[B-Greek] Relative time

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Mar 13 17:19:01 EDT 2009


Another that slipped between the cracks and wound up in B-Greek  
Bounces; please note that messages intended for distribution to the  
list should be sent to
<b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>:

From: "Jerry Austin Reimer" <jerry.a.reimer at gmail.com>
Date: March 13, 2009 12:48:15 PM EDT
To: <b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Relative time

Zerwick says that " . . . Greek does not express relative time as  
such . . . " Out of context (Biblical Greek, p. 98), yes, but seems to  
be a general statement. If this is true, could someone please explain  
what is meant by this. It seems to me that, for example, verbals  
derive their time relative to a finite verb. If that is not relative  
time then I do not know what relative time is. Even if aspect is  
largely determinative of tense choice, it seems that there is still  
relative time somewhere in there. I am out of my depth with this so if  
anyone could give me a lesson on this I would appreciate it. Of  
course, if the statement of Zerwick is not true then that is the end  
of it. Or is it?

Jerry Reimer



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