[B-Greek] How to ask "Can I...?"

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Wed Oct 29 19:23:33 EDT 2008


On Oct 29, 2008, at 7:15 PM, Carl Conrad wrote:

>
> On Oct 29, 2008, at 6:39 PM, Kenneth Litwak wrote:
>
>> If I want to ask the question, "Can I see this/read this/
>> whatever?"  would I do this just with a mood, like the optative, or
>> would I use the modal-like verb (on the analogy of German) DUNAMAI?
>> I'm thinking no mood would do the job. That owuld be like Might I
>> see this?"  To say to a group, "Can you see this??" you would ask
>> "DUNASQE BLEPEIN TOUTO;"  Would that be the normal Koine Greek way
>> to do it? Thanks.
>
> If the question really concerns ability and is not hypothetical, then
> you might use DUNAMAI. But the indicative of the verb in question
> would, I think, be most normal: OU TAUTA BLEPW?
= "Do I see this?" or "Isn't this what I see?"

> "Can you see this?"
> really is simply "Do you see this?" hUMEIS BLEPETE TOUTO? or OU
> BLEPETE TOUTO hUMEIS? Sure, you could have an optative, BLEPOIMI AN
> TOUTO? in the sense, "Might I just possibly see this?" But that would
> seem awfully stilted in NT Koine.
>
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)
>
>
>
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Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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