From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Tue Jan 23 1996 - 12:54:09 EST
On 1/23/96, Edgar M. Krentz wrote:
> I agree with Carlton below, with one possible historical footnote.
> Historical grammar is not always without relevance. Prepositions, according
> to one theory, originated as particles to clarify the meaning already
> inherent in the cases used. That might be what leads to some difficulty in
> understanding them in Hellenistic-Roman period Greek.
>
> Carl might have a comment or two to add to my oversimplified statement above.
>
> >
> >I must agree with most of what Alan has said. Prepositions are difficult
> >to deal with in almost any language and Greek is not exception. I would
> >express my feeling that in the Hellenistic period the use of prepositions
> >was in a state of transition. I tend to think that prepositions do not
> >have dictionary meanings but must be dealt with as functions and indicators
> >in the language.
I would agree pretty much with both these comments. I just met with a
tutorial group reading Mark 1 and noted within a single verse the
alternation between expression of instrument by dative w/o preposition and
immediately thereafter by dative w/ EN:
Mk 1:EGW EBAPTISA hUMAS hUDATI, AUTOS DE BAPTISEI hUMAS EN PNEUMATI hAGIWi.
Of course the apparatus does indicate a variant EN hUDATI, but this is
pretty evidently a scribal "correction" of the text.
Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University
One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, USA 63130
(314) 935-4018
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cwc@oui.com
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/
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