It investigates the original meaning and uses of the particles án and ken in the earliest Greek texts (epic, lyric poetry and inscriptions, VIII-VI BC, Mycenaean, XIII BC, has no examples) and their interaction with mood and modality, the use of the particles man, san and kan in the Old-Hittite texts (1650-1450 BC) and the comparison between the particles in Greek and Hittite, and how/if the subordination plays a role in the use of the Greek particles. The use of the modal particle án with the different moods is strictly regulated in Classical Greek (V-IV BC), but epic and lyric Greek, and other dialects án, use ken or ka, and the rules seem less rigid. So far no study addressed the use of these particles in the oldest Greek texts. I gather the data, determine if they are secured by the metre, tag and catalogue them per tense, mood, sentence-type (negative, affirmative, main clause, subordinate and type of subordinate clause) and text-type (narrative, speech) and analyse the use(s). Although Greek and Hittite are related, they have nevertheless significantly different verbal systems: Greek has a rich system of moods and particles, Hittite has a much less elaborate system with only two moods and conveys the non-realis meaning through the particle man, but also san and kan specify the verb. Kan is said to be related to ken, becomes the default particle in later texts replacing san, but in Old-Hittite san is more common. Their original meaning is debated. I gather the instances of kan and san, catalogue them per text and sentence type and investigate the meaning. Then I compare the use of these particles to Greek ken. Finally I investigate the link between the Greek particles and subordination. The particles are attested more in subordinate than in main clauses and in some subordinate clauses more often than in others. There are 2 questions: were the particles used as subordination markers or can the paratactic origin of the subordinate constructions explain their use.
The project addressed the research questions, reached its goals, and published its results in one monograph, 14 accepted peer-reviewed articles and conference proceedings (besides 8 additional submitted articles and proceedings), one project conference in Verona (in November 2022), and the proceedings of that conference (to be published towards the end of 2023), and presented the research, its progress and the results during 3 conference presentations and 4 invited lectures. The monograph provided a synthesis of the investigations into epic Greek, focusing on formulaicity, oral poetry, textual criticism, tense and aspect, augment use, mood and modality, the use of the modal particle and the degree of reality and unreality in verb forms. The project conference discussed the contributions of Berthold Delbrück to the field of historical syntax and updated his work with texts and languages discovered after his death in 1922 (it was held in 2022, the centenary of his death). In this conference, I provided an overview of his findings for Greek and Indo-European, discussing the 3 research questions. Besides scientific dissemination, we (PI and researcher) also presented the research in presentations in different courses at the university. In addition, the project and its results were presented in a Youtube video and a website was also created.
