Searching for direct discourse in Factbook data type references

Daniel Gleich
Daniel Gleich Member Posts: 4
edited November 2024 in English Forum

Hi,

I'm trying to compare some word count statistics and was performing a search on speech in Acts attributed to Paul with the following search syntax: “* WITHIN {Speaker <Person Paul>}”. However, I'm not sure if this search on Factbook data type references only finds direct discourse or also indirect discourse. I'm only interested in direct discourse. Does anyone know with what kind of data this search on Factbook data type references works?

My second question is if it is possible to perform the same search “* WITHIN {Speaker <Person Paul>}” for all speakers in Acts and not just for Paul? I tried to use a wildcard instead of “Paul” but that took forever and ended up not working at all.

Can somebody help me with that?

Thanks,

Daniel

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Comments

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 35,857

    Welcome Daniel,

    It is confusing to state "Factbook data type", even though you probably got that from Faithlife documents/help. "Data type" is the general term to use. The Factbook reference is historical, and usually associated with <Person>, <Place>, <Thing> and <Event> - but other features/tools use those data types.

    However, I'm not sure if this search on Factbook data type references only finds direct discourse or also indirect discourse. I'm only interested in direct discourse.

    {Speaker <Person Paul>} has two results outside the book of Acts (Ro 8:15, Gal 2:14), and Ro 8:15 has "we" rather than "Paul/I/he".

    Results I've checked in Acts appear to be direct, but see Acts 13:46; 16:31.

    EDIT: If Paul (or another speaker) quote another person (e.g. "and the Lord said '......' to me") the whole speech is attributed to Paul

    it is possible to perform the same search “* WITHIN {Speaker <Person Paul>}” for all speakers in Acts and not just for Paul?

    No. But isn't your wildcard search long enough without another wildcard?

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • Daniel Gleich
    Daniel Gleich Member Posts: 4

    Hi Dave,

    thank you for your response.

    Do you know if it is then possible to search for direct discourse somehow with the syntax search engine?

    Thanks,

    Daniel

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 35,857

    Do you know if it is then possible to search for direct discourse somehow with the syntax search engine?

    No. Because it doesn't use interpret referents to a person e.g. he/I/she, let alone speech.

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • MJ. Smith
    MJ. Smith MVP Posts: 53,774

    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."

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 35,857

    MJ. Smith said:

    could speaker labels do it?

    I don't understand. {Speaker <Person xxxx>} essentially tracks Speaker Labels (the Visual Filter)

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • Daniel Gleich
    Daniel Gleich Member Posts: 4

    No. Because it doesn't use interpret referents to a person e.g. he/I/she, let alone speech.

    Okay.

    I had hoped that this would be possible like in the construct syntax search of Accordance. There I can search for lexemes (or wildcard) in a independent clause and specify that I want only the direct speech parts of this clause. This kind of search is performed in a couple of seconds and if use a wildcard instead of a lexeme the number of hits gives me the word count of direct discourse in the particular search range.

    Since Accordance does not distinguish between speakers, I had hoped that I could do a similar but speaker sensitive search in Logos. Maybe that would be worth considering as a new feature for future development.

    Thanks and greetings,

    Daniel

  • Dave Hooton
    Dave Hooton MVP Posts: 35,857

    Since Accordance does not distinguish between speakers, I had hoped that I could do a similar but speaker sensitive search in Logos.

    You can perform a Bible Search and a Basic Search over a passage range e.g. replace All Passages with Acts. In Basic Search, first select your bible in order to see All Passages.

    Speaker insensitive = Person insensitive has been requested, but it takes time e.g. <Person Any>

    Dave
    ===

    Windows 11 & Android 13

  • Daniel Gleich
    Daniel Gleich Member Posts: 4

    Okay. Thank you very much, Dave, for answering my questions!

    Greetings,

    Daniel