Cover not available
Part of
Pragmatic Markers, Discourse Markers and Modal Particles: New perspectives
Edited by Chiara Fedriani and Andrea Sansó
[Studies in Language Companion Series 186] 2017
► pp. 125–150

Chapter 4
A corpus-based approach to functional markers in Greek

Exploring the role of position

| National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

The paper attempts to explore the role of position in Greek by examining how positional preferences for markers correlate with their functions in the language. A large number of these items are investigated in four sub-corpora of academic texts, newspaper opinion articles, Parliament speeches and radio and TV interviews (1 million words in total), drawn from the Corpus of Greek Texts. The findings suggest that items that can be described as discourse and pragmatic markers are attracted by first position, whereas modal markers tend to appear in third position and second position is reserved for grammaticalized items. The corpus-based approach followed seems to offer a useful means of delimiting the broad class of items involved in Greek.

Keywords: corpora, functional markers, grammaticalization, Greek, position
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Functional markers in Greek
  • 3.Data and method
  • 4.Positional preferences of Greek functional markers
  • 5.Discussion and conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 13 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.186.05gou
References

References

Aijmer, Karin
2002 English Discourse Particles: Evidence from a Corpus [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 10]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 Understanding Pragmatic Markers. A Variational Pragmatic Approach. Edinburgh: EUP.Google Scholar
Aijmer, Karin & Simon-Vandenbergen, Anne-Marie
2004 A model and a methodology for the study of pragmatic markers: The semantic field of expectation. Journal of Pragmatics 36: 1781–1805. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2006 Introduction. In Pragmatic Markers in Contrast, Karin Aijmer & Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen (eds), 1–10. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Altenberg, Bengt
2006 The function of adverbial connectors in second initial position in English and Swedish. In Pragmatic Markers in Contrast, Karin Aijmer & Anne-Marie Simon-Vandenbergen (eds), 11–37. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Andersen, Gisle
2001 Pragmatic Markers and Sociolinguistic Variation: A Relevance-Theoretic Approach to the Language of Adolescents [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 84]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Stephen R.
1993 Wackernagel’s revenge: Clitics, morphology and the syntax of second position. Language 69: 68–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Babiniotis, Georgios
1998 Dictionary of Modern Greek. Athens: Lexicology Centre. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Beeching, Kate
2002 Gender, Politeness and Pragmatic Particles in French [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 104]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beeching, Kate & Detges, Ulrich
(eds) 2014 Discourse Functions at the Left and Right Periphery. Crosslinguistic Investigations of Language Use and Language Change. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Biber, Douglas, Johansson, Stig, Leech, Geoffrey, Conrad, Susan & Finegan, Edward
1999 Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Brinton, Laurel
1990 The development of discourse markers in English. In Historical Linguistics and Philology, Jacek Fisiak (ed.), 45–71. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1996 Pragmatic Markers in English: Grammaticalization and Discourse Functions. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010 Discourse markers. In Historical Pragmatics, Andreas H. Jucker & Irma Taavitsainen (eds), 285–314. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Clairis, Christos & Babiniotis, Georgios
2005 Grammar of Modern Greek. Structural-Functional and Communicative Grammar. Athens: Ellinika Grammata. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Degand, Liesbeth & Bestgen, Yves
2004 Connecteurs et analyses de corpus: De l’analyse manuelle à l’analyse automatisée. In L’Unité texte, Sylvie Porhiel & Dominique Klingler (eds), 49–73. Pleyben: Perspectives.Google Scholar
Degand, Liesbeth & Fagard, Benjamin
2011  Alors between discourse and grammar. The role of syntactic position. Functions of Language 18(1): 29–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eideneier, Hans
2004 Όψεις της ιστορίας της ελληνικής γλώσσας. Αθήνα: Παπαδήμα.Google Scholar
Evers-Vermeul, Jacqueline, Degand, Liesbeth Fagard, Benjamin & Mortier, Liesbeth
2011 Historical and comparative perspectives on subjectification: A corpus-based analysis of Dutch and French causal connectives. Linguistics 49(2): 445–478. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fedriani, Chiara & Ghezzi, Chiara
2013 Marcatori funzionali deverbali in greco, latino e italiano: sviluppi paralleli e natura della convergenza. In Le lingue del Mediterraneo antico. Culture, mutamenti, contatti, Luca Lorenzetti & Marco Mancini (eds), 151–180. Roma: Carocci.Google Scholar
Fischer, Kerstin
2000 From Cognitive Semantics to Lexical Pragmatics. The Functional Polysemy of Discourse Particles. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Foolen, Ad
1996 Pragmatic particles. In Handbook of Pragmatics 1996, Jef Verschueren, Jan-Ola Östman, Jan Blommaert & Chris Bulcaen (eds), 1–24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Fragaki, Georgia
2010 A corpus-based categorization of Greek adjectives. Proceedings of the 5th Corpus Linguistics Conference. 21–23 July 2009, University of Liverpool. [URL]
Fraser, Bruce
2006 Towards a theory of discourse markers. In Approaches to Discourse Particles, Kerstin Fischer (ed.), 189–204. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Georgakopoulou, Alexandra & Goutsos, Dionysis
1996 Connectives as discourse markers in Modern Greek. Studies in Greek Linguistics 16: 411–422.Google Scholar
1998 Conjunctions versus discourse markers in Greek: The interaction of frequency, positions and functions in context. Linguistics 36(5): 887–917. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ghezzi, Chiara & Molinelli, Piera
2014a Discourse and Pragmatic Markers from Latin to the Romance Languages. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014b Deverbal pragmatic markers from Latin to Italian (Lat. quaeso and It. prego) : The cyclic nature of functional developments. In Ghezzi & Molinelli (eds) 2014a, 61–85.Google Scholar
Goutsos, Dionysis
2002a Bringing text and system together: Patterns of discourse particles in a corpus of argumentative Greek texts. Paper given at the conference “Reviewing Linguistic Thought: Perspectives into the 21st Century”, University of Athens, 21–24 May.Google Scholar
2002b The use of electronic corpora in discourse analysis. In Recherches en Linguistique Grecque, 219–222. Clairis, Christos (ed.). Paris: L’Harmattan. (In Greek).Google Scholar
2003 The use of electronic corpora in the teaching of Modern Greek vocabulary. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on the Teaching of Modern Greek as a Foreign Language, Athens 25–26 September 2000, 259–267. Athens: University of Athens. (In Greek).Google Scholar
2009 Particles, discourse markers and sentential adverbs: Delimiting linguistic categories with the use of corpora. Proceedings of the 8th International Greek Linguistics Conference, University of Ioannina, 30 August-2 September, 754–768. [URL] (In Greek).
2010 The corpus of Greek texts: A reference corpus for Modern Greek. Corpora 5(1): 29–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goutsos, Dionysis, King, Philip & Chatzidaki, Rania
1995 The use of corpora in lexicography and the description of Modern Greek. Studies in Greek Linguistics 843–854. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Greenbaum, Sidney
1969 Studies in English Adverbial Usage. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Holton, David, Mackridge, Peter & Philippaki-Warburton, Irene
1997 Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Language. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jucker, Andreas H.
1997 The discourse marker well in the history of English. English Language and Linguistics 1(1): 91–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karafoti, Paraskevi
2003 Position and function of discourse markers in narrative and non-narrative texts. Studies in Greek Language 23: 31–42. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Lamiroy, Béatrice & Charolles, Michel
2004 Des adverbes aux connecteurs: Simplement, seulement, malheureusement, heureusement. Travaux de Linguistique 49: 57–79. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Langslow, David R.
2000 Latin discourse particles, ‘Medical Latin’ and ‘Classical Latin’. Mnemosyne 53(5): 537–560. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lindquist, Hans & Mair, Christian
(eds) 2004 Corpus Approaches to Grammaticalization in English [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 13]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liu, Dilin
2008 Linking adverbials. An across-register corpus study and its implications. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 13(4): 491–518. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mair, Christian
2004 Corpus linguistics and grammaticalisation theory: Statistics, frequencies, and beyond. In Lindquist & Mair (eds), 121–150.Google Scholar
Mortier, Liesbeth & Degand, Liesbeth
2009 Adversative discourse markers in contrast. The need for a combined corpus approach. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 14(3), 338–366. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, Maj-Britt Mosegaard
1998 The Function of Discourse Particles. A Study with Special Reference to Spoken Standard French [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 53]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakas, Thanassis
1988a The adverbials of Modern Greek. (Conclusions from a general investigation). In Glossophilologika Β’. Studies on Language and Literature, 76–95. Athens: Doukas Schools. (In Greek).Google Scholar
1988b A contribution to the study of Modern Greek sentential adverbs. In Glossophilologika Β’. Studies on Language and Literature, 96–124. Athens: Doukas Schools. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Nikiforidou, Kiki, Marmaridou, Sophia & Mikros, George
2014 What’s in a dialogic construction? A constructional approach to polysemy and the grammar of challenge. Cognitive Linguistics 25(4): 655–699. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pons Bordería, Salvador
2014 Paths of grammaticalization in Spanish o sea , In Ghezzi & Molinelli (eds) 2014a, 109–136.Google Scholar
Quirk, Randolph & Greenbaum, Sidney
1973 A University Grammar of English. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Rissanen, Matti, Kytö, Merja & Heikkonen, Kirsi
(eds) 1997 Grammaticalization at Work: Studies of Long-term Developments in English. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schiffrin, Deborah
1987 Discourse Markers. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schourup, Lawrence
1999 Discourse markers. Lingua 107: 227–265. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Siepman, Dirk
2000/2001 Second-level discourse markers across languages. Languages in Contrast 3(2): 253–287. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tognini-Bonelli, Εlena
2001 Corpus Linguistics at Work [Studies in Corpus Linguistics 6]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Torgersen, Eivind N., Gabrielatos, Costas, Hoffmann, Sebastian & Fox, Susan
2011 A corpus-based study of pragmatic markers in London English. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory 7(1): 93–118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traugott, Elizabeth C.
1997 The role of the development of discourse markers in a theory of grammaticalization. Paper presented at ICHL XII, Manchester 1995; Version of 11/97. [URL]
1995 Subjectification in grammaticalisation. In Subjectivity and Subjectivisation: Linguistic Perspectives, Dieter Stein & Susan Wright (eds), 31–54. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Triandafyllidis, Μanolis
1991 [1941] Modern Greek Grammar (of the Demotic Language). Thessaloniki: M. Triandafyllidis Institute. (In Greek).Google Scholar
Tzartzanos, Αchilles
1991 [1946–1953] Modern Greek Syntax (of the Common Demotic Language. Thessaloniki: Kyriakidis. (In Greek).Google Scholar
van der Auwera, Johan
(ed) 1998 Adverbial Constructions in the Languages of Europe. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van der Wouden, Ton
2002 Particle research meets corpus linguistics: On the collocational behavior of particles. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 16: 151–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Virtanen, Tuija
2006 Point of departure: Cognitive aspects of sentence-initial adverbials. In Approaches to Cognition through Text and Discourse, Tuija Virtanen (ed.), 79–97. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Wills, Jeffrey
1993 Homeric particle order. Historische Sprachforschungen 106: 61–81.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 1 other publications

la Roi, Ezra
2022. Weaving together the diverse threads of category change. Diachronica 39:2 ► pp. 159 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.