Discourse Prominence in Matthew 20,1-16 45 rry the story along and provide supporting material for the foregrounded thematic elements which are indicated by the use of the present/imperfect tense (imperfective aspect). The present/imperfect tense is set against the background aorist aspect viewing the action as in progress (or unfolding) to indicate that the material is central to the discourse. When the imper- fect tense is used, the imperfective aspect functions to highlight certain elements in the narrative as well as significant descriptions while at the same time portraying a sense of remoteness. The perfect/pluperfect tense (stative aspect) is reserved for distinct points of particular interest within the narrative.15 The stative aspect is the most heavily marked aspect and is used to indicate the most prominent features of the discourse. Because it is more semantically marked, the stative aspect can function to draw attention to specific elements in the discourse that are designated by its use to stand out unexpectedly and conspicuously. Porter contends that the Greek verbal system consists of a sequence of semantic choices with the aorist as the least heavily marked, followed by the present, then the perfect tense, each progressively representing more semantically significant choices.16 Because verbal aspect requires a subjective choice based on the author’s perspective in any given cir- cumstance, it has been acknowledged that the author’s use of aspect can function to demonstrate discourse prominence17. 3. Discourse Prominence in Matthew 20,1-16 The range of tenses used in the pericope found in Matthew 20,1-16 provides an opportunity to apply Porter’s aspect theory to portray the author’s understanding of the given processes, and in turn how those choices possibly function to express levels of prominence in the narrative. While this approach is gradually being applied to multiple genres and significant portions of the NT18, this theoretical approach to verbal as- pect has yet to be applied to much of the text. The following analysis will employ Porter’s model of verbal aspect to examine the feasibility of the author’s use of aspect to portray discourse prominence. 15 For more on the perfect tense refer to Porter, Verbal Aspect, 92. With reference to the perfect tense, Porter states that “it is discrete, well-defined and contoured, apparently much more so than the Present/Imperfect and certainly the Aorist tenses” (92). 16 Porter, Verbal Aspect, 89-93. 17 Porter, Idioms, 23; Wallace, “Figure and Ground”; Reed, “Verbal Aspect.” 18 See Decker, Temporal Deixis.