From: Jonathan Robie (jonathan@texcel.no)
Date: Mon Jan 05 1998 - 23:31:07 EST
In this mail, I argue that an article+noun construction is [+definite], but
a non-articular noun is *not* [-definite], just unmarked. While we're at
it, I'll make the more surprising assertion that proper names without the
article are *not* [+definite] in Greek either, just unmarked.
This argument is based on the assumption that grammatical forms have
certain features which are inherent, and can not be cancelled by their
linguistic environment; in addition, they have other features which are
pragmatic - they may be implied, but the implication is easily cancelled by
the linguistic environment. If a feature can be cancelled, it is not part
of the inherent meaning of the grammatical form. This method is used by
Mari Olsen in her work on tense and aspect; I'm presenting the results of
about an hour's worth of playing with Gramcord, and I do not claim that
everything I say here is airtight or true, but I think this is interesting
and possibly indicative.
Hypothesis: both the article and the demonstrative pronoun are marked for
definiteness in NT Greek.
Assumptions:
1. the adjectival indefinite pronoun (TIS) is marked for [-definite]
2. the article is marked for [+definite]
3. demonstrative pronouns are marked for [+definite]
4. the properties expressed in #1, #2, and #3 are non-cancellable
Test:
Constructions like "hO ANQRWPOS TIS*" that assert that a noun phrase is
both [+definite] and [-definite] may not occur in normal prose.
Results:
The following constructions never occur:
1. article, noun, indefinite adjectival pronoun
2. demonstrative, noun, indefinite adjectival pronoun
The adjectival indefinite pronoun occurs 54 times in the GNT, but never
with an article or a demonstrative. This is consistent with the hypothesis.
Comments:
1. It is perfectly OK for the [+definite] nature of a noun phrase to be
reinforced by more than one marker, e.g.:
o demonstrative pronoun, article: 175 times in the GNT
o article, noun, demonstrative pronoun: 378 times in the GNT
2. Proper names do not have a non-cancellable [+definite] property, as
evidenced by phrases like TINI SIMWNI BURSEI (Acts 9:43), ANANIAS DE TIS
(Acts 22:12), TINA SIMWNA KURHNAION (Mark 15:21). Note that nouns are much
more common than proper names in the GNT, but although names occur with the
indefinite adjectival pronoun, nouns marked definite with either the
article or the demonstrative do not. I assume that names with the definite
article do have a non-cancellable [+definite] property, but I haven't come
up with a good test for this.
Now for the argument that a noun without the article is unmarked for
definiteness. Let's assume, for the same of argument, that the
non-articular noun were marked [-definite]. Using the same procedure we
used above, we would expect that it could not be combined with [+definite]
markers to form a noun phrase; i.e., that such a construction would be
ungrammatical in the sense that hO ANQRWPOS TIS is ungrammatical. This is
not the case. In fact, I suspect that non-articular nouns can occur in any
linguistic context where articular nouns can occur. The reverse is not true
- articular nouns may not occur in environments marked [-definite].
Comments?
Jonathan
___________________________________________________________________________
Jonathan Robie jwrobie@mindspring.com
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