[B-Greek] learning greek KATA english

Elizabeth Kline kline_dekooning at earthlink.net
Mon Jun 11 14:46:04 EDT 2007


Funk BIGHG
Lesson 5: The Article

#120 For the most part, the article functions in Greek as it does in  
English. A number of the idiomatic uses of the article in Greek can  
be learned by observation, and will occasion no difficulty.

****

The way I read this statement it seems very misleading.

First, there are numerous and highly significant functional  
differences between the English and Greek article. Second, where the  
Greek article performs a function not characteristic of the English  
article calling that idiomatic seems to imply that English is some  
sort of standard by which Greek should be judged. Funk devotes far  
too many paragraphs and even pages to discussion of the English  
language.

Learning greek according to english isn't learning greek.

The falls into the same category with translation exercises which are  
so endlessly popular. Every time someone in a bible student or pastor  
offers a "new rendering" in English of some Greek or Hebrew text I  
wonder what it is they are trying to accomplish. Translation is a  
process of coercing the target language into a form that will do  
justice to the source text. It is all about the lexical resources and  
syntax of the target language. Also, there are a host of translation  
professionals out there doing reasonably good work. It takes a decade  
or more (after College) of continuous professional training to become  
a "certified" translation consultant. Learning to read Greek is a  
completely different goal with a completely different set of  
objectives than being a translation consultant.



Elizabeth Kline







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