Verb – Luso: all parts

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Luso (2 – Future state without endpoint)

The σ in the Luso and Elusa forms is probably originally the same morpheme which encoded perfective aspect. We have already said that Elusa is a perfective form, since it requires the end of the event to be included in the time that is being talked about, the reference time. Because Luso also has σ, can we say the same thing about the future, that it too is perfective? Despite the morphology, Luso is not perfective. There are many instances where a state referred to by the Luso form simply holds and does not have an endpoint, which is what we would expect from a true perfective form:

fromLesson 25.1: Verb – Luso middle singular

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Luso (3 – Deontic)

We have described the future as referring to a time after the time of speaking, but this, however, is a bit simplistic. Sometimes, the Luso form is used to refer to a future time when someone is obligated to perform an action. In other words, it is used more like a command, or at least to describe an obligation. We call this the deontic use of the future (see Semantics D for further discussion):

• (240) Placing a future obligation οὐκ ἔσεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταί (Matt 6:5)
• You should not be like the hypocrites

Jesus is here placing an obligation on his audience, so it is similar to an imperative. However, the deontic use of Luso need not always create an obligation:

Jesus is describing what someone must do to be first. This is the distinction between the future being used for an obligation and the imperative’s function to create an obligation. The Luso form describes an obligation and may also coincide with putting someone under an obligation. The imperative form never merely describes an obligation; it creates one (see further Semantics D).

fromLesson 26.1: Verb – Luso middle plural

SemanticsSemantics: Verb – Luso (4 – Logical future)

The Luso form may be used not to refer to an event that will happen in the future, but to an event that would theoretically happen if the hypothetical circumstances under discussion were true. We will call this the logical future. The key to this meaning is that a hypothetical world is being discussed:

There is no specific servant under discussion here that the master will find doing the right thing. Rather, the point is that the blessed servant is whoever will be doing his master’s will. This is a “logical” use of the future in the sense that it refers to an event that will happen given a certain set of circumstances, namely any servant doing his master’s will.

fromLesson 27.3: Verb – Luso passive