DOCSLIB.ORG

Ancient Greek

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ancient Greek Chapter Three: THE REPRESENTATION OF VOWELS IN ANCIENT GREEK 3.0 Introduction This chapter is devoted to some Important aspects of the phonology of Ancient Greek. It consists of a characterization of the vowel system within underspecif Ication theory and of an account of the rules pro- viding the necessary evidence for the characterization proposed. The variety of Greek being described is the Attic dialect as spoken between about 800 and 500 B.C. This dialect developed into 'classical' Attic, that is, the dialect of Athens and its vicinity (around 400 B.C.). At various stages in the discussion we will use evidence from outside the Attic dialect, but only when direct Attic evidence is unavailable. The historical development of the Ionic-Attic vowel system will summon our prime attention in section 3.1, which deals with the major changes that took place between the end of the second millennium and the post-classical period (about 350 B.C.). The aim of this discussion is to establish the exact properties of the dialect to be described. Next, we will outline a proposal for the Attic vowel system as it existed between 800 and 500 B.C., along the lines of the underspecif ication framework developed in chapter 1. Arguments in favor of this particular theory will be put forward in section 3.3. The most compelling piece of evi- dence for our hypothesis will be postponed until chapter 4, in which we will deal with the description of vowel coalescence. 3.1 The dlachronic evolution of the Ancient Greek vowel system The Proto-Indo European vowel system is often assumed to have consisted of the vowels *e and *o, and possibly the long vowels *e and * · Furthermore, *i and *u are considered to have been allophones of the glides /y, w/. The Proto-Greek ten-vowel system *i, *e, *a, *o, *u, *I, *e, *a, *3, *u is the result of the loss of the Indo-European laryngeals *dl, *32, *33· 1° broad outline, the so-called laryngeal theory posits three laryngeals, where *81 probably was [+constricted] (· /?/), *32 [+spread, +low] (» /h/), and *33 [+spread, +round] (-/hw/). In the last phase of Indo-European, the laryngeals disappeared with concomitant changes of the adjacent vocoids. These changes took roughly the fol- lowing form: (1) a: 3ieC > eC 32eC > aC 33eC > oC b: ^ 2 3 1C > 1C ed-jC > eC e32C > äc eSßC > ÖC i 3^ 2 3 c > ^c The simple ten-vowel system of Proto-Greek is preserved, or better, restored in a small group of dialects like, for Instance, (i) the Ar— cado-Cypriot group, (11) Lesbian and Thessalien, and (ill) the 'strict' Doric dialects. In most other dialects a system with seven, rather than five, long vowels arose· It seems plausible, however, that the dialects referred to under (1-iil) went through such a vowel system too (cf. Ruijgh 1984:67). In these dialects the sequences e+ey, o+ey show up as 95 Copyright © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. All rights reserved. © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. Copyright ey and oy, respectively, just as in Ionic-Attic, whereas e+e, e+o are contracted into [ε, 3] in the peripheral dialects and into [e, 5] in Ionic-Attic. If the dialects under (i-iii) had not gone through a stage in which seven long vowels existed, we would have expected the long diphthongs *ey and *5y as the result of the former contractions. In the majority of these dialects the opposition between [ε, I] and [o, ] had already been neutralized before the oldest Inscriptions. In the Attic dialect, and by the same token in the Ionic dialect, the opposition between the long open and closed mid vowels persisted until approximate- ly the post-classical period. Towards the end of the second millennium B.C., Proto-Greek *5 was fronted to *ae in most Ancient Greek dialects, including the Ionic and Attic dialects. However, the front *ae was not very stable, and raising to [ε] took place around 550 B.C. at the latest. As a consequence of these changes the distinction between Proto-Greek *e ([ε]) and *5 was neutralized. An exception to this is the Attic dialect where the dis- tinction remained after the sounds [r, i, e] because of the so-called "R ckverwandlung" (cf. pepramay º am sold' vs. pepremay º am set on fire'). The most radical changes were caused by processes like Vowel Contrac- tion and Compensatory Lengthening. The three-grade vowel system, con- taining only the mid vowels *e, *o, *e, and *o (phonetically [ε] and [3]) expanded into a four-grade system in which four long mid vowels became distinctive: besides the open mid vowels [ε, 3] their closed counterparts [e, 5] arose. Moreover, the vowel [a] was reintroduced as a result of the same processes. We can establish the following relative chronology: (2) a: First Compensatory Lengthening: esmi > emi º am' krosnos > kr nos 'spring, fountain' b: Vowel Contraction: treyes > tree 'three' genea > gens 'race'(n.a.pl.) c: Second and Third Compensatory Lengthening: pans > pas 'all' kalwos > k los (ion.) 'beautiful1 (cf. att. kalos) d: Vowel Contraction: tlma-ete > tlmite 'you honor' These changes led to the Early Ionic-Attic vowel system in (3). We observe that the short vowel system remained relatively stable, while 2 the long vowel system underwent some drastic changes: 96 Copyright © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. All rights reserved. © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. Copyright (3) Early Ionic-Attic (1000-800 B.C.) ieaouleeiäööu high + + + + low + + + ATR + + - + + + + + + round + + + + + back + + + + + + + In the classical period (5th c.) the three-way contrast / , , ä/ was reduced to a two-way contrast / , ä/ by raising of /i/. Consequently, the classical Attic vowel system can be represented as in (4): (4) Classical Attic ieaouleüäööü high + + + + low + + ATR + + - + + + + + + round + + + + + back + + + + + + + Sommerstein (1973), Bubenik (1983) and Wetzels (1986) assume a slightly different classification of the classical Attic vowel system. They propose a system in which the long vowels / , ä, 5/ are specified as [+low]. This change in [low] allows an elimination of the feature [ATR], since it is fully redundant as can be concluded from the classi- fication below: (5) Classical Attic (alternative) ieaouleeäoöu high + ++ + low -- + + + + -- ATR + + - + + + + + + round + + + + + back + + + + + + + Either the feature specification in (4) or that in (5) is suitable for the analysis of vowel coalescence and related phenomena. In this thesis, we will assume the classification in (5), because it allows us to eliminate the feature [ATR]. However, nothing crucial hinges upon this decision. Below, in section 3.2, we will argue that the feature [back] is redundant, and that the features [high], [low] and [round] suffice to distinguish the underlying vowel system. During the period up until 350 B.C. some additional developments occurred. First of all, the high round vowels were fronted to [ii, 3]. It is uncertain when exactly this change took place. According to Schwyzer (1939) it occurred quite early in the 7th century. Bartonek (1966), how- ever, suggests that the change was not fully accomplished until as late as 400 B.C. Schwyzer (1939:183) states that "Fürs Attische deutet auf Y- ü die Schreibung KY [where K is the [-back] allophone of /k/, WdH], nicht 9Y [where? is the [+back] allophone of /k/, WdH] schon auf den 97 Copyright © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. All rights reserved. © ${Date}. ${Publisher}. Copyright ältesten Inschriften...". In diphthongs, whether underlying (basilews 'king') or derived by contraction (Sw 'well'), the off-glide remains a velar. At a later date, which cannot be determined with certainty, the second element of the diphthongs [aw, ew] developed a fricative pro- nunciation. We will take the observation that the off-glide remains a velar, particularly in cases where the diphthong is the result of vowel coalescence, as a strong indication that all round vowels were still [+back] at the time when vowel coalescence was productive. With respect to vowel coalescence proper, the fusion of two vowels into a single long vowel, the dorsal properties of the high round vowels are not particu- larly crucial, because high vowels are in general unaffected by this process. The change of /5/ to [ü] also took place in the post-classical period. Ruijgh (1984:71) argues that "au debut du IIIe s. av. J-C n'avait pas encore abouti ä u ferme." This change is therefore irrele- vant to the present discussion. Finally, we will briefly discuss the status of the diphthongs. The long diphthongs /äy, öy/ became monophthongs in the post-classical (Hel- lenistic) period. The development of /ey/ is more complex. In lexi- calized, non-transparent forms like kleys > kles 'key', leytörgiä > letörgiä 'liturgy' the diphthong /ey/ was changed into the half-closed monophthong. In derivationally transparent forms, on the other hand, the diphthong underwent the same change, but /ey/ was restored by analogy. Subsequently, the long diphthong /ey/ became [ ]. The long diphthongs /ey, öy/ did not come Into existence in any of the Ancient Greek dia- lects, although we would have expected them to arise by means of vowel coalescence from e+ey and o+ey. These sequences, however, had already been altered by an independent phenomenon called hyphaeresis, which reduced a sequence of two mid vowels to a single short mid vowel before another vowel. The monophthonglzation of the homorganic diphthongs /ey, ow/ took place somewhere between the 7th and the 4th century B.C. It is usually assumed that this process, which caused the merger of e and ey, and and ow, was not fully accomplished until 400 B.C. Our main purpose is to give a full and adequate account of the mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of vowel coalescence in the Attic dialect in the light of the general theory outlined in chapter 2.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Dialect of Elis and Its Position Within the Greek Dialectological System MA-Thesis for the Master Classics and Ancient Civilisations
    The dialect of Elis and its position within the Greek dialectological system MA-thesis for the Master Classics and Ancient Civilisations Le site antique d’Olympie, illustration taken from Minon 2007 : 559 by M.J. van der Velden BA supervisors: dr. L. van Beek dr. A. Rademaker 2015-17 Universiteit Leiden Table of contents i. Acknowledgements ii. List of abbreviations 0. Introduction 1. The dialect features of Elean 1.1 West Greek features 1.1.1 West Greek phonological features 1.1.2 West Greek morphological features 1.1.3 Conclusion 1.2 Northwest Greek features 1.2.1 Northwest Greek phonological features 1.2.2 Northwest Greek morphological features 1.2.3 Conclusion 1.3 Features in common with various other dialects 1.3.1 Phonological features in common with various other dialects 1.3.2 Morphological features in common with various other dialects 1.3.3 Conclusion 1.4 Specifically Elean features 1.4.1 Specifically Elean phonological features 1.4.2 Specifically Elean morphological features 1.4.3 Conclusion 1.5 General conclusion 2. Evaluation 2.1 The consonant stem accusative plural in -ες 2.2 The consonant stem dative plural endings -οις and -εσσι 2.3 The middle participle in /-ēmenos/ 2.4 The development *ē > ǟ 2.5 The development *ӗ > α 2.6 The development *i > ε 3. Conclusion 4. Bibliography 2 Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude towards Lucien van Beek for supervising my work, without whose help, comments and – at times necessary – incitations this study would not have reached its current shape, as well as towards Adriaan Rademaker for carefully reading my work and sharing his remarks.
    [Show full text]
  • C:\#1 Work\Greek\Wwgreek\REVISED
    Review Book for Luschnig, An Introduction to Ancient Greek Part Two: Lessons VII- XIV Revised, August 2007 © C. A. E. Luschnig 2007 Permission is granted to print and copy for personal/classroom use Contents Lesson VII: Participles 1 Lesson VIII: Pronouns, Perfect Active 6 Review of Pronouns 8 Lesson IX: Pronouns 11 Perfect Middle-Passive 13 Lesson X: Comparison, Aorist Passive 16 Review of Tenses and Voices 19 Lesson XI: Contract Verbs 21 Lesson XII: -MI Verbs 24 Work sheet on -:4 verbs 26 Lesson XII: Subjunctive & Optative 28 Review of Conditions 31 Lesson XIV imperatives, etc. 34 Principal Parts 35 Review 41 Protagoras selections 43 Lesson VII Participles Present Active and Middle-Passive, Future and Aorist, Active and Middle A. Summary 1. Definition: A participle shares two parts of speech. It is a verbal adjective. As an adjective it has gender, number, and case. As a verb it has tense and voice, and may take an object (in whatever case the verb takes). 2. Uses: In general there are three uses: attributive, circumstantial, and supplementary. Attributive: with the article, the participle is used as a noun or adjective. Examples: @Ê §P@<JgH, J Ð<J", Ò :X88T< PD`<@H. Circumstantial: without the article, but in agreement with a noun or pronoun (expressed or implied), whether a subject or an object in the sentence. This is an adjectival use. The circumstantial participle expresses: TIME: (when, after, while) [:", "ÛJ\6", :gJ">b] CAUSE: (since) [Jg, ñH] MANNER: (in, by) CONDITION: (if) [if the condition is negative with :Z] CONCESSION: (although) [6"\, 6"\BgD] PURPOSE: (to, in order to) future participle [ñH] GENITIVE ABSOLUTE: a noun / pronoun + a participle in the genitive form a clause which gives the circumstances of the action in the main sentence.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aorist in Modern Armenian: Core Value and Contextual Meanings Anaid Donabedian-Demopoulos
    The aorist in Modern Armenian: core value and contextual meanings Anaid Donabedian-Demopoulos To cite this version: Anaid Donabedian-Demopoulos. The aorist in Modern Armenian: core value and contextual mean- ings. Zlatka Guentcheva. Aspectuality and Temporality. Descriptive and theoretical issues, John Benjamins, pp.375 - 412, 2016, 9789027267610. 10.1075/slcs.172.12don. halshs-01424956 HAL Id: halshs-01424956 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01424956 Submitted on 6 Jan 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. The Aorist in Modern Armenian: core value and contextual meanings, in Guentchéva, Zlatka (ed.), Aspectuality and Temporality. Descriptive and theoretical issues, John Benjamins, 2016, p. 375-411 (the published paper miss examples written in Armenian) The aorist in Modern Armenian: core values and contextual meanings Anaïd Donabédian (SeDyL, INALCO/USPC, CNRS UMR8202, IRD UMR135) Introduction Comparison between particular markers in different languages is always controversial, nevertheless linguists can identify in numerous languages a verb tense that can be described as aorist. Cross-linguistic differences exist, due to the diachrony of the markers in question and their position within the verbal system of a given language, but there are clearly a certain number of shared morphological, syntactic, semantic and/or pragmatic features.
    [Show full text]
  • 30. Tense Aspect Mood 615
    30. Tense Aspect Mood 615 Richards, Ivor Armstrong 1936 The Philosophy of Rhetoric. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rockwell, Patricia 2007 Vocal features of conversational sarcasm: A comparison of methods. Journal of Psycho- linguistic Research 36: 361−369. Rosenblum, Doron 5. March 2004 Smart he is not. http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/smart-he-is-not- 1.115908. Searle, John 1979 Expression and Meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seddiq, Mirriam N. A. Why I don’t want to talk to you. http://notguiltynoway.com/2004/09/why-i-dont-want- to-talk-to-you.html. Singh, Onkar 17. December 2002 Parliament attack convicts fight in court. http://www.rediff.com/news/ 2002/dec/17parl2.htm [Accessed 24 July 2013]. Sperber, Dan and Deirdre Wilson 1986/1995 Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwell. Voegele, Jason N. A. http://www.jvoegele.com/literarysf/cyberpunk.html Voyer, Daniel and Cheryl Techentin 2010 Subjective acoustic features of sarcasm: Lower, slower, and more. Metaphor and Symbol 25: 1−16. Ward, Gregory 1983 A pragmatic analysis of epitomization. Papers in Linguistics 17: 145−161. Ward, Gregory and Betty J. Birner 2006 Information structure. In: B. Aarts and A. McMahon (eds.), Handbook of English Lin- guistics, 291−317. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Rachel Giora, Tel Aviv, (Israel) 30. Tense Aspect Mood 1. Introduction 2. Metaphor: EVENTS ARE (PHYSICAL) OBJECTS 3. Polysemy, construal, profiling, and coercion 4. Interactions of tense, aspect, and mood 5. Conclusion 6. References 1. Introduction In the framework of cognitive linguistics we approach the grammatical categories of tense, aspect, and mood from the perspective of general cognitive strategies.
    [Show full text]
  • Tense and Aspect (Sentences)
    Tense and Aspect Tense or Aspect: A quick-reference table Form How it behaves Indicative Always by tense Infinitive Naturally by aspect (after e.g. βούλομαι) but In Indirect Statements/Commands, it behaves like what it replaces Optative Naturally by aspect (e.g. after ἵνα, in Indefinite Clauses/Conditions) but In Indirect Statements/Questions, it behaves like what it replaces Subjunctive Always by aspect Imperative Always by aspect It is clear from the above table that most verb forms in Greek, including nearly everything that you find in subordinate clauses, is more likely to behave by aspect than by tense. NB The Imperfect and Future (where these exist) always operate by tense. Practice Sentences 1. οἱ δ᾽ Ἀθηναῖοι, ἵνα μὴ διασπασθείησαν, ἐπηκολούθουν. ..................................................................................................................................... 2. οὕτω δ᾽ ἐτάχθησαν, ἵνα μὴ διέκπλουν διδοῖεν. ..................................................................................................................................... 3. ὑπονοῶν ὅτι ἀποπορεύσοιτο καὶ ἀπάξοι τὸν στρατὸν οἴκαδε, διέβη τῆς νυκτὸς. ..................................................................................................................................... 4. οἴμοι, τί δράσω; τίς σε βαστάσει φίλων; ..................................................................................................................................... 5. ἐπεὶ δὲ οἱ πολέμιοι κατεῖχον, οὐδὲν ἔχοντες ὅ τι ποιήσαιεν, παρέδοσαν σφᾶς αὐτούς. ....................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Greek Tenses in John's Apocalypse
    CHAPTER 13 Greek Tenses in John’s Apocalypse: Issues in Verbal Aspect, Discourse Analysis, and Diachronic Change Buist M. Fanning This essay will concentrate on discourse functions for the Greek tenses in the Apocalypse of John. I will pursue this through a dialogue with and critique of David Mathewson’s views as presented in his 2010 monograph published by Brill and an earlier article in Novum Testamentum (2008) on this topic.1 Mathewson’s work is a reflection of a larger school of thought on nt Greek ver- bal usage that has been influenced greatly by Stanley Porter, and so this gives me an opportunity to interact with the views of a larger group of recent writers based on work that I have done on verbal aspect in nt Greek.2 The issue that triggers this discussion is what some have called the confu- sion of tenses or erratic shifting of tenses in John’s Apocalypse, just one area of the larger topic of John’s solecisms or unusual Greek grammatical expressions.3 What Mathewson argues for (following Porter) and what I will dispute in this paper is twofold: (1) that aspect alone is the focus of the ancient Greek tense forms; they do not in themselves express any temporal meaning; in regard to the Apocalypse if we take time out of the equation, we eliminate all of the supposed problems with shifting tense forms; (2) the main secondary effect of aspect is a certain function to reflect discourse prominence, that is, back- ground, foreground, and frontground events or features in a text.
    [Show full text]
  • HANSEN & QUINN: Review Sheet #7 (For Units 11-20)
    HANSEN & QUINN: Review Sheet #7 (for Units 11-20) - Clauses (KEY) 1). How does one generally issue a command in Greek? The imperative mood, of course. Alternatives include the hortatory subjunctive and independent object clauses of effort. 2). What are the two basic ways to make a prohibition in Greek? Be specific about the circumstances in which each is employed. Prohibitions (introduced by ) employ either the imperative or a subjunctive. For a prohibition with simple aspect, employ the aorist subjunctive (hortatory in the first person plural, prohibitive in the second and third persons). For progressive/repeated aspect, employ the present imperative in the second and third persons, the present (hortatory) subjunctive in the first (plural). 3). Describe the four types of temporal clause with which you are familiar: moods of verbs in main and temporal clause, temporal conjunctionsmÆ employed and what sort of relative time each conjunction indicates. Past definite temporal clauses are introduced by a past tense of the indicative (negative ) and ί or ("after, when") + a past (usually aorist) indicative (negative ) to indicate prior action, ("when") + an aorist or imperfect indicative (negative ) to indicate simultaneous action. Present general temporal clauses are introduced by a present indicative (negative ) and ("after, when, whenever") + an aorist subjunctive (negative ) to indicate prior action, ("when, whenever") + a present or aorist subjunctive (negative ) to indicate simultaneous action. Past general temporal clauses are introduced by an imperfect indicative (negative ) and ί or ("after, when, whenever") + an aorist optative (negative ) to indicate prior action, ("whenever") + a present or aorist optativeoÈ (negative§pe §peidÆ ) to indicate simultaneous action.
    [Show full text]
  • COMMENTARY 1.1. Ως Ε Πολ Εµησαν. Instead of Using the Accusative
    COMMENTARY 1.1. ως επλεµησαν . Instead of using the accusative relative pronoun ν& referring to τν πλεµν , Thucydides uses an indirect question with a displaced object, literally, “He wrote the war, how they fought.” This figure is called prolepsis (literally, “anticipation”) or the “lilies-of-the-field construction” (from the biblical verse Matt. 6:28, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow” [καταµα θετε τακρ ινα τυ αγρυ πωςαυα ν- υσιν]). “The subject of the dependent clause is often anticipated and made the object of the verb of the principal clause” (Sm. §2182). ευθ υς καθισταµενυ . Genitive absolute expressing time. Notice that in Greek, unlike the Latin ablative absolute, a participle may stand alone without a noun in the genitive when it is obvious what such a noun would be. Sm. §2072. The full expression would be ευθ υς καθισταµενυ τυ πλεµυ , “the moment the war broke out.” ελπισας . “expecting.” Verbs meaning hope, expect, promise, threaten, swear, etc. take the future infinitive in indirect discourse. Sm. §1868. τεκµαιρµαι . After Homer—i.e., in classical Greek—this verb means “judge from signs or tokens.” But here, Thucydides has used it in a special sense, “taking as evidence for this judgment [that it was going to be the greatest war ever] the fact that . .” 18 Commentary 19 υνιστα µενν . Indirect discourse with accusative plus participle after a verb of perception (ρων). Sm. §2110–12. τµ εν ...τδ ε . When used with µεν and δε without a following noun, the article behaves like a demonstrative. Sm. §1106–7. The combination µεν ..
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Aorist Morphology
    Notes on Aorist Morphology William S. Annis Scholiastae.org∗ February 5, 2012 Traditional grammars of classical Greek enumerate two forms of the aorist. For beginners this terminology is extremely misleading: the second aorist contains two distinct conjugations. This article covers the formation of all types of aorist, with special attention on the athematic second aorist conjugation which few verbs take, but several of them happen to be common. Not Two, but Three Aorists The forms of Greek aorist are usually divided into two classes, the first and the second. The first aorist is pretty simple, but the second aorist actually holds two distinct systems of morphology. I want to point out that the difference between first and second aorists is only a difference in conjugation. The meanings and uses of all these aorists are the same, but I’m not going to cover that here. See Goodwin’s Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb, or your favorite Greek grammar, for more about aorist syntax. In my verb charts I give the indicative active forms, indicate nu-movable with ”(ν)”, and al- ways include the dual forms. Beginners can probably skip the duals unless they are starting with Homer. The First Aorist This is taught as the regular form of the aorist. Like the future, a sigma is tacked onto the stem, so it sometimes called the sigmatic aorist. It is sometimes also called the weak aorist. Since it acts as a secondary (past) tense in the indicative, it has an augment: ἐ + λυ + σ- Onto this we tack on the endings.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 XENOPHON's PARASANGS* Abstract
    1 XENOPHON’S PARASANGS* Abstract: This paper analyses one aspect of Xenophon’s representation of space, focussing on the famous stages-and-parasangs formula employed by Xenophon in the Anabasis. It starts by discussing the meaning of his terms, and then explores patterns of repetition and variation in his account of the march, split into three section (the marches upcountry, to the sea, and along the coast). Rather than explaining Xenophon’s usage in terms of sources, it suggests that variations in the marching formula elaborate the successive stages of the Greeks’ encounter with the spaces of the Achaemenid empire. ‘From there Cyrus progresses two stages, ten parasangs, to the river Psarus, which was three plethra in breadth. From there he progresses one stage, five parasangs, to the river Pyramus, which was a stade in breadth. From there he progresses two stages, fifteen parasangs, to Issi, the last city of Cilicia, settled on the sea, large and prosperous. There they remained three days.’ (Xenophon, Anabasis) ‘I have done my best with the orthography of this place, though it is not important, consisting of one house, and that only a farsakh from Maragha. The farsakh (Xenophon’s parasang) will be of interest to us now. It has been ‘stabilized’ at four miles, but in common parlance varies from three to seven.’ (Robert Byron, Tasr Kand, 17 October 1933)1 * * * 2 Xenophon’s parasangs have not been of much interest to most readers of the Anabasis - no matter whether they have read it in the Penguin translation of Rex Warner (who explains that he has ‘got rid of the “parasang”, so familiar to beginners in Greek, and turned it, rather inaccurately, into miles’), or progressed through the Greek text at school.2 Parasangs have even inspired a certain hostility: historians moan about the ‘too recurrent parasang’, while the editor of one of the standard nineteenth-century school editions asked ‘whether, in its absolute lack of interest, a parallel could be found for the above extract [1.4.1] in the writings of any other historian, ancient or modern’.
    [Show full text]
  • The Future Optative in Greek Documentary and Grammatical Papyri
    Journal of Hellenic Studies 133 (2013) 93–111 doi:10.1017/S0075426913000062 THE FUTURE OPTATIVE IN GREEK DOCUMENTARY AND GRAMMATICAL PAPYRI NEIL O’SULLIVAN University of Western Australia* Abstract: The neglected area of later Greek syntax is explored here with reference to the future optative. This form of the verb first appeared early in the classical age but virtually disappeared during the Hellenistic era. Under the influence of Atticism it reappeared in later literary texts, and this paper is concerned largely with its revival in late legal and epistolary texts on papyrus from Egypt. It is used mainly in set legal phrases of remote future conditions, but we also see it in letters to express wishes (again, largely formulaic) for the future, both of which uses are foreign to Attic Greek. Finally, the future optative’s appearance in conjugations on grammatical papyri from Egypt is used to demon- strate the form’s presence in education even at the end of the classical world there, with the archive of Dioscorus of Aphrodito uniquely showing both this theoretical knowledge of it and examples of its application in legal documents. Keywords: optative, Greek, papyri, grammar, Dioscorus Our ignorance of the grammar – and especially the syntax – of the Greek language continues to hinder our understanding of the ancient world. The standard grammars1 have focused largely on the period of Greek literature up until the Hellenistic age, and again on the New Testament. Separate grammars have been published of Ptolemaic papyri,2 and of the phonology and morphology of later papyri;3 the grammar of inscriptions has also been studied, but again the syntax has been largely neglected.4 The following paper seeks to elucidate a largely ignored feature of later Greek – the demonstrated knowledge and expanded use of the future optative – as documented in papyri from the fourth to the seventh century AD.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 54 the First and Second Aorist Indicative Passive Ε-STEM
    Chapter 54 _______________________________ The First and Second Aorist Indicative Passive ______________________________________________ 54.1 In chapters 22 and 23 we met the Present Middle and Passive, and Deponent Verbs. In chapters 31, 32 and 33 we met the First and Second Aorists Active. Please review those chapters before proceeding to the material of this chapter. In chapter 53 we met the First and Second Aorist Middle. Aorists have different endings for the Middle and Passive voices. The Aorist Passive is usually best translated as "I was baptized . ", "It was seen . " etc. Some Deponent verbs use Aorist Passive endings rather than Aorist Middles endings - such verbs are referred to as "Passive Deponents". Some of these are included in the Vocabulary for this chapter. In this chapter we shall work with the various forms of the Aorist Passive, and we shall meet the sixth Principal Part of the verb - the Second Aorist Passive Stem . Verb tables usually list six "Principal Parts" for verbs - the Present, the Future, the Aorist, the Perfect Active, the Perfect Passive, and the Aorist Passive. With a knowledge of the Principal Parts one can build all the tenses of a verb unless it is very irregular. 54.2 The First Aorist Passive uses a fairly consistent set of endings added to the Verbal stem (usually the same as the Present stem) of the verb. a) The basic pattern for the First Aorist Passive is Person Singular Plural 1 ε-STEM-θην ε-STEM-θηµεν 2 ε-STEM-θης ε-STEM-θητε 3 ε-STEM-θη ε-STEM-θησαν Note the similarity to the endings for the First Aorist Active.
    [Show full text]