Verb - δ, θ, ζ endings

ObjectivesLearning objectives

• The morphology of verbs with a stem ending in a dental consonant
• When Leluka and Aorist overlap in meaning

VocabularyVocabulary

MorphologyMorphology: Verb - τ, δ, θ endings

• Dental consonants drop out before a σ, e.g. ᾄδω ‘sing’ in Luso (ᾄδσω → ᾄσω), and in Elusa (ἔᾳδσα → ᾖδσα → ᾖσα)
• In Leluka, τ and δ normally drop out like they do before σ, but θ sometimes displaces the κ, e.g. ἐλήλυθ-κα → ἐλήλυθα
• Before psv θ, dentals normally shift to a σ, e.g. ἐβαπτίζ-θην → ἐβαπτίσθην

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Leluka (6 – Completed past event)

Verb – Leluka: all 5 parts on one page →Also in Lesson 19.1, Lesson 20.2, Lesson 23.2, Lesson 38.2

Scholars have noted that there are a handful of examples where Leluka appears to be identical to the Aorist in meaning. Given the history of Greek, this should come as no surprise – the Leluka form eventually becomes the past-perfective form (like the Aorist) in later varieties of Greek. Given this, there had to be some stage in which the two forms overlap, and we see this already in the NT, though this use is rare:

The Leluka verb εἴληφεν is interpreted in a sequence of narrative events immediately after the Aorist verb ἦλθεν. The fact that the events of coming and taking are interpreted in a sequence suggests that the Leluka form here should be interpreted as a past-perfective like the Aorist. It is common for perfect forms to take on this function as they develop over time (see Semantics C for more discussion).

Similarly, some Aorist verbs have a meaning where we could just as easily use the Leluka form. When the verb refers to an event, both the Aorist and Leluka forms normally occur before the time of speaking. The only difference between them is that the Reference Time of the Leluka form should overlap with the time of speaking, which often means that there is some result associated with the event. Although the Aorist form does not specify an event with a subsequent result, a result can oftentimes be inferred with some events. Synoptic parallels sometimes alternate between the Aorist and Leluka forms:

The event of coming has an implied result associated with it, namely changing location. When used with the Aorist, the result is still present, though its implications are not explicitly marked as relevant to the discourse like the Leluka form implies. Even so, both the Aorist and Leluka have an implied result with such verbs. Both translations ‘Elijah already came’ and ‘Elijah has already come’ are acceptable, since the two are near-identical in the right context.