Typological Comparison in the Nominal Domain

articles and bare nouns across Ancient Greek

Cristina Guardiano
cristina.guardiano@unimore.it

Goals

D-features

1. Description of syntactic patterns in ancient varieties using formal tools

2. Analysis and explanation of diachronic change

Theoretical Background
1. Theories on diachronic variation within the generative (formal) framework (cf. Roberts 2007)
2. Principles and Parameters approaches (stemming from Chomsky 1981)
3. Selected subdomain of syntax: the nominal domain DP-Hypothesis (since Abney 1987)

Empirical Background

Corpus

Greek article-system: diachronic developments

Homer Iliad 1-6; Odyssey 1-6 (Guardiano 2010)

Classical prose Platos Apology, Cratylus, Symposium (Guardiano 2003); Demosthenes (6), Lysias (2)
and Isocrates (2) speeches (Bernasconi 2011); further

B Rise of the definite article

B Rise of the indefinite article
B Proper names + definite article

data from Manolessou (2000), Bakker (2009)

New Testament the Gospels (Guardiano 2003)
Modern Greek native speakers (Longobardi/
Guardiano 2009), literature on DPs

Data
1. Homeric varieties (HG): all types of nominal expressions in argument position can be bare
(i.e. can occur without any visible determiner), both in the singular and in the plural
B First mention (i.e. indefinite)
Od. 2, 94 (she set up in her halls a great web,
and fell to weaving)
B Already mentioned noun/referent (i.e. anaphoric)
Od. 2, 104 (then day by day she would weave at the
great web; mentioned on v. 94)
B Contextually identifiable referent
Il. 1, 53-54 ,
(for nine days the missiles of the god ranged through the army but on the tenth Achilles
called the army to the place of assembly)
B Generic readings (kind-referring expressions)
Od. 1, 32 , (its astonishing how ready mortals are
to blame the gods)

1. Quantificational features encoded in D: definiteness,

count (Crisma 1997, 2010, Guardiano 2006)
Gramm. definiteness = definite article
Gramm. count = indefinite article; otherwise
null article
2. Denotational properties syntactically represented
in D: reference/person (Longobardi 1994, 2005)
Strong reference/person = visible D with kind- and
object-referential nominal expressions
Strategies:

N-to-D, expletive article

Articles in Homer?
, ,
anaphoric pronoun, adnominal element
I True demonstrative (without deictic values)
I True determiner (fulfilling D-tasks)?
B topical/relevant referent selected
systematically (partial definiteness?)
B turns non-nominal expressions
(i.e. adjectives, participles, . . . ) into DPs
(syntactic function)

Articles and Proper Names

B HG: Usually bare (null expletive?)
>Atrec d jnskwn lipen polarni Just

2. Classical Attic varieties (CG): the definite article is systematically visible on nominal
structures with definite reading and on kind-referring expressions; no indefinite article
B Indefinite (and first mention)
Apology 20 a 4 (for I happened to meet a man who)
B Already mentioned noun/referent (i.e. anaphoric)
Apology 21 b 1-2 (for I am going to tell
you whence the prejudice against me has arisen; () mentioned in 19a1)
B Definite specific (and contextually identifiable)
Apology 18 e 5 - 19 a 2
(and must try in so short a time to remove from you this prejudice which you have been
for so long a time acquiring)
B Existential indefinite
Cratylus 393 e 2 (making names)
B Generic readings (kind-referring expressions)
Cratylus 389 a 5-6 (see now what the
lawgiver has in view in giving names)
3. New Testament varieties (NTG): definite articles almost like CG (with minor differences). No indefinite articles; specific readings of (indefinite) singular nominals often marked
(Manolessou 2000, Guardiano 2003)
4. Standard Modern Greek (MG): systematic use of both definite and indefinite articles.
Definite articles also compulsory with kind- and object-referring nominal expressions

(Il. 2, 106)
B CG, NTG: visible and null expletives
fnai tn >Agjwna (Symp.175a3)
p t ok t >Agjwnoc (Symp.174d7-e1)
B MG: visible expletive always
h arqaa Rmh lehlatjhke ap touc Gtjouc

/ *arqaa

/ *Rmh arqaa / * h Rmh arqaa

No N-raising in Greek = no N-to-D (Guardiano 2003)
Null expletive only if null art (Guardiano 2006)
Rmh

Parametric results

Gr part def
Gr def
Gr part count
Gr count
Strong D

HG
+?
0
?

CG
+
+
0
+

NTG
+
+
+?
+

MG
+
+
+
+
+

Evolution of the article-system step-bystep process of successive micro-changes

(parameter resettings) in the representation
of def, count detectable crosslinguistically
with similar (universal?) patterns

Selected References
Guardiano C. (2003) Struttura e storia del sintagma nominale nel Greco Antico. Ipotesi parametriche. PhD Diss., Univ. Pisa. Guardiano C. (2006) The diachronical evolution
of the Greek article: parametric hypotheses. In: M. Janse et al (eds) Proceedings of MGDLT 2, Univ. Patras: 99-114. Guardiano C. (2010) Syntactic theory and Ancient Greek.
Remarks on the development of the article-system. Paper presented at the International Conference on Greek and Latin Syntax, Paris, November 26-27. Longobardi G. (1994)
Reference and proper names. LI 25: 609-665. Longobardi G, C. Guardiano (2009) Evidence for syntax as a signal of historical relatedness. Lingua 119: 1679-1706.