[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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