Stanley E. Porter - Matthew Brook O’Donnell, «The Greek Verbal Network Viewed from a Probabilistic
Standpoint: An Exercise in Hallidayan Linguistics», Vol. 14 (2001) 3-41
This study explores numerical or distributional
markedness in the verbal network of the Greek of the New Testament. It
extends the systemic analysis of Porter (Verbal Aspect in the Greek of
the New Testament, 1989), making use of the Hallidayan concept of
probabilistic grammar, which posits a typology of systems where features
are either "equiprobable".both features are equally distributed
(0.5/0.5).or "skewed".one feature is marked by its low frequency of
occurrence (0.9/0.1). The results confirm that the verbal aspect system of
the Greek of the New Testament is essentially independent of other verbal
systems, such as voice and mood.
Stanley E. Porter and Matthew Brook O’Donnell
32
5. ATTITUDE (12) and ASPECT2 (3)
Realization Statements:
+assertive +imperfective >> Present & Imperfect Indicative
–assertive +imperfective >> Present Subjunctive, Imperative & Optative
+assertive +stative >> Perfect & Pluperfect Indicative
–assertive +stative >> Perfect Subjunctive, Imperative & Optative
+imperfective +stative
+assertive .................... 5221 0.81 924 0.99 6145 0.83
–assertive .................... 1215 0.19 14 0.01 1227 0.17
+assertive –assertive
+imperfective............... 5221 0.85 1215 0.99 6436 0.87
+stative ....................... 924 0.15 14 0.01 936 0.13
The fifth set of examples concerns the relation of the ATTITUDE system
and ASPECT2 system. This set of systemic choices concerns the options of
±assertive and +imperfective/+stative (systems 12 and 3). The results of
this distributional analysis simply confirm what has been noted above, and
has already been discussed in Verbal Aspect. Choice of ±assertive is skewed
toward +imperfective over +stative, consistent with the distributional pro-
babilities of system 3, although to an even higher degree. Similarly, choice
of +imperfective is skewed toward the +assertive over –assertive
(0.81/0.19), and choice of +stative is also skewed—although even more
heavily—toward +assertive (0.99/0.01). The skewed statistics concerning
the +stative feature are commensurate with the very few perfect non-indi-
cative forms (–assertive) to be found in the Greek New Testament 97.
Again, the ASPECT2 system is not affected by the ATTITUDE system.
6. ATTITUDE subsystem (NON-ASSERTION) (13) and ASPECT1 (2)
Realization Statements:
+projective +perfective >> Aorist Subjunctive, Optative
+directive +perfective >> Aorist Imperative
+projective –perfective >> Present & Perfect Subjunctive, Optative
+directive –perfective >> Present & Perfect Imperative
97
See Porter, Verbal Aspect, pp. 361-62. Instances of the perfect subjunctive are only
ten in the Greek of the New Testament, and imperative forms occur four times. There
are no perfect optatives.
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