[B-Greek] Constantine Campbell / Basics of Verbal Aspect

Carl Conrad cwconrad2 at mac.com
Tue Mar 31 05:31:50 EDT 2009


On Mar 30, 2009, at 10:24 PM, Stephen Baldwin wrote:

>
> Ladies and Gentlemen:
> This is just a note [hardly a "review"] from a novice to the novices  
> lurking on this list :-)
>
> I bought this book a couple of months ago and have just started  
> reading it [about 1/2 way through].
>
> As one knowing not very much about the subject, and I think somewhat  
> fearing a war of attrition between my limited faculties and an  
> onslaught of linguistic jargon, I have been pleasantly surprised. It  
> is well-written, clear, logical, and [for me] greatly illuminating.
> Campbell explains his terms and crucially answers the "so what"  
> question.
>
> If you want to read "proper" reviews of the book, you could see a  
> collection of them at this link [stolen from an earlier James Spinti  
> email Mon Nov 10 11:58:29 EST 2008! ]
>
> http://bibleworks.oldinthenew.org/?p=275
>
> One of the reviews above complained that the book was little more  
> than an introduction.
> Tremendous. That is exactly what many of us want!
> Another review pointed out some differences between Campbell and  
> Mounce (BBG). I was warned that BBG [which does not really deal with  
> aspect anyway], is suspect when it does.
>
> But again, as a novice to novices: This is well worth purchasing  
> and, in the gallery of one's greek library, will surely be one of  
> the cheaper volumes.
>
> Doubtless there will be detractors and doubtless everything  
> presented in the book is not "cut and dried". But if you don't know  
> very much about aspect theory before you begin, you will know a  
> whole lot more by the time you're done and at least be aware of the  
> issues.
> Well worth buying in my opinion.
>
> Hope this might help one or two...

The book is well-written, the material well-presented, and some very  
basic terminology is nicely explained and illustrated. The complaint  
that I, at least, have raised about it is that much of what is  
presented "Basics of Verbal Aspect" is still in the area of theory  
that is open to question: the view of the perfect tense as  
imperfective in aspect, the application of spatial metaphor to  
explanation of aspectual distinctions. I question whether what  
purports to be a beginner's textbook should represent much that is  
theoretical as if it were consensus perspective.

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






More information about the B-Greek mailing list