Lesson 4 | Commas & Conjunctions
How Conjunctions Work
The term conjunction comes from the Latin verb conjungo, which means ‘join together.’ A conjunction is a word that connects words, clauses, sentences, or paragraphs, and as a result links the component parts and/or the thought-units of a language together. It is a linking word.
—Daniel Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, 667.
Conjunctions of Interest
As stated above, conjunctions can connect single words and phrases, or larger grammatical units starting with propositions. For the purposes of Arcing, conjunctions between single words or noun phrases do not concern us. Consider, for example, Matthew 17:1.
In this verse, Peter, James and John are connected with the conjunction “and.” However, neither “Peter” nor “James” nor “John his brother” is a proposition in and of itself. They are all single words or noun phrases and thus the two occurrences of “and” in between them are not of importance to us for the sake of Arcing.
However, “led them up a high mountain by themselves” is a proposition and so the “and” that connects it to the rest of the verse is exactly the sort of conjunction we are interested in paying attention to when Arcing.
Placement of Conjunctions
Generally speaking, conjunctions are placed in between the pieces that they are connecting. However, they can also come before the first piece or before both pieces. Distinct conjunctions may also appear one after the other and yet be connecting different pieces.
Examples of all of these can be seen in John 13:31-33.
The conjunctions highlighted in red are placed in between the pieces they connect.
The conjunctions highlighted in blue are placed before the first piece being connected. The “when” connects “he had gone out” with “Jesus said...” (until the end of Jesus' speech). The “if” connects “God is glorified in him” with “God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”
The conjunctions highlighted in green work together as a single connector, connecting “I said to the Jews” with “now I also say to you.”
Note that this text also contains back-to-back conjunctions with “and” immediately proceeding “just as.” It is critical to recognize that these are distinct conjunctions indicating different connections.
The Function of Conjunctions
As with words in general, conjunctions each have their own semantic range. For some conjunctions that range will be small, while for others it will be wider. For example, the conjunction “that” has significantly varied usage and can be indicating an Idea-Explanation, Action-Result or Action-Purpose. The conjunction “when,” on the other hand, in straight-forward usage is restricted to indicating a Temporal relationship. In the next step of this lesson we will look at example usages of these and other common conjunctions.
It should be noted as well that conjunctions can also be functioning rhetorically, connoting a logical relationship other than their simple usage. For example, “if” can imply a Ground or Inference relationship (depending on the ordering of the propositions) when the stated “condition” is already assumed or established to be true in the context. 1 John 4:10-11 is a great example of this.
John has already established in verse 10 that God has loved us. Thus, the “if” in verse 11 is meant to draw his readers in, not to act as a true condition. Rather, the logic of verse 11 is that of an Inference. It can be paraphrased: Beloved, because God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Special Considerations
As you will see noted on some of the common conjunctions enumerated in the next step, some conjunctions can also function as other parts-of-speech. This has the potential to cause confusion. Thus, take care to understand how this can work via the examples in the next step.
Secondly, sometimes propositions will come one after the other without any conjunction connecting them. This is often the case between sentences, and at times also occurs within sentences (called “asyndeton” by grammarians). In such situations, there is still a logical connection present, but the relationship must be discerned solely from the content without the help of a conjunction.