Re: Question about "voice"

From: "David Peterson" <DigitalScream@...>
>     In all the discussion about the reflexive Spanish verbs and what they do,
> the concept of "middle voice" came up a couple of times.  This is something
> I've never encountered.  What's it mean?
SIL says:
    Middle voice is a voice that indicates that the subject
    is the actor and acts
        - upon himself or herself reflexively, or
        - for his or her own benefit.
    In the case of plural subjects, the actors may, perhaps,
    act upon each other.

Greek Syntax page says:
    The middle voice denotes that the subject is both an agent
    of an action and somehow concerned with the action.

OED says:
    4. Philology.  a. Gram. Intermediate between active and
    passive: primarily (after Gr. mesê diathesis, meson rhêma),
    the designation of a 'voice' of Gr. verbs which normally
    expresses reflexive or reciprocal action, action viewed as
    affecting the subject, or intransitive conditions. Hence
    applied  (a) to the system of conjugation in other
    Indogermanic langs. morphologically corresponding to the
    Gr. middle voice;  (b) to verbal forms in various langs.
    serving to express a reflexive or reciprocal sense.

So it's 'sort of' a reflexive.
Some LXX Greek examples that come up in the translation I'm working on:

    kai egeneto             hespera kai egeneto             prôi
    and be-born.AOR.MID.3SG evening and be-born.AOR.MID.3SG morn

    "and evening was, and morning was"

where 'egeneto' is aorist indicative middle 3sg of <gignomai>, one of those 'to
be born' verbs so recently brouhahaed.
Also it appears here where God gives his command in the passive, it is carried
out in the middle?

    kai eipen ho  theos genêthêtô                phôs
    and said  DEF deity be-born.AOR.IMP.PASS.3SG light

    kai egeneto             phôs
    and be-born.AOR.MID.3SG light

    "and God said let there be light and there was light"

> And is there a low voice and a high
> voice?  Or, for that matter, a right voice and a left voice?
;)

All I know are 'voice' in verbs (active, middle, passive) and 'voice' in
phonation (breathy, creaky..)

    *Muke!

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