From: CWestf5155@aol.com
Date: Mon Jan 11 1999 - 12:42:19 EST
From: CWestf5155@aol.com
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To: rossdurham@sprintmail.com
Subject: Re: asyndeton
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 12:39:43 EST
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Dear Ross,
In a message dated 1/9/99 3:29:01 PM Mountain Standard Time,
rossdurham@sprintmail.com writes:
> In her article on 1 Cor 11.2-16, Gundry-Volf comments on verses 3 and 4
> that there is obviously a very close relationship between the two verses
> because verse 4 is asyndetic. However she does not provide any footnotes
> for that assertion. From a grammatical and/or discourse analysis
> perspective, what does asyndeton indicate as far as the relationship
between
> two verses? What resources or references are there for this besides
> "context"?
As far as "universal usage", asyndeton may actually indicate a seam in the
discourse (ie. the beginning of a new paragraph). In Revelation 4:1, 7:1 and
7:9, the omission of the consistent use of KAI creates a boundary that is
further reinforced with the use of the phrase META TAUTA (TOUTA) EIDON.
Therefore, the other responses were on target when they requested a study of
the use of asyndeton in Paul. I believe that a thorough study of the
conjunctions in I Corinthians alone would even be more in order for Gundry-
Volf to at least refer to in a footnote, since Paul varies the patterns of
conjunctions in his letter.
On the other hand, they could have made an clear case of a close relationship
(cohesion) between vv. 3 and 4 on the basis of lexical repetition alone. The
provocative reference to the function of asyndeton in this particular case may
be true, but as my supervisor has said to me repeatedly, "You don't know what
you can't show".
Cindy Westfall
PhD Student, Roehampton
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