Querying Greek Texts in XML: Part 4

This is the last in a series on querying Greek texts with XQuery. Before you read this, you should consider reading the earlier posts:

Querying Greek Texts in XML: Part 1: introduces simple queries on base texts.
Querying Greek Texts in XML: Part 2: discusses morphologies and three kinds of syntax trees
Querying Greek Texts in XML: Part 3: shows a variety of queries that exploit morphology

In this post, we will start doing syntax queries on the Lowfat syntax trees, focusing on participles.

NOTE: This talk is also being proposed as a Talk Session at THATCamp AAR/SBL 2015, Friday, 20 November.

NOTE: The queries in this post came from a practical use case: Micheal Palmer and I needed examples of various uses of the participle for a series of lessons to be taught using living language techniques. If you want to see the lesson taught using living language techniques, come to Systematically Generating Examples from a Syntactic Treebank for Internalizing Language, on Sunday, 22 November, in session S22-206 at 1:00 P.M. to 3:30 P.M.

Queries on Syntax: Greek Participles

Researching the syntax of a language and internalizing a language in a classroom both need lots of examples, many more examples than are found in most textbooks. A syntax treebank is a crucial tool for finding precisely the examples that are needed. In this post, we will focus on querying Greek participles. The queries here were derived largely by reading through the chapter on participles in Rijksbaron’s The Syntax and Semantics of the Verb in Classical Greek, querying the Lowfat trees to find New Testament examples to illustrate the points he makes, and modifying the queries to identify examples particularly well suited to classroom instruction.

The first step is to look at a participle in a sentence and see how the syntax tree is structured. Here is an example from Luke 6:8:

<sentence>
   <cite>Luk6:8:22-6:8:24</cite>
   <wg nodeId="420060080220030" class="cl" role="s">
      <w morphId="42006008022" class="conj" lemma="καί">καὶ</w>
      <wg nodeId="420060080230020" class="cl">
         <w morphId="42006008023" class="verb" role="adv" 
            lemma="ἀνίστημι" 
            tense="aorist"
            voice="active"
            mood="participle"
            case="nominative"
            gender="masculine"
            number="singular">ἀναστὰς</w>
         <w morphId="42006008024" class="verb" role="v" head="true" 
            lemma="ἵστημι"
            person="third"
            number="singular"
            tense="aorist"
            voice="active"
            mood="indicative">ἔστη</w>
         <pu>.</pu>
      </wg>
   </wg>
</sentence>

This sentence has three Greek words, which generally require about twice as many English verbs to translate. Most of the action is in the relationship between the two verbs.

καὶ	ἀναστὰς	ἔστη
and	he rose (and)	he stood there

A great deal of the meaning of Greek sentences lies in the syntactic relationships among words, and the verbs play a central role. Syntax trees represent this meaning with structure and attributes. In the syntax tree, the class, role, and head attributes, together with the hierarchical relationships in the tree, describe the syntactic relationships. The main verb is ἔστη, so the role is v. The participle is adverbial, so the role is adv. Because the participle is adverbial, you can remove it and still have a perfectly good sentence, καὶ ἔστη, meaning “he stood there”. The adverbial participle paints the scene for the main verb - in this case, it is aorist, so it describes something that happened before the main verb, the man rising up to stand there.

Exploring Syntax Markup for Participles

The first step in querying any corpus is to explore it and become familiar with the information it contains. For starters, we might want to know what roles a participle can have:

distinct-values(//w[@class='verb' and @mood='participle']/@role)

Here is the result of that query:

v vc adv p o o2

To fully understand the meaning of these role attributes, you would have to read the documentation, but here we’re going to focus on the meaning they have when they describe participles:

Participles are that are objects of other verbs have role = o
For circumstantial participles (also called adverbial participles), role = adv
For genitive absolutes (free participles), role = v or vc (and case = genitive).

Sometimes this role attribute occurs directly on the participle, sometimes it occurs on the wg element that contains it, sometimes both the participle and the word group that contains it have roles, depending on the interpretation of the sentence.

Now we can call this function in the return clause to return the text without the entire syntax tree:

Tayloring Examples for Teaching or Textbooks

When teaching or writing textbooks, the kinds of examples that are needed can be highly specific. For instance, in a living language classroom, you may want to start out by introducing short sentences that have a lot of participles and not much else.

The following query finds queries with at least 3 participles, sorted by length:

for $sentence in //sentence
where count($sentence//w[@mood='participle']) > 2
order by count($sentence//w)
return $sentence

Here is the first example, which has one circumstantial participle and two supplementary participles:

<sentence>
   <cite>Luk11:25:1-11:25:6</cite>
   <wg nodeId="420110250010060" class="cl" role="s">
      <w morphId="42011025001" class="conj" lemma="καί">καὶ</w>
      <wg nodeId="420110250020050" class="cl">
         <w morphId="42011025002"
         class="verb"
         role="adv"
         lemma="ἔρχομαι"
         tense="aorist"
         voice="active"
         mood="participle"
         case="nominative"
         gender="neuter"
         number="singular">ἐλθὸν</w>
         <w morphId="42011025003"
         class="verb"
         role="v"
         head="true"
         lemma="εὑρίσκω"
         person="third"
         number="singular"
         tense="present"
         voice="active"
         mood="indicative">εὑρίσκει</w>
         <wg nodeId="420110250040030" class="cl" role="o">
            <w morphId="42011025004"
            class="verb"
            head="true"
            lemma="σαρόω"
            tense="perfect"
            voice="passive"
            mood="participle"
            case="accusative"
            gender="masculine"
            number="singular">σεσαρωμένον</w>
            <w morphId="42011025005" class="conj" lemma="καί">καὶ</w>
            <w morphId="42011025006"
            class="verb"
            lemma="κοσμέω"
            tense="perfect"
            voice="passive"
            mood="participle"
            case="accusative"
            gender="masculine"
            number="singular">κεκοσμημένον</w>
            <pu>.</pu>
         </wg>
      </wg>
   </wg>
</sentence>

The syntax trees are helpful when we need to see all the details, but cumbersome when we want to list examples as text. We can convert the trees to text with a function. This function modifies the syntax tree for each sentence as follows:

The variable $w iterates over the words in the sentence tree, in sentence order (putting discontinuous words in their right place)
A space is inserted before each word
Each word is converted to a string, followed by any punctuation that immediately follows the word

Here is the function:

declare function local:straight-text($sentence)
{
 <sentence>
    { attribute cite { $sentence/cite } }
    <p>
     {
       for $w in $sentence//w
       order by $w/@morphId
       return (
         " ", concat(string($w),string($w/following-sibling::*[1][name() = 'pu']))
       )
     }
    </p>
 </sentence>
};

Now we can modify the original query to return local:straight-text($sentence) instead of $sentence:

for $sentence in //sentence
where count($sentence//w[@mood='participle']) > 2
order by count($sentence//w)
return local:straight-text($sentence)

Here are the first results, with quite a few sentences that are useful for introducing the participle:

<sentence cite="Luk11:25:1-11:25:6">
   <p> καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="1Co4:12:7-4:13:2">
   <p> λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, δυσφημούμενοι
   παρακαλοῦμεν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat12:44:10-12:44:16">
   <p> καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σχολάζοντα σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act21:2:1-21:2:8">
   <p> καὶ εὑρόντες πλοῖον διαπερῶν εἰς Φοινίκην ἐπιβάντες
   ἀνήχθημεν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk16:16:1-16:16:9">
   <p> ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας
   κατακριθήσεται.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jms1:6:7-1:6:15">
   <p> ὁ γὰρ διακρινόμενος ἔοικεν κλύδωνι θαλάσσης ἀνεμιζομένῳ καὶ
   ῥιπιζομένῳ·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk16:10:1-16:10:10">
   <p> ἐκείνη πορευθεῖσα ἀπήγγειλεν τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις
   πενθοῦσι καὶ κλαίουσιν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk6:38:5-6:38:14">
   <p> μέτρον καλὸν πεπιεσμένον σεσαλευμένον ὑπερεκχυννόμενον δώσουσιν
   εἰς τὸν κόλπον ὑμῶν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk9:6:1-9:6:10">
   <p> ἐξερχόμενοι δὲ διήρχοντο κατὰ τὰς κώμας εὐαγγελιζόμενοι καὶ
   θεραπεύοντες πανταχοῦ.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act13:3:1-13:3:10">
   <p> τότε νηστεύσαντες καὶ προσευξάμενοι καὶ ἐπιθέντες τὰς χεῖρας
   αὐτοῖς ἀπέλυσαν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk7:10:1-7:10:11">
   <p> καὶ ὑποστρέψαντες εἰς τὸν οἶκον οἱ πεμφθέντες εὗρον τὸν δοῦλον
   ὑγιαίνοντα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk22:27:1-22:27:11">
   <p> τίς γὰρ μείζων, ὁ ἀνακείμενος ἢ ὁ διακονῶν; οὐχὶ ὁ
   ἀνακείμενος;</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act19:18:1-19:18:11">
   <p> πολλοί τε τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἤρχοντο ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶ
      ἀναγγέλλοντες τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="2Th3:11:1-3:11:11">
   <p> ἀκούομεν γάρ τινας περιπατοῦντας ἐν ὑμῖν ἀτάκτως, μηδὲν
      ἐργαζομένους ἀλλὰ περιεργαζομένους·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat26:43:1-26:43:12">
   <p> καὶ ἐλθὼν πάλιν εὗρεν αὐτοὺς καθεύδοντας, ἦσαν γὰρ αὐτῶν οἱ
   ὀφθαλμοὶ βεβαρημένοι.</p>
</sentence>

You may need something more specific, e.g. sentences with at least 3 participles where one of them is a genitive absolute:

for $sentence in //sentence
where count($sentence//w[@mood='participle']) > 2
  and $sentence//w[@mood='participle' and @role=('v','vc') and @case='genitive']
order by count($sentence//w)
return $sentence

Here are the first results:

<sentence cite="Act27:13:1-27:13:12">
   <p> Ὑποπνεύσαντος δὲ νότου δόξαντες τῆς προθέσεως κεκρατηκέναι
      ἄραντες ἆσσον παρελέγοντο τὴν Κρήτην.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act27:15:1-27:15:12">
   <p> συναρπασθέντος δὲ τοῦ πλοίου καὶ μὴ δυναμένου ἀντοφθαλμεῖν τῷ
      ἀνέμῳ ἐπιδόντες ἐφερόμεθα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act19:36:1-19:36:13">
   <p> ἀναντιρρήτων οὖν ὄντων τούτων δέον ἐστὶν ὑμᾶς κατεσταλμένους
      ὑπάρχειν καὶ μηδὲν προπετὲς πράσσειν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act8:7:1-8:7:16">
   <p> πολλοὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐχόντων πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα βοῶντα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ
      ἐξήρχοντο, πολλοὶ δὲ παραλελυμένοι καὶ χωλοὶ ἐθεραπεύθησαν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat28:11:1-28:11:17">
   <p> Πορευομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδού τινες τῆς κουστωδίας ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν
      πόλιν ἀπήγγειλαν τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν ἅπαντα τὰ γενόμενα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk1:32:1-1:32:17">
   <p> Ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης, ὅτε ἔδυ ὁ ἥλιος, ἔφερον πρὸς αὐτὸν πάντας
      τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας καὶ τοὺς δαιμονιζομένους·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jhn18:22:1-18:22:17">
   <p> ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰπόντος εἷς παρεστηκὼς τῶν ὑπηρετῶν ἔδωκεν
      ῥάπισμα τῷ Ἰησοῦ εἰπών· Οὕτως ἀποκρίνῃ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ;</p>
</sentence>

Or you may need participles in a variety of cases. This query finds sentences with participles in at least 3 cases:

for $sentence in //sentence
where count(distinct-values($sentence//w[@mood='participle']/@case)) > 2
order by count($sentence//w)
return local:straight-text($sentence)

Here are the results:

<sentence cite="Act7:24:1-7:24:13">
   <p> καὶ ἰδών τινα ἀδικούμενον ἠμύνατο καὶ ἐποίησεν ἐκδίκησιν τῷ
      καταπονουμένῳ πατάξας τὸν Αἰγύπτιον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act19:36:1-19:36:13">
   <p> ἀναντιρρήτων οὖν ὄντων τούτων δέον ἐστὶν ὑμᾶς κατεσταλμένους
      ὑπάρχειν καὶ μηδὲν προπετὲς πράσσειν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act8:7:1-8:7:16">
   <p> πολλοὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐχόντων πνεύματα ἀκάθαρτα βοῶντα φωνῇ μεγάλῃ
      ἐξήρχοντο, πολλοὶ δὲ παραλελυμένοι καὶ χωλοὶ ἐθεραπεύθησαν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat28:11:1-28:11:17">
   <p> Πορευομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἰδού τινες τῆς κουστωδίας ἐλθόντες εἰς τὴν
      πόλιν ἀπήγγειλαν τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσιν ἅπαντα τὰ γενόμενα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act28:6:11-28:6:27">
   <p> ἐπὶ πολὺ δὲ αὐτῶν προσδοκώντων καὶ θεωρούντων μηδὲν ἄτοπον εἰς
      αὐτὸν γινόμενον, μεταβαλόμενοι ἔλεγον αὐτὸν εἶναι θεόν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act27:2:1-27:2:19">
   <p> ἐπιβάντες δὲ πλοίῳ Ἀδραμυττηνῷ μέλλοντι πλεῖν εἰς τοὺς κατὰ τὴν
      Ἀσίαν τόπους ἀνήχθημεν ὄντος σὺν ἡμῖν Ἀριστάρχου Μακεδόνος
      Θεσσαλονικέως·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Heb4:2:1-4:2:20">
   <p> καὶ γάρ ἐσμεν εὐηγγελισμένοι καθάπερ κἀκεῖνοι, ἀλλ’ οὐκ
      ὠφέλησεν ὁ λόγος τῆς ἀκοῆς ἐκείνους, μὴ συγκεκερασμένους τῇ
      πίστει τοῖς ἀκούσασιν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act24:27:1-24:27:21">
   <p> Διετίας δὲ πληρωθείσης ἔλαβεν διάδοχον ὁ Φῆλιξ Πόρκιον Φῆστον·
      θέλων τε χάριτα καταθέσθαι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὁ Φῆλιξ κατέλιπε τὸν
      Παῦλον δεδεμένον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Heb10:34:1-10:34:21">
   <p> καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεσμίοις συνεπαθήσατε, καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν
      ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε, γινώσκοντες ἔχειν
      ἑαυτοὺς κρείττονα ὕπαρξιν καὶ μένουσαν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk13:17:1-13:17:22">
   <p> καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντος αὐτοῦ κατῃσχύνοντο πάντες οἱ ἀντικείμενοι
      αὐτῷ, καὶ πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἔχαιρεν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐνδόξοις τοῖς
      γινομένοις ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act16:16:1-16:16:22">
   <p> Ἐγένετο δὲ πορευομένων ἡμῶν εἰς τὴν προσευχὴν παιδίσκην τινὰ
      ἔχουσαν πνεῦμα πύθωνα ὑπαντῆσαι ἡμῖν, ἥτις ἐργασίαν πολλὴν
      παρεῖχεν τοῖς κυρίοις αὐτῆς μαντευομένη·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk6:27:1-6:28:9">
   <p> Ἀλλὰ ὑμῖν λέγω τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑμῶν, καλῶς
      ποιεῖτε τοῖς μισοῦσιν ὑμᾶς, εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωμένους ὑμᾶς,
      προσεύχεσθε περὶ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat3:7:1-3:7:24">
   <p> Ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ
      βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν
      ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="1Tm1:12:1-1:13:8">
   <p> Χάριν ἔχω τῷ ἐνδυναμώσαντί με Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ὅτι
      πιστόν με ἡγήσατο θέμενος εἰς διακονίαν, τὸ πρότερον ὄντα
      βλάσφημον καὶ διώκτην καὶ ὑβριστήν·</p>
</sentence>

Or you may need sentences with at least two circumstantial participles:

for $sentence in //sentence
where count($sentence//w[@mood='participle' 
            and (@role='adv' or parent::wg[@role='adv'])]) > 1
order by count($sentence//w)
return local:straight-text($sentence)

Here are the first results:

<sentence cite="Luk5:28:1-5:28:6">
   <p> καὶ καταλιπὼν πάντα ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rom12:15:1-12:15:6">
   <p> χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων, κλαίειν μετὰ κλαιόντων.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="1Co4:12:7-4:13:2">
   <p> λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, δυσφημούμενοι
   παρακαλοῦμεν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat22:22:1-22:22:7">
   <p> καὶ ἀκούσαντες ἐθαύμασαν, καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἀπῆλθαν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk1:31:1-1:31:7">
   <p> καὶ προσελθὼν ἤγειρεν αὐτὴν κρατήσας τῆς χειρός·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk19:6:1-19:6:7">
   <p> καὶ σπεύσας κατέβη, καὶ ὑπεδέξατο αὐτὸν χαίρων.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Gal5:26:1-5:26:7">
   <p> μὴ γινώμεθα κενόδοξοι, ἀλλήλους προκαλούμενοι, ἀλλήλοις
   φθονοῦντες.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat8:25:1-8:25:8">
   <p> καὶ προσελθόντες ἤγειραν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Κύριε, σῶσον,
   ἀπολλύμεθα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk14:39:1-14:39:8">
   <p> καὶ πάλιν ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον εἰπών.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk4:20:1-4:20:8">
   <p> καὶ πτύξας τὸ βιβλίον ἀποδοὺς τῷ ὑπηρέτῃ ἐκάθισεν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk8:24:1-8:24:8">
   <p> προσελθόντες δὲ διήγειραν αὐτὸν λέγοντες· Ἐπιστάτα ἐπιστάτα,
   ἀπολλύμεθα·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk19:28:1-19:28:8">
   <p> Καὶ εἰπὼν ταῦτα ἐπορεύετο ἔμπροσθεν ἀναβαίνων εἰς
   Ἱεροσόλυμα.</p>
</sentence>

Here are the first results if we require at least three circumstantial participles:

<sentence cite="1Co4:12:7-4:13:2">
   <p> λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, δυσφημούμενοι
   παρακαλοῦμεν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk16:10:1-16:10:10">
   <p> ἐκείνη πορευθεῖσα ἀπήγγειλεν τοῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ γενομένοις
   πενθοῦσι καὶ κλαίουσιν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat26:44:1-26:44:13">
   <p> καὶ ἀφεὶς αὐτοὺς πάλιν ἀπελθὼν προσηύξατο ἐκ τρίτου τὸν αὐτὸν
   λόγον εἰπὼν πάλιν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat14:30:1-14:30:14">
   <p> βλέπων δὲ τὸν ἄνεμον ἰσχυρὸν ἐφοβήθη, καὶ ἀρξάμενος
   καταποντίζεσθαι ἔκραξεν λέγων· Κύριε, σῶσόν με.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat27:35:1-27:36:5">
   <p> σταυρώσαντες δὲ αὐτὸν διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ βάλλοντες
   κλῆρον, καὶ καθήμενοι ἐτήρουν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk10:25:1-10:25:14">
   <p> Καὶ ἰδοὺ νομικός τις ἀνέστη ἐκπειράζων αὐτὸν λέγων· Διδάσκαλε,
   τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω;</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk9:20:6-9:20:20">
   <p> καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν τὸ πνεῦμα εὐθὺς συνεσπάραξεν αὐτόν, καὶ πεσὼν
   ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκυλίετο ἀφρίζων.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk5:25:1-5:25:17">
   <p> καὶ παραχρῆμα ἀναστὰς ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν, ἄρας ἐφ’ ὃ κατέκειτο,
   ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ δοξάζων τὸν θεόν.</p>
</sentence>

Incidentally, one verse has 7 circumstantial participles!

   
<sentence cite="2Pe2:4:1-2:10:12">
   <p> Εἰ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς ἀγγέλων ἁμαρτησάντων οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ σειραῖς
   ζόφου ταρταρώσας παρέδωκεν εἰς κρίσιν τηρουμένους, καὶ ἀρχαίου
   κόσμου οὐκ ἐφείσατο, ἀλλὰ ὄγδοον Νῶε δικαιοσύνης κήρυκα ἐφύλαξεν,
   κατακλυσμὸν κόσμῳ ἀσεβῶν ἐπάξας, καὶ πόλεις Σοδόμων καὶ Γομόρρας
   τεφρώσας καταστροφῇ κατέκρινεν, ὑπόδειγμα μελλόντων ἀσεβέσιν
   τεθεικώς, καὶ δίκαιον Λὼτ καταπονούμενον ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀθέσμων ἐν
   ἀσελγείᾳ ἀναστροφῆς ἐρρύσατο βλέμματι γὰρ καὶ ἀκοῇ ὁ δίκαιος
   ἐγκατοικῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας ψυχὴν δικαίαν ἀνόμοις ἔργοις
   ἐβασάνιζεν οἶδεν κύριος εὐσεβεῖς ἐκ πειρασμοῦ ῥύεσθαι, ἀδίκους δὲ
   εἰς ἡμέραν κρίσεως κολαζομένους τηρεῖν, μάλιστα δὲ τοὺς ὀπίσω
   σαρκὸς ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ μιασμοῦ πορευομένους καὶ κυριότητος
   καταφρονοῦντας.</p>
</sentence>

Or perhaps you need examples with at least two supplementary participles:

   
for $sentence in //sentence
where count($sentence//w[@mood='participle' 
            and (@role='o' or parent::wg[@role='o'])]) > 1
order by count($sentence//w)
return local:straight-text($sentence)

Here are the first results:

   
<sentence cite="Luk11:25:1-11:25:6">
   <p> καὶ ἐλθὸν εὑρίσκει σεσαρωμένον καὶ κεκοσμημένον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Heb13:14:1-13:14:10">
   <p> οὐ γὰρ ἔχομεν ὧδε μένουσαν πόλιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν μέλλουσαν
   ἐπιζητοῦμεν·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk1:52:1-1:53:7">
   <p> καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινούς, πεινῶντας
      ἐνέπλησεν ἀγαθῶν καὶ πλουτοῦντας ἐξαπέστειλεν κενούς.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat12:20:1-12:20:16">
   <p> κάλαμον συντετριμμένον οὐ κατεάξει καὶ λίνον τυφόμενον οὐ
      σβέσει, ἕως ἂν ἐκβάλῃ εἰς νῖκος τὴν κρίσιν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk8:35:1-8:35:30">
   <p> ἐξῆλθον δὲ ἰδεῖν τὸ γεγονὸς καὶ ἦλθον πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν, καὶ
      εὗρον καθήμενον τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀφ’ οὗ τὰ δαιμόνια ἐξῆλθεν
      ἱματισμένον καὶ σωφρονοῦντα παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ
      ἐφοβήθησαν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rev10:1:1-10:2:8">
   <p> Καὶ εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον ἰσχυρὸν καταβαίνοντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,
      περιβεβλημένον νεφέλην, καὶ ἡ ἶρις ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ
      πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ὡς στῦλοι πυρός,
      καὶ ἔχων ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοῦ βιβλαρίδιον ἠνεῳγμένον.</p>
</sentence>

Or perhaps you want to optimize classroom time by focusing on the verbs most commonly used as participles. The following query generates statistical information on the use of participles in the Greek New Testament:

   
for $word in //w[@mood='participle']
let $sentence := $word/ancestor::sentence
group by $lemma := $word/@lemma
let $count := count($word)
order by $count descending
count $rank
where $rank < 50
return 
   <participle>
     {
         attribute lemma {$lemma},
         attribute rank {$rank},
         attribute count {$count}
      }
    </participle>

Here are the top 50 verbs used as participles:

   
<participle lemma="λέγω" rank="1" count="514"/>
<participle lemma="ἔχω" rank="2" count="240"/>
<participle lemma="ἔρχομαι" rank="3" count="158"/>
<participle lemma="εἰμί" rank="4" count="158"/>
<participle lemma="ὁράω" rank="5" count="140"/>
<participle lemma="ἀκούω" rank="6" count="135"/>
<participle lemma="γίνομαι" rank="7" count="134"/>
<participle lemma="ἀποκρίνομαι" rank="8" count="104"/>
<participle lemma="ποιέω" rank="9" count="100"/>
<participle lemma="λαμβάνω" rank="10" count="79"/>
<participle lemma="πιστεύω" rank="11" count="77"/>
<participle lemma="λαλέω" rank="12" count="71"/>
<participle lemma="κάθημαι" rank="13" count="65"/>
<participle lemma="ἐξέρχομαι" rank="14" count="64"/>
<participle lemma="καλέω" rank="15" count="64"/>
<participle lemma="ζάω" rank="16" count="62"/>
<participle lemma="ἵστημι" rank="17" count="58"/>
<participle lemma="μέλλω" rank="18" count="54"/>
<participle lemma="προσέρχομαι" rank="19" count="51"/>
<participle lemma="πορεύομαι" rank="20" count="50"/>
<participle lemma="ἀνίστημι" rank="21" count="49"/>
<participle lemma="δίδωμι" rank="22" count="48"/>
<participle lemma="εἰσέρχομαι" rank="23" count="48"/>
<participle lemma="ὑπάρχω" rank="24" count="42"/>
<participle lemma="γράφω" rank="25" count="40"/>
<participle lemma="καταβαίνω" rank="26" count="38"/>
<participle lemma="πέμπω" rank="27" count="37"/>
<participle lemma="βλέπω" rank="28" count="37"/>
<participle lemma="ἀγαπάω" rank="29" count="37"/>
<participle lemma="διδάσκω" rank="30" count="34"/>
<participle lemma="ἀπέρχομαι" rank="31" count="31"/>
<participle lemma="θέλω" rank="32" count="30"/>
<participle lemma="γινώσκω" rank="33" count="30"/>
<participle lemma="οἶδα" rank="34" count="28"/>
<participle lemma="κατοικέω" rank="35" count="28"/>
<participle lemma="περιπατέω" rank="36" count="27"/>
<participle lemma="προσεύχομαι" rank="37" count="27"/>
<participle lemma="ἐγείρω" rank="38" count="26"/>
<participle lemma="ζητέω" rank="39" count="26"/>
<participle lemma="δέω" rank="40" count="26"/>
<participle lemma="παραδίδωμι" rank="41" count="25"/>
<participle lemma="ἀναβαίνω" rank="42" count="25"/>
<participle lemma="εὑρίσκω" rank="43" count="25"/>
<participle lemma="ἀποστέλλω" rank="44" count="25"/>
<participle lemma="σπείρω" rank="45" count="24"/>
<participle lemma="δύναμαι" rank="46" count="24"/>
<participle lemma="ἐσθίω" rank="47" count="23"/>
<participle lemma="κρίνω" rank="48" count="22"/>
<participle lemma="προσκαλέομαι" rank="49" count="22"/>

Or perhaps you want to see only participles for verbs of perception, using common verbs known to your students:

   
let $lemmas := ("ὁράω", "ἀκούω", "βλέπω", "γινώσκω", "οἶδα", "εὑρίσκω")
for $sentence in //sentence
where $sentence//w[@mood='participle' and @lemma=$lemmas]
order by count($sentence//w)
return local:straight-text($sentence)

Here are the first results:

   
<sentence cite="Heb3:16:1-3:16:4">
   <p> τίνες γὰρ ἀκούσαντες παρεπίκραναν;</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk20:16:12-20:16:16">
   <p> ἀκούσαντες δὲ εἶπαν· Μὴ γένοιτο.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rev22:17:9-22:17:13">
   <p> καὶ ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω· Ἔρχου·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat12:15:1-12:15:6">
   <p> Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς γνοὺς ἀνεχώρησεν ἐκεῖθεν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk8:53:1-8:53:6">
   <p> καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ, εἰδότες ὅτι ἀπέθανεν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk9:11:1-9:11:6">
   <p> οἱ δὲ ὄχλοι γνόντες ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Luk18:15:10-18:15:15">
   <p> ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ ἐπετίμων αὐτοῖς.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jhn14:9:15-14:9:20">
   <p> ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ ἑώρακεν τὸν πατέρα·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jhn18:21:4-18:21:9">
   <p> ἐρώτησον τοὺς ἀκηκοότας τί ἐλάλησα αὐτοῖς·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rom8:24:5-8:24:10">
   <p> ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς,</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rev17:6:18-17:6:23">
   <p> Καὶ ἐθαύμασα ἰδὼν αὐτὴν θαῦμα μέγα·</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat22:22:1-22:22:7">
   <p> καὶ ἀκούσαντες ἐθαύμασαν, καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἀπῆλθαν.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mrk6:38:10-6:38:16">
   <p> καὶ γνόντες λέγουσιν· Πέντε, καὶ δύο ἰχθύας.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jhn9:7:14-9:7:20">
   <p> ἀπῆλθεν οὖν καὶ ἐνίψατο, καὶ ἦλθεν βλέπων.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Jhn20:20:11-20:20:17">
   <p> ἐχάρησαν οὖν οἱ μαθηταὶ ἰδόντες τὸν κύριον.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Act7:31:1-7:31:7">
   <p> ὁ δὲ Μωϋσῆς ἰδὼν ἐθαύμασεν τὸ ὅραμα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Rev22:8:1-22:8:7">
   <p> Κἀγὼ Ἰωάννης ὁ ἀκούων καὶ βλέπων ταῦτα.</p>
</sentence>
<sentence cite="Mat2:10:1-2:10:8">
   <p> ἰδόντες δὲ τὸν ἀστέρα ἐχάρησαν χαρὰν μεγάλην σφόδρα.</p>
</sentence>

But wait, there’s more!

This post is the last in this tutorial, but it only scratches the surface, showing some of the queries you might do to illustrate how participles work in the Greek New Testament.

If you’ve been reading this without actually trying out the queries, the best next step is to go back to the first installment and work your way through the tutorial again, trying out the queries and writing variations on them to see what results they yield. The data and software you need is available for free on Windows, Macintosh, or Linux, and it opens up powerful possibilities for querying syntax.

This tutorial has been focused on Greek texts, morphologies, and treebanks, but similar techniques can be used to query any kind of XML, and many kinds of XML can be queried together, generating new kinds of data from existing datasets. See the dashboard for other resources you might want to explore this way.

And if this tutorial has whetted your appetite, there will be other tutorials for other languages, datasets, and environments here on biblicalhumanities, where we are working to build an open data ecosystem for biblical data and teach people how to use it.