Re: Multiple Simultaneous Functions

From: Carl W. Conrad (cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu)
Date: Sat Jan 17 1998 - 10:07:26 EST


At 4:05 AM -0600 1/15/98, clayton stirling bartholomew wrote:
>This is a very basic question. Can a single syntactic element in a clause have
>multiple simultaneous functions at the same level of analysis?
>
>I have been thinking for some time about comments more than one senior member
>of the list have made about the functions of circumstantial participles. These
>comments appear to affirm that a circumstantial participle can function
>*simultaneously* both as an adverb and as an adjective in apposition to a
>substantive.
>
>It is the simultaneous aspect of this question that is bothering me. I have
>always operated on the assumption that, in any single instance, a syntactic
>element in a clause can serve only one function at a given level of analysis.
>If this is not the case then I will need to rethink a lot of things.

If by senior you mean "elderly," then perhaps I can qualify, although I
haven't yet reached the venerable years of John Glenn, whom we must all
cheer for proving that senility is not inevitable (even if loss of memory
is).

I am not exactly sure just what your question means (what else is new?),
but let me respond to a couple possible points:

If by functions, you mean something as simple as that a circumstantial
participle may function as an adjective insofar as it must agree with an
implicit or explicit pronoun or substantive even while at the same time it
may function like an adverbial clause in indicating time, clause, purpose,
etc. thus:
        APO PETRAS BLHQEIS APOQANEITAI hO KLEPTHS

        "The robber, since/because/when/although hurled from the rock, will
die"

(a) Although to be fully attributive, the participle ought to have an article:

        hO APO PETRAS BLHQEIS KLEPTHS or hO KLEPTHS hO APO PETRAS BLHQEIS

so that it could be authentically translated as "the robber who gets hurled
from the rock"--i.e. as a substantival participle or the equivalent of a
relative clause, nevertheless it would not be illegitimate to translate it
the first formulation as: "The robber will die, hurled from the rock." Now,
you tell me in that instance whether "hurled" is adjectival or adverbial or
both?

(b) While an unqualified circumstantial participle is ambivalent and could
be understood potentially to be causal, concessive, temporal, etc., yet
particles can be used to clarify/delimit the "function" of a participle,
thus:

        (1) KAIPER APO PETRAS BLHQEIS OUK APOQANEITAI hO KLEPTHS

where KAIPER has an "even if" or "although" element that delimits the sense
of BLHQEIS to being concessive;

        (2) hOTI APO PETRAS BLHQEIS APOQANEITAI hO KLEPTHS

where hOTI pretty much indicates that the participle should be understood
in a causal sense;

        (3) hWS APOQANOUMENOS APOBLHQHSETAI hO KLEPTHS

where hWS with the future participle indicates that execution is the
purpose of the robber's being hurled from the rock.

In my opinion the wide-ranging applicability of the participle and of the
article are two of the factors that account for extraordinarily rich
expressive capabilities of classical/ancient Greek; for the very same
reason they are two of the factors that render the learning and mastery of
classical/ancient Greek more tricky than we would really like to
acknowledge.

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics/Washington University
One Brookings Drive/St. Louis, MO, USA 63130/(314) 935-4018
Home: 7222 Colgate Ave./St. Louis, MO 63130/(314) 726-5649
cwconrad@artsci.wustl.edu OR cconrad@yancey.main.nc.us
WWW: http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~cwconrad/



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