János L. Nagy:
Linguistic, rhetorical and semiotic analyses of the language of Gospels
Abstract:
The title of the paper proposes an analysis of excerpts derived from gospels, from a syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic aspect. The paper addresses the issue of semantic content in the syntax of relative clauses. A study of the chiasmes of logions confirms that the contrast established between meanings of the structure is further complicated by context. The second part of chiastic structures, i.e., the terminating part of the logions, has special relevance for the pragmatics of the sayings of Jesus. In the logions of the first ones and the last ones, the contextual relations of the variants appear to underlie the meaning of the structure built on verbatim interpretation. The fact that the position of the first ones and the last ones prevails in the social space of the times of Jesus is clearly stated. Connected to this is the standard intercrossing of the chiasme, interpreted in the other world (different, in terms of space and time, from the situation described in the saying). In different variants, the logion is used to comfort, warn, or console the audience in accordance with the particular second part of the structure. The paper offers a foundation for a symbolic interpretation of the logical content and rhetorical function of the sayings of Jesus.
