[B-Greek] Redundant Words?
yancywsmith
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Sun Dec 20 00:44:09 EST 2009
A more nuanced approach to this phenomenon can be found in an article
by Paul Danove, "Λέγω Melding in the Septuagint and the New
Testament," Philología Neotestamentaria 15 (2003): 19-31. You can
access this journal at www.bsw.org or follow this link
http://www.bsw.org/Filologia-Neotestamentaria/Index-By-Authors/Le-Gw-
Melding-In-The-Septuagint-And-New-Testament/396/
From a Hebrew narrative standpoint, the classical distinction
between direct and indirect speech does not hold, which leads to
varying ways of differentiating between narrator speech, reported
speech, and background information which interrupts a narrated speech
form.
Another reason why "answer saying," "ask saying" or even "said
saying" and the like might happen is the repetition of speaking verbs
in peak moments of narrative. This is a common feature of oral speech
accross various languages.
So, there might exist various reasons for this phenomenon and the
answer of "semitism" is probably a blunt instrument. On the other
hand, no need exists to put blinkers on about semitic idioms in the NT.
I live in borderlands, where some of my friends say things like
"¿Cuándo vuelves para atras?" In proper Spanish that means "When are
you coming backwards?" But people who know both languages recognize
the Anglicism and understand the question means "When are you coming
back?" In Argentina my friends would wonder, "¿Qué te pasa, a vos,
amigo, ¡los yanquis te han revuelto la lengua!"
Yancy Smith
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
5636 Wedgworth Rd.
Fort Worth, TX 76133
817-361-7565
On Dec 19, 2009, at 6:07 PM, George F Somsel wrote:
> If this usage appears in other Greek works going back to Homer, why
> is it then a "Semitism"? It seems we are getting a bit too free in
> identifying things as Semitisms.
> george
> gfsomsel
>
>
> … search for truth, hear truth,
> learn truth, love truth, speak the truth, hold the truth,
> defend the truth till death.
>
>
> - Jan Hus
> _________
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Mark Lightman <lightmanmark at yahoo.com>
> To: b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org; Mark Spitsbergen <awakesd at mac.com>
> Sent: Sat, December 19, 2009 3:05:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Redundant Words?
>
>
> --- Mark Spitsbergen wrote:
>
>
> <The redundant use of LEGWN in Luke 7:39
>
> "EIPEN EN hEAUTW LEGWN"
>
> I normally think of the redundant use of LEGWN as "he told them
> saying" ex: Luke 12:16 but here and also in Luke 20:2 is it
> functioning as a grammatical marker of sorts?>
>
> Hi, Mark,
>
> LEGWN of course is a semitism found throughout the
> LXX (e.g. Deut 1:9) but like many semitisms something
> similar is found already in Homer. τον
> δʼαπαμειβομενος
> προσεφη TON D'APAMEIBOMOS PROSEFH
> ("answering, he said to him", Iliad 1:130) is
> really no different from τον δʼ ημειβετʼ TON D' HMEIBET'
> ("he answered him") (Iliad 1:121) except for the
> meter. I could give many other
> examples where verbs of saying are repeated for
> metrical reasons. I think this "redundancy" entered
> into the language to the extent that even a non-
> Semitic Greek would find nothing redundant or
> emphatic about an extra participle like LEGWN.
>
> Mark L
> FWSFOROS
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
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