Advanced search
1 file | 312.02 KB Add to list

The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek : linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE

Klaas Bentein (UGent)
Author
Organization
Abstract
Specialists of the history of Ancient Greek scholarship and modern-day sociolinguists alike have made observations regarding the seemingly “distinctive” status of syntax: the former have argued there is no coherent theory of syntax in Ancient grammatical treatises, and the latter that syntactic variation is much less prominent in modern languages than lexical or phonetic/orthographic variation. The aim of this contribution is to confront these two perspectives by studying linguistic variation in three different types of sources: petitions in the Katochoi of the Sarapieion archive (II BCE), Phrynichus’ Ecloga (II CE), and the Life of Euthymius and its later metaphrasis (VI/X CE). It appears that syntactic variation plays a different role in these three types of sources, which I explain by referring to the cognitive status of syntax, which is more schematic and complex than lexis, and therefore less easily focused upon in“observer-centered”sources such as the Ecloga. At thesametime, I suggest that culture-specific explanations should be taken into account, too.
Keywords
Greek, Ancient Greek, Post-classical Greek, Byzantine Greek, Medieval Greek, linguistics, language variation, language change, historical linguistics, socio-historical linguistics

Downloads

  • Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek 16 The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek Linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE.pdf
    • full text (Published version)
    • |
    • open access
    • |
    • PDF
    • |
    • 312.02 KB

Citation

Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:

MLA
Bentein, Klaas. “The Distinctiveness of Syntax for Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek : Linguistic Upgrading from the Third Century BCE to the Tenth Century CE.” Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek, edited by Klaas Bentein and Mark Janse, vol. 331, De Gruyter Mouton, 2020, pp. 381–414, doi:10.1515/9783110614404-016.
APA
Bentein, K. (2020). The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek : linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE. In K. Bentein & M. Janse (Eds.), Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek (Vol. 331, pp. 381–414). https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110614404-016
Chicago author-date
Bentein, Klaas. 2020. “The Distinctiveness of Syntax for Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek : Linguistic Upgrading from the Third Century BCE to the Tenth Century CE.” In Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek, edited by Klaas Bentein and Mark Janse, 331:381–414. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110614404-016.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Bentein, Klaas. 2020. “The Distinctiveness of Syntax for Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek : Linguistic Upgrading from the Third Century BCE to the Tenth Century CE.” In Varieties of Post-Classical and Byzantine Greek, ed by. Klaas Bentein and Mark Janse, 331:381–414. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. doi:10.1515/9783110614404-016.
Vancouver
1.
Bentein K. The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek : linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE. In: Bentein K, Janse M, editors. Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton; 2020. p. 381–414.
IEEE
[1]
K. Bentein, “The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek : linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE,” in Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek, vol. 331, K. Bentein and M. Janse, Eds. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 2020, pp. 381–414.
@incollection{8610764,
  abstract     = {{Specialists of the history of Ancient Greek scholarship and modern-day sociolinguists alike have made observations regarding the seemingly “distinctive” status of syntax: the former have argued there is no coherent theory of syntax in Ancient grammatical treatises, and the latter that syntactic variation is much less prominent in modern languages than lexical or phonetic/orthographic variation. The aim of this contribution is to confront these two perspectives by studying linguistic variation in three different types of sources: petitions in the Katochoi of the Sarapieion archive (II BCE), Phrynichus’ Ecloga (II CE), and the Life of Euthymius and its later metaphrasis (VI/X CE). It appears that syntactic variation plays a different role in these three types of sources, which I explain by referring to the cognitive status of syntax, which is more schematic and complex than lexis, and therefore less easily focused upon in“observer-centered”sources such as the Ecloga. At thesametime, I suggest that culture-specific explanations should be taken into account, too.}},
  author       = {{Bentein, Klaas}},
  booktitle    = {{Varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek}},
  editor       = {{Bentein, Klaas and Janse, Mark}},
  isbn         = {{9783110608557}},
  issn         = {{1861-4302}},
  keywords     = {{Greek,Ancient Greek,Post-classical Greek,Byzantine Greek,Medieval Greek,linguistics,language variation,language change,historical linguistics,socio-historical linguistics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{381--414}},
  publisher    = {{De Gruyter Mouton}},
  series       = {{Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs}},
  title        = {{The distinctiveness of syntax for varieties of Post-classical and Byzantine Greek : linguistic upgrading from the third century BCE to the tenth century CE}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1515/9783110614404-016}},
  volume       = {{331}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}

Altmetric
View in Altmetric