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Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 9:40 am
by Alan Bunning
Can το sometimes be used to set off a quotation in the same way οτι does? It looks to me like it does at: Matt. 19:18, Mark 9:23, Mark 12:33, 1Cor. 4:6, and maybe 2Cor. 1:17. Am I seeing a pattern here, or am I imagining something?

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 10:11 am
by MAubrey
Also Ephesians 4:9.

You're not imagining a thing. That's definitely real.

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 10:23 am
by Alan Bunning
MAubrey wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 10:11 am Also Ephesians 4:9.

You're not imagining a thing. That's definitely real.
Would you then say that it acts as a conjunction in those cases? Would the accent be affected in anyway?

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 10:54 am
by Jonathan Robie
Alan Bunning wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 10:23 am Would you then say that it acts as a conjunction in those cases? Would the accent be affected in anyway?
Hmmm, I suspect it is just nominalizing the quote, turning it into a thing that can be referred to. As articles do.

I wonder where we can find a good discussion of this in a grammar or article or somesuch ...

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 11:56 am
by Barry Hofstetter
Not just a quotation, as in a citation, but anything which the author wishes to discuss as as topic which is not grammatically part of the sentence.

g. Any single word or clause: τὸ ῡ̔μεῖς ὅταν λέγω, τὴν πόλιν λέγω when I say You, I mean the State D. 18. 88, ὑπερβᾱ̀ς τὸ δίκᾱς ὑπεχέτω τοῦ φόνου omitting (the words) ‘let him submit to judgment for the murder’ D. 23. 220.

Smyth, H. W. (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges (p. 293). New York; Cincinnati; Chicago; Boston; Atlanta: American Book Company.

I recall Aristotle doing this quite a bit in discussing various concepts.

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 12:27 pm
by Jonathan Robie
It can also be used to topicalize the gist of what someone is saying, something someone is considering, etc.

Luke 1:62 ἐνένευον δὲ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ τί ἂν θέλοι καλεῖσθαι αὐτό.
Luke 9:46 Εἰσῆλθεν δὲ διαλογισμὸς ἐν αὐτοῖς, τὸ τίς ἂν εἴη μείζων αὐτῶν.
Luke 19:48 καὶ οὐχ εὕρισκον τὸ τί ποιήσωσιν, ὁ λαὸς γὰρ ἅπας ἐξεκρέματο αὐτοῦ ἀκούων.
Luke 22:23 καὶ αὐτοὶ ἤρξαντο συζητεῖν πρὸς ἑαυτοὺς τὸ τίς ἄρα εἴη ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ τοῦτο μέλλων πράσσειν.
Luke 22:24 Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ φιλονεικία ἐν αὐτοῖς, τὸ τίς αὐτῶν δοκεῖ εἶναι μείζων.
Acts 22:30 Τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον βουλόμενος γνῶναι τὸ ἀσφαλὲς τὸ τί κατηγορεῖται ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἔλυσεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἐκέλευσεν συνελθεῖν τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ πᾶν τὸ συνέδριον, καὶ καταγαγὼν τὸν Παῦλον ἔστησεν εἰς αὐτούς.

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 3:14 pm
by Alan Bunning
Barry Hofstetter wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 11:56 am Not just a quotation, as in a citation, but anything which the author wishes to discuss as as topic which is not grammatically part of the sentence.

g. Any single word or clause: τὸ ῡ̔μεῖς ὅταν λέγω, τὴν πόλιν λέγω when I say You, I mean the State D. 18. 88, ὑπερβᾱ̀ς τὸ δίκᾱς ὑπεχέτω τοῦ φόνου omitting (the words) ‘let him submit to judgment for the murder’ D. 23. 220.

Smyth, H. W. (1920). A Greek Grammar for Colleges (p. 293). New York; Cincinnati; Chicago; Boston; Atlanta: American Book Company.

I recall Aristotle doing this quite a bit in discussing various concepts.
Judging from all the examples given, is it always in accusative (or nominative?) singular neuter form, or can it take other forms as well.

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 6:42 pm
by Robert Emil Berge
It can be of any case according to how it fits in the sentence. Here's an example of genitive from LSJ:
ἡ δόξα . . περὶ τοῦ οὕστινας δεῖ ἄρχειν the opinion about the question 'who ought to rule'

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 10:28 pm
by MAubrey
Jonathan Robie wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 10:54 am
Alan Bunning wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 10:23 am Would you then say that it acts as a conjunction in those cases? Would the accent be affected in anyway?
Hmmm, I suspect it is just nominalizing the quote, turning it into a thing that can be referred to. As articles do.
Precisely.

Re: Using το to set off a quotation?

Posted: August 4th, 2017, 2:20 am
by Stephen Hughes
Alan Bunning wrote: August 3rd, 2017, 9:40 am Can το sometimes be used to set off a quotation in the same way οτι does? It looks to me like it does at: Matt. 19:18, Mark 9:23, Mark 12:33, 1Cor. 4:6, and maybe 2Cor. 1:17. Am I seeing a pattern here, or am I imagining something?
You could try using γὰρ or ὅτι, when you want to work a quotation into your argument. Alternatively, use τὸ when you want to work it into the syntax, and πού when you want to sound less like you're "giving them chapter and verse".