GREEK RULES AND LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLES
ButhFam at compuserve.com
Sun Aug 12 11:34:08 EDT 2001
I like what you are doing with asking questions of synchronic perception of
Greek forms. I would agree that that is what needs to be done if people
want to teach or learn the language.
>So this allows us to formulate the first rule:
>1. To form the aorist tense flexions of a verb, add -SA- as the punctiliar
>morph to the verb's lexal.
>A verb which does this is a First Aorist verb (that is, First
>and regular, and (at least in this matter) predictable.
One can go a step more generic or 'more real'. I would recommend
that students relate to any word/verb ("lexal") with both the aorist and
continuative infinitives. The best, bottom line learning would take place
when a student/user would relate to the word itself and not to an
+ 'applied rule'. The latter becomes an analytical filter that is useful
language users but can get in the way of both fluency and learning if it is
vehicle for approaching/earning a language.
>1. I think it's real neat to see the results which are produced by such
>linguistic analysis, and I affirm that they assist us in our understznding
>of the functioning of the language.
Yes, they do, though I think that one should start one level 'more real',
or 'more inside' the langauge.
E.g. FILEI~N, FILH~SAI and FILW~ are real words. FILEW is artificial for
KOINE. I don't believe that a Koine Greek user would have related to
the synchronic language with a "word" FILEW.
Also, sound should be used as the synchronic base. A spelling system only
imperfectly points to what is in a user's head.
Thus, LUSOMEN 'we will untie' and LUSWMEN 'we would untie' sounded
identical (were homonyms) though they functioned within different real,
In line with this, LU'SEI 'he will untie' and LU'SH 'he would untie' were
distinguished in Koine: [lysi] versus [lyse]. (and both from LU~SAI
These provide a truer synchronic, linguistic base for writing rules.
>5. When followed through further, this approach enables us to detect
>numerous patterns in the morphology of koine Greek. And this in its turn
>would simplify teaching, learning, and remembering Greek morphology.
NAI NAI [ne ne]
Randall Buth, PhD
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