@incollection{01KPXDQKYCXC66D3J0NTA0GVHK,
  abstract     = {{Progressive constructions of the type ἦν διδάσκων are typically associated with Postclassical Greek, 
particularly the New Testament (Björck, 1940), but intriguingly, they also appear in the Classical period. The motivation for these constructions has long been debated. One important early contribution was Haiim Rosén’s (1957) proposal that εἰμί with the present participle functioned as a dedicated constituent-focus construction. While this proposal accounts for some examples, subsequent scholarship has shown that it does not explain the full range of uses. In earlier work on verbal periphrasis in Ancient Greek (Bentein 2016b), I therefore suggested a broader set of motivating factors, including morphological, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic considerations. However, my analysis was largely diachronic, 
emphasizing grammaticalization paths and patterns of register spread. In this contribution, I revisit these 
issues through the lens of recent research by Peter Petré (2017) and Astrid de Wit et al. (2020), who connect 
the progressive construction in English and other languages to the speaker’s or writer’s desire to ‘stand out’—
a phenomenon they term ‘extravagance’. I examine the extent to which progressive construal in Ancient 
Greek can be considered extravagant by (i) analyzing contextual cues associated with extravagance, such as 
speaker involvement, deictic and temporal adverbs, and markers of emphasis, and (ii) comparing 
semantically similar minimal pairs. In the second part of the chapter, I turn to New Testament periphrastics, 
which appear more integrated into narrative contexts than their Classical counterparts. Despite this 
integration, I argue that these constructions retain a highlighting function, though they now emphasize the 
event itself rather than other constituents (Johnson, 2010). I connect these findings to recent research on the 
relationship between aspect, progressivity in particular, and information structure, suggesting that the 
motivation for extravagance has evolved over time. Initially driven by novelty and aspectual coercion, the 
motivation for these constructions in later stages appears rooted in their inherent semantics.}},
  author       = {{Bentein, Klaas}},
  booktitle    = {{Linguistic insights into the meaning and function of the verb εἰμί in classical Greek philosophy}},
  editor       = {{Alcocer, Ricardo}},
  keywords     = {{progressive,periphrasis,extravagance,classicalgreek,newtestament,informationstructure}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Brill}},
  series       = {{The language of classical literature}},
  title        = {{The ancient Greek periphrastic progressive : an extravagant construction?}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}