>> Having just bought the two massive volunes of Clapp-Friberg (Lexical, &
>> Grammatical), I am baffled trying to figure out how it can be used. Can
>> somebody explain to me (either off- or on-line) what sort of problems it
>> helps solves, and how to use it? I'll be very grateful for any clues.
To which Larry Kruper replied:
>Juan,
>I just received mine as well. The size of them is a bit intimidating,
>is it not ?
>
>I can give a simple example of how I found a use for it, and then
>hopefully others who like this concordance can help both of us
>understand features we may not be aware of.
>
>This is from memory, so please forgive any inaccuracies.
>
>I was looking at the occurrences of KURIOS and KURIE to try to
>determine if KURIOS was frequently used as a form of direct address
>in the NT.
>
>I knew that some commentators consider John 20:28 to be a form of
>direct address, and wondered how often it was used this way.
[SNIP]
>I would love to hear from experienced B-GREEK'ers as to how they
>have used the concordance.
I have had my copy of the Clapp-Fribergs two volumes for more than five
years. I find them a specialist type of tool. Sometimes they will sit on my
shelves unopened for quite a few months at a time, and then along comes a
question for which they are absolutely indispensible.
They list every occurrence of every word in the GNT under both that word
itself (the lexical focus volume) and under its grammatical category (the
grammatical focus volume). To give examples of my use:
In one of my recent posts to the list, I wrote about the use of iota
subscript in various words and various grammatical categories, aiming to
cover all its uses and occurrences: I checked this out in Clapp and
Fribergs. In another, I discussed the total number of occurrences of
APOKRINOMAI in the GNT, and the number of these which were of its
participle forms, in what context its participle forms occurred, and
whether they were always followed by a verb of speaking. I was able to say:
yes, they were. I got this information by researching it in Clapp and
Fribergs.
Today I post a comment about the use in the GNT of neuter nouns which refer
to persons, and what gender of AUTOS is used when referring to them. To
research this, I used the "grammatical focus" volume of Clapp and Fribergs,
looking up neuter nouns and going through the list to locate those which
referred to persons, and then looking in each context to see whether AUTOS
occurred there and if so, in what gender.
Over the years I have found Clapp and Fribergs provide useful information
which I cannot imagine being able to find (or at any rate, to find as
easily) from any other tool.
But not every week.
Regards,
Ward
Rev Dr B. Ward Powers Phone (International): 61-2-9799-7501
10 Grosvenor Crescent Phone (Australia): (02) 9799-7501
SUMMER HILL NSW 2130 email: bwpowers@eagles.bbs.net.au
AUSTRALIA.