[B-Greek] Reading the GNT without a lexicon
Carl W. Conrad
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Fri Mar 12 09:59:12 EST 2004
At 9:42 AM -0500 3/12/04, Polycarp66 at aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 3/12/2004 7:53:45 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu writes:
>Unfamiliar vocabulary is an obstacle, to be sure, but it is one that can be
>overcome by a regimen: one could start memorizing the word-lists that group
>GNT words in terms of frequency of appearance,
>__________
>
>I;ve found that it's not the less used words which I look up but the most
>used. Sometimes there are nuances which need to be sorted out, and the
>lexicon
>is helpful in the process. In a particular context what does EK connote?
>That
>is the problem. Yes, you can gain the facility to read through the GNT
>without use of a lexicon, but do you simply want to read through it or do
>you want
>to really understand the implications?
READING as an exercise of grasping general content of narrative or argument
is something quite different from analytical exploration of a passage.
Obviously the use of reference materials is essential and proceeding to
analysis without reference to them is altogether unthinkable. I've never
understood the occasional suggestions that one could do just as well
without the standard reference materials when STUDYING the GNT. Of course
it is true that one should use any reference work with a critical eye and
mind and a readiness, when necessary, to check the evidence cited for a
meaning or a grammatical construction.
--
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
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