From: Iver Larsen (iver_larsen@sil.org)
Date: Fri Jul 27 2001 - 04:20:49 EDT
> I think Mike asked a good question:
>
> > For example, let me ask this question of those far more expert in the
> > Greek language than me. If the head noun to a genitive is a verbal
> > noun (in the semantic sense), then MUST the genitive be either
> > objective or subjective? That is, will the verbal noun "expect" the
> > collocated genitive to be either the actor or the thing acted upon.
> > If not, what other factor(s) come into play? And how are those
> > factors semantically interacting?
> >
Mike, I have been thinking about that question myself for some time. I don't
have a definite answer, and I doubt that we can arrive at a definite answer.
My present assumption is that a verbal noun like "love" that is based on a
transitive verb will suggest the adnominal genitive to be either subjective
or objective. However, there may be cases where it could better be described
by one of the other functions of the genitive, such as source or quality.
Take Rom 5:5 for example:
hH AGAPH TOU QEOU EKKECUTAI EN TAIS KARDIAIS hHMWN DIA PNEUMATOS hAGIOU
Because of the "pouring out" I envision the "love" as a thing poured into a
container - our hearts - by the Holy Spirit as instrument or mediator. That
love is not ordinary human love, but the kind of love that has its source in
God and is measured against the quality of love that God has. The following
go on to describe the kind of love that God has shown to us.
I am willing to think of "the love of God" as primarily a subjective
genitive, but is it possible that other aspects come into play, too? How is
it with the English "love of God". Can it mean "love from God", "Godly love"
or "God's kind of love"? (If I use the genitive construction "love of God"
in my own language, it can only be subjective, never objective, so I don't
have a natural feel for the extent of the genitive in English. The reason is
that the Danish word for love is derived from an adjective, not from a
verb.)
Moon continued:
> My hypothesis would be:
>
> The things that can go with a verb are the subject, the object,
> adverbial modifiers denoting the time, the place, the reason, the manner
> of the event or the process denoted by the verb. These things, i.e.
> the subject, the object, the time, the place, the reason, and the manner
> can be denoted by the genitive of a verbal noun.
I am not sure this would hold for Greek, but I have not studied this
particular question sufficiently.
The verb/predicate is the nucleus of the clause. It verb root can generally
have one, two or three arguments, in syntactical terms corresponding to
subject, object and indirect object and/or complement. The verb/predicate is
not complete without its obligatory arguments, even if they are left
implicit at times. On the other hand, expressions that denote time, place,
reason are secondary elements in the clause. They are optional rather than
obligatory in relation to the predicate. Because of that they are often
attached to the predicate-argument unit by way of a preposition in Greek.
(Some languages use verbal affixes rather than prepositions.) Because of the
secondary nature of these adjuncts I am doubtful that they can be expressed
with a genitive.
If you can give me some examples, I am ready to revise my hypothesis. These
thoughts are based more on general semantics, than on a detailed study of
Greek genitives.
Thanks,
Iver Larsen
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