Word Order, Focus CC (Topic) inversion, and enclitics

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RandallButh
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Word Order, Focus CC (Topic) inversion, and enclitics

Post by RandallButh »

While reading Philemon this morning I noticed what might be considered an inversion of Focus--Contextualizing Constituent (aka Topic)in the pre-verb area. The default order of CC and Focus is normally more topical to more salient, that is,
CC to Focus, followed by core template orders.

Here is Philemon 15 (discussing the slave Onesimus's relation to Philemon)
Τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐχωρίσθη πρὸς ὥραν,
ἵνα αἰώνιον αὐτὸν ἀπέχῃς


"Perhaps for this reason he was separated for a short time,
in order that you might have him eternally'

The second clause is most naturally read with αἰόνιον 'eternal' as the focal, most salient information, cetainly more salient than the highly presupposed 'him'.

The following word αὐτόν would be possible to read as a marked CC (Topic), since Onesimus is the one being tracked and was the subject of the previous clause. However, for those very reasons it seems a waste of pragmatic energy to bother to mark αυτον as a CC. It seems insipid and looks like a typical pronominal attraction towards the front of a clause just like an enclitic μου or σου. This would be a case of αὐτός being moved around like an enclitic, contrary to the inflexible accentuation rules, where αὐτός is written with an accent and does not generate a secondary accent as *αἰόνιόν αὐτον.

So I think that we are looking at enclitic tracking of a primary participant without the marking of a Contextualizing Constituent (Topic). This would be a pragmatic demotion, a quiet spot, to use my metaphor from Hebrew items placed between a verb and an explicit Subject. If 'him' is enclitically dragged forward, then the correct accentual reading in a live setting would probably be as surmised and adjusted above: αἰόνιόν αὐτον ἀπέχῃς.
(PS: note that the 'enclitic reading' gives a second accent to the Focal item, which provides an iconic phonological heightening to the marked item in front of the enclitic, which adds to the pragmatic effect or at least to pragmatic clarity. The opposite adjustment, reading αὐτόν as a marked CC, would probably have engendered a live reading of αἰόνιον αὐτόν ἀπέχῃς, something I try to do when reading marked preverb 'grave accents' outloud.)

This allows me to resolve the incongruity of a Focus-CC order in this verse, which is always nice to share with a cup of coffee and breakfast.
(a slightly longer version is on the blog at BiblicalLanguageCenter.com, http://www.biblicallanguagecenter.com/w ... ics-greek/)
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Word Order, Focus CC (Topic) inversion, and enclitics

Post by Stephen Carlson »

RandallButh wrote:Here is Philemon 15 (discussing the slave Onesimus's relation to Philemon)
Τάχα γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο ἐχωρίσθη πρὸς ὥραν,
ἵνα αἰώνιον αὐτὸν ἀπέχῃς

...It seems insipid and looks like a typical pronominal attraction towards the front of a clause just like an enclitic μου or σου. This would be a case of αὐτός being moved around like an enclitic, contrary to the inflexible accentuation rules, where αὐτός is written with an accent and does not generate a secondary accent as *αἰόνιόν αὐτον.
I fully agree with this analysis. I wonder if it is worth updating the accentuation rules for such a case.

In fact, I'm almost at the point where I think it would be better simply to drop most or even all graves. After all, they are otiose on the proclitics (e.g. as in διὰ τοῦτο and πρὸς ὥραν).
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
RandallButh
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Joined: May 13th, 2011, 4:01 am

Re: Word Order, Focus CC (Topic) inversion, and enclitics

Post by RandallButh »

I sympathize on the accent marks but I'm for keeping them as is.

The accents are the received tradition from antiquity, rather woodenly applied about a millenium ago. They are usefulfor marking syllables of words that are slowly pronounced, which most everything that people may say today. For example, διὰ τοῦτο, if pronounced as two words, needs an accent on διά. If people speak (and listen!) fast enough to make this one word then then should also learn to drop the accent, just like the Greeks. Communication is also two way, as I'm learning afresh this month in Tanzania. Whenever the language skills of one side is marginal, to whatever degree, it is useful to speak slowly.
Stephen Carlson
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Re: Word Order, Focus CC (Topic) inversion, and enclitics

Post by Stephen Carlson »

I fully realize that it would be almost impossible to change our current editorial practices of accentuation (I've seen more innovation in German editions of Greek of a century ago than now), but if there is a change I would support a system that makes it closer to the way competent Greeks of the time would intone the text rather than something better suited for foreigners.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
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