Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics

See Action Nouns

Abstract   See Agent Nouns Bibliography  

Abstract The classical Ancient Greek noun declension, as described within the framework of Natural Morphology, has three macroclasses, with the nom. and gen. sg. as reference forms. The first macroclass is constituted by feminines with a word-final thematic vowel (V) in the nom. plus a suffix -s in the gen., such as phḗmē ‘reputation’. The second macroclass is represented by masculines in -V-s and neuters in - on in the nom. and a final vowel in the gen. The very heterogeneous third macroclass has as reference forms nom. in -s for masculines and feminines, gen. suffix -os for all genders. 1. I…

Abstract This article describes the functions of the nominative case in Ancient Greek, in addition to the semantic, pragmatic and syntactic properties of the subject, which represents the primary use of the nominative in Greek as well as in other Indo-European languages. In Ancient Greek the nominative is used to mark canonical subjects, i.e., the habitual subjects of predicates in the personal form. Other minor expressions with a different grammatical encoding are known as non-canonical subjects of predicates in the personal form. Pred…

Abstract Non-canonical subjects are those constituents that show some grammatical properties of subjects in the nominative, but are encoded in other morphological cases (genitive, dative, or, more rarely, accusative) or, less frequently, by means of a prepositional phrase. Non-canonical subjects are documented both in personal and impersonal constructions. This article analyzes the semantic, pragmatic and syntactical properties of non-canonical subjects in Ancient Greek. Non-canonical subjects ar…

Abstract Northwest Greek is a subgroup of Doric spoken in a vast area of Central Greece including Epirus, Acarnania, Aetolia, W. and E. Locris, Phocis and Doris, as well as in Epizephyrian Locri. In the Hellenistic period the Aetolian League favored the expansion of a NW. Koina, a mixture of the local Doric dialect with some features borrowed from Att.-Ion. Koine.   1. Introduction Northwest (NW.) Greek or NW. Doric is a subgroup of Doric spoken in a vast area extending from the coast of the Ionian sea (Epirus and Acarnania) along the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth (Aetolia, W. or Ozolian L…

Abstract The term ónoma, which is the general term for naming something / somebody, became a technical term in ancient grammar as the designation of the ‘noun’ class (including common nouns, proper names and adjectives), a basic part of speech in the Western grammatical tradition. This class was defined by its general ‘naming’ content and characterized by a set of formal and semantic features. Several semantic subclasses of the ‘noun’ were distinguished by ancient grammarians. The noun, as expressi…

Abstract Studies examining the structure of the Noun Phrase (NP) describe its internal organization and its constituents, their relationships with one another, and their hierarchy (i.e., their ordering and their articulation), as well as factors that have been adduced as decisive for the choice of negative. These issues have been thoroughly investigated in light of syntactical and semantic principles based on Functional Discourse Grammar and Distributional Syntax. This procedure illuminates synta…

Abstract   Referential arguments of a verb may be realized as zero pronouns. This is especially common for subjects. Null anaphora is constrained by both syntax (shared arguments are expressed only once) and discourse structure (null elements must be easily accessible in the context). 1. Introduction The term ‘null anaphora’ refers to cases where an argument position of a predicate is filled not by an overtly realized element, but by an invisible anaphoric pronoun (Anaphoric Processes). The null pronoun may be referential or non-referential…

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 In this article the Greek numerals are analyzed from the point of view of their dialect forms in both alphabetic and syllabic scripts, internal structure and external cognates within Indo-European. The existence of more or less exact counterparts from other Indo-European branches indicates that the numerals 1-10, 12, 20-50, 100 and 1000 are inherited, although some specific features make the numerals 9, 20 and 100 unique, while others, usually compounds or ordinals, represent Greek innovations. The Greek numerals 1-10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 1000, continue in their Indo-Europ…