Abstract

The term rhêma (verb), which is related to the act and result of saying, developed into a technical term of grammar. It was specialized as a designation of the basic unit of sentential predication, viz. the verb, and was characterized by a number of formal and semantic features (such as ‘tense’ and ‘voice’). Together with the noun, the rhêma was considered a fundamental part of speech throughout the later history of Western grammatical theory.