From: H A. Brehm (102733.3234@compuserve.com)
Date: Mon Jan 22 1996 - 08:01:01 EST
In reply to Kenneth Litwak's query about syntax categories and grammatical
meaning, it seems to me that the basic difference between Blass-Debrunner or
Porter on the one hand, and A. T. Robertson or Brooks and Winbery on the other
hand, is that BDF and Porter separate the functions of nouns with the
preposition from those functions that relate primarily to the case of the noun,
while ATR and B-W incorporate the two into one system (although ATR also treats
the prepositions separately).
Of course, Porter's criticism of the 8-case system applies here--if one defines
case based on function, then one will ostensibly have dozens of syntax
categories. So [in reply to Kenneth's question] you might find yourself in a
situation in your doctoral exam where the members of your panel assume that a
"dative of advantage" does not exist, but rather it is an instance of the dative
case occurring with a preposition that expresses advantage.
On the other hand, the benefit of ATR and B-W is that it is a much more workable
system for teaching [NT] Greek in the classroom. I find that the more concrete
I can make the teaching of syntax and grammatical functions, the better my
students can get a handle on what sometime we Ph. D. types must admit are fine
distinctions.
On the other hand, as a former student of Jim Brooks, IMHO I think that the
strength of their approach is its weakness--the very systematic nature of their
book leads students to think that there is a category for every construction and
every construction fits neatly into some discreet category. For this reason, I
have experimented with combining the best of both worlds--at first I tried using
Porter to expose the students to the ambiguities of dealing with syntax but also
using a system like B-W to give them some structure. That did not work well
because Porter is written at a level that only those with substantial knowledge
of Greek can follow it.
At present I am using B-W as a foundation, but have augmented their set of
categories by referring to other functions in BAGD, ATR, and BDF. I make one
important [IMHO] distinction, however--I indicate which of these functions occur
only with prepositions, and which occur with the noun alone. In this way I try
to do justice to the fact that many of the categories in B-W relate more closely
to the prepositions than to the case of the nouns per se [of course, I would
expect that Carleton Winbery might have something to say about that, and would
welcome his comments]. Nevertheless, I try to preserve the benefit of B-W,
which is to give students a concrete framework to begin their struggle to
wrestle with the text.
H. Alan Brehm
Assistant Prof. of NT
Southwestern Bapt. Theol. Sem.
P. O. Box 22458
Fort Worth, TX 76122
817-923-1921 ext. 6800
FAX 817-922-9005
102733,3234@compuserve.com
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