βούλεται in 1 Cor. 12:11?

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Stephen Carlson
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Re: βούλεται in 1 Cor. 12:11?

Post by Stephen Carlson »

I think this whole line of inquiry and answer is confusing. Finite verbs don't have gender in Greek.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Stephen Hughes
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Re: βούλεται in 1 Cor. 12:11?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Stephen Carlson wrote:I think this whole line of inquiry and answer is confusing. Finite verbs don't have gender in Greek.
Finite verbs don't show (have) gender in their forms, but they do have gender in their meaning.

The genders are not indicated in the form of the verb, but if you ask the question, "Does the internal pronoun of xxx verb refer a a masculine, feminine or neuter subject?" would return one of the three (or four) available for this langauge, and then we could ask, "Which of the various uses of that one of those three genders is it being used to mean?"

The answer that I gave at least was refering to the meaning of βούλεται rather than to its form. The form βούλεται doesn't show gender, but gender is part of its meaning.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Stephen Carlson
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Re: βούλεται in 1 Cor. 12:11?

Post by Stephen Carlson »

I disagree. I find this approach thoroughly unhelpful and probably confusing to beginners. The third person singular ending does not specify gender, just as it does not specify the color, height, crankiness, or any other potential attribute of the subject.
Stephen C. Carlson, Ph.D.
Melbourne, Australia
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Context -- meaning -- form

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Those other things that would be expressed by adjectives (etc.) would probaby come into the teaching of langauge (even for beginners) as "context".

The three things that are taught; Context -- meaning -- form, (in that order) seems to be the most paedagogically sound way that languages are taught (even to beginners).

The various useages of the grammatical genders are understood from the contexts in which the verbs are used. Context is the overall deciding factor in ascertaining meaning.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Barry Hofstetter
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Re: βούλεται in 1 Cor. 12:11?

Post by Barry Hofstetter »

Stephen Carlson wrote:I disagree. I find this approach thoroughly unhelpful and probably confusing to beginners. The third person singular ending does not specify gender, just as it does not specify the color, height, crankiness, or any other potential attribute of the subject.
Agreed. It can only determined by context (contextus semper rex). For years I graded for a course which included a Greek exam with readings from Acts and Paul. I would occasionally have a student who had had Hebrew more recently than Greek and would parse a verb as a third masculine singular... and yes, I would take off for it and usually write a comment to remind the student which language he was reading. Almost as interesting as the students (at the seminary level, mind you) who would write "cannon" for "canon." For them I would write a big "BOOM" next to the circled word (for which I didn't subtract points). I never had a student make that mistake again after that... :)
N.E. Barry Hofstetter, M.A., Th.M.
Ph.D. Student U of FL
Instructor of Latin
Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
καὶ σὺ τὸ σὸν ποιήσεις κἀγὼ τὸ ἐμόν. ἆρον τὸ σὸν καὶ ὕπαγε.
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