INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to answer, albeit partially, a question I was asked regarding the analysis of the stative aspect (perfect) in ancient Greek. The question was whether, when encountering a form of the perfect, the prominence (namely, the major prominence drawing the reader’s attention) is in the verb itself, in the sentence in which the verb is found, or in the larger context of the text.
Three observations are necessary. The first is in what category is verbal aspect found. Some scholars place it as a lexical category. Hence, we have the concept of lexical aspect as durative, stative, iterative, etc[1]. On the other hand, there are those who categorize it as a semantic category associated with morphology. In this approach, aspect as a semantic-morphological category signals that a given desinence indicates perfective, imperfective, or stative aspect. This is the view I follow.
The second is that the concept of prominence, in text studies, is within the category of coherence[2]. Thus, prominence is a phenomenon of the text order[3]. On the other hand, in cognitive linguistics, salience is a semantic category related to the notion of construal[4].
The third is that the analysis of a language item has several levels of linguistic analysis. For example, the phonetic/phonological, the morphological, the lexical, the syntactic, and the discourse-textual pragmatic level. I take the view that these levels of analysis form a continuum, and that the discrimination of levels is mere arbitrariness that serves certain methodological goals of the researcher, but that in actual language use, these levels present themselves simultaneously. However, our perception only captures certain data of reality and not reality as a whole, although there is a unity of reality without which the parts cannot be understood. Having made these considerations, let’s look at the verbal aspect under some levels of analysis.
1. LEXICAL LEVEL
At this level, we are dealing with the verb considered as a word. This means that it is composed of a phonological pole (sounds) and a semantic pole (meaning). At the semantic level, I distinguish between the content (referential) and the form in which the content is conveyed (construal)[5].
At this lexical level, I will focus only on the lexical content of the word. In the case of verbs, they are of two general types, for my purposes here: actions (kill, justify, play etc.) and states (stay, remain etc.). There are relational verbs like “to be” and “to become”. Action verbs are those that indicate an agent acting on a state of affairs. Stative verbs indicate a change from one state of affairs to another state of affairs (e.g. John became healthy). Relational verbs are those that indicate relationships between beings (e.g., Carlos is Brazilian).
2. SEMANTIC LEVEL
The semantic level is composed of the content and the way in which the content is conveyed. This way the content is conveyed is called construal; that is: the alternative ways of describing a situation. One of the motivations for expressing the content in a certain way and not in another is associated with argumentation. By argumentation, we mean the ability to influence another’s thinking, their worldview, or even their actions[6].
A verb like “run”, I can present it in the present, past or future. Or in the active, passive, or middle voice (in the case of Greek voice system). The verbal aspect refers to the alternative ways of presenting a situation, event, etc.
An observation, without going into the distinctive minutiae between situation, event and action, every experience in concrete reality involves the following elements: the actions performed, those involved in these actions as the agents and possible patients of the actions, and spatio-temporal circumstance. The verb is just one of the semantic components of event/situation/action description. On the semantic level, we have the presentation of these experiences that are related to words and their combinations. These combinations enter the field of syntax.
At the semantic level, the perfective indicates the speaker’s distant view of a situation. The imperfective indicates distant proximity of the speaker’s view of a situation. The present tense signals closeness of the speaker’s view of the situation. The perfect indicates a somewhat closer view of the speaker’s view of the situation, and the perfect signals a highly approximate view of the speaker’s view of the situation. In other words, the verbal aspect serves as a tool for the speaker/writer to package the lexical content of a verb in a particular way relative to the other options to choose from in a sentence level towards the text.
3. CLAUSE LEVEL
At the clause level, a distinction must be made between finite and non-finite (or infinite) forms. The non-finite forms are infinitive and participle. The others are finite forms (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, future and optative). Finite forms are those in which a verb is specified by person categories (1st , 2nd, and 3rd, person, singular or plural).
At this level of analysis, verbal aspect relates to both finite and infinitive forms. For example, when we have the perfect in the indicative mood, this signals to the reader a greater involvement of the agent-subject of the sentence in the state in which it is presented. But this level of involvement comes in degrees when considering which aspectual form is presented in mixture with the verbal moods. One thing is aspect with the indicative; another thing is aspect with participle or imperative.
4. TEXTUAL LEVEL
In the text, the verbal aspect has two functions: coherence and cohesion. Cohesion is the ability to link the text in the interaction text producer and reader. The verbal aspect is used for sequential cohesion; that is: it is used to make the ideas in the text progress[7]. In other words, the verbal aspect helps to understand the structure of the text. For example, narrative texts like Revelation use the aorist indicative as structure, because it causes the reader a sense effect of objectivity, for this reason John uses the expression “I saw” a lot in the aorist indicative. On the other hand, there are passages in Revelation (chapter 5) where the tone is more descriptive, and the participle is used as a referential resource.
As for coherence, this concerns the construction of meaning; the text is a continuity of meanings. The text is a totality of meaning, presupposing the unity of reality. One of the elements of coherence is that of focus, that which is the focus of attention. The perfect is the major focus of attention, in relation to the other forms of verbal aspect, to which the reader must pay attention. But this focus of attention is associated with the construction of the discourse topic; that is: the central theme of the text or passage. The perfect contributes to signaling to the reader the theme of the text.
5. BRIEF CASE STUDY
Before concluding, I will show the various levels of linguistic analysis of the stative aspect in Revelation 5:1.
Καὶ εἶδον ἐπὶ τὴν δεξιὰν τοῦ καθημένου ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου βιβλίον γεγραμμμένον ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν κατεσφραγισμένον σφραγῖσιν ἑπτά.
And I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals.
There are two verbs in the stative aspect (γεγραμμένον [written] and κατεσφραγισμένον [sealed]), both associated with the noun βιβλίον (book). The analysis will be on these levels: lexical, semantic, syntactic, and textual-discursive.
5.1 Lexical
From a lexical point of view, we can analyze the morphology of the perfect in the participle: doubling of the first syllable (γε) ending of participle (μένον). By contrastive analysis, it is possible to distinguish the perfect participle (γεγγραμμμένον) from the present participle (καθημένου). The perfect participle is in the passive voice and accusative case, while the present participle is in the genitive case and middle voice.
From the point of view of semantic content, the perfect participle is referential to the book’s condition of “being written and sealed.” The book is in the condition of being sealed and written. The verb “to write” has a semantic content that is universal or at least known to the Western world. The verb “to seal”, on the other hand, means to close something securely. In a more specific lexical analysis considering the genre of the book (letter, prophecy and apocalypse), both are relative to a knowledge that is not accessible to God’s creation, since neither angels nor prophets (John) nor elders nor earth, air and water creatures have the authority to open the sealed book and discover its contents.
5.2 Semantic
From a semantic point of view, the perfect has the function of specifying something about the book, providing an important detail that the reader needs to take into consideration. In the relation between the aspectual forms, we have that the aorist packs the content in a more general way, the present specifies while the perfect provides even more detail. Thus, this is not to be seen by the reader as an ordinary book. The two perfects (γεγραμμμένον and κατεσφραγισμένον) give plenty of detail about the book.
Also from a semantic point of view, the perfect is associated with the participle. The participle has two semantic features: that of presupposition and that of frame evocation[8]. As presupposition, the participle signals to the reader that the content is assumed to be true in the reader’s mind[9]. John is not making some statement about the book. Rather, he is presenting its content by calling the reader to take it as truth. As a frame, the participle evokes a world knowledge that the reader is expected to know. The frame is BOOKS HAVE CONTENT and BOOKS CAN BE SEALED.
By merging participle with stative (perfect) aspect, John requires the reader, using his/her encyclopedic knowledge, to relate the semantic content of the “book” in the context of chapter 5. This unfolds at the level of textual analysis by processes of referencing, coherence, and discourse topic identification (see below).
5. 3 Syntactic
From a syntactic point of view, participles in the perfect create a nominal syntagma with the noun “book” as its nucleus (βιβλίον γεγραμμμένον ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν κατεσφραγισμένον). Syntagma is the semantic union between two or more words forming a unit. Morphologically, this is identified by case. Both βιβλίον and participles are in the accusative case because the latter agree with the nucleus “book”. On the other hand, “the book written and sealed inside and out” is the complement of the verb “I saw”, so it forms a verbal form with εἶδον (“I saw”) as its nucleus. Thus, we can see that a sentence is made up of phrases. Notice that the level of analysis is considering the previous points and becoming more complex.
If we think from a morphosyntactic point of view, here we have:
Paragraph > Complex clause > simple clause > syntagma > words > morphemes > desinences
From left to right, we can think of the paragraph as made up of a set of clauses around a sub-theme; these, in turn, are made up of clauses, which are made up of phrases, and so on.
5.4 Textual
At the textual level, the nominal syntagma “book written and sealed inside and out” has four functions. The first is that of referential introduction, the process by which a new referent is introduced into the text. The second is to signal the discourse topic – who is fit to open the sealed book. The third is the recategorization of the object of discourse “book”. In other words, the participle as a nominal syntagma serves to create referentiality. The fourth is to help the reader build coherence by identifying what is most IMPORTANT in the text: later in 5:6 another referent is [re]introduced, the Lamb (ἀρνίον ἑστηκὸς ὡς ἐσφαγμένον [a Lamb standing as in the state of immolated]), which is recategorized as standing and immolated by two participles in the perfect. All these participles in the perfect are used in order for the reader to construct meaning by inferring the relationship between the object of discourse WRITTEN AND SEALED BOOK with an IMOLIATED FOUND Lamb. In short, the Lamb, because of his death (and resurrection), is the only one who has the authority to open the book. The referencing also occurs not only by explicit elements, but also by implicit ones. It is implicit that only someone divine can open the book, because no creature of God can do it. So, we have the referent – WHO OPENS THE BOOK IS SOMEONE DIVINE. Therefore, Jesus is God.
CONCLUSION
The stative (perfective) aspect signals to the reader that the writer is presenting the content with greater focus and specificity and highly approximate perspective, whose function is to guide the reader argumentatively to construct the meaning of the text by relating the stative aspect to the central theme of the passage.
Moreover, it can be said that the prominence is at the lexical level as well as at the clause and textual level assuming a continuum view of the meaning of the text. One has, therefore, that focusing on the lexical (morphological), semantic, and clause level is a metonymy when relating it to the whole of the text.
[1] OLSEN, M. A semantic and pragmatic model of lexical and grammatical aspect. New York: Routledge, 1997.
[2] KOCH, Ingedore. A coerência textual. São Paulo: Contexto, 1990.
[3] PORTER, Stanley. Prominence: An Overview. In: PORTER, Stanley; O’DONNELL, Matthew (orgs). The Linguist as Pedagogue: Trends in the Teaching and Linguistic Analysis of the Greek New Testament. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009.
[4] LANGACKER, R. Cognitive Grammar: A basic introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
[5] LANGACKER, R. Essentials of Cognitive Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.
[6] KOCH, I; ELIAS, V. Escrever e Argumentar. São Paulo: Contexto, 2016.
[7] KOCH, I. A coesão textual. São Paulo: Contexto, 2010. 22. Ed.
[8] PARK, Y. Mark’s Memory Resources and the Controversy Stories (Mark 2:1–3:6): An Application of the Frame Theory of Cognitive Science to the Markan Oral-Aural Narrative. Linguistic Biblical Series 2. Leiden: BRILL, 2010.
[9] ALBUQUERQUE, R. Presupposition and [E]motion: The Upgraded Function and the Semantics of the Participle in the New Testament. New York: Peter Lang, 2020.