Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics

See Merger

Abstract Code-mixing is a phenomenon whereby elements belonging to different language systems or sub-systems of the same language are included in a single utterance. Code-mixing appears largely independent of speaker intent and is caused by the difficulty of keeping separate two language systems; it is not motivated by any evident communicative function. Ancient Greek texts evidence cases of code-mixing which are due to contact among various dialects and between the Koine and dialects. Code-mixing (CM), which is also referred to as intrasentential code-switching, is …

Abstract Code-switching is the juxtaposition within the same exchange of passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems, without taking into consideration the degree of diversity of the language systems involved. In ancient Greek texts instances of code-switching are found between either koine and Greek dialects or between Greek and other languages of the Mediterranean basin. From a structural point of view, three code-switching varieties emerge: within the same sentence, between clauses, and between different sections of a text.   “The juxtaposition with…

Abstract This article introduces the basics of Cognitive Linguistics, a family of comparable approaches to language based on the assumption that linguistic structures are not autonomous and depend on general cognitive abilities. The major foci of interest of Cognitive Linguistics are briefly summarized and the few cognitive linguistic studies of Ancient Greek are presented. 1. Cognitive Linguistics The term ‘Cognitive Linguistics’ (CL) designates a “cluster of broadly comparable approaches” (Geeraerts & Cuyckens 2007b:3) to natural language based on the assumption …

Abstract Coherence refers to the connectedness of a discourse, which is always sought by hearers or readers. Coherence concerns the connectedness of a discourse (Discourse Analysis and Greek): it is what makes a discourse a unified whole, instead of an unrelated set of clauses or sentences (Sentence; Sentence/Utterance ( lógos), Ancient Theories of). In trying to understand what a speaker/writer is doing, hearers/readers will automatically look for coherence. What is more, constructing a coherent representation of a discourse is necessary for its understanding (see Sanders et a…

Abstract Cohesion is the explicit linguistic marking of discourse coherence through grammatical as well as lexical elements. The concept of cohesion is closely tied up with that of coherence. The latter refers to the property of a discourse ‘hanging together’ (from Lat. cohaerēre ‘to stick together’), which may remain implicit. Cohesion, on the other hand, can be regarded as the visible ‘glue’ between the parts of a discourse. In other words, cohesion is the explicit linguistic marking of discourse coherence. On this view, coherence pr…

Abstract Mass nouns (MNs) and collective nouns (CNs) can be defined in opposition to count nouns: semantically speaking, they do not call up the idea of some definite thing with a certain shape or precise limits, and they have homogeneous internal structure, i.e., they are made up of parts which are identical to one another. Mass nouns (MNs) and collective nouns (CNs) can be defined in opposition to count nouns: semantically speaking, they “do not call up the idea of some definite thing with a certain shape or precise limits” (Jespersen 1924:198) and they have a homogeneous internal …

Abstract This article considers different scholarly approaches to the reconstruction of the color term semantics of Ancient Greek. There is quite a large Greek vocabulary that appears to refer to color. While the meanings of some terms are etymologically obvious, being based on the color of some object or another, others can be quite evasive or cover a wide spectrum of contemporary English-language color terms. This article summarizes both etymological studies and philological analyses of Ancient…

Abstract The language and diction of comedy, which we know mostly from the eleven complete plays of Aristophanes (Athens, ca 444-388 BCE), are extremely various and rich. On a predetermined dialectal basis (i.e., in the case of Aristophanes, the Attic dialect) and linguistic register (the colloquial ‘everyday’ language), we find a great variety of languages (technical, administrative, tragic, lyric, vulgar) and dialects (Doric, Aeolic, Ionic), as well as a plethora of register variations. This wa…

Abstract The comitative is a semantic function or role: it establishes a relationship between an accompanee and a companion, as in ‘Peter came with John’. Comitative constituents can operate either as arguments (necessary constituents demanded by the verbal valence) or as adjuncts (non-necessary constituents). This semantic role can be fulfilled by nominal or prepositional phrases or adverbs, or can be incorporated into the verb by means of a preverb. 1. Definition The term ‘comitative’ is the label for the grammaticalized expression used to encode accompaniment relations (Stolz …

Abstract Comparative clauses express equality or similarity in manner and degree. They can introduce a speaker’s comment on the propositional or illocutionary content of the sentence. They may also designate mere analogy, and express emphatic addition at the level of discourse organization. Comparative clauses describe a situation which is assigned an equal or similar status to the one referred to by the main clause. The correlated clauses tend to share a common background, while ellipsis in the comparative clause is very common (Revuelta Puigdollers 2006). Comparative clauses (Hu…

Abstract The comparative method, arrived at in the 19th century, is a set of procedures that allows the reconstruction of prehistoric phases of a language through systematic comparison of linguistic features of attested languages that derive from it. Although it has some inadequacies, it is the backbone of historical linguistics and the most useful tool to recover linguistic history. 1. Definition The comparative method (CM) aims at identifying groups of genetically related languages and, in some cases, reconstructing their ancestor. It allows for explain…

Abstract In Ancient Greek comparison was mainly expressed by means of morpho-syntactic devices. In particular, two strategies were employed: in the first, the entity representing the standard was expressed by the genitive, especially when two homogeneous entities were compared, whereas in the second the standard was introduced by a particle. Both these patterns have survived down to Modern Greek. 1. Introduction As is well known, the label “comparative construction” defines the construction in which an entity X, the comparee, is compared to an entity Y, t…

Abstract Compensatory lengthening (CL) occurs when a segment deletes and a neighboring segment lengthens to compensate for its loss. Ancient Greek CL occurred in three stages, with some inter-dialectal differences. Compensatory lengthening (CL) is the process whereby a segment deletes and a neighboring (usually, adjacent) segment lengthens to compensate for its loss. Ancient Greek manifests three basic instances of CL named 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, owing to the chronological order of their appearance. Samuels (2006) argues that the 1st CL was a Proto-Attic-Ionic change (early 1st m…

Abstract Complementation and complement are used differently in various modern linguistic theories. In its broadest sense, complementation is the integration of a word, phrase or clause into a syntactic construction governed by a predicate in order to complete its meaning. Correspondingly, a linguistic complement is a word, phrase or clause that completes the meaning of a syntactic construction governed by a predicate. 1. Introduction Complementation and complement are used differently in various modern linguistic theories. In its broadest sense, complementa…

Abstract Construction Morphology is the application of Construction Grammar at the morphological level. It has only been recently developed, mainly in the works of Booij. It shares with Construction Grammar the idea that the units of natural languages are constructions. These are form-meaning pairings, at the word level in morphology. In Construction Morphology, sets of words with similar patterns of semantic connections give rise to generalizations conceivable as schemas instantiated by actual w…

Abstract Compound nouns are words formed by two or more lexemes or lexical stems (e.g. Eng. girlfriend, Gk. akrópolis ‘high city’, < ákros ‘high’ + pólis ‘city’). The morphological process through which a compound is created is called nominal composition, or compounding. 1. Introduction In Ancient Greek, compounding is one of the most productive means of word-formation, a morphological tool that the language inherited from Indo-European (IE). Although compounding is by no means limited to IE languages, these display common features that a…

Abstract During the period of Hellenistic Greek we witness the rise and spread of numerous periphrastic formations in the verbal system, specifically in the imperfective aspect (Present and Imperfect) and in the perfect (Perfect and Pluperfect). These innovations were due to language-internal (morphological transparency of notionally complex categories) and external factors (the contact with Coptic in Egypt, Hebrew and Aramaic in Palestine and Syria, and other languages in newly settled areas of Asia Minor).   1. Introduction During the period of Hellenistic Greek we…

Abstract This article surveys the digital resources that are available for Ancient Greek and the methods from the field of computational linguistics that have been applied to the study of Ancient Greek. 1. Computational Linguistics and Greek According to a definition that is no longer very popular, ‘computational linguistics’ refers to computer-assisted linguistics; in other words, the tools it employs are different from those used in other branches of linguistics, in particular theoretical linguistics, but the basic methodological…

Abstract Word indices, concordances and reverse dictionaries have been essential research tools in the study of Greek, used to record all occurrences and uses of words in a particular text and its critical apparatus. A word index is typically a comprehensive alphabetical list of words contained in a specific text or text corpus with references to the passages in which these words appear. A concordance, broadly speaking, is a list of words in some ordered sequence, usually alphabetical, accompanie…