Re: Particle with the Vocative
Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Thu, 2 Oct 1997 08:41:20 -0500
At 9:36 AM -0500 10/2/97, Knox Mike wrote:
>I am resending this message in the hopes that someone may respond to it.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Michael Knox
>
>
>>Hello fellow B-Greekers,
>
>> In Matt:15:28b, Jesus makes the following statement to the Canaanite
>woman:
>
>> W GUNAI, MEGALH SOU H PISTIS
>
>
>> Max Zerwick, in his grammar(#35), says that the omission of the
>particle before the vocative is the rule in Hellenistic usage. >Thus, he
>believes that it may be significant whenever the particle is seen before the
>vocative. He further states, that with the >exception of the book of Acts
>(which he says still retains Attic influence), the occurrence of the
>particle before the vocative seems to >suggest deep emotion on the part of
>the speaker. Does anyone have any comments about this?
I saw this when you first posted it, Mike, and scratched my head. It may be
true that there's a difference between vocative with and without the W, but
I really am rather skeptical. I'd like to see some real evidence, and I am
inclined to think this is only a conjecture. Which is to say, of course,
that I really don't know!
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/