[B-Greek] English "postscriptives"

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Sun Jan 18 07:22:06 EST 2009


There's a lot of confusion around.

On Jan 17, 2009, at 5:56 PM, Oun Kwon wrote:

> On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 5:11 PM, Murray Hogg  
> <muzhogg at netspace.net.au> wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Apologies for a rather off-topic question - although it has some  
>> connection with the teaching of Greek, if not the language itself.
>>
>> In an effort to explain the use of postscriptives in Greek (DE,  
>> GAR, AN, etc) I've been drawing analogy with the way in which  
>> English can show a related sort of syntax. For example the simple  
>> sentence "It's a sunny day therefore I am going to the beach" can  
>> be rendered as a postscriptive after the Greek manner;
>>
> <clipped>
>
> The way I understand the term 'postscripts' is a part of word which is
> attached at the tail. E.g. In Korean and Japanese, these are
> equivalent to   'prepositions' in English.  Maybe I'm confused. The
> same term may mean differently in different languages?

1. Postscript: The only way I've heard/seen "postscript" used in  
refeence to ancient Greek is when referring to an iota that is printed  
on the same line following an alpha, eta, or omega as opposed to the  
"subscript" iota:

iota subscript: φιλίᾳ/καλῇ/λόγῳ [FILIAi/KALHi/LOGWi]
iota postscript: φιλίαι/καλῆι/λόγωι  [FILIAI/KALHI/ 
LOGWI]

The only place I've actually seen iota postscript in printed Greek  
texts is in text of Aeschylus or other older Greek writers fromthe era  
when this iota following alpha/eta/omega was pronounced, according to  
the prevalent theory of the history of ancient Greek pronunciation.

2. Postpositions: I think that's what Oun is referring to; this term  
is used for "pre"-positions that follow their complement; somewhat  
more commonly these are referred to as "postpositive prepositions"; in  
older Greek hENEKA and CARIN ordinarily followed the genitives  
dependent upon them, but in the GNT hENEKA generally precedes its  
object/complement.

3. Enclitics are words following immediately upon other words and  
factoring into the accentuation of those words: TIS in ANHR TIS  
(ἀνήρ τις) is an enclitic; copulative forms of EIMI "be" are  
ordinarily enclitic, as ANQRWPOI ESMEN (ἄνθρωποί ἐσμεν):  
"we are human beings."

4. The particles originally asked about (MEN, DE, GAR) are  
"postpositive" because they are never the first word(s) in a clause.  
Although we do sometimes tend to put certain connective adverbs in  
second position in a clause (I, however, don't normally do that),  
However I don't think there's any such adverb that MUST be placed that  
way.

Delivery of this little disquisition is giving me a "postpartum"  
depression.


Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Retired)






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