[B-Greek] a prep always takes an object
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Sat Nov 3 10:48:09 EDT 2007
On Nov 3, 2007, at 10:40 AM, George F Somsel wrote:
> I'm inclined to think that the problem here is that there is some
> confusion in the use of terms between the use in English and as
> used in Greek. In English a preposition likewise requires another
> word to complete the phrase (a complement) which is generally, if
> not always in the accusative or objective case (E.g. "He gave the
> paper ** to me ** " where "me" is in the objective case) Thus it
> would seem that if this is transferred to Greek that it would might
> be confusing to speak of a preposition having an object which is
> then in the genitive or dative rather than the "objective" or
> accusative case. Simply substitute for "requires an object" the
> phrase "requires a complement."
Yes, and some even talk about Nominative, Genitive, and Accusative
case in English. If it weren't for all the jargon that constitutes a
language about language, learning languages would be a lot easier,
wouldn't it?
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Carl W. Conrad <cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu>
> To: JMonte2000 at aol.com
> Cc: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org
> Sent: Friday, November 2, 2007 6:39:55 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] a prep always takes an object
>
>
> On Nov 2, 2007, at 6:23 PM, JMonte2000 at aol.com wrote:
>
>> Hi Can I ask a question concerning preps. I could never get what it
>> means
>> when they say a prep like EN always takes an object in the dative.
>> What does it
>> mean to take an object?
>> I just could never understand this, and had no one to ask, or
>> explain it.
>> Please explain in laymen terms.
>
> Prepositions don't function alone; many of them were perhaps
> originally adverbs, and as such have been used as prefixes with verbs
> to qualify the meaning of a verb in a manner similar to the way an
> adverb qualifies the meaning of a verb -- as, for example, whereas
> ERCOMAI means "come" or "go", EXERCOMAI means to "come out" or "go
> out."
>
> But prepositions ordinarily are one element in prepositional phrase
> and the phrase is not complete without a second element which we
> usually call the "object" of the preposition. The Greek preposition
> EK/EX can only have a substantive in the genitive case as its object,
> as in EK THS OIKIAS ('out of the house'); the Greek preposition PARA
> may have as its object a substantive in the genitive case, a
> substantive in the dative case, or a substantive in the accusative
> case; the meaning of the preposition will vary depending on the case
> of its substantive object, as in PARA TOU PATROS ('from his/her
> father'), PARA TWi PATRI ('next to his/her father'), PARA TON PATERA
> ('near to/toward his/her father').
>
> I don't know how to make it any clearer than that. Those who can
> should take a stab at it.
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Ret)
>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Ret)
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