This is the most comprehensive history of the Greek prepositional system ever published. It is set within a broad typological context and examines interrelated syntactic, morphological, and semantic change over three millennia. By including, for the first time, Medieval and Modern Greek, Dr Bortone is able to show how the changes in meaning of Greek prepositions follow a clear and recurring pattern of immense theoretical interest. The author opens the book by discussing the relevant background issues concerning the function, meaning, and genesis of adpositions and cases. He then traces the development of prepositions and case markers in ancient Greek (Homeric and classical, with insights from Linear B and reconstructed Indo-European); Hellenistic Greek, which he examines mainly on the basis of Biblical Greek; Medieval Greek, the least studied but most revealing phase; and Modern Greek, in which he also considers the influence of the learned tradition and neighbouring languages. Written in an accessible and non-specialist style, this book will interest classical philologists, as well as historical linguists and theoretical linguists.
Editorial Reviews
Review
an extremely impressive book … very convincingly argued … an indispensable source of examples… B.’s linguistic breadth is also remarkable: it is clear, especially from the the first half of the book, that he is extremely comfortable with scholarly literature on cases and prepositions in a wide range of languages and time periods … splendid … [readers] will not be disappointed ― Linguist List
Bortone’s excellent treatise on prepositions from Ancient to Modern Greek is a welcome contribution to our knowledge of the language … The result is a very impressive piece of scholarly work that showcases both philological and linguistic analysis at its best … Overall the volume is very well-written, with lucid and precise language that is a joy to read especially when one considers how challenging the subject is… a tour de force of classical and linguistic erudition, and a testament to Bs skill at synthesis… truly excellent work ―
Diachronica
both impressive and convincing. Although Bortone is admirably cautious about the general application of his conclusion … its demonstration is a major achievement … If you find discussions of how language works and how it develops interesting, read this book. If you dontwell, that is your loss. ―
David M. Schaps, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Book Description
An important contribution to our knowledge of the long-term evolution of Greek
About the Author
Pietro Bortone is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics & Mediterranean Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago. He studied Classical, Medieval, and Modern Greek at King’s College London, and Linguistic Theory and Comparative Philology at Oxford, and was Research Fellow in Hellenic Studies at Princeton.
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