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Key research themes
1. How do dative and genitive case assignments evolve and differ between Ancient and Modern Greek, and what syntactic mechanisms underlie these changes?
This theme investigates the diachronic syntactic and morphological development of dative and genitive case marking in Greek, focusing on the shift from Classical Greek, which featured morphological dative and genitive cases as lexical/inherent cases, to Modern Greek, where genitive emerges predominantly as a dependent (structural) case. Understanding this evolution illuminates broader questions about case theory, argument structure, and syntactic typology in Ancient Greek and its modern descendants.
Key finding: This paper provides evidence that Classical Greek used prepositional (lexical/inherent) dative and genitive cases marking direct and indirect objects, whereas Standard Modern Greek lost the dative and repurposed genitive as a... Read more
Key finding: Through fieldwork in Northern and Pontic Greek dialects, this study identifies the dialectal split after the loss of the dative in Medieval Greek: Northern and Pontic Greek dialects employ the accusative for indirect objects... Read more
2. What are the syntactic and semantic constraints on complementation structures in Ancient Greek, and how can a constructionist framework enhance their analysis?
This theme centers on the syntax and semantics of complement-taking predicates and the types of complement clauses they select in Ancient Greek. It explores the interaction between predicates and clause types, arguing that the meaning of complementation constructions arises from specific predicate-clause combinations rather than from each element in isolation. This approach refines the representation of complementation, addressing semantic-pragmatic variation and usage patterns, and provides a more nuanced understanding than traditional categorizations.
Key finding: The paper reveals that Ancient Greek employs distinct complement clause types (infinitive, participial, complementizer + indicative), each licensed by particular complement-taking predicates, with the semantic and pragmatic... Read more
Key finding: By analyzing infinitival control structures in Hellenistic Greek, the study shows a transitional stage between Classical and Modern Greek, where control constructions resemble English-like PRO control but also indicate that... Read more
3. How does differential object marking (DOM) with genitive and accusative cases in Ancient Greek reflect degrees of affectedness and agentivity, and what are the broader implications for case alternations?
This theme investigates the alternation between accusative and partitive genitive case marking of direct objects in Ancient Greek, particularly in verbs denoting change of state and experiential verbs. By examining the semantic parameter of patient affectedness and varying degrees of agency and control, it elucidates how case marking variations encode nuanced argument structure distinctions, thus refining theories of differential object marking and object encoding in Ancient Greek.
Key finding: The paper demonstrates that partitive-genitive marking in Ancient Greek signals partial affectedness of objects or low transitivity, especially with change-of-state verbs, while accusative marks fully affected objects.... Read more