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Part of
Historical Linguistics 2015: Selected papers from the 22nd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Naples, 27-31 July 2015
Edited by Michela Cennamo and Claudia Fabrizio
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 348] 2019
► pp. 271–286

Chapter 13
State representation and dynamic processes in Homeric Greek

The aorist in - in Homeric Greek

We aim to assess the relationship between different Indo-European strategies for encoding the representation of a subject’s state and focus on data from Homeric poems. Specifically, we propose an explanation for the function and the distribution of the aorist in –ην that (1) accounts for its various occurrences within a unitary model, (2) sheds new light on the co-existence of stative and dynamic components in this formation, (3) allows us to solve the supposed aporia whereby a stative marker has been integrated into the aorist system. Moreover, we investigate the relationship between the aorist in –ην and two major categories that entail a state predicate, that is, the old perfect and the middle voice, in order to clarify their distinctive functions and mutual distribution.
Keywords: state representation, intransitivity, causative/anticausative alternation, aorist, perfect, middle, ancient Greek
Article outline
  • 1.State representation and intransitive values of the aorist in –ην: Open questions
  • 2.Function and distribution of the aorist in –ην and its relationship with middle and perfect
    • 2.1The anticausative function of the aorist in –ην
    • 2.2Aorist in –ην and media tantum verbs
    • 2.3Aorist in –ην, middle and perfect
  • 3.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Translations
Published online: 10 September 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.348.13rom
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