This book provides a brand new treatment of Ancient Greek (AG) verb-first (V1) compounds. In AG, the very existence of this type is surprising: its left-oriented structure goes against the right-oriented structure of the compound system, in which there also exists a large class of verb-final (V2) compounds (many of which express the same agentive semantics). While past studies have privileged either the historical dimension or the assessment of semantic and stylistic issues over a systematic analysis of V1 compounds, this book provides a comprehensive corpus of appellative and onomastic forms, which are studied vis-Ć -vis V2 ones. The diachronic dimension (how these compounds developed from late PIE to AG and then within AG) is combined with the synchronic one (how they are used in specific contexts) in order to show that, far from being anomalous, V1 compounds fill lexical gaps that could not, for specified morphological and semantic reasons, be filled by more 'regular' V2 ones. Introductory chapters on compounding in morphological theory and in AG place the multi-faceted approach of this book in a modern perspective, highlighting the importance of AG for linguists debating the properties of the V1 type cross-linguistically.
Trusted byĀ 375,005 students
Access to over 1.5 million titles for a fair monthly price.
This chapter provides an overview of the main issues concerning compounding from a typological point of view and has two aims. The first is to introduce Classicists to concepts which are useful for the analysis of Greek compound categories and to the topics which are most vigorously debated in current morphological research. This is a particularly urgent requirement in Classical studies, since available accounts of Greek compounding usually adopt a traditional framework, which largely disregards the methodologies developed by modern linguists. In particular, this chapter clears the ground regarding the definition of compound-hood, the spelling of compounds, the analysis of accentual patterns, the study of headedness and the distinction between exocentricity and endocentricity, thereby setting the stage for the classification of AG compound categories provided in Chapter 2.
Since a study of AG compounding within a modern framework remains a desideratum, the second aim of this chapter is to make the defining characteristics of AG compounding better known to linguists who work on modern languages.5 It may come as a surprise that in the recent Oxford Handbook of Compounding edited by Lieber and Å tekauer (2009a) there are no chapters focusing on individual ancient IE languages and even the diachronic overview by Kastovsky (2009) has some notable omissions.6 With this in view, the present chapter dwells on those elements which characterize compounding in Greek vs. compounding in English (the use of stems, the presence of a linking vowel at the end of the FC), as well as on general areas of interest (writing and accentuation patterns, the orientation of compounds).
2 Compounds and compounding
By its most basic definition, a compound is a word formed by two or more lexemes (e.g. girlfriend) or lexical stems (e.g. Francophile). The morphological process through which a compound is created is called compounding (ānominal compositionā, nominale Kompositionor, simply, Kompositionare more common terms in Classical linguistics).7 The kind of compounding studied in this book and introduced in this chapter does not involve forms combining a prefix and a verbal basis (English type overlook, AG
ĻĪ¹Ī³ĻĪ¬ĻĻ āwrite over, inciseā), nominals derived from them (e.g. overlooking, AG
ĻĪ¹Ī³ĻĪ±Ļįæ āinscriptionā) or the combination of two verbs (English type sleep-walk, MG type ĻĻĻĪ³ĪæĻƬĪ½Ļ [eat drink] āeat and drinkā), which is unattested in AG8
Compounding is a widely exploited type of word formation cross-linguistically, which has been studied from a wide range of methodological perspectives. In recent decades the study of compounds and their classification has seen the English language attain a particular prominence. This is the consequence of two facts: the high productivity of compounds in English, which has prompted in-depth studies of their characteristics; and the development of new linguistic approaches in English-speaking countries. As a result, the bulk of bibliography on compounding has, as a sine qua non, always engaged with English and its compound categories. Although this has favoured the use of a largely shared terminology on the part of linguists belonging to different schools, it has also caused some disadvantages. This chapter focuses on some elements of tension between current approaches to compounding and the approaches and traditional terminology used in the study of ancient IE languages, and AG in particular.
3 The definition of compounds
The previous section began with a basic definition of what a compound is, which non-experts may consider satisfactory. Yet we need only browse a number of introductions to compounding to realize that the status of compound (ācompoundhoodā in linguistic jargon) is a hotly debated topic, perhaps the very heart of the disputes between linguists of different credos.
Let us start from a simple definition:
A compound is a word which consists of two or more words. Fabb (1998: 66).
This description of compounds, which is provided in a general introduction to compounding in a general handbook of morphology, echoes the following classic definition of English compounding:
When two or more words are combined into a morphological unit, we speak of a compound. Marchand (1969: 11).
Both definitions can be criticized from two angles. First, they assume that the concept of āwordā does not require any further definition. Secondly, they ignore the problem that a large number of compounds result from the joining of elements which do not occur as independent words in the lexicon of a given language. Although this is a problem of minor importance in English (the language to which these definitions apply), we can appreciate its relevance by considering an English word such as Gallophile: neither member of this compound is an independent word in English.
An alternative definition may thus prove to be more accurate and unambiguous:
Compounding is the process through which a compound lexeme is derived from two or more simpler lexemes.
Matthews (1991: 83).
In this case, the problematic term word is replaced by the technical term lexeme. This substitution brings some advantages.9 For instance, it allows for the presence of constituents which are not entire words, but simple or complex stems, i.e. āuninflected parts of independent words that do not themselves constitute independent wordsā.10 A large number of languages use stems in compounding: Greek, both Ancient and Modern, is prominent among them. In our example, Gallophile ālover of French cultureā, both constituents can be analysed as Neoclassical simple stems. In its derivation Gallophilia ālove of French cultureā, the lexeme -philiais a complex stem: it is formed by the simple stem phil- āloveā, followed by the morphological suffix -ia, which is specialized for the derivation of feminine nouns.
Not all linguists will agree with this view. Radical morphologists may contest that, from the point of view of English, Gallo- is a prefix and -phile is a suffix: Gallophile therefore is not a compound, but a derivation. Such analyses look at the status of constituents from a synchronic point of view, aside from their histor- ical origin. Yet it has equally been noted that the exclusion of Neoclassical forms such as Gallophile from compounding is unsatisfactory precisely on synchronic grounds, since these forms share many characteristics with native compound patterns and are usually granted compound-status by native speakers.11 Consider for instance the now pervasive term gastropub, a form which combines a Neoclassical stem (gastro-) with a common English word (pub) to identify a pub serving restaurant-like food. Again, grammars treat gastro- as a prefix, but most speakers who know the Neoclassical word gastronomy would conclude that gastropubis nothing else than a compound.
These examples show not only that theoretical definitions of compounds can differ considerably, but also that the interpretation of individual forms is a matter of debate. As a consequence, much work has been devoted to the study of other interpretative approaches, with the aim of reaching a more problem-free definition.
In order to circumvent some of the problems inherent in classifications of compounds which are based solely on the morphological description of the constituents, other approaches focus on criteria as diverse as...
Table of contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Preface and Acknowledgements
Contents
List of tables
Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter One: Compounding and the Classification of Compounds
Chapter Two: The Compound Categories of Ancient Greek
Chapter Three: The Study of Ancient Greek and Indo-European V1 Compounds in the Last Two Centuries
Chapter Four: The Historical Perspective: PIE Background and Development of V1 Compounds in Early Greek
Chapter Five: The Analysis Of V1 Compounds Within the Greek Compound System Part I: V1 Compounds Without V2 Counterparts
Chapter Six: The Analysis of V1 Compounds Within the Greek Compound System Part II: V1 Compounds With a V2 Counterpart
Conclusion: V1 Formations and the system of verbal compounds in Ancient Greek
Appendix: Corpus of V1 Compounds, Their Base Verbs, First Constituents, Corresponding Agent Nouns and V2 Compounds
Bibliography
Index
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn how to download books offline
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.5M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1.5 million books across 990+ topics, weāve got you covered! Learn about our mission
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more about Read Aloud
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS and Android devices to read anytime, anywhere ā even offline. Perfect for commutes or when youāre on the go. Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Yes, you can access Ancient Greek Verb-Initial Compounds by Olga Tribulato in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Languages. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
