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Grammatica Palaia and the Greek Sentence
I read with interest the attempt to define the Greek sentence and was
struck by the fact that everyone seemed to think that the definition of
an English sentence was all that clear. Is it? Why do we need
punctuation marks: period, semicolon, colon, exclamation point,
question mark. Go! is clearly a sentence. "Go" is not--or is it,
without the exclamation point.
Since no one has yet cited a Greek grammarian on the sentence, let me
do so. I cite Dionyius Thrax, _Ars Grammatica_ (to use the Latin
translation of the title) 11, the section entitle PERI LEXEWS,
according to the edition of Gustav Uhlig, _Grammatici Graeci_ I,1
(Leipzig: Teubner 1883), p. 23. Dionysius says the following:
LEXIS ESTI MEROS ELACISTWN TOU KATA SUNTAXIN LOGOU.
LOGOS DE ESTI PEZHS LEXEWS SUNQESIS DIANOIAN AUTOTELH DHLOUSA.
How would you translate this? Here is my simple rough and ready
version: "Lexis is the smallest part of logos that is put together.
Logos (= a sentence) is the synthesis of lexis that makes clear a
thought that is complete in itself." Note that I did not translate
PEZHS, since I am not at the moment sure how to do so. An ancient
commentator on Dionysius Thrax defined it as follows: PEZHS LEXEWS THS
KATALOGADHN, TOUTESTI THS ME hUPO METRON, i.e. as prose. A scholiast
calls this a PERIOhODOS, pace Carl.
He then goes on to enumerate the eight parts of LOGOS: ONOMA, hRHMA,
METOCH, ARQRON, ANTWNUMIA, PROQESIS (what an interesting term for
preposition; think on the definition of both the Greek and the Latin
terms for the understanding of the function of the preposition as
described by grammarian of the early Roman empire!), EPIRRHMA,
SUNDESMOS.
How did ancients mark such things off? In part by the use of clausulae,
proper rhythm at the end, aided most likely by the cadence of the
speaker. {Think of how clergy end prayers with a cadence.)
Since there has been questions about paragraphing in ancient
manuscripts, consult the introduction to Aland's _Novum Testamentum
Graece_, ed. 27. Aland reproduces the ancient Eusebian canons for the
four gospels in his margins, thus indicating one form of ancient
paragraphing in early MSS; he also gives the paragraphing, if my memory
is right, of codex Vaticanus. Paragraphs were indicate by extending the
first word of a paragraph slightly into the margin in some MSS. This
does not go back to the first century, of course, but is some Greek
scribes way of doing things.
The very word paragraph is a Greek term, PARAGRAFOS. It is the term for
a simple device. One left a slight space in the text and placed a short
horizontal stroke (PARAGRAFOS) below the beginning of the line in which
the break occurs. Aristotle already refers to this; it is found among
the earliest extant literary papyri. See F. G. Kenyon, _The Paleography
of Greek Papyri_ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899) 27 [This work was
recently reprinted. E. Maunde Thompson, _An Introduction to Greek and
Latin Paleography_ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1912) 58-59, says the
same, adding that other sings were sometimes used: the wedge > (DIPLH)
or the KORONIS. Another device was to enlarge the first letter of a
paragraph or extend it out into the margin. You should also consult p.
60 in Thompson for the early introduction of punctuation as an aid to
non-native speakers of Greek.
If you cannot find the above two older books in a nearby library, look
for B. A. van Groningen, _Short Manual of Greek Palaeography_, 2nd ed.
(Leiden: A. W, Sijthoff, 1955) 52-53. He credits Aristophanes of
Byzantium with the invention of the a system equivalent to our period,
comma, and colon (all dots place at varying heights in the text.)
Finally, if you read French, spend time with Robert Devresse, _
Introduction a l'etude des Manuscrits Grecs (Paris: Imprimerie
Nationale; Librarie C. Klincksieck, 1954); it is a gold mine of
information, with helpful plates.
All of these volumes have excellent plate--including some biblical
texts that illustrate the above phenomena. As do Metzger and Aland in
their works on NT text criticism.
I wonder whether the concern with determing precisely conceptual or
linguistic marks of a sentence is not a modern concern arising from
modern linguistic interests. Sometimes I get the impressing that we are
a bit too <italic>spitzfindig, immer wieder nach Genauigkeit dringend
suchen, was wirklich die Schoenheit und Kunst der Sprache vorbei
geht!</italic> At times some of our grammatical questions remind me of
analyzing jokes or puns; the very act of doing it loses the meaning.
Clearly it's late at night. I, like Carl Conrad, am amazed by the
shimmering variety of language and terminology in modern linguistics,
often discovering that the new term seems to be a nelogism for
something older, known both to ancients and earlier moderns. Aber doch
...; ALL' hOMWS, as Euripides loved to end lines.
I await the slings and arrows of outraged linguists. EIRHNH hUMION
PLHQUNQEIH.
Edgar Krentz, Prof. of New Testament
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 East 55th Street
CHICAGO IL 60615
TEL.: 773-256-0752 FAX: 773-256-0782
Office: ekrentz@lstc.edu OR HOME: emkrentz@mcs.com
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