[B-Greek] Questions about NT verbal aspect

Jonathan Robie jwrobie at mindspring.com
Thu Jan 18 17:03:17 EST 2007


James Tauber wrote:
> Bottom line is that grammarians like ATR *don't* use Aktionsart to  
> mean just lexical aspect. Perhaps that's what you were alluding to,  
> Jonathan.
>   
Yes, I generally think of older authors when I think of the term 
Aktionsart, as I mention here:
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/test-archives/html4/1997-05/18805.html

But you are right - modern linguistics uses the term as well, and it 
uses it differently.
> One thing is clear. There is a useful three-way distinction one can  
> make in general:
>
> 1. lexical aspect
> 2. grammatical aspect
> 3. tense
>
> "Aktionsart", when used in modern linguistics, always means 1 in my  
> experience.
>   

I agree - to be at all clear, it's important to distinguish the 3 things 
you list above, and to figure out how that all maps onto the vocabulary 
you are currently reading. Especially if you read both older and newer 
grammarians (which I find very helpful).

Jonathan



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