TIP OF THE DAY 4: Name.identify > Semantic domains

MJ. Smith
MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,158
edited November 20 in English Forum

link to next post TIP OF THE DAY 5: Name > Semantic domains continued - Logos Forums

QUESTION: Why doesn’t my Bible offer the list of factbook elements to show?

SOFTWARE: If your Bible (or other book) does not have a reverse interlinear, the ability to screen by element types is lost.

 

QUESTION: What are semantic domains?

While semantic domains may sound exotic, you use them every day. If we are talking about golf (a semantic domain) and I say “ball” you have a different image than if we were talking about tennis (another semantic domain). If we were talking about sports in general (another semantic domain) and I said “ball”, you would have many images of balls. Semantic domains in Bible studies, linguistics, and anthropology simply takes that simple observation and turns it into academic terminology. Verifying within your open Bible – information panel (v37 dynamic panel toolbar) Verifying within your open Bible – information panel (v37 dynamic panel toolbar)

SOFTWARE: This is a good example for comparing what the AI assisted All search provides and what the Help Center provides when you are looking for information on how to use data offered by Logos. Sematic domains are supported by lexicons within Logos rather than being Logos/Verbum created data.

  1. Open a Search panel
  2. Select the “All” search
  3. Enter “What are semantic domains?” as the search argument.
  4. Hit enter to run the query
  5. Use the Help Center Icon on the toolbar to open the Help Center. Note that you can drag it to the position you want to put the panels side by side. You can even drag it into a position that divides the tile into two parts vertically or horizontally.
  6. Enter “What are semantic domains?” as the search argument.
  7. Hit enter to run the query.
  8. Compare the results from the two queries to start building a sense of which you want to run under what circumstances.

 

QUESTION: Using semantic domains, how do I make the identification of personal names more precise?

SOFTWARE: Method 1: Using Louw-Nida

  1. Open Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. New York: United Bible Societies, 1996.
  2. Open the Table of Contents by selecting the “Home” icon which follows the reference box.
  3. On the Home tool bar select “Contents”, the left-most option.
  4. Read through the main headings until you see “93 Names of Persons and Places”. Click on the entry.
  5. In the text of the book you should see “A Persons (93.1-93.388) which gives the range of Louw-Nida numbers that refer to the names of persons.
  6. Open a search panel.
  7. Select a Bible search.
  8. Enter the search argument louwNida:93.1-93.388
  9. Enter to run the query.
  10. The results should show all the proper names of persons highlighted.

Note that Louw-Nida applies only to the Greek New Testament text.

Method 2: Using Andersen-Forbes

Andersen-Forbes requires that one use morphology to get to personal names rather than simply references to human. It also provides some oddities such as tagging “living beings” as human in Genesis 1 prior to the creation of humans.

  1. Open Andersen, Francis I., and A. Dean Forbes. A Systematic Glossary to the Andersen-Forbes Analysis of the Hebrew Bible. Logos Bible Software, 2006.
  2. Open the Table of Contents by selecting the “Home” icon which follows the reference box.
  3. On the Home tool bar select “Contents”, the left-most option.
  4. Read through the main headings until you see “Semantic Categories”. Click on the entry.
  5. In the text of the book you should see and entry “Human”.
  6. Open a search panel.
  7. Select a Bible search.
  8. Enter the search argument andersenForbesSemanticDomain:Human
  9. Enter to run the query.
  10. The results should show all the references to persons highlighted.

Method 3: Using Swanson

There are three lexicons tied to the Louw-Nida semantic domains but expanding it to Hebrew and Aramaic:

I see nothing in Logos that implements this extension.

Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."

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