[B-Greek] Where do verb charts come from?
Randall Buth
randallbuth at gmail.com
Mon Feb 11 08:18:18 EST 2008
>This morning, I found myself wondering where these verb charts in our
grammar books come from historically.
Did Greeks in the time of Plato or Christ have verb charts (and other
paradigm charts)?>
I like your question. I do not have a definitive answer but I have
always assumed that they began in the late middle ages. It would be
nice to find something earlier. I wouldn't put it past O DYSKOLOS (2c
CE).
Pedagogically, they can both be useful and an obstacle. Normal people
do not have charts in their heads, but instead, they network
everything together.
Picture some spaghetti.
ESTHKA ~ ESTHKAS need to be wired together.
Also, ESTHKA ~ ESTHN
and ESTHKA ~ EISTHKEIN (depending on dialect).
And when you want to stop on a hike: QELW ESTANAI ( or QELW
ANAPAYESQAI or DEI ME STHNAI )
There is some SLA reasearch that suggests that that is how humans
should be learning their 'paradigms'.
You will find that speech becomes easier and more fluid when built that way.
But it is always nice to have a scaffolding around a building that is
being built, and for that we need good charts and paradigms. My
understanding of late middle ages 'grammars for learners' is that they
were basically tables. Haven't put my eyes on one, though I once tried
to see if Cambridge U libraries had a copy of Roger Bacon's Greek
Grammar.
ERRWSO (better not write up a chart on this verb, but if greeting
someone you may ask ERRWSAI; ... KAGW ERRWMAI, [... H GYNH MOY
ERRWTAI]
IWANHS
--
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη πληθυνθείη
שלום לכם וברכות
randallbuth at gmail.com
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