Search found 1097 matches

by RandallButh
May 31st, 2011, 5:20 pm
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: Remoteness & Tense
Replies: 11
Views: 9721

Re: Remoteness & Tense

Con has stated his agreement with this as the case. I doubt that it upsets him though... It should. And students should be aware that the historical present is one of the main 'hooks' to catch unsuspecting Greek students for 'aspect only'. They claim to 'falsify' tense and then bamboozle the unsusp...
by RandallButh
May 31st, 2011, 11:30 am
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: Remoteness & Tense
Replies: 11
Views: 9721

Re: Remoteness & Tense

The 'otherside' needs to answer why they have a problem with 'e' marking 100% of imperfects as past, why the historical present could break its aspectual character without upsetting them (see other thread), why the future isn't used in the past, why the aorist isn't used in the future (or very very ...
by RandallButh
May 31st, 2011, 8:12 am
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: Remoteness & Tense
Replies: 11
Views: 9721

Re: Remoteness & Tense

PS: Notes: * I find the term augment not particularly useful for description. Labeling it according to its function seems to me to be more useful: past tense prefix. The Greeks looked at its form and called it αὔξησις 'increase'. Since it's their language, they get to name things. But 'past-prefix' ...
by RandallButh
May 31st, 2011, 5:52 am
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: Remoteness & Tense
Replies: 11
Views: 9721

Re: Remoteness & Tense

χαῖρε Μιχαηλ The post is on target. We can even add a number. 100% on target. >I find that idea that it [remoteness] has not [developed tense] highly dubious. Highly dubious. Ναί, δύσπιστον. βεβαίως. And in support--when the imperfect is functioning in an indicative (not irrealis) context, it is abo...
by RandallButh
May 13th, 2011, 3:43 pm
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'
Replies: 14
Views: 6963

Re: The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'

the division between semantics and pragmatics is not so clean cut (personally, I'm quite close to rejecting it in its entirety You can't 'reject' it. They are parameters, fields. That fact that pieces of language interact in both dimensions doesn't drop their usefulness or validity. Like tense-aspe...
by RandallButh
May 13th, 2011, 9:41 am
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'
Replies: 14
Views: 6963

Re: The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'

grammatical irony is my own term as far as I know.

I thought it might help 'aspect-only' people see what they are missing and how they are skewing the Greek language into what it isn't.
by RandallButh
May 13th, 2011, 4:20 am
Forum: Syntax and Grammar
Topic: The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'
Replies: 14
Views: 6963

The Aspect of Historical Present 'Against the Grain'

Consider Albert Rijksbaron, "Syntax and Semantics of the Verb in Classical Greek", 3rd ed, 2002, p. 24 "The historic present is only found with terminative (telic), not with stative (atelic) verbs." This is a telling observation. (No comments on punning, Mark!) It hints as to why...

Go to advanced search