The Noun Phrase in Ancient Greek: A Functional Analysis of the Order and Articulation of NP Constituents in Herodotus (Amsterdam Studies in Classical Philology, 15)

On the basis of a functional analysis of the order and articulation of noun phrase constituents in Herodotus, this book tries to answer the question as to which factors determine word order variation in the Greek NP. Contents 6 Acknowledgements 10 Abbreviations 12 Chapter One. Introduction 14 1.1. The outline of the study 15 1.2. Method and data 15 Part I Word Order 20 Chapter Two. Introduction to word order 22 2.1. Word order in the noun phrase 22 2.2. Possible explanations for word order variation in the NP 23 2.2.1. Style 23 2.2.2. Syntax 26 2.2.3. Semantics 29 2.2.4. Pragmatics 32 2.2.5. Conclusion 34 2.3. Theoretical framework 35 2.3.1. Rijkhoff's NP model 37 2.3.2. Terminology used 41 Chapter Three. Word order in single-modifier NPs 46 3.1. Introduction 46 3.2. Prenominalmodifiers 51 3.2.1. Contrast 51 3.2.2. Saliency 54 3.3. Postnominalmodifiers 65 3.3.1. Exceptional cases 73 3.4. Clause vs. NP 79 3.5. A few particularmodifiers 84 3.5.1. Adjectives 84 3.5.2. Postpositive possessives 86 3.5.3. Demonstratives 89 3.5.4. Relative clauses 92 3.6. The position of dependent constituents 95 3.7. Conclusion 101 Chapter Four. Word order inmultiple-modifier NPs 106 4.1. Introduction: an overview of the literature on the order of modifiers 106 4.2. Word order inmultiple-modifier NPs 111 4.2.1. Two criticisms of Rijkhoff's NP model 111 4.2.2. Word order in Greekmultiple-modifier NPs 117 4.2.2.1. Multiple prenominalmodifiers 122 4.2.2.2. Multiple postnominalmodifiers 126 4.2.2.3. Pre- and postnominalmodifiers 133 4.2.3. Concluding remarks 138 4.3. Coordination and juxtaposition 142 4.4. Conclusion 154 Part II Articulation 156 Chapter Five. The use of the article 158 5.1. Introduction 158 5.2. The state of research 159 5.2.1. The Greek article 159 5.2.2. Definiteness in general 165 5.3. The use of the article in referential NPs 175 5.3.1. The general rule 175 5.3.2. Five refinements of the general rule 185 5.3.3. The combination of article and demonstrative 195 5.4. The use of the article in non-referential NPs 202 5.4.1. Predicate NPs 203 5.4.2. Other non-referential NPs 210 5.5. The use of the article in generic NPs 212 5.5.1. Singular generic NPs 212 5.5.2. Plural generic NPs 219 5.6. Conclusion 224 Chapter Six. The articulation of NP constituents 228 6.1. The articulation ofmodifiers 228 6.1.1. Introduction 229 6.1.1.1. Articularmodifiers: existing views 229 6.1.1.2. Articular modifiers: an alternative solution 237 6.1.2. Reference specification 244 6.1.3. Referent characterisation 255 6.1.3.1. Referent characterisation in general 256 6.1.3.2. Referent characterisation by adjectives, numerals and participles 262 6.1.3.3. Conclusion 272 6.1.4. A few particularmodifiers 274 6.1.4.1. Demonstratives 274 6.1.4.2. Possessives 277 6.1.4.3. Relative clauses 280 6.2. The articulation of the noun 282 6.2.1. The aNaX vs. the NaX pattern 284 6.2.2. The rules for the articulation of the noun 296 6.3. Summary and conclusion 298 Chapter Seven. Overview 300 7.1. The XN and NX pattern 300 7.2. The aXN, aNaX and NaX pattern 301 7.3. The XaN and aNX pattern 303 7.4. Multiplemodifiers 305 Index of linguistic terms 308 References 314 Index locorum 326 General index 332 The structure of the noun phrase in Ancient Greek is extremely flexible: the various constituents may occur in almost every possible order and each constituent may or may not be preceded by an article. However, the use and function of the various options have received very little attention. This book tries to fill that gap. A functional analysis of the structure of the NP in Herodotus illucidateswhich arguments lead a native speaker in his choice to select one of the various possible NP patterns. The results do not only increase our knowledge of the NP, but also lead to a better interpretation of Ancient Greek texts. By Stéphanie J. Bakker. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.