Explanatory clauses introduced by τω...

[LCN]

Hi,

I can read Greek pretty well at this point but I am mostly self-taught, so there are a few minor grammatical phenomena of which I don't have a clear grasp.

One is the explanatory clause introduced by the neuter definite article in the dative case. I don't have an example handy but I can provide one if necessary.

I usually read the article as something like "in virtue of...". In any case the effective meaning of the clause is always clear. But still I'm not sure what precisely this construction is doing or what if any analogue it has in modern languages.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I can give an example or two if my question is not clear.

[cb]

hi, i presume you're referring to the dat of the articular inf; see smyth s2033:

http://www.archive.org/stream/agreekgra ... 2/mode/1up

given that you say that "the effective meaning of the clause is always clear" to you, what further thing is it that you want to know? cheers, chad

[LCN]

Thanks, that reference was just what I was looking for.

As to your question one can often make out in a general way the meaning of a particular construction by understanding its context without understanding precisely what it's doing or how it should be translated.

Kind of like knowing that jiggering with the antenna on a TV improves the reception without knowing why.