At 05:59 9/5/97 +0100, Jim Beale wrote:
>I've been thinking about the article used as a possessive pronoun
>recently and wondering how such a usage came about. I wasn't able
>to find out very much information. I think it comes from classical
>Greek, but how, and what is the relation of the possessive use to
>the demonstrative? This is a very interesting question to me.
It may be an interesting question, but it is not really a *Greek*
question. The fact that the idiom is most comfortably translated into
English with a prosessive pronouns ("one's" "your" "my" etc.) does not
mean that the Greek article is used possessively. It is rather a
peculiarity of English that calls for the possessive pronoun. In many
languages, including Greek and to my knowledge Italian and French, the
possessive pronouns are used quite a bit less often than in English,
the identity of the possessor being less important or implied in the
context.
Stephen Carlson
-- Stephen C. Carlson : Poetry speaks of aspirations, scarlson@mindspring.com : and songs chant the words. http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/ : -- Shujing 2.35