Re: prepositions with kai

Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Tue, 8 Oct 1996 12:41:53 -0500

At 2:49 PM -0500 10/8/96, T & J Peterson wrote:
>I'm working on a study of John 3:5 and pursuing an investigation of the
>grammatical structure in "ex hudotos kai pneumatos." I've read the
>suggestion that the preposition followed by two anarthrous nouns, joined
>with a kai, indicates a particular relationship (albeit without the
>strength of the GS rule). I cannot, however, find anything substantially
>defending that this construction does in fact show a grammatical tie
>between the two nouns, and I don't have access to the software to search
>for other examples. Any ideas?

Purely off the top of my head (protected only by enough hair--grey--to
cover the emptiness within), I think any talk of such a notion as the

>suggestion that the preposition followed by two anarthrous nouns, joined
>with a kai, indicates a particular relationship (albeit without the
>strength of the GS rule).

is unmitigated nonsense. Were it EK TE HUDATOS KAI PNEUMATOS, or EK TOU TE
HUDATOS KAI TOU PNEUMATOS, or the like, I could see a tight linkage (as
could anybody at all), but to attribute this sort of weight to a simple
KAI? I can't believe it. If there IS any evidence for it, I would certainly
like to see it.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/