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.
The Greek Verbal Network Viewed from a Probabilistic Standpoint 35
8. CAUSALITY (5) and ASPECTUALITY (1)
Realization Statements:
+active +expectational >> Future Active
–active +expectational >> Future Middle & Passive
+active +aspectual >> Non-Future Active
–active +aspectual >> Non-Future Middle & Passive
+expectational +aspectual
+active ........................ 837 0.58 17495 0.73 18332 0.72
–active ........................ 597 0.42 6492 0.27 7089 0.28
+active –active
+expectational ............. 837 0.05 597 0.08 1434 0.06
+aspectual ................... 17495 0.95 6492 0.92 23987 0.94
The eighth set of examples concerns the relation of the CAUSALITY
system and ASPECTUALITY system. This set of systemic choices concerns
the options of ±active and +expectational/+aspectual (systems 5 and 1).
Choice of ±active does not affect semantic choice of +expectational or
+aspectual in the ASPECTUALITY system, with a similar skewed distributio-
nal ratio being present for both +active (0.05/0.95) and –active
(0.08/0.92) semantic features. Choice of +aspectual has a very similar dis-
tribution regarding ±active (0.73/0.27) as the CAUSALITY system 5 does on
its own (0.72/0.28). Choice of +expectational results in an equiprobable
distribution regarding ±active (0.58/0.42), rather than a skewed distribu-
tion. This is consistent with one of the noteworthy morphological fea-
tures of the future form, especially regarding having a more limited set of
voice forms (often evidencing what is called, whether rightly or wrongly,
deponency) 101. Regardless of how one analyzes the effect of selection of
the feature of +expectational, the ASPECTUALITY system is not affected by
the CAUSALITY system.
101
Porter, Idioms of the Greek New Testament, pp. 70-73.
FOLLOW US