Re: USAGE: Initial "and" (was Re: The Babel Text)

Merhaba!

Mark J. Reed wrote:

"Speaking of the Babel text - the English begins with the word "and", which seems
particularly common in Biblical translations and, in general, verse:

"And all the land was one language and few words.

"What exactly does the "and" signify here? I'm a native English speaker, but I still
don't really know. It's obviously not joining anything together, really.
Logically, it seems to be doing nothing at all, and yet there's a subtle at
least connoative difference between the anded and andless versions.

Maybe the anded version means something like, '[And so,] all the land was one
language and few words'. Maybe there's something before this part of the Bible
about language or about the people of the land, and this part is just
continuing with the story.

--Trebor

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