Note: Available in packages Silver and above.
The Morph Query document provides a point-and-click interface for building complex morphological queries. You can search for any number of words in specific morphological constructions and relationships. With the Morph Query document, create customized searches based on a specific research question.
Note: Morph Query Documents require morphologically tagged resources.
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Getting Started
You can open Morph Query documents from the Documents Menu, or from a Morph Search.
- To start a morph query using the Documents menu, click Documents > New > Morph Query.
- To start a morph query from the Morph search, click the Search icon
in the command box. Ensure that Morph is selected as the search type. Click the Query drop-down located to the left of the search box and select Create morph query document.
How Morph Queries Work
Using the Morph Query document you can build custom searches through your morphologically tagged resources like the SBL Greek New Testament. The query is constructed by selecting specific morphological information in the document. You can search for a sequence of specific words, kinds of words, parts of speech, or any other kind of morphology.
The Morph Query document contains several columns, one column per search term. Each row defines a property relationship for that term like Gender, Number, Case, and more.
Note: The search properties will adjust depending on which language you search.
You can search for:
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one or more terms
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one or more terms with specific morphological characteristics
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specific morphological characteristics (without defining terms)
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instances where specific terms and/or morphological constructions do not appear
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any combination of the above
Build a Morph Query
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Give your Morph Query document a name by clicking in the title box and entering a descriptive title.
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Select the resource you want to search by clicking All morph books and making a selection. (It is important to do this first. Your selection will determine which morphological options appear in the Morph Query document.)
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In this example, we will use the Morph Query document to search the Greek New Testament for a morphological pattern found in Romans 16:7. We will use a morph search to determine the probable relationship between Junia and the apostles. Was Junia “well known to the apostles” or “well known among the apostles”? A morphological search for this pattern will help reveal which way this phrase should likely be translated into English.
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To see the morphological pattern in Romans 16:7 open your preferred translation, and turn on the Interlinear tool. Notice that in this case, the english phrase “to the apostles” is a translation of a preposition, a plural, dative article followed by a noun that agrees in number and case: ‘ἐν τοῖς ἀποστόλοις’.
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Open a new Morph Query Document. Title the document ‘Junia and the Apostles’ and search within the “The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition”.
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Notice that the Morph Query document defaults to three columns. If you have a longer search, click Add word to add additional columns. For this search, you are looking for every place in the NT that matches the morphological pattern in Romans 16:7. Using the Interlinear tool, you saw that this particular construction “to the apostles” is a translation of a preposition, a plural, dative article and a noun that agrees in number and case.
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Under the Word 1 column in the Morph Query document, click in the box beside ‘Lemma’ and type type “ἐν”. Click here to learn more about inputting specific lemmas from the Greek or Hebrew text.
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Under the Word 2 Column, click in the box beside ‘Part of Speech’, type a lowercase ‘a’, and select Article from the dropdown menu that appears.
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In the Word 2 column, click in the box across from Case and select Dative.
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In the Word 2 Column, click the box across from Number and select Plural.
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In the Word 3 column, click in the box across from Part of Speech and select Noun. In the box across from Case, select Dative and in the box across from Number, select Plural.
Note: With this particular search, you’re trying to understand the proper translation of ἐν which is why we are looking for this specific lemma when it is used in conjunction with an plural article and noun in the dative case.
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Click Search. In this case, search through all passages in the Greek NT: SBL Edition. Consider expanding your search at another point by searching the LXX.
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Logos presents your search results in a new panel. Each word included in your search is highlighted in a different color.
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Now you can read through results to weigh the relevant evidence on how to translate the ἐν in Romans 16:7!
Advanced Tips
OR Searching
You can create an OR search by creating a group of the search terms you want to include in your OR search equation. In the case of the example above, you could search for a noun OR an adjective by selecting the heading of Word 2 and Word 3, then selecting Group. Logos will then search for a single word that is either a noun or an adjective.
Excluding Words
To exclude specific words within your search, add an additional word column and input the word morphology you are trying to exclude. Using the above example, if you only wanted to see results where no article is present, you would add the article in column two, and scroll down to the bottom to uncheck the box in the corresponding column next to the Exists row.
Search Parameters
In some searches, you may want to look for words that are used near each other rather than for a specific phrase. Use the Search Span row to indicate how many other words can be in between the ones for which you’re searching or how many verses are considered within the range of the search.
Open a Morph Query document in Logos