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Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 23rd, 2013, 10:09 am
by Paul-Nitz
This book is an intermediate grammar, not a book about "idioms."

It was discussed on B-Greek in 2000. It got mixed reviews. Has it improved with age?

Logos is just now selling it for $60.

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 23rd, 2013, 10:27 am
by MAubrey
Nope.

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 23rd, 2013, 11:51 am
by MAubrey
That is to say, the reasons for the mixed reviews haven't changed. Porter's ideas about tense are still viewed as problematic by many. If anything, I think the consensus against Porter's tenseless proposals has only grown.

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 23rd, 2013, 3:06 pm
by Stirling Bartholomew
MAubrey wrote:That is to say, the reasons for the mixed reviews haven't changed. Porter's ideas about tense are still viewed as problematic by many. If anything, I think the consensus against Porter's tenseless proposals has only grown.
Porter's 2nd Ed 1992 Idioms is a traditional grammar with some not-too-popular aberrations in the treatment of verb tense/aspect. The main disappointment for the linguistically inclined is the traditional approach. Why would a linguist treat the language in same manner as it has been treated for hundreds of years? I would be willing to overlook the aberrations in the treatment of verb tense/aspect if the grammar had been informed in other areas by linguistics from 1950-1990.

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 23rd, 2013, 7:56 pm
by MAubrey
Stirling Bartholomew wrote:
MAubrey wrote:That is to say, the reasons for the mixed reviews haven't changed. Porter's ideas about tense are still viewed as problematic by many. If anything, I think the consensus against Porter's tenseless proposals has only grown.
Porter's 2nd Ed 1992 Idioms is a traditional grammar with some not-too-popular aberrations in the treatment of verb tense/aspect. The main disappointment for the linguistically inclined is the traditional approach. Why would a linguist treat the language in same manner as it has been treated for hundreds of years? I would be willing to overlook the aberrations in the treatment of verb tense/aspect if the grammar had been informed in other areas by linguistics from 1950-1990.
Well, Porter isn't a linguist. Why should we expect that a non-linguist would treat the language any differently?

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 25th, 2013, 7:50 am
by Stephen Carlson
Ironically enough, I didn't find this book to be clearest exposition of Porter's verbal aspect theory. Most of this book's section about aspect was showing how the "tenses" can refer to various times.

Re: Porter - Idioms of the Greek NT

Posted: March 25th, 2013, 6:09 pm
by MAubrey
Stephen Carlson wrote:Ironically enough, I didn't find this book to be clearest exposition of Porter's verbal aspect theory. Most of this book's section about aspect was showing how the "tenses" can refer to various times.
True...though I'm not sure there is a "clearest exposition."