resource/method using aorist stems

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Doug Dinnsen
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Joined: October 13th, 2015, 6:07 pm

resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Doug Dinnsen »

I was not sure if I should post this here or in methods - I'm looking for a resource based on a method. I took Greek I with classic resources based on present-tense stems. On the first day of Greek II the professor said something like, "I know you spent a lot of time memorizing parsing charts based on the present tense stem. The parsing is right, so you can remember those, but forget about everything else because Koine Greek uses aorist stems". Back in 1992 there was nothing published on this, so the class did not use any printed resources. Does anyone know of any now? Thanks!
C_Stirling_Bartholomew
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by C_Stirling_Bartholomew »

I'm not going to deconstruct the professors comment.

Here is a web site for Koine-Greek verbs https://koine-greek.com/2010/02/22/brea ... reek-verb/
C. Stirling Bartholomew
posts before Aug 25, 2017
http://www.ibiblio.org/bgreek/forum/search.php?author_id=1446&sr=posts
Jason Hare
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Jason Hare »

Doug Dinnsen wrote: August 27th, 2022, 8:05 am I was not sure if I should post this here or in methods - I'm looking for a resource based on a method. I took Greek I with classic resources based on present-tense stems. On the first day of Greek II the professor said something like, "I know you spent a lot of time memorizing parsing charts based on the present tense stem. The parsing is right, so you can remember those, but forget about everything else because Koine Greek uses aorist stems". Back in 1992 there was nothing published on this, so the class did not use any printed resources. Does anyone know of any now? Thanks!
I don’t understand this statement at all. Greek of every period used both the present and the aorist in infinitives and participles (which is, I assume, what they’re bringing up). I cannot imagine a Greek course that simply ignores the aorist for the present, but perhaps they intended to point out that the first semester of Greek had time only to cover the present stem, whereas Greek doesn’t limit itself to the present. The statement that the Koinē uses the aorist over against the present is just false. It would be better if the prof had said that Greek often uses the aorist rather than the present and that both stems are relevant for different contexts.
Jason A. Hare
The Hebrew Café
Tel Aviv, Israel
Doug Dinnsen
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Doug Dinnsen »

Jason, what the professor was communicating is that, although Greek is traditionally taught so that verbs are parsed starting from the present tense, it makes more sense to parse from the Aorist. He taught that there are a series of rules and principles that, when applied, correctly parse Greek verbs without memorizing random endings. Although his Phd. was in languages, his passion was in preaching the Bible, so he did not publish anything.

Does that help?
Stephen Carlson
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Stephen Carlson »

I’m old enough to remember that we didn’t have to just learn the present or aorist stem, but all six principal parts.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Doug Dinnsen
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Doug Dinnsen »

Allow me to clarify the difference between learn and memorize. To learn Koine Greek everyone must learn or understand all the principle parts. However if one can easily derive the rest from the aorist stem, then to learn them, one need not memorize them all.

Perhaps the prof (and I) should have said something like, "I know you spent a lot of time memorizing parsing charts based on the present tense stem. That was not a waste of time because you need to know the parsing. However, there is a better way to get there than memorizing random endings, because they can all be derived if we simply understand the rules for how to get there." Maybe he said this too, but the statement he made to shock us is the only one that survived all these years.
Stephen Carlson
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Re: resource/method using aorist stems

Post by Stephen Carlson »

The point of the principal parts is to identify the stems that can’t (always) be derived from the others.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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