Aspect in Ancient Greek - Nijmegen Centre for Semantics

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18 Chapter 2. The interpretations of aoristic and imperfective aspectµαθνMathōnperceive.aor.ptcp.nomδέdeprtδακρσαντα ερετοdakrusanta eiretoweep.aor.ptcp.acc ask.pst.ipfv.3sgµιν Αρτάβανο̋min Artabanoshim.accλλήλων κεχωρισµέναallēlōn kechōrismenaone.other.gen separate.prf.pass.ptcp.accτεteκαkaiλίγωoligōiprt prt a.little.datγρgarbecauseσεωυτνseōutonyourself.accπρτερονproteron:beforeArtabanus.nomτάδε ...tade: ...this.acc......̋hōshowπολλνpollonfarργάσαοergasaodo.pst.aor.2sgµακαρίσα̋makarisasdeclare.happy.aor.ptcp.nomδ α κ ρ ε ι ̋.dakrueis.weep.PRS.ipfv.2sgννnunnow“Then Xerxes declared himself happy, and after that he started toweep. Perceiving that he had begun to weep Artabanus questionedhim saying: ‘What a distance is there between what you are doingnow and a little while ago! After declaring yourself happy you weep.’”Hdt. 7.45-46.1The basic function of aoristic aspect, to indicate completion, is not compatiblewith the present tense form δακρει̋ dakrueis ‘weep.prs’, which indicates thatXerxes is still crying at the moment of Artabanus’ utterance. Therefore, theaoristic form δάκρυσε edakruse ‘weep.aor’ has to be interpreted as indicatingthe beginning of the crying.Another example of the ingressive interpretation of aoristic aspect is (20):(20) ΑποθνήσκειApothnēiskeiδ ον Μάριο̋d’ oun Mariosdie.prs.ipfv.3sg prt prt Marius.nom σ χ εeschehave.pst.AOR.3sgπαραυτίκαparautikaimmediatelyτνtēnthe.acc. . . κα...; kaiandΡώµηνRōmēnRome.accµέγαmegagreat.nomχάρµαcharmajoy.nomκαkaiandθάρσο̋tharsoscourage.nom“Then Marius dies, and immediately great joy and courage took possessionof Rome.” Plu. Mar. 46.6The aorist form σχε esche ‘have.aor’ receives an ingressive interpretationand translates naturally as took possesion of.
2.4 Additional interpretations of the aorist 192.4.2 The complexive interpretationThe ingressive interpretation is not the only interpretation of aoristic aspectwith unbounded predicates; it can also be read as indicating that the eventualityis completed. An example of this use is βολευσα ebouleusa ‘be senator.aor’in (21):(21) γegōγάρ,gar,I.nom prtρχνarchēnoffice.accπλει,polei,state.datōvcpοδεµίανoudemianno.accνδρε̋andresmen.vocπώποτεpōpoteeverΑθηναοι,Athēnaioi,Athenian.voc β ο λ ε υ σ αebouleusabe.senator.pst.AOR.1sgλληνallēnother.accρξαērxarule.pst.aor.1sgδέdeprtνeninµνmenthoughτtēithe.dat“I (= Socrates), men of Athens, never held any other office in thestate, but I was a senator.”Pl. Ap. 32aHere the speaker, Socrates, makes reference to the complete eventuality ofbeing a senator rather than to the beginning.I will restrict the label completive to the interpretation of completion ofthe aorist with bounded predicates and will use complexive for the completioninterpretation of the aorist with unbounded predicates as in (21). Whetherthe two interpretations are the same or different depends on the analysis ofthe semantics of the aorist. Since in the account I will defend in this thesis thecombination of the aorist with bounded predicates is analysed differently thanthe combination with unbounded predicates, it is convenient to have distinctlabels for the two.2.4.3 The tragic interpretationMany grammars (e.g., Kühner and Gerth 1898:163, Goodwin 1966:18) notethat the form for past tense and aoristic aspect is sometimes used to refer topresent eventualities. This use of the aorist, called tragic or dramatic aoristbecause it occurs mainly in drama, is often used in dialogues. The traditionalview, as for instance found in Kühner and Gerth (1898:163-165), is that itdescribes a present eventuality as if it had already happened or begun. Thisuse of the aorist is restricted to the first person and common with verbs ofjudgement or emotion in response to something said by someone else. Insuch cases it is claimed to indicate that the speaker had begun to make thejudgement or feel the emotion before his interlocutor has finished speaking.An example is given in (22), where Iphigeneia reacts to Orestes’ proposal to
Page 3: Aspect in Ancient GreekA semantic a
Page 6 and 7: viNick Asher, David Beaver, the lat
Page 9: Contentsix8 Conclusions and discuss
Page 12 and 13: 2 Chapter 1. Introductiongroundbrea
Page 14 and 15: 4 Chapter 1. Introduction(4) µετ
Page 16 and 17: 6 Chapter 1. Introductionimperfecti
Page 19 and 20: 1.3 Organisation of the thesis 9In
Page 21 and 22: Chapter 2The interpretations of aor
Page 23 and 24: 2.3 Additional interpretations of t
Page 25 and 26: 2.3 Additional interpretations of t
Page 27: 2.4 Additional interpretations of t
Page 31: 2.5 The challenge 21scriptions of h
Page 34 and 35: 24 Chapter 3. Aspect in formal sema
Page 52: 42 Chapter 3. Aspect in formal sema
Page 57 and 58: 3.2 The perfective-imperfective dis
Page 77 and 78: 3.3 Aspectual coercion 673.3.1 Aspe
Page 79 and 80:
3.3 Aspectual coercion 69bials ((88
Page 81 and 82:
3.3 Aspectual coercion 71the term c
Page 83 and 84:
3.3 Aspectual coercion 73in the ext
Page 86 and 87:
76 Chapter 4. An analysis of aorist
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Page 100 and 101:
Page 102 and 103:
Page 104 and 105:
Page 106 and 107:
Page 108 and 109:
Page 110 and 111:
100 Chapter 4. An analysis of aoris
Page 112 and 113:
Page 114 and 115:
Page 116 and 117:
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
122 Chapter 5. Aspect and performat
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
134 Chapter 6. The temporal structu
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
158 Chapter 7. Comparison to theori
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
172 Chapter 8. Conclusions and disc
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
178 Appendix A: The language of Com
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 202 and 203:
192 Appendix B: Examples spelled ou
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 216 and 217:
206 Appendix C: List of abbreviatio
Page 218 and 219:
208 Appendix C: List of abbreviatio
Page 220 and 221:
210 References(Eds.), Cross-linguis
Page 222 and 223:
212 ReferencesGrice, P. (1975). Log
Page 224 and 225:
214 ReferencesLemmon, E. J. (1962).
Page 226 and 227:
216 Referencesvan der Sandt, R. (19
Page 228 and 229:
218 References
Page 230 and 231:
220 Samenvatting (Summary in Dutch)
Page 232 and 233:
222 Samenvatting (Summary in Dutch)
show all

Aspect in Ancient Greek - Nijmegen Centre for Semantics

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?