[B-Greek] Questions about NT verbal aspect
LuisCReyes at aol.com
LuisCReyes at aol.com
Mon Jan 15 14:17:22 EST 2007
Hello, I have a few questions for anyone informed on NT verbal aspect.
Porter defines aspect as follows:
"In Greek, verbal aspect is defined as a semantic (meaning) category by
which a speaker or writer gramaticalizes (i.e. represents a meaning by a choice
of a word-form) a perspective on an action by the selection of a particular
tense-form in the verbal system (Stanley Porter, Idioms of the Greek New
Testament, Second Edition, Sheffield: JSOT, 1992, pps. 20-21).
>From my understanding, there are various ways that information can be
transmitted: (a) accidental information transmission (in speaking, we may
accidentally convey information we didn’t intend to convey, and thus it is not part of
the speaker’s meaning), (b) covert information transmission (this involves
a speaker’s intention, but one which is not intended to be recognized or
shared with an audience. Thus it does not form part of the speaker’s intended
meaning), and (C) overt information transmission (the speaker makes a genuine
attempt at sharing information, and thus intends to convey a certain message or
information. The speaker further not only intends to convey this
information, but also intends the hearer to recognize this intention).
Question: Since NT verbs are positioned in a particular corpus of text and
are a part of encoded communication (NT verbs do not appear in isolation), for
verbal aspect theorists, under what category would the decoded verbal aspect
of relevant NT verbs fall under, (a), (b), or (c)? If the correct answer is
(c) then I assume that to verbal aspect theorists, the decoded verbal aspect
is considered to be a part of the speaker’s intended meaning each and every
time verbal aspect is decoded from its linguistic form. Is this correct?
Question: Is decoded verbal aspect considered to be a reflection of the
original speaker’s formulation of a particular conceptualization? In other words,
is it safe to assume that the decoded verbal aspect signalled a part of a
particular concept to the original speaker?
Thank you
Luis C. Reyes
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