"Uncial" OUK ESTIN "Unical"

Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Sun, 6 Jul 1997 16:10:55 -0400

At 6:22 AM -0400 7/6/97, Clayton Bartholomew wrote:
>Conclusion: Generally speaking the enclitic form is unemphatic, but not
>always. Determining whether SOU is enclitic or not from a unical manuscript
>is problematic. Therefor no reliable inference can be drawn from this data in
>John 4:18.

I think the conclusion is reasonable, but I would urge that these early MSS
be rightly termed UNCIAL ("inch-high") rather than UNICAL. It reminds me of
one of my favorite Art Linkletter items from years ago in _Kids say the
Dardest Things_. One youngster, when asked by Art, what he wanted to be
when he grew up, said, "An octopus, Mr. Linkletter, one of those sea
creatures with eight testicles." "Why, you mean tentacles, don't you, son?"
"No, Mr. Linkletter, TESTICLES--eight big long things that reach out and
grab you."

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Summer: 1647 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(704) 675-4243
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/