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Title: The Greek Reduplicated Aorist
Author: Miles Beckwith
Email: click here to access email
Degree Awarded: Yale University , Department of Linguistics
Degree Date: 1996
Linguistic Subfield(s): Historical Linguistics
Subject Language(s): Greek, Ancient
Director(s): Brent Vine
Abstract:

The Greek verbal system is tripartite, having three tense-aspects: present, aorist and perfect. Perfect formations in the Greek typically show initial reduplication, as does the occasional present. In addition, a small number of forms exist which can only be classed as reduplicated aorists, but these forms typically do not occur in prose and have a very limited distribution in the attested Greek texts. The following dissertation examines the use of these forms and attempts to unravel their history. Etymological analysis shows that a small number of these forms are archaisms pre-served from Indo-European while an equally small number are innovations of the Greek era. However, the majority of the attested reduplicated aorists resist such analysis, and are more difficult to place within their individual verbal paradigms. Fortunately, a careful analysis of the metrical distribution shows that many of the remaining forms occur only in specialized metrical environments and suggests that these forms are artificial creations of poetic diction.
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Page Updated: 28-Nov-2009

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