Search for a Greek Pronoun without an Antecedent?

[Timothy Jenney]

Here's an interesting challenge, based on a Nerdy Language Majors post.

 

How can we search for a Greek pronoun with no known antecedent? For the purposes of this search, let's limit that search to one where the pronoun is not connected to an antecedent in the Syntax tree.

[rwrobinson88]

This one is difficult for me to figure out.

 

You would need to search:  [ANTECEDENT]@ [PRONOUN]

 

Then in another tab:  [PRONOUN]

 

Then the ability to remove the hits from the first from the second. However, I can't figure that out. I think there is a way. Tried to work with contents, but can't figure it out. :/

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Can't you just do  [PRONOUN] @- [antecedent] ?

 

Thx

D

[rwrobinson88]

Yep....

 

Sometimes, it's that simple.  

 

Thanks for pointing that out.

[rwrobinson88]

I was looking at some of these a little closer than I have before. And, they are definitely interesting. For example, in Titus 3:1, Ὑπομίμνῃσκε αὐτοὺς -- αὐτοὺς is a hit. However, if you look at the syntax graph, it's not an antecedent but a postcedent. 

 

And all of the postcedents are null. So, anyways. I just thought I'd point that out. I don't think I would feel comfortable with calling αὐτοὺς in this case a pronoun with a known antecedent.

[Λύχνις Δαν]

Tt 3:1 is only a hit for the case where you search [pronoun]@[antecedent]. A couple of things in the syntax that I recall about these :

 

  1. It was mentioned in one thread that the antecedent tag really doesn't mark the antecedent specifically but the antecedent relationship.

  2. The Titus 3:1 like cases are a consequence of the modelling of clauses with implied subjects. This is done differently in the Greek and Hebrew databases. In Greek null Subjects are only added where they do not exist for non-finite verb forms.

 

Thx

D