Greek Prepositions: From Antiquity to the Present (Oxford Linguistics)

This is the most comprehensive history of the Greek prepositional system ever published. It is set within a broad typological context and examines interrelated syntactic, morphological, and semantic change over three millennia. By including, for the first time, Medieval and Modern Greek, Dr Bortone is able to show how the changes in meaning of Greek prepositions follow a clear and recurring pattern of immense theoretical interest. The author opens the book by discussing the relevant background issues concerning the function, meaning, and genesis of adpositions and cases. He then traces the development of prepositions and case markers in ancient Greek (Homeric and classical, with insights from Linear B and reconstructed Indo-European); Hellenistic Greek, which he examines mainly on the basis of Biblical Greek; Medieval Greek, the least studied but most revealing phase; and Modern Greek, in which he also considers the influence of the learned tradition and neighbouring languages. Written in an accessible and non-specialist style, this book will interest classical philologists, as well as historical linguists and theoretical linguists. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Contents 6 Acknowledgements 12 Foreword 13 Part I. Background to Greek prepositions 18 1 On the function of prepositions 20 1.1 Prepositions and related items 20 1.2 Prepositions and postpositions 21 1.3 Adpositions and cases 23 1.4 Adpositions with cases 33 1.5 Prepositions and cases as synsemantic expressions 37 1.6 Compound prepositions 42 1.7 The structure of prepositional phrases 44 2 On the meaning of prepositions 50 2.1 The meaning(lessness) of cases 50 2.2 The meaning(lessness) of prepositions 52 2.3 The polysemy of cases and prepositions 58 2.4 Contiguity of meanings 60 2.5 The role of spatial meanings 64 2.6 Language acquisition and development 70 2.7 Temporal and other meanings 74 2.8 Examples of spatial metaphors 79 2.9 Explaining polysemy 88 2.10 Parallel and different metaphorizations 92 2.11 Additional factors affecting prepositional meaning 95 2.12 The ex silentio argument for spatial primacy 98 2.13 The direction of semantic change 99 2.14 Does diachrony corroborate the localistic hypothesis? 101 3 On the development of prepositions 103 3.1 Cases and adpositions 103 3.2 Sources for prepositions 106 3.3 Nouns as a source for adpositions 110 3.4 Types of nouns that become adpositions 118 Part II. The history of Greek prepositions 124 4 Prepositions and cases in Ancient Greek 126 4.1 Greek in this study 126 4.2 The Classical Greek case system 127 4.3 The prepositional syntagms of Classical Greek 132 4.4 The differences from prefixes 136 4.5 The extent of prepositional use in Classical Greek 138 4.6 Pre-Classical insights: the Greek of Homer 140 4.7 Case usage in Homer 141 4.8 The Classical Greek prepositions in Homer 148 4.9 The syntax of Greek adpositions in Homer 150 4.10 Before Homer 157 4.11 Main synchronic characteristics of the Ancient Greek system 160 4.12 Main diachronic trends of the Ancient Greek system 170 4.13 Contrasting the semantics of synonymous “proper” prepositions 183 4.14 Contrasting the semantics of “proper” and “improper” synonyms 186 5 Prepositions and cases in Hellenistic Greek 188 5.1 Late Ancient Greek: the Koiné and its problems 188 5.2 The plausibility of Biblical Greek 190 5.3 The influence of Biblical Greek 192 5.4 Prepositional and case usage in Biblical Greek 194 5.5 Synopsis of trends in the Koine ́ 211 6 Prepositions and cases in Medieval Greek 212 6.1 Problems with Medieval Greek 212 6.2 The choice of Medieval Greek texts 214 6.3 The cases and their recession 219 6.4 The revolution in case government 220 6.5 Medieval prepositional usage 222 6.6 One addition to the inventory—or not 223 6.7 General observations 225 6.8 Semantic mergers 225 6.9 Phonetic mergers 229 6.10 Losses and births amongst the new 231 6.11 Sound changes 232 6.12 Parallels in neighbouring languages and their possible influence 232 6.13 The compounding of prepositions 235 6.14 Which combinations are compounds? 238 6.15 The “improper” prepositions in Medieval Greek 239 6.16 The exceptions 242 6.17 The older prepositions in Medieval Greek 244 6.18 Something new in the old 252 7 Prepositions and cases in Modern Greek 255 7.1 Problems with Modern Greek 255 7.2 Trouble with the neighbours 257 7.3 Cases in Modern Greek 262 7.4 The Modern Greek prepositional inventory 271 7.5 The compound prepositions today 281 7.6 Compound prepositions allowing a single combination 284 7.7 Compound prepositions with contrastive combinations 289 7.8 Semantic innovations in the compound prepositions 295 7.9 Today’s usage of the simplex prepositions 300 7.10 Simplex prepositions revived productively by purism 306 7.11 Simplex prepositions revived less productively by purism 309 7.12 Simplex prepositions revived in fossilized phrases 317 Epilogue 319 References 321 Index 354 A 354 B 354 C 354 D 355 E 355 F 355 G 355 H 355 I 355 J 355 K 355 L 356 M 356 N 356 O 356 P 356 R 357 S 357 T 358 U 358 W 358 Y 358 9780199556854 "This is the most comprehensive history of the Greek prepositional system ever published. It is set within a broad typological context and examines interrelated syntactic, morphological, and semantic change over three millennia. By including, for the first time, Medieval and Modern Greek, Dr Bortone is able to show how the changes in meaning of Greek prepositions follow a clear and recurring pattern of immense theoretical interest." "The author opens the book by discussing the relevant background issues concerning the function, meaning, and genesis of adpositions and cases. He then traces the development of prepositions and case markers in ancient Greek (Homeric and classical, with insights from Linear B and reconstructed Indo-European); Hellenistic Greek, which he examines mainly on the basis of Biblical Greek; Medieval Greek, the least studied but most revealing phase; and Modern Greek, in which he also considers the influence of the learned tradition and neighbouring languages. Written in an accessible and non-specialist style, this book will interest classical philologists, as well as historical, and theoretical linguists."--Jacket This Comprehensive History Of The Greek Prepositional System Is Set Within A Broad Typological Context And Examines Interrelated Syntactic Morphological, And Semantic Change Over Three Millennia. Background To Greek Prepositions. On The Function Of Prepositions ; On The Meaning Of Prepositions ; On The Development Of Prepositions -- The History Of Greek Prepositions. Prepositions And Cases In Ancient Greek ; Prepositions And Cases In Hellenistic Greek ; Prepositions And Cases In Medieval Greek ; Prepositions And Cases In Modern Greek. Pietro Bortone. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [304]-335) And Index. In English, Ancient Greek, And Greek.