Question – WH-words singular

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology and syntax of the noun Ἱεροσόλυμα
• The morphology of the sg WH-words, and their syntax and semantics

VocabularyVocabulary

NoteἹεροσόλυμα ‘Jerusalem’

The forms of Ἱεροσόλυμα ‘Jerusalem’ are complex. First, it may take either a pl neut article, such as τά, or the fem sg ἡ. It declines like a neuter noun, so besides the nom and acc being Ἱεροσόλυμα, the gen form is Ἱεροσολύμων and the dat is Ἱεροσολύμοις. In addition to these forms which may be marked as either neut pl or fem sg, there is also an exclusively fem sg form that does not decline, namely Ἰερουσαλήμ.

GrammarGrammar Topic: Question – WH-words singular

The type of question-words we learn in this lesson are called WH-words in linguistics because these question words start with wh - in English, specifically what and who.

MorphologyMorphology: Question – WH-words singular

• WH-words have 3rd declension endings, and since masc and fem nouns have the same endings in 3rd declension, these are also not distinguished with WH-words.
• The gen and dat endings, -ος and -ι respectively, are the same for all three genders (see 9.3.3.1 where we introduced the neut 3rd declension forms).
• In all forms, the stem is τίν-.
• When the σ is added to the masc/fem nom, the ν of the stem drops out.
• The final ν drops out of the neut nom and acc (similar to how the final τ of the stem drops out in ὄνομα; see 9.3.3.1).
• – The accent on τίν- is always an acute, showing that Greek used a higher pitch for questions (the acute accent was originally pronounced with a higher pitch; see Phonology A).

SyntaxSyntax: Question – WH-words (WH-movement)

Questions often change the order of the words in a sentence. One hallmark of WH-words across languages is that they normally move to the beginning of the sentence. I say “move” because they might be replacing some other element in a different position. For example, when we ask a question like Whom did John hit, the word whom is standing in for the direct object of the sentence, which normally comes after the verb hit as in John hit Tom. The normal word order for questions is not John hit whom in English, but it is Whom did John hit where the object that is being questioned moves to the front of the sentence.

In NT Greek, you can find both VS and SV order after questions when something other than the subject is being questioned, but VS is a bit more common, as we see in Matt 16:13:2

SemanticsSemantics: Question – WH-words

The primary function of WH-words in Greek is to act as a signal to the hearer that the thing questioned is unknown to the speaker. This is the essence of what it means to question something. It is an indication from the speaker that they are missing information about an event or state, and they are requesting that the hearer provides that information. In Matt 16:13 above, Jesus is asking his disciples what people say about him. Although it could be argued that he already knows the answer, he is prompting the disciples to supply the information he is requesting, which they do in the rest of the passage.