[B-Greek] Charts of Forms should be real words

Randall Buth randallbuth at gmail.com
Thu Sep 24 17:50:53 EDT 2009


> On page 376 [Mounce morphology ? --RB]
> (Appendix ss80 Infinitive paradigms), there is listed a liquid infinitive MENW.
>
> It is listed as follows:
> Present middle/passive: MENESQAI
> Future middle: <nothing given>
> 1st Aorist middle: MENEISQAI
> 2nd Aorist: MEINASQAI
>
> i.e. F/A-M-Inf has been shifted over so that it looks like MENW has 1st and 2nd Aorist middle infinitive forms.
>
> Just bad formatting/editing.


Actually, the problem is deeper than formatting.

Just who would use
*MENESQAI,   *MENEISQAI,    and *MEINASQAI?
Were those 'words' in use?

I don't think that it is a good idea to present non-words to students.
Students will think that those are real words.

DIASTEILASQAI 'to command' Ezk 3:18 is a real word. Not common,
but real.
-BALLESQAI words are pretty common, but their 2nd aorist is a real
second aorist -BALESQAI, using -ESQAI not -ASQAI.

KEIRASQAI 'to get shaved' is a real liquid aorist middle.
future would be KEREISQAI

APOKTENNESQAI 'to be killed' would work too.
And KTEINESQAI 'to be killing' is a real middle (non-passive), though rather
literary in 1st c.

-- 
Randall Buth, PhD
www.biblicalulpan.org
randallbuth at gmail.com
Biblical Language Center
Learn Easily - Progress Further - Remember for Life



More information about the B-Greek mailing list