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. "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. ## Abstract New prepositions in Greek express solely spatial meanings, simultaneously lost by their older synonyms, whose use becomes restricted to non‐spatial senses—unless a recent synonym is not available. In time, new prepositions too develop non‐spatial meanings, eventually losing their spatial ones completely, repeating the life‐cycle of their predecessors.