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Abstract This article discusses the clause in Ancient Greek in its various manifestations of personal and impersonal constructions and verbal and nominal clauses, ranging from one-word clauses to highly structured clauses containing articles, participles or adverbs. Attention is also paid to the interpretation of the clause by the Greek grammarians.  In Ancient Greek, a clause is called lógos, i.e., a rationally articulated discourse. The first definition of the clause was formulated by Plato (5th-4th century BCE) in his dialogue Kratylos, which is devoted to the problems …

Abstract The distribution of the Ancient Greek dual number is here described in both space and time, and some functional principles that may underlie its decline are identified. A trait of morphological conservatism of Ancient Greek can be seen in its inherited inflection of the dual number, which characterizes nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbs, with different morphemes used in different stems. Yet this formal variety is strongly reduced by phenomena of syncretism and analogy. The first declension, for example, shows the - ā ending in the nom./acc. in analogy to the - ō ending of t…

Abstract The use of Ancient Greek personal pronouns is analyzed according to their different clitic, stressed and implicit forms. Various similarities and differences are considered between the usage of personal pronouns in Ancient Greek and in other early and modern IE languages, especially in Modern Greek.   Personal pronouns were included by Greek grammarians in the category of the antōnumía ‘pronoun’, whose use is described in a specific monograph written by Apollonius Dyskolus (2nd c. CE). Accordingly, personal pronouns such as egṓ ‘I’ are considered the ‘prototype’ ( protótup…

Abstract The use of grammatical number is here analyzed in different varieties of Ancient Greek. It is shown how the selection of a singular or plural form not only depends on the quantity of the denoted referents, but is also sensitive to various semantic and pragmatic factors. Particular attention is devoted to the interaction among number, agreement, animacy and gender. The number system in Ancient Greek includes a singular, a dual and a plural number ( arithmòs henikós, duïkós, plēthuntikós), which differ for both nominal and verbal categories and are used to signal ag…

Abstract The flexible distribution of the plural number in Ancient Greek is discussed in this entry, focusing on the one hand on its possible overlap with the singular and on the other on the use of pluralia tantum. The plural number is used in Ancient Greek to denote more than two referents; in the latter case, the dual should be used. Unlike the dual, the plural is productive and fully integrated into the Ancient Greek number system. This especially becomes evident in pluralia tantum, used for referents that occur in a multitude or consist of numerous parts. This is the case of ethnonyms such …