LINGUIST List 9.1457

Mon Oct 19 1998

Sum: Optative Mood in Greek Language

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

Directory

  • Nicla Rossini, About Optative Mood in Greek Language

    Message 1: About Optative Mood in Greek Language

     Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 14:22:58 +0100
    From: Nicla Rossini <n.rossiniserver.humnet.unipi.it>
    Subject: 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