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Space in Diachrony
Edited by Silvia Luraghi, Tatiana Nikitina and Chiara Zanchi
[Studies in Language Companion Series 188] 2017
► pp. 147–178

New evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry

Ancient Greek preverbs

| | | University of Pavia | University of Bergamo

This paper provides new evidence for the Source–Goal asymmetry by analyzing the synchronic behavior and the diachronic developments of Ancient Greek preverbs. This investigation is based on a diachronic corpus, including Homer as well as later prose, obtained by selecting a number of verbs representing different verb classes. Ancient Greek preverbs show both synchronic and diachronic asymmetries. The Goal is expressed by a larger number of preverbs than the Source, and is often associated with Location. Source-preverbs are more advanced in grammaticalization than Goal-preverbs: they are more obligatory, more easily repeated, and show a stronger tendency to develop actional meanings. Moreover, compounds with Source-preverbs often take a Goal-participant, whereas the opposite is not attested. These asymmetries are due to the syncretism undergone by Ancient Greek cases, which turned the genitive into a highly polysemous case.

Keywords: Ancient Greek, preverbs, Source–Goal asymmetry, grammaticalization, case syncretism
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Spatial relations in Cognitive Grammar
    • 2.2The typology of motion verbs
    • 2.3Grammaticalization theory
  • 3.Encoding spatial relations in Ancient Greek
  • 4.The synchronic Source–Goal asymmetries
  • 5.Source–Goal asymmetry in the grammaticalization of preverbs
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 August 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.188.06zan
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