[B-Greek] GINOMAI as auxiliary (was "Agent in JOHN 6:19b")
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Mar 3 20:39:23 EST 2007
On Mar 3, 2007, at 7:15 PM, Webb wrote:
> I would render it, "and he was getting near the boat".
And I would concur. Although GI(G)NOMAI may have originated as a verb
of generation/birth, it has certainly developed, by the Hellenistic
era, a broad range of senses as an auxiliary with predicate words and
adverbial expressions. The English verb "get" has had a somewhat
similar and fascinating development as an auxiliary. A very
interesting account of this development is an article by T. Givón and
Lynne Yang entitled, "The Rise of the English GET-Passive" (in
_Voice: Form and Function_, edd. Barbara Fox and Paul J. Hopper,
1994). Usage beginning with Chaucer is followed up to the current
era. Insofar as "get" has as one of its primary senses "receive, get
hold of," there's something of a parallel in the Hellenistic usage of
LAMBANW with an accusative as a periphrasis for the passive: see BDAG
10c. "Also used as a periphrasis for the passive: OIKODOMHN L. be
edified 1 Cor 14:5 ..." (there are several others).
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Elizabeth Kline <kline_dekooning at earthlink.net>
> Subj: [B-Greek] Agent in JOHN 6:19b
> Date: Sat Mar 3, 2007 1:40 pm
> Size: 863 bytes
> To: greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
>
> Iver Larsen wrote
>
> "GINOMAI does not allow an Agent, and the subject is never the Agent,
> but if there is an Agent involved, it can usually be derived from
> the context."
>
> JOHN 6:19 ELHLAKOTES OUN hWS STADIOUS EIKOSI PENTE H TRIAKONTA
> QEWROUSIN TON IHSOUN PERIPATOUNTA EPI THS QALASSHS KAI EGGUS TOU
> PLOIOU GINOMENON, KAI EFOBHQHSAN.
>
> Would it be fair to say that IHSOUN is the agent of PERIPATOUNTA EPI
> THS QALASSHS? I would be tempted to say that IHSOUN is also the agent
> of EGGUS TOU PLOIOU GINOMENON, i.e., that IHSOUN is an explict agent
> for both participles. The disciples were watching Jesus (an agent)
> walking on the sea and Jesus (an agent) drawing near to the boat.
>
>
> Elizabeth Kline
>
>
>
>
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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/
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