It is fitting to begin a study on how modern English speakers describe aspect in Ancient Greek by exploring how the ancient Greeks described this concept themselves. In the Platonic dialogue The Sophist, the verb is defined as “the word indicating action,” or simply the action word. Aristotle defines the verb as “a sound compounded with meaning and indicative of time”. A verb, according to the Greeks, describes action, from which we can deduce further that it has a subject, and it indicates time. Most often, the Indo-European languages divide time into three divisions – present, past, and future. Greek, however, seems to have too many tenses. Dionysios Thrax explains that the past has four subdivisions: the imperfect, perfect, pluperfect, and aorist. In addition, “among these, there are three groups: present to imperfect, perfect to pluperfect, and aorist to future.” Although this feature of the verb is not obviously apparent in English, a Greek verb is more than an action that indicates time but it also conveys aspect.
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Stephens.
Methodology
I will begin this comparison by summarizing the prefaces of each text to determine their purpose and identify each’s methods. I believe this will allow me to judge their representation of aspect more fairly. Each textbook will be evaluated based on: (1) format and visual presentation; (2) when and how aspect is introduced; (3) terminology; and (4) how aspect is explained.
Prefaces: Goals and
Stephens.
Methodology
I will begin this comparison by summarizing the prefaces of each text to determine their purpose and identify each’s methods. I believe this will allow me to judge their representation of aspect more fairly. Each textbook will be evaluated based on: (1) format and visual presentation; (2) when and how aspect is introduced; (3) terminology; and (4) how aspect is explained.
Prefaces: Goals and