Sunday, August 23, 2009

of prepositions

i am a philologist by training, and one of the most mysterious aspects of language is prepositions.

they can mean numerous things.

for instance:

de--on or of
apo--from or agency
by--beside of agency

and myriad other things.

the only competitor, particles. and the final authority, smyth, is surprisingly thin on the subject. though hackett has an edition of denniston, the author of the greek particles, a fascinating book. and on to the particles.

though, without them, greek would be so much more difficult. they convey emotion, irony, personality, and so many other things. it's surprising how many sentences hang on them. not to mention poetry.

well, one day. thus endeth the lecture.

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