TIP OF THE DAY 120: Character grammatical roles
I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day
QUESTION: What grammatical roles can be filled by characters?
ANSWER: Drawn from general knowledge.
Subject: The subject is typically the person performing the action or being described in the sentence.
Direct object: A person can be the direct object when they receive the action of the verb.
Indirect object: When a person is the recipient of the direct object, they function as the indirect object.
Object of preposition: A person can be the object of a preposition in a prepositional phrase.
Predicate nominative: A person can function as a predicate nominative after a linking verb, providing more information about the subject.
Appositive: A person can serve as an appositive, renaming or providing additional information about another noun in the sentence.
Object of direct address: A person can be directly addressed in a sentence, functioning as the noun of direct address.
QUESTION: Where does Logos/Verbum show grammatical roles?
SOFTWARE: Grammatical roles are visible in:
Clause participants guide section
Grammatical relationships guide section
Several clause visualization resources (books)
Clause search analysis view (subset of roles)
ANSWER: from the documentation Verbum Help. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2024.
Clause Participants Section
The Clause Participants guide section summarizes search data for clauses (including referents) and groups them by the Biblical Knowledgebase entity. When all required resources are owned, this section has two views: Grammatical Roles (subject, object, etc.) and Semantic Roles (agent, patient, etc.).
This section appears in the Bible Word Study.[1]
Grammatical Relationships Section
This section displays words that are grammaticaly related to the guide word as it is used in various contexts, with concordance instances grouped under the various constructions in which they appear.
Results are grouped by grammatical relationships such as "Subject of" and "With Preposition." Each group displays a list of lemmas, each of which can be expanded to reveal verses in English and the original language that feature the grammatically related word. Each lemma entry also displays a pronunciation link , transliteration, gloss, and a count of occurrences.
The pronunciation link uses whichever pronunciation style was last selected in the Pronunciation tool.
The abbreviation for the syntax analysis (clause visualization) resource used is displayed on the section header.
Hover over the section header to reveal the Settings menu. Available options in the section settings include:
•Select the display format.
•by related word is selected by default and is the display format described above.
•verses displays Bible references grouped by grammatical construction.
•Select the resource to search. Available options are listed at the bottom of the pop-up below a Find box that allows users to quickly find a particular resource.
The Grammatical Relationships section can be added to a Bible Word Study.[2]
Clause visualization is selectable in the Grammatical Relationships section or is available to open via the library or the command line.
QUESTION: Give examples of each of the grammatical roles.
SOFTWARE: In the clause search, the grammatical roles are limited to subject, object, and adverbial clause modifier. Therefore, the list is a mixture of using the Logos/Verbum data described above and human memory i.e. educated guesses.
ANSWER: I have checked that all these grammatical relationships which I developed from English exist in both Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek.
Appositive: Jesus - Romans 1:1
Direct object: Abel – Genesis 4:8 [clause search for object]
Indirect object: Abimelech – Genesis 20:14
Object of direct address: Lord – Luke 5:12 [look for vocative case]
Object of preposition: Moses – Exodus 3:14
Predicate nominative: Peter – Matthew 16:18
Subject: Cain – Genesis 4:8 [clause search for subject]
QUESTION: Define each grammatical role.
SOFTWARE: Always search first for definitions that document the Logos/Verbum tagging, then expand to include grammatical resources.
ANSWER: from Lukaszewski, Albert L. The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary. Lexham Press, 2007.
Appositive: A word used to clarify or add to the meaning or significance of another word or clause. This is sometimes called epexegesis. (References: BDF §260(2), 268, 271, 276(3), 412(2), 480(6); Wallace p. 48-49, 62, 70-71, 94-100; Smyth §916, 988-990, 991-995, 1287.)[3] Note the link back to figures of speech.
Direct object: The substantive of the sentence which is depicted as receiving the action of a transitive verb. This is called the direct complement by some grammarians. In LSGNT, where direct objects are found in cases other than the accusative, they are marked as objects of that case (i.e., genitive object and dative object). (References: BDF §148-156; Wallace p. 179-180; Smyth §1551-1562.)[4]
Indirect object: The substantive of the sentence which indicates to whom or for whom the action of the transitive verb is acting upon the direct object. In the LSGNT, a clause has not been found in which this type of word is used in a case other than the dative. (References: BDF §187(1-7); Wallace p. 140-142; Smyth §1469-1473.)[5]
Object of direct address: [vocative]: The case that is used for direct address. The noun in the vocative case is being directly addressed.[6] / [accusative of appellation]: A word in the accusative case which is used as a title or term of address for a noun, usually proper, that is similarly in the accusative and functions usually as an object.1 (References: BDF n/a; Wallace p. 61; Smyth n/a.)[7]
Object of preposition: The substantive which is related to the main meaning of the sentence by means of a preposition. (References: BDF §203-240; Wallace p. 247; Smyth §1658.)[8]
Predicate nominative: A nominative substantive which occurs in the predicate of a clause and which is related to the subject of the same clause in an equalitative sense. (References: BDF §145; Wallace p. 256-270; Smyth §973-975.)[9]
Subject: The sentential element which, in the context of a given clause, performs or causes the main verbal action. (References: BDF n/a; Wallace p. 401-404; Smyth §902.)[10]
[1]Verbum Help (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2024).
[2]Verbum Help (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2024).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[3] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[4] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[5] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
[6] Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013; 2013).
1 Included on analogy to the nominative of appelation
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
n/a No direct reference for this feature was located in the table of contents or index of the named grammar.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
n/a No direct reference for this feature was located in the table of contents or index of the named grammar.
[7] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[8] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[9] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
BDF BDF: Blass, F., A. Debrunner and R. Funk. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature: A Translation and Revision of the ninth-tenth German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1961.
n/a No direct reference for this feature was located in the table of contents or index of the named grammar.
Wallace Wallace: Wallace, Daniel B. Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997.
Smyth Smyth: Smyth, Herbert Weir. A Greek Grammar for Colleges. New York: American Book Company, 1920.
[10] Albert L. Lukaszewski, The Lexham Syntactic Greek New Testament Glossary (Lexham Press, 2007).
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