Resources for understanding Greek clauses and syntax?
Can someone recommend a book that deals with the rules for syntax analysis i.e., breaking a sentence up into clauses, and determining what nouns or verbs those clauses modify?
Preferably a book in the Logo's library, (I have the Original Languages) that I already happen to have would of course be great. If possible also a book that does not use all sorts of cryptic linguistic terms that a linguistic novice like me does not understand 
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Actually,
Just reading through what pops up in an exegetical guide really helps....and also....not in Logos Library...BUT...
Greek for the Rest of us....Bill Mounce....
And for free...
Robert Pavich
For help go to the Wiki: http://wiki.logos.com/Table_of_Contents__
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I agree, Bill Mounce has some really good resources.
These two have helped me. Both are available through LOGOS. Chapman has a nice section on conditional sentences and clauses. Brief but effective.
Morris, R. L. (2005). Hellenika A Beginning Greek Textbook based on The Koine Greek of the New Testament. Indiana: Bethel College.
Chapman, B. (1994). Greek New Testament Insert. (2nd ed., revised.). Quakertown, PA: Stylus Publishing.
Also this little book, though I'm not sure its in print any more. (Though it may not meet with your direct question.)
Hudson, D. F. (1960). New Testament Greek -A complete course (ISBN 0-8442-3789-2)
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Robert Pavich said:
Greek for the Rest of us....Bill Mounce....
And for free...
Nice resource Robert, I just listened to a couple of the lectures. I think this would make a nice Christian education class at church for those who want to enhance their bible studies, but don't want to lose brain cells by actually learning the language.
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Thanks, I have read Greek for the Rest of Us and the chapter on phrasing discusses how to break up an English sentence. I do understand how to do that. What I am unclear on is what the rules are for doing this in Greek.
I also have Mounce's more advanced Basics of Biblical Greek and while it does a great job discussing parts of speach and parsing (dealing with individual words) it does not discuss syntax and things like how to determine what word is being modified by a clause in a Greek sentence.
In English this would be determined by the word order, so it's pretty easy, but in Greek - especially in Paul's letters - this can be pretty confusing and that represents a gap in my knowledge (I only had one semester where we went over the contents of Basics of Biblical Greek.
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If you've been through a first year grammar, then an intermediate grammar is the next step. I recommend Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. It is available in Logos. Reading his stuff on independent and dependent clauses would be a good start.
Prov. 15:23
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Anthony,
Thanks, I have the book by Chapman in my library. It looks like a good resource. I'll have a look
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Thanks Kevin, I'll have to check out that one in the library.
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Kevin Becker said:
Reading his stuff on independent and dependent clauses would be a good start.
Kevin,
thanks for the tip...I always forget about our friend Dr. Wallace.... [:$]
Robert Pavich
For help go to the Wiki: http://wiki.logos.com/Table_of_Contents__
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Not exactly what you're looking for, but to get an idea of how clauses 'work' and what modifies what, take a look at the Lexham Syntactic Greek NT: Expansions and Annotations. This shortcuts the learning process for you, so use it with the same warnings your Greek prof gave you about using an interlinear.
πάντα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ ποιεῖτε
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Kevin Becker said:
If you've been through a first year grammar, then an intermediate grammar is the next step. I recommend Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. It is available in Logos. Reading his stuff on independent and dependent clauses would be a good start.
I had Wallace as a textbook, and I recommend it highly.
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Gary O'Neal said:
Not exactly what you're looking for, but to get an idea of how clauses 'work' and what modifies what, take a look at the Lexham Syntactic Greek NT: Expansions and Annotations. This shortcuts the learning process for you, so use it with the same warnings your Greek prof gave you about using an interlinear.
Wow, that may be more what I am looking for than a grammar actually. The problem with grammars is that they give you abstract theory. but no native speaker learns to speak a language by memorizing grammar rules, they learn them by being immersed in it. This could help me do that with Greek. I especially like how it shows which words are modified by a word!
So what was the caution about interlinears that would apply to this again? I must have been asleep when our prof explained that...
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shark tacos said:
So what was the caution about interlinears that would apply to this again? I must have been asleep when our prof explained that...
They can become a crutch so that you never really learn the language. I've had profs with both philosophies - one required us to give him our interlinear at the beginning of the semester; others told us to use whatever help we needed.
πάντα εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ ποιεῖτε
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shark tacos said:
So what was the caution about interlinears that would apply to this again? I must have been asleep when our prof explained that...
No matter how hard you try to read the Greek in an Interlinear, you will actually read the English and fool yourself into believing that you are reading Greek. I notice that one poster said he had a prof who made them pass in their interlinears. Mine went a step further. He placed a question on the final exam requiring us to declare that we had not used any of those crutches—That question counted 75%!
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Jack Caviness said:
No matter how hard you try to read the Greek in an Interlinear, you will actually read the English and fool yourself into believing that you are reading Greek
I can concur; as one who's been teaching himself Greek for "several years"....this is my experience...take away the English and the aids...and then you find out what you really know... [:S]
Robert Pavich
For help go to the Wiki: http://wiki.logos.com/Table_of_Contents__
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Robert Pavich said:Jack Caviness said:
No matter how hard you try to read the Greek in an Interlinear, you will actually read the English and fool yourself into believing that you are reading Greek
I can concur; as one who's been teaching himself Greek for "several years"....this is my experience...take away the English and the aids...and then you find out what you really know...
Yep... I'm right there with ya.....but to be without an interlinear, uggh. There is also the fact that even if you or I were fluent in Greek we would still think in English or western culture. To rid ourselves of that could take years of immersion in the language and culture and even that would still be an approximation since we can't live in it then (1st Cent. I mean).
I regularly come to the conclusion that I know way too little about the original languages.
[*-)]
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