[B-Greek] verbal aspect of the Greek perfect

Carlton Winbery winberycl at earthlink.net
Sat Jul 12 08:35:31 EDT 2008


L. Tichy wrote.

>What do the B-Greekers think of C. R. Cambell's theory that the Greek
>perfect (in both indicative and non-indicative forms) shares the
>imperfective aspect of the present tense. For me, it is a claim outside
>reality.
>
>L. Tichy
>
---
Hear I go again. I think this puts in print what many think about the 
Perfect and I think it is wrong to a degree. The difference in the 
Perfect and present is that in the present the action tends to 
continue, whereas, in the perfect the result continues. Of course, in 
the Helenistic period the language was often used loosely. The 
perfect sometimes acts like the aorist and sometimes like the 
present. HGAPHKA SE. I have loved you. We would not say that the act 
of loving does not continue, but most likely the speaker is thinking 
about what resulted from the act of loving. The need as Carl has said 
often is to sense what the writer/speaker was thinking. Translation 
can be done later if it is necessary to English that meaning.

Carlton Winbery
-- 
Carlton L. Winbery
Retired Professor of Religion
Louisiana College
318-448-6103
winberycl at earthlink.net



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