| This dissertation was undertaken in order to fill a perceived gap in the study of Greek grammar in New Testament studies. It contends that the imperative mood as a whole has generally been neglected by Greek grammarians. This dissertation utilizes insights from modern linguistics and communication theory in order to propose an inherent (semantic) meaning for the mood and describe the way in which it is used in the New Testament (pragmatics). In chapter 1 the theoretical foundation for this work is described and developed. First, a linguistic theory called neuro-cognitive stratificational linguistics is used to help isolate the morphological imperative mood and focus on addressing issues directly related to this area. Second, principles from a communication theory called relevance theory provide a theoretical basis for describing the usages of the mood. Chapter 2 provides a survey of New Testament and select linguistic approaches to the imperative mood. Chapter 3 focuses on the meaning of the mood (semantics). It is proposed that the imperative mood is volitional-directive. Chapter 4 is devoted to usage (pragmatics). The dissertation suggests that the imperative mood should be classified in a multidimensional manner. Each imperative should be classified according to force, which participant (speaker or hearer) benefits from the fulfillment of the imperative, and where the imperative falls within the event sequence of the action described in the utterance. In order to accomplish this, with other pragmatic related information, sociological factors such as the rank of participants and politeness are discussed. In addition, the third person imperative and the so-called conditional usage are discussed in some detail. |
