Levels of Constituent Structure in New Testament Greek: (4 Studies in Biblical Greek)

Levels of Constituent Structure challenges the foundations of the established grammars of New Testament Greek. Dr. Palmer demonstrates the sound empirical basis for word-level grammatical categories such as «noun» and «verb» as well as phrase-level categories. His analysis, however, shows that such categories are inadequate for explaining some obvious features of New Testament Greek. Using assumptions from generative linguistics and abundant empirical evidence drawn from New Testament texts, he argues that these two levels of grammatical categories must be supplemented by a third level between words and full phrases.

About the Author :
The Author: For the 1994-1995 academic year Micheal Palmer is a Mellon Research Fellow in Greek Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while on leave from his position as assistant professor of Religion and Philosophy at Bluefield College, Virginia. Dr. Palmer has presented papers on the application of linguistics to Hellenistic Greek at national meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and is an active writer on related issues. He holds the Ph.D. degree in New Testament Studies from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Review :
«Many Scholars work critically within the established categories of their fields. Rarely does one find the scholar who is able to propose new categories... Palmer's proposals represent a major advance over the methodology of traditional grammars and portend far-reaching changes in the ways in which grammars will be written in the future.» (R. Alan Culpepper, Baylor University) «Dr. Palmer demonstrates a through knowledge of modern studies in linguistics, especially in the area of syntactic theory. Applying recent methodologies in the analysis of constituent structures, he shows that traditional approaches to understanding Greek New Testament grammar are inadequate to explain certain syntactic constructions. This study convincingly shows the need for students of New Testament Greek to become conversant with developments in linguistics.» (Roger L. Omanson, United Bible Societies) «In this book, Micheal Palmer presents a convincing case for incorporating the insights of modern linguistics into the study of New Testament Greek grammar. He presents a clear summary of research in linguistics....and provides examples of how these methods can enhance the study of New Testament Greek. It is a pioneering work. Every serious student of New Testament Greek grammar needs to read this book¿» (John Polhill, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) «...a 'must read' for instructors and serious grammarians and exegetes.» (John Herzog, Religious Studies Review)