Paul Danove, «Verbs of Transference and Their Derivatives of Motion and State in the New Testament: a Study of Focus and Perspective.», Vol. 19 (2006) 53-71
This article identifies 102 New Testament verbs that designate
transference and describes alternative usages of these verbs as derivates of
motion and state. The discussion first considers the manner in which verbs
grammaticalize the event of transference by assuming a particular focus
and perspective on its elements and by indicating the degree of affectedness
of the subject. The study then develops the usages of motion and state in
terms of the exclusion of elements of the event of transference and changes
in focus and perspective. A concluding discussion summarizes the results of
the investigation.
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Verbs of Transference and their Derivatives of Motion and State...
συνάγομαι; and φέÏομαι. A further verb with the primary passive usage
of Transference from a Source (#8 on chart), ἀποσπάομαι ([with]draw),
presents no correlate primary active usage of Transference from a Source.
Two verbs, βάλλομαι and φυτεύομαι, with the primary active usage of
Transference Terminating in Locative appear with a correlate primary
passive usage of Transference Terminating in a Locative (#9 on chart); and
á¼Ï€Î¹ÏƒÏ…νάγομαι appears with a new primary passive usage of Transference
Terminating in a Locative15.
3. Usages of Motion
Twenty-one of the 102 verbs that designate transference also designate
motion. The event of motion logically involves three entities: something
that moves; the locale from which it moves; and the locale to which it
moves. These entities correspond to the semantic Theme, Source, and
Goal of the event of transference. Thus, this discussion deems the event
of motion for these 21 verbs to be derived from the event of transference
through exclusion of the Agent of transference16. Since the action of this
Agent reduces the Theme to a totally affected entity at the beginning of
transference, its exclusion from the event of motion removes the initial
affectedness of the Theme, permits its interpretation as the unaffected
instigator of its own initial motion, and retains its interpretation as a
totally affected entity at the termination of motion, where all movement
ceases. With this interpretation, the Theme of transference functions as the
initiating Agent of the event of motion; and former Theme’s trajectory of
transference becomes the new Agent’s path of motion. Thus, in the event
of motion, the former Theme of transference functions as Agent when
coincident with the Source and as Theme when coincident with the Goal.
Although the 21 verbs have the capacity to raise all three logical entities
of the event of motion to the status of verbal arguments, none of them
does so. Instead, the verbs assume a focus and perspective in relation to
the new Agent of motion that permits the verbs to raise at most two of
the logical entities to the status of verbal arguments. As with usages of
transference, the verbs with usages of motion may focus exclusively on
the initiation of motion or on both the initiation and the termination of
motion. Verbs that focus exclusively on initiation use active forms because
As the following study indicates, this derived event of motion retains some of the
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constraints of the event of transference. A more general presentation of the elements of
the event of motion appears in C. Goddard, Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction
(Oxford 1998) 197-99.