The Markedness of Oιδa: A Discourse Analysis of 1 John

Abstract

By applying discourse analysis, this study first provides an analysis of the distribution of oiδa as well as other lexical choices from the same semantic domain as oiδa in 1 John. After that, the patterns of oiδa are compared with the patterns of the non-perfect tense forms of the choices from the same semantic domain to determine a correspondence. By comparing the results, this study demonstrates that oiδa, in opposition, is chosen in places in the discourse that are relatively more prominent than places in which the non-perfect tense forms of the other lexical items from the same semantic domain were chosen. It then demonstrates the plausibility that oioa is a marked form. Thus, this study shows that oiδa is a viable perfect through a study of the motivated choices of o'toa as opposed to other verbs in the same semantic domain in the discourse of 1 John.