AGNT quarterly newsletters archive (and how to subscribe to this free periodical)
Since 2008 we have published a quarterly AGNT newsletter. Whereas the main purpose of the newsletters has been to inform concerning developments within the AGNT project, another aspect has been instructive of how Greek functions as a language and how we handle that for the benefit of the reader.
The newsletters are free and will be sent to anyone asking for them. Request from John Hughes at <johnhughes@centurytel.net>. One may either subscribe and get all future quarterly issues, or he may order individual back issues or the entire set. Of course, the same may be achieved at this website.
There follows a list of newsletter dates by quarter, topics covered, and keywords found therein. Any or all of these may be downloaded. Just click on the filename for a given quarter (e.g. AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2008) and the PDF file will open. You can choose to just read it on the screen or download it.
1. Brief introductions to The Project, Our Team, Ongoing Tasks, Potential Tasks by Timothy Friberg
Introductions to the AGNT Project, our team, ongoing tasks and potential tasks.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2008
2. English reference glosses (ERGs) by Timothy Friberg
A discussion of the AGNT “fourth line” in which English reference glosses (ERGs) are assigned to each next Greek word in the text; sample of how that looks from John 1.1-9.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2008
3. Meaning and Transformation: The Determination of GNT Word Meaning by Means of Transformation by Jan Hoogland, MSc
Overview of Transformational Greek New Testament (TGNT)
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2009
4. Revising the Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament by Timothy Friberg
Discussion; in particular what is being revised in ANLEX and what is being added; possibility of grammatical sketch; obituary: Robert Merz
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2009
5. The Emdros Linguistic Search Engine by Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen
Introduction to the Emdros Linguistic Search Engine.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2009
6. A Search for Volunteer Greek Experts for a Worthy Cause by Timothy Friberg
A low-key request for volunteers to aid the development of the AGNT fourth line, that is, that of English reference glosses, and related tasks, for example, reviewing each related ANLEX lexical write-up.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2009
7. AGNT and BART (Biblical Analysis Research Tool) by Barbara Friberg
Discusses BART. It compares it to Bibleworks, Paratext, Translators Workplace. This tool is exclusively for translation personnel the world around.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2010
8. Why I Promote the AGNT by Phil Fields, Pioneer Bible Translators
The discussion regards many practical examples where a given translation just gets it wrong, especially in minority languages translating from a national language translation. Using source languages helps, e.g. AGNT, can improve a translation.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2010
9. General Progress Report on Major AGNT Development Projects as of October 1, 2010 by Timothy Friberg
Subsections of discussion include the AGNT10 project, AGNT81 project, BYZ-AGNT Project, AGNT-ANLEX Revision Project, Other Tasks and Matters.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2010
10. Byzantine Textform by Maurice Robinson, PhD
Announcement of the release of BYZAGNT. “The Byzantine Textform in Relation to the History of the New Testament Text” by Maurice Robinson, PhD.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2010
11. Ancient Greek Voice Forms: Categorizing and Making Sense of Them by Carl W. Conrad, PhD
This article includes such subsections as the following: Complexity and the Uneven Pace of Linguistic Change; The Dubious Doctrine of Deponency; Descriptive Terminology and Tagging for Voice Forms and Usage; Functions of “Active” and “Middle-passive” Morphological Paradigms; Development of the Voice Systems in Ancient Greek—A Speculative Account; The “Personalities” of Verbs Require Intimate Familiarity. This article is followed by an “Update by Timothy Friberg” in which he discussions medio-long-range plans for reflecting Conrad’s approach to Greek verbal voice in the various AGNT modules.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2011
12. AGNT in BibleTrans by Tom Pittman, PhD
The article describes how to use computers to develop a semantic database of the Scriptures and a semantic-syntactic database of the target language to greatly enhance Bible translation, both in terms of speed and accuracy.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2011
13. Short Report on the AGNT Project by Timothy Friberg.
Topics include: whether to add syntactic component; revision of ANLEX; finetuning of ERGs; upgrading of BYZAGNT; the correction and perfection of AGNT3 to become AGNT Classic; whether and when to reprint hardcopy AGNT.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2011
14. Using AGNT in Olive Tree’s BibleReader by Mark Nodine
Illustrates AGNT and ANLEX in the Olive Tree biblical software packager.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2011
15. AGNT ERGs—English Reference Glosses by Timothy Friberg
Including Presentation of English Reference Glosses (ERGs) in AGNT. The ERG assignment is discussed and illustrated in a number of points showing what ERGs do and do not do. There is no discussion of \gkphr, \plerg, \perg, as these terms were introduced in a later enhancement.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2012
16. A Comparison of Six Electronic Lexicons by Mark Nodine, PhD
In particular: Strong (1890), Thayer (1894), Abbott-Smith (1921), NASEC (1998), ANLEX (2000), and BDAG (2000).
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2012
17. AGNT Project Update by Timothy Friberg
Included in discussion: ERGs for BYZAGNT; proofreading ERGs for AGNT; phrases in ERGs; review of conjunctions; ANLEX lexical write-up revision; electronically linking AGNT and ANLEX; TGNT proofreading; parallel system of Middle and Passive.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2012
18. Paratext – A Powerful Tool for Bible Translators by Reinier de Blois (UBS)
What Paratext offers in the areas of editing, research, checking, publishing, among others. The use and presentation of AGNT in Paratext is offered.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2012
19. ERGs, PERGs, and More! AGNT Project Update—Part 1 by Timothy Friberg
The concept of PERG (phrasal English reference gloss) is explained and illustrated, mainly by showing how Paratext applies ERGs and PERGs. A number of other AGNT modules are touched on by a short statement including those of “annotation,” conjunctions, voice. Samuel Plederer’s help, among others, is noted in passing.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2013
20. UBS Paratext and SIL Translators Workplace: AGNT Project Update—Part 2 by Timothy Friberg
Topics include UBS Paratext and SIL Translators Workplace (TW) and BART (Bible Analysis Research Tool); Complete reworks of the AGNT Appendix; Annotations. Thanks to individual volunteers; note of John Werner’s “Greek: a programmed primer” (GAPP).
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2013
21. English Reference Glosses in AGNT and BYZAGNT by Timothy Friberg
A short presentation of ERGs found in AGNT and ANLEX. A description of what a lexical write-up in ANLEX comprises. On how to treat literal versus figurative expressions in AGNT’s ERGs and PERGs. Three logical possibilities on the way forward: 1. Leave well enough alone; 2. Make a general shift toward more literal expression of ERGs. 3. Give more literal meanings in ERGs and introduce a figurative ERG, that is FERG.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2013
22. English Reference Glosses in AGNT and BYZAGNT—II by Timothy Friberg
Based on reader survey and intense discussions, we decided to continue giving literal meanings in ERG except where figurative sense was clearly author and his reader’s sense. Then for extended figurative language, give literal in ERGs, figurative in PERGs. Samuel Pflederer’s contributions in 2013: revise electronic Appendix; pointed AGNT usage to Appendix discussion in 30,000 cases; gave “strict morphology” from AGNT contextual morphology; added seconds notation; made TGNT operative.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2013
23. Overview of Some AGNT Activities During the First Quarter of 2014 by Timothy Friberg
Includes: Classic AGNT archiving task; AGNT4 and AGNT5; AGNT5 vs AGNT-NA28; survey questions for Carl Conrad’s restating AGNT appendix 5.3; snippet updates on other tasks.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2014
24. Typesetting the Analytical Concordance of the Greek New Testament by John J. Hughes.
Report on the typesetting of the “Analytical Concordance of the Greek New Testament.”
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2014
25. Voice in Greek Verbs by Timothy Friberg, with lavish input from Dr. Carl Conrad
The presentation is summarized here by sections: I. The original AGNT Appendix discussion of voice (5.3) and the new presentation of the same; II. Five representative ANLEX write-ups (on the left is the original ANLEX statement; on the right is the innovating statement); III. Two passages from AGNT in the typical present interlinear format of Greek text, AGNT tags, lemma/citation forms, and English reference glosses (the first in both cases is in the original seven-symbol Greek voice analysis [A, M, P, E, D, O, N] while the second is in the innovating three-symbol Greek voice analysis [A, M, P]); IV. The analytical listings of ANLEX are also shown with the original ANLEX on the left, and the innovating ANLEX on the right; V. The appendix of AGNT is where we give our detailed explanation of the AGNT parsing tags and other related matters; and the appendices of ANLEX, where Dr. Conrad will have a new essay to further discuss voice in Greek.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2014
26. Current AGNT Tasks: Year-end Summaries of Various Current AGNT Tasks by Timothy Friberg
Including Daniel Hoopert on Greek conjunctions; Carl Conrad on Greek voice; review of ERGs.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2014
27. ERG content and ANLEX lexical write-up revision: Recent Developments in the AGNT Project by Timothy Friberg
Recent developments include Tony Pope coming to work on reviewing ERG content and ANLEX lexical write-up revision; annotational additions, including strict morphology, and second verbs. A larger discussion of how to represent second aorists, futures, perfects, pluperfects within the signature tags in AGNT.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2015
28. Visits with seven AGNT scholars: Our Three-Month U.S.A. Odyssey by Timothy Friberg
Reporting on visits with seven AGNT scholars: Dan Hoopert, conjunction project; Michael Bushell, BibleWorks; Maurice Robinson, Byzantine Textform; Carl Conrad, voice of verbs; Winsor Wheeler, poet and Greek professor; Mark Nodine, computer expertise; Ray Gordon; ERG evaluation. In addition two not visited: Tony Pope, ANLEX review; John R. Werner, AGNT consultant emeritus and GAPP author.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2015
29. AGNT and BibleWorks 10 by Michael Bushell
BibleWorks, LLC, is a review of how BibleWorks once treated AGNT databases (prior to BW10 and how in BW10 AGNT has received special emphasis and prominence.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2015
30. State of the AGNT Project: 2015 by Timothy Friberg
The current projects highlighted include Ray Gordon proofreading the Westcott-Hort AGNT; Dan Hoopert working on conjunctions, currently οὖν; Dan is also working with us to help John Werner electronically publish his GAPP; Carl Conrad on voice in Greek and in AGNT; Tony Pope on revising ANLEX and reviewing ERGs in AGNT; syncing lexical write-up revision and ERG corrections for periodic releases fully coordinated; Paul O’Rear new to SIL and interacting with AGNT development; Mark Nodine and ongoing computer expertise.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2015
31. Beyond Deponency: A Paradigm Shift in Our Understanding of Greek Voice by Carl Conrad, Ph.D.
This is a major general statement on the viability of a simple A M P voice analysis for Greek (and Latin and other languages), relevant to AGNT mainly in that we are happy to be involved with a major parallel system reflecting Conrad’s insights.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2016
32. AGNT Project Review by Timothy Friberg
AGNT-WH coming soon; AGNT Conjunction Tags and ERGs Evaluation; AGNT Front-back Matter Revision; Highlighting ANLEX to Boost a User’s Independent Evaluation; Generic Reference Pronouns and Substantives
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2016
33. Tagging ANLEX and Pointing AGNT by Timothy Friberg
A major undertaking to highlight the actual place in an ANLEX write-up where an ERG gloss from AGNT is pointed to. Examples how the setup process works from beginning to end.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2016
34. AGNT Project Module Overview, December 2016 by Timothy Friberg
A comprehensive overview of what the AGNT project offers in its various modules. It is meant to be a show and tell item for existing and potential vendors so that they may see what we have to offer.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2016
35. AGNT Project Update, April 2017 by Timothy Friberg
A summary of our ongoing ANLEX revision done by Tony Pope. This is our best effort to update the lexical database of ANLEX. We also have a project underway to update our analytical database, containing a listing of every known Greek word found in the Greek manuscripts.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2017
36. Unicode Composite Characters and Diphthongal Segments of Long Vowels by John Hughes and Timothy Friberg
This article explores the problem of creating properly formed composite characters in Unicode, focusing on diphthongal segments of long vowels (α or η or ω) in Greek.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2017
37. Short Update on the AGNT Project by Timothy Friberg
This article gives a brief update of what has happened in the recent past. It also announces the publishing of www.AGNTProject.net.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2017
38. End-of-Year 2017 AGNT Project Status by Timothy Friberg
This article announces the republishing of the version published by Trafford as Classic AGNT. Also the progress on a thorough revision of ANLEX is going well with major input from Tony Pope in Switzerland. It also explains the work being done by various Greek scholars such as Ulrik Sandborg-Petersen in Denmark, Ray Gordon in Dallas TX, Dan Hoopert in Harrisonburg VA, United Bible Societies’ Reinier de Blois.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2017
39. AGNT Project Activities—Early 2018 by Timothy Friberg
Reports: a new volunteer has joined the team; heightened hope for soon implementing Carl Conrad’s alternate approach to voice in AGNT; FEB18 update of AGNT project released with ANLEX now containing parts one and two (out of thirty); ANLEX01 highlighting task completed in advanced draft; interpropositional conjunction project moves forward; Classic AGNT text looking for a new publisher; sample of Classic AGNT typesetting given; support for John Werner’s GAPP project.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2018
40. Introducing John Hughes by Timothy Friberg
A brief overview of AGNT’s electronic agent. Announcement: closing of BibleWorks.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2018
41. The Interface of Theory and Practice: the Case of Greek Voice by Timothy Friberg
A brief overview of what the issues are in the modern understanding of voice in Greek and what the AGNT project is doing about implementing it.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2018
42. Two tweaks to AGNT Database by Timothy Friberg
Introduces two recent changes in the AGNT project database. First, the tag category “VR, imperative sense” that has been with us from the beginning has now been transferred out of the tags in put into our annotations field with no loss of information involved. Second, the original AGNT practice of giving a tag to Hebrew or Aramaic words used in the Greek text based on the tag of the Greek translation thereof has been discontinued. Instead, the “tag” [foreign word] has been substituted.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2018
43. AGNT News by Timothy Friberg
Reports that annual updates of the AGNT and ANLEX databases were recently released. Hearing from readers and users about what is and isn’t helpful in the modules helps us fix deficiencies and strengthen present offerings. Extensive work is in progress to complete the highlighting enhancement that takes the English Reference Gloss (ERG) for each word of the AGNT database and links it to its ANLEX source so that it can be highlighted in Bible software programs.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2019
44. The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae® Project: Part 1 by John J. Hughes
No other resource in the world can touch the TLG when it comes to finding all occurrences of a Greek word or phrase (inflected or lemmatized) in any Greek literature in the period between Homer (8 c. B.C.) and the fall of Byzantium in A.D. 1453 or any authorial, chronological, or corporeal subset thereof. In short, if you wish to do serious, world-class diachronic or synchronic word studies, you need access to the full TLG corpus.
This article gives extensive overview of how to access and use the TLG corpus, with numerous links to the actual program.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2019
45. The Thesaurus Linguae Graecae® Project: Part 2 by John J. Hughes
This article concludes the extensive overview of how to access and use the TLG corpus, with numerous links to the actual program.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2019
46. New Voice Tagging System for Verbal Forms in the GNT by John J. Hughes
After several years of work, the AGNT Project is happy to release a new voice-tagging system for verbs in the Greek New Testament. This new system, explained below, complements the other well-known AGNT tags and is meant to be offered to end users as an alternate voice tagging system that can be toggled on and off.
The AGNT Project has recently completed a new tagging system for voice that uses three tags—A, M, and P—instead of our traditional seven tags (all other verbal and nonverbal analyses remain unaffected). These three tags strictly reflect the morphological form of verbs, without taking meaning into consideration.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2019
47. General Overview of Current AGNT Project, April 1, 2020 by Timothy Friberg
This report gives and overview and status of the various revisions and enhancements seemingly always underway to make AGNT more valuable and up to date.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2020
48. AGNT 2020 Update; ANLEX Highlighting; and a Unique Opportunity by Timothy Friberg
After nearly a decade we have now gone public with the innovating enhancement fields for verbal tags and verbal lemmas. Special thanks to Dr. Carl Conrad again for his unstinting support of the project he originally inspired us to undertake. The 2020 AGNT update has just been released to venders. It contained over a thousand refinements to AGNT’s English reference glosses (ERGs).
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2020
49. AGNT 2020: Bits & Pieces by Timothy Friberg
Innovative AGNT Verbal Tags are found in the database. There are a number of comments found elucidating the tag, such as Strict Morphology, Imperatival Status, etc. All are clarified with clear examples.
Two men are honored for their years of involvement in many aspects of the AGNT project: John Werner and Carl Conrad and others.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2020
50. Pending AGNT 2021 Update by Timothy Friberg
Announcement of the release the annual AGNT project update in February 2021. Whereas we have updated both AGNT and ANLEX before, this is the first update where the two parts of the AGNT project will be tightly coordinated. Examples and highlighted texts show what this will look like.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2020
51. On Two Views of the Same Phenomenon: New Testament Greek Voice by Timothy Friberg
The view of Greek voice presented in Revised AGNT and ANLEX is traditional but with a few refinements. No one has ever complained that we don’t fairly present the traditional view of voice, especially as it is tied to the concept of deponency.
“Innovating” ANLEX grew out of observations by Carl Conrad that Greek (and Latin) voice is increasingly being viewed by linguists and Greek experts as a reflection of “subject affectedness,” active voice verbs being generally unmarked and unremarkable for subject affectedness, while middle and passive voice verbs are marked in their voice designation as indicating that the subject of a (would-be) corresponding active verb is somehow affected in some sense additional to being its actor.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2021
52. Concordances to the Bible: A History and Prospective Part 1 by John J. Hughes and Peter C. Patton
A more lengthy presentation is giving to show how the AGNT project grew from an idea to reality with the help of numerous people throughout the years, the first being Peter Patton. Peter wrote the first draft of the following article. Building on that work, I (John Hughes) did extensive additional research into the history of concordances and expanded and rewrote the article to make it more complete.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2021
53. Concordances to the Bible: A History and Prospective Part 2 by John J. Hughes and Peter C. Patton
Concluding the lengthy History and Prospective, this begins with the late twentieth century and concludes defending the value of the Analytical Concordances published, and an overview of concordance making. Standard Concordances for Biblical Studies are all reviewed along with other Greek writings.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2021
54. Considering the Analysis of Definite Articles before Conjoined Constituents by Timothy Friberg
Most Greek definite articles (tag D) are followed by some form of substantive. For definite articles that are not followed by a substantive, we use a tag D+ to indicate that the definite article is carrying more meaning than a normal D. There are seven common types of constructions that use a D+ tag.
We have observed another type of construction that might possibly use a D+ tag. This is a single definite article before two or more conjoined constituents that appear to be treated as a unit. The regularity was first observed by Granville Sharp. We have a list of 203 of those. We are analyzing reasons why those might or might not be suitable for D+.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2021
55. ANLEX Revision and Highlighting of Parts of ANLEX Entries by Timothy Friberg
The original ANLEX (Neva Miller, 2000) is undergoing major revision by Tony Pope. It is also being developed into two versions. The first reflects the traditional view of Greek voice. The second uses an innovating approach that appears to do a much better job of handling middle and passive voiced verbs. We plan to provide both forms of ANLEX in a way that will allow users to choose whichever they prefer.
We are also working on a system that will highlight the most relevant part of an ANLEX entry for any specific Greek word in AGNT. Many Greek words have multiple possible meanings. So it will be helpful to highlight just the meaning that seems most suitable in context.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2022
56. Consistent Changes Tool Used in AGNT by Alan Buseman and John J. Hughes
Alan Buseman discusses using the Consistent Changes tool for numbering the parts of ANLEX entries for highlighting. Part of the work on ANLEX highlighting is putting numbers into each ANLEX entry. These numbers are then used to make formulas that say exactly what parts of the entry should be highlighted for every Greek word in AGNT. This numbering becomes quite complex in references. The Consistent Changes tool is used for numbering because it is powerful enough to handle all of these complications.
John Hughes discusses using the Consistent Changes tool for converting Greek from one encoding to another. He had some Greek text that was encoded in an older system called Beta-Code. He wanted it encoded in the modern system called Unicode. He was able to use the Consistent Changes tool to do that encoding conversion.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2022
57. Articles with Noncongruent (or Missing) Substantives and the Granville Sharp Rule by Timothy Friberg
The Granville Sharp Rule relates to the meaning of a combination of two substantives joined by kai with a single article before the first of the two. But the rule doesn't work well in cases where the article is plural. In many of these cases it appears that there is an additional implied substantive in the construction. This article lists 212 places in the Greek New Testament that appear to illustrate this, with color coding to show what seems to be the most likely form of the implied substantive.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2022
58. Generic Reference in the Greek New Testament by Timothy Friberg
Koine Greek used the masculine singular to represent generic reference for mixed or indefinite sexes. For about six years Timothy Friberg has been doing a hobby-time study of thousands of instances of nouns and pronouns in the Greek New Testament that may be generic, or may refer exclusively to males or females. This article discusses the method used to do this study. Future plans include making a beta version of this study available for discussion by others.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2022
59. Twenty Years of ANLEX Development by Timothy Friberg
A summary with examples of improvements to ANLEX through the years. A major revision by Tony Pope is in process. ANLEX entries have been changed from continuous text to an outline format that makes it easier to weigh multiple definitions. Work is in process to add information to each AGNT word that will allow highlighting of the most relevant portion of the ANLEX entry for the word in context.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2023
60. The AGNT Project Team by Timothy Friberg
This newsletter contains an updated list of the ten people currently most actively working on AGNT and ANLEX, with a summary of what each one is doing. This gives a good perspective on the active work currently in progress on AGNT. We also maintain a to-do list of things we would like to undertake in the future. We are always looking for additional volunteers to help in a variety of ways.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2023
61. Some Quantitative Measures as We Start to Assess the Impact of the ANLEX Revisions by Eric Inman
Completion counts and percentages of ANLEX revisions led by Tony Pope, and estimates of the total number of revisions to be produced by the end of this effort.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2023
62. Sorting Out the Details: Working toward Data Harmonization by Timothy Friberg
Initial experiences with finding and fixing discrepancies in the databases through the use of consistency-checking software being developed by Eric Inman.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q4_2023
63. Neither Rome Nor AGNT Was Built in a Day by Timothy Friberg
Summary of the various efforts currently underway for enhancing the project offerings.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q1_2024
64. A Review of the Revision of the Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament (ANLEX) by Timothy Friberg
A summary of the current revision process of ANLEX, along with a link to a more detailed description.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q2_2024
65. Bits and Pieces by Timothy Friberg
Description of ten of the tasks on the AGNT to-do list.
AGNT_Newsletter_Q3_2024
