Conjunction – γάρ

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The phonology of crasis
• The syntax and semantics of the conjunction γάρ

VocabularyVocabulary

PhonologyPhonology: Crasis

Crasis is when a vowel that ends a word contracts with a vowel that begins the following word, e.g. καί and ἐγώ contract to form κἀγώ ‘and I.’ You can tell that the contraction takes place because the original smooth breathing mark of ἐγώ is retained and appears on the preceding α after the κ. This mark signals a contraction has taken place, and though it looks identical to the smooth breathing mark, it is called a coronis. The coronis appears only after a consonant, while the smooth breathing mark only appears with a vowel. There are only 9 of these contractions in the New Testament, and 7 of them are with the conjunction καί. The following table lists all the possibilities (all words are known already except ἄν and ἐναντίον):

SyntaxSyntax: Conjunction - γάρ

Like δέ, γάρ is a post-positive, which means that it cannot appear first in its clause. Although it usually appears second, it can also appear in 3rd or even 4th position in rare cases, e.g. ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ γὰρ in 2 Cor 1:19.

SemanticsSemantics: Conjunction - γάρ 1

Many linguists have recognized that languages have multiple words that can be used to introduce a reason for something, e.g. because and since. In Greek, both ὅτι and γάρ can be used to give a reason, but there are differences between the two conjunctions; we will focus on two. First, γάρ is the natural form for evidential reason clauses. These are clauses that give the reason we know something to be true. Consider the contrast between Mary ate a lot because she was hungry vs. Mary was hungry, because she ate a lot. In the first case, we understand that Mary’s hunger caused her to eat a lot. In the second case, the meaning is that we know Mary was hungry in light of how much she ate. In other words, her eating a lot is evidence of her hunger (and is not a cause); hence, this is called an evidential reason clause. These kinds of clauses can be paraphrased as ‘and we know this because,’ e.g. Mary was hungry, and we know this because she ate a lot. Normally, γάρ is used with this meaning:

The second clause provides evidence for the first statement, so it is an evidential reason clause. It can be paraphrased as ‘and we know this because you are also a Galilean.’

The second use of γάρ that distinguishes it from ὅτι is that it may provide a reason for asking a question or giving a command. It can be paraphrased as ‘and we are asking because’, and it is called speech-act causation because it gives the reason why a question or command is being given. After asking where the king of the Jews is to be found, the Magi give a reason for their question:

While γάρ is the most natural conjunction in these contexts, ὅτι is also possible with a comma before it, but without this intonation break, it is not used in these ways.

1 The discussion in this section is based on an unpublished manuscript by my former semantics teacher, Paul Kroeger (2020).