Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Here you can discuss all things Ancient Greek. Use this board to ask questions about grammar, discuss learning strategies, get help with a difficult passage of Greek, and more.
Post Reply
akhnaten
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:25 pm

Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by akhnaten »

Hello. Working through Mastronarde's 6th unit, and pretty much memorized the prepositions he gives. I found that annotating this diagram (by hand), and trying to reproduce it (with the additional meanings in Mastronarde) has made good practice.

Image

The meanings on the diagram correspond to at least one of the meanings given by Mastronarde. This diagram was made for Koine, but so far it is compatible (or at least adaptable) to classical Greek.

Source of diagram: Metzger's Lexical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek

mwh
Textkit Zealot
Posts: 4777
Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2013 2:34 am

Re: Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by mwh »

This looks very good and useful. And yes, it works just fine for classical Greek too, except for υπο (w/ gen. & dat., out of use in koine). Of course one could make additions, as n.2 acknowledges, e.g. προς with dat. and gen., or παρα w/ acc. But for most common uses this is well worth mastering. Note e.g. εις:προς::εκ:απο.

ailuros
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:40 pm

Re: Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by ailuros »

Hello Akhnaten,

Textkit poster cb kindly linked to this text some time ago, F. A. Adams' The Greek Prepositions [Studied from Their Original Meanings as Designations of Space].

http://www.archive.org/stream/greekprep ... 6/mode/2up

It's a lovely treatise, beautifully written, and it forever changed the way I think about prepositions, especially in relation to compound verbs.

If nothing else, I think I now understand why the Ανάβησις is called the Ανάβησις! Hope this is helpful and best of luck with your studies. That Mastronarde chart is quite nice, too.

ailuros
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 91
Joined: Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:40 pm

Re: Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by ailuros »

Sorry. I just realized my mistake. Ι meant Ανάβασις.

akhnaten
Textkit Neophyte
Posts: 72
Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:25 pm

Re: Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by akhnaten »

thanks for the link. definitely more advanced reading that i'm prepared for at the moment, but looks to be a good reference if i have additional questions on preposition use (which is bound to happen).

also, the chart is not from Mastronarde, but from Metzger's Lexical Aids for NT Greek, which is mainly a vocabulary frequency list. Mastronarde introduces probably 15 preposition formulas with maybe 8 prepositions (para+gen/dat/acc; pros+gen/dat/acc; epi+gen/dat/acc, meta+gen/acc; dia+gen/acc, and a handful more). Then provides 40+ examples. A thorough presentation, but I find an aid like Metzger's--though simplified--provides a structure that makes the initial memorization a little easier.

User avatar
bedwere
Global Moderator
Posts: 5098
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:23 pm
Location: Didacopoli in California
Contact:

Re: Geometric Arrangement of Greek Preposition

Post by bedwere »


Post Reply