RE: GREEK IDIOMS

Andrew Kulikovsky (anku@celsiustech.com.au)
Mon, 14 Jul 1997 13:25:22 +0930

Clay Bartholomew wrote:
<<<<
A member of the b-greek list in a private post recently suggested
building
an idiom dictionary for NT Greek. I think this is not only a good idea,
but I
think it can be done with all the appropriate linguistic finesse that
works
like Bullinger's do not possess. There are common expressions in the
Greek
NT that show a lot of semantic skewing. These expressions are
particularly
difficult for new students. I see no reason why a lexicon of these
expressions could not be built after the model of Louw and Nida's work.
The
problem that Edward is addressing can be avoided by showing that each of

these expressions (Idioms) has a semantic domain like all other lexical
tokens. The only difference between this kind of a dictionary and Louw
and
Nida's would be that the lexical token would now be made of short
strings of
words instead of a single word. I think that such a tool would have
value and
that it would have no more shortcomings linguistically than any lexicon.
>>>

Actually Louw & Nida does contain exactly the above already...

For example, look under DOXA in the index and you will see a Greek idiom
(can't remember the actual Greek - don't have Louw & Nida on me) which
is translated literally as "Give glory to God" (in John's gospel I
think) which really means "promise to tell the truth"

cheers,

Andrew S. Kulikovsky B.App.Sc(Hons) MACS
Software Engineer
CelsiusTech Australia
Module 6 Endeavor House
Technology Park
Adelaide Australia 5095
Ph: +618 8343 3837
Fax: +618 8343 3777
email: anku@celsiustech.com.au

Some people are so narrow-minded,
they can see through a key hole with both eyes
Others are so open-minded
their brain has fallen out.