Callisper wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2019 3:53 pmHylander explained as follows:
Hylander wrote: ↑Thu Apr 04, 2019 3:58 pm
ἐγ- was not required for grammatical reasons: he used the verb ἐγκαταβιῶναι, "I have to live out my life in the midst of these misfortunes"
for a semantic reason -- i.e., that was exactly the idea he was trying to express.
that is, the difference between ἐγκαταβιῶναι and καταβιῶναι is more than simply in grammatical construction: there is a specific semantic sense to each. It is this
meaning that Plutarch is electing, not the grammatical construction (or whatever you were debating about).
I wish people would state what they mean clearly instead of leaving me to guess, which "a semantic reason" is it? I can think of two different patterns based on semantic (and pragmatic) and meaning ...
My understanding of the semantic reason is this:
καταβιόω without any additional prefixed preposition means live out one's life. It is monovalent having only the subject.
If there is another element to be added (ie becomes bivalent), the semantic reason that either ἐγκαταβιόω or συγκαταβιόω is chosen is based on what the meaning of the word that's relationship to the person's living is.
First pattern (semantic and pragmatic):
Semantic:
If the meaning of the nominal element to be added is a place or a state (all bad states in the examples I looked at), we use ἐγκαταβιόω and the place or the state is in the dative. If the meaning is a person, we use συγκαταβιόω and the person in the dative.
Pragmatic:
If the meaning is person and the person is vexatious ie representing a state that affects the way that live is carried out, the person is used in the construction representing the trouble that they cause, ie. ἐγκαταβιόω with the vexatious person in the dative.
In one case, person (with the attribute + involved) with συγκαταβιόω was expressed with the preposition μετά + genitive instead of with the dative.
Alternatively:
Only semantic:
If the meaning of the noun being added to καταβιόω is person it is differentiated between involved συγκαταβιόω or uninvolved ἐγκαταβιόω, while if the meaning is place or state it are always ἐγκαταβιόω. In every case, the nominal phrase is in the dative.
Exception: once person with συγκαταβιόω was expressed with the preposition μετά + genitive instead of with the dative.
In either analysis, the choice of either συγκαταβιόω or ἐγκαταβιόω prompts the reader of listener to expect a certain class of noun to follow.