On page 191 of Steve Runge's work "Discourse Grammar of the Greek New Testament" he has a foot note (#31).
He quotes"
"The term "Emphasis" has been much abused, being used to justify virtually any thing that a commentator thinks is special or important. .
What is the proper understanding of the term "Emphasis" as is used in Koine when emphasis is being placed by word order?
Thanks in advance
John
The term "Emphasis"
Re: The term "Emphasis"
There never has been a "proper understanding" for the term. It has been used to mean just about anything and everything. That's why Steve says its been abused.John Brainard wrote:What is the proper understanding of the term "Emphasis" as is used in Koine when emphasis is being placed by word order?
Mike Aubrey, Linguist
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Re: The term "Emphasis"
How does that idea impact the argument that word order establishes elevated thought? Does this mean that word order does not absolutely establish emphasis? I realize that Greek can be very random in its order unlike English but people are creatures of habit and there is normally a word order used to convey an idea.MAubrey wrote:There never has been a "proper understanding" for the term. It has been used to mean just about anything and everything. That's why Steve says its been abused.John Brainard wrote:What is the proper understanding of the term "Emphasis" as is used in Koine when emphasis is being placed by word order?
Thanks for your thoughts
John
Re: The term "Emphasis"
The short answer is that word order in Greek is not random. That's a misconception based on fact that its order rules are different than those of English. Word order in Greek, involves the structuring of information, which is described in detail in chapters 9 of Steve's grammar. He gives a number of very useful principles for understand word order in Greek.John Brainard wrote:How does that idea impact the argument that word order establishes elevated thought? Does this mean that word order does not absolutely establish emphasis? I realize that Greek can be very random in its order unlike English but people are creatures of habit and there is normally a word order used to convey an idea.
If there's a "proper" way to use the word "emphasis" then, its the way Steve uses it in his book, though I would have preferred he had used a different term. The standard term in linguistics is Focus, which maybe defined (briefly) as "that which is either new or asserted in a given clause" not prominent, emphatic, etc.
Mike Aubrey, Linguist
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Re: The term "Emphasis"
MAubrey wrote:The short answer is that word order in Greek is not random. That's a misconception based on fact that its order rules are different than those of English. Word order in Greek, involves the structuring of information, which is described in detail in chapters 9 of Steve's grammar. He gives a number of very useful principles for understand word order in Greek.John Brainard wrote:How does that idea impact the argument that word order establishes elevated thought? Does this mean that word order does not absolutely establish emphasis? I realize that Greek can be very random in its order unlike English but people are creatures of habit and there is normally a word order used to convey an idea.
If there's a "proper" way to use the word "emphasis" then, its the way Steve uses it in his book, though I would have preferred he had used a different term. The standard term in linguistics is Focus, which maybe defined (briefly) as "that which is either new or asserted in a given clause" not prominent, emphatic, etc.
I agree.
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Re: The term "Emphasis"
I'm not sure that Mike Aubrey has got that quite right. I'm a bit of a newbie to Discourse Grammar (though many many years ago was partially inducted into a particular school of pragmatics that gets passing mention in Steve Runge's book, namely Relevance Theory) but on my reading I think Steve would say that emphasis is focal material that has been placed in what he (following Stephen Dik?) calls the P2 position - i.e. focal material in the Preverbal position. See p. 272. He does go on to widen that somewhat by discussing point/counterpoint sets. I'm impressed by, but not fully satisfied by Steve Runge's presentation. It's enormously helpful though I feel his book is still 1.0 rather than 2.0.
Hefin Jones
instructor in New Testament - Koinonia Theological Seminary, Davao
instructor in New Testament - Koinonia Theological Seminary, Davao