms are used. There is, however, some
> confusion and occasionally some compounded past tenses have
> double augments. I think that the Egyptian papyri are
> instructive here with regard to the different usage by the
> better-
> and less-well-educated writers -- so also with regard to
> spelling practice.
>
> What about the past of EPISTAMAI -- HPISTAMHN. This is surely
> a compound of hISTAMAI, but it is a compound so early that
> EPISTA- is conceived of as a verb stem or root.
Excellent point! This is exactly the kind of *evidence* I am looking for.
> > The only way I think one could ever know that two words should be
> > considered as one word, is that when used together they
> have a meaning
> > that is different than when they are used separately, and we would
> > need someone like Bauer to tell us that. Yes, there should be
> > *evidence* that leads us to treat words together, otherwise
> I believe
> > that the default should be to treat them separately. As an
> example in
> > English, IPICKEDANAPPLE ISAWAPINETREE IATEAPINEAPPLE. Here we see
> > *evidence* that the words "apple"
> > and "pine" can stand alone. But we also notice that when
> combined they
> > lead to something different that you can eat. And then only
> from the
> > context from other writings would we know that these apples do not
> > grow on pine trees and should be treated together as a separate
> > compound word in that context.
> > Thus, evidence lead us to a conclusion, not an editor's use
> of spaces.
> > This is obviously a radical change to the current way of
> thinking, but
> > alas, no one seems to be able to explain why this shouldn't be the
> > case.
> > Perhaps
> > there is something historical that Robertson failed to
> mention. I hope
> > you can shed some more light on this, for I am not really
> wanting to
> > have to reinvent this wheel, especially in the case of all those
> > prepositions.
>
> This is an interesting discussion. Some of it is dealt with
> in the opening section of BDF (pp. 7-1-, §§8-16). There was a
> fascinating book published not too long ago on the history of
> English orthography; it was astounding to learn (and I only
> got this from reviews; I haven't read the book) how RECENTLY
> some conventional distinctions in English orthography were
> established. If you read some 17th and 18th century printed
> English works you can find the same words spelled differently
> on the same page not infrequently.
Thanks for the reference. I will look into that.
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