[B-Greek] Speaking clearly: grammatical aspect, lexical aspect

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Jul 6 07:10:39 EDT 2007


On Jul 6, 2007, at 6:30 AM, Jonathan Robie wrote:

> I'm trying to find clear vocabulary for aspect and Aktionsart. Here  
> are my tentative conclusions:
>
> 1. Aspect, by itself, is a vague term used inconsistently by  
> different authors, conflating lexical aspect and grammatical  
> aspect, and sometimes other things.
>
> 2. Aktionsart, by itself, is a vague term used inconsistently by  
> different authors, conflating lexical aspect and grammatical  
> aspect, and sometimes other things. Robertson in particular uses  
> this term very broadly (as Palmer observes here: http:// 
> www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/test-archives/html4/1997-05/18811.html)
>
> 3. Lexical Aspect has a single, clear meaning.
>
> 4. Grammatical Aspect has a single clear meaning.
>
> True?
>
> If so, we should all take the Aspect Pledge:
>
> "I will not use the term Aktionsart or the term Aspect by itself, I  
> will refer only to Lexical Aspect, Grammatical Aspect, or other  
> terms that are well defined across authors."

Matthew S. Demoss, _Pocket Dictionary for the Study of New Testament  
Greek," offers this for "Aktionsart": "The feature of the Greek  
language whereby the quasi-objective quality of the verbal action is  
indicated (duration, repetition, momentary occurrence, etc.), both  
morphologically by tense forms and lexico-syntactically according to  
contextual features. Some older grammars used the terms synonymously  
with aspect."

For what it's worth.

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/





More information about the B-Greek mailing list