LINGUIST List 9.1457

Mon Oct 19 1998

Sum: Optative Mood in Greek Language

Editor for this issue: Brett Churchill <brettlinguistlist.org>

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1. Nicla Rossini, About Optative Mood in Greek Language

Dear Linguists,
as promised, I'm sending you a summary of my research.
If you remember, I was making a study about Optative in Greek language...
These are the results of my job:

- Optative, in Greek Language, falls completely in Hellenistic Age, but
signs of
 weakness are manifest in Classic Age authors ( especially in Tragedian
Poets).

- To explain its fall, we should examine all Mood's System.

- I chose the Prototypic approach to describe every Mood: I found ,for
everyone,
 a "core-definition" and all its slided meanings. F.E.:

 OPATIVE

 CORE DEFINITION SLIDED MEANINGS


 WISH/ PRAYER POTENTIAL MOOD ( as wish/expectation )



We have also to assume that one's wish cold be feasible or not.
According to this new factor, we should supplement our scheme as below


 CORE DEFINITION SLIDED MEANINGS

 BY OTHERS > KIND IMPERATIVE
 FEASIBLE

 WISH

 NOT FEASIBLE > IPOTETICAL PERIOD


According to this kind of approach, I assumed that:

- Optative's core definition is the expression of wish or prayer and the
whole of other meanings are arised from it.

- Optative's slided meanings are :
 POTENTIAL
 KIND IMPERATIVE
 USE IN FINAL CLAUSE
 USE IN COMPLETIVE CLAUSE INSTEAD OF
 INDICATIVE OR CONJUNCTIVE

- The Optative System looks in growth, and we could explain its fall only
if we
assume a partial domain superposition .

- The superposition of Indicative and Opative ( or Conjunctive and Opative
) is clear, but i don't think it's decisive.

- At last, I ascribe Optative' s fall to Infinitive's growth.

- Here are the Infinitive periferical meanings: EXCLAMATION
 IMPERATIVE
 WISH

- The latter meaning, according to my opinion, mines Optative's CORE
DEFINITION, and make it slowly disappear.

- This problem returns to our attention in Italian Language, when we talk
about Conjunctive death.

These are my conclusions. Obviously, this treatment of the question is made
simpler.
I apologise for my English, and my inexact vocabulary.
I will consider any kind of suggestion.

Nicla Rossini
Universit di Pisa
E-MAIL: n.rossiniserver.humnet.unipi.it