From: clayton stirling bartholomew (c.s.bartholomew@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Mon Jan 19 1998 - 04:14:18 EST
Edgar M. Krentz wrote:
>
> >However, I am still a little uneasy with
> >admitting that a syntactic component in a clause can have Multiple
> >Simultaneous Functions. I can see that the participle may function adverbially
> >and adjectivally at the same time.
>
> Why?
> There is a construction that the Greek rhetoricians called SUNTAXIS APO
> KOINOU, in which a phrase or a word can be said or written only once, but
> will be understood as modifying two different other words. There is an
> example of this in the LXX translation of Habbakuk 2:4 reproduced in Romans
> 1:17: hO DE DIKAIOS EK PISTEWS ZHSETAI. The words EK PISTEWS may in Greek
> modify both DIKAIOS and ZHSETAi, and it will have two difference senses:
> "out of fidelity" and "out of trust."
>
> This is different from the phrase hH AGAPE TOU QEOU, where the writer may
> intentionally have allowed a double entendre to creep in: both the love for
> God and the love God has, i.e. both an objective and subjective genitive.
>
> Such word play is one of the devices that enriches language, makes a writer
> or speaker fascinating, and leads the reader to ponder what the sense may
> be, thereby increasing attention and comprehension.
This is something like a syntactical pun? But it is different than having two
*different* functions simultaneously. In your first example EK PISTEWS has one
syntactical function directed towards two different words DIKAIOS and ZHSETAi
with a multiple sense. The second example is perhaps closer to the problem I
am exploring.
Let me illustrate this problem with a story.
A student in a first year Greek class is asked to identify the syntactical
function of a single instance of KAI in an ancient text. The student answers
that this KAI is functioning as an adverb and as a conjunction. What will the
teachers response be?
1 No, in this case KAI is being used as an adverb only.
2 No, your answer is impossible. KAI cannot perform both of those functions simultaneously.
3 No, your answer is grammatically absurd. A clause element can have only one
syntactic function.
I would be tempted to give answer #3. Obviously I would be over reacting with
answer #3 but what about answer #2? Is answer #2 a correct statement?
-- Clayton Stirling Bartholomew Three Tree Point P.O. Box 255 Seahurst WA 98062Happy Robert E. Lee Day!!!!!
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