Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PaGHEMMo (Particles in Greek and Hittite as Expression of Mood and Modality)
Période du rapport: 2021-05-01 au 2023-04-30
The project discusses the use and the interaction between moods and particles in Ancient Greek and Hittite (spoken from XVI until XII BC) and how this interaction helped expressing modality, i.e. how the moods, particles and the interaction between them expressed different nuances about the veracity and the probability of the statement and about how the speakers viewed their own statements. The investigation into this issue will be performed in three steps. First, the data for Greek will be analysed, second, those for Hittite and in a third step, we will investigate how subordinate clauses fit into this schema.
The importance for society is that this research about ancient languages can provide insights into the uses in modern languages, be they of (Indo-)European origin or not. Greek and Hittite are related languages, but the differences between their verbal systems are nevertheless significant and yet, both languages succeed in conveying all the necessary nuances (they can all express certainty, probability, possibility and impossibility). When we understand how this process occurred in ancient languages, it can provide us insights into the systems of modern languages as well and therefore, this research could be expanded to related languages of other language families. This is also of importance for the study of languages in general, as it can shed new light on the question whether all languages start from a simple structure and evolve into more complicated syntactic constructions or not. In order to investigate this, we included the study of non-Indo-European languages. A second element that this research also addresses the issue of possible contact between these two languages, as some of the issues studied have been explained by contact between them, but our study has shown that the explanation as contact cannot be sustained. This is also important for the study of other languages, as it provides a case study on how one can analyse possible contact-induced syntactic phenomena.
The objectives are the following: for Greek, we intend first to catalogue all the verb forms in Greek epic and the oldest inscriptions as to their mood and their co-occurrence with the particles, and second, to analyse why a certain mood is used and why the particle is (not) present; for Hittite, a list of the particles used to mark modal meanings and an analysis of which particles were combined with which verb forms and/or what other particles. Finally, the project also analyses the concept of subordination and determines if the subordinate clauses of Greek can be reanalysed as original main clauses, and if so, which instances are evidence of this. This project will be the basis for additional and more elaborate investigations into the origin of the moods in the different old Indo-European languages and into the historical syntax of the oldest Indo-European languages.
The importance for society is that this research about ancient languages can provide insights into the uses in modern languages, be they of (Indo-)European origin or not. Greek and Hittite are related languages, but the differences between their verbal systems are nevertheless significant and yet, both languages succeed in conveying all the necessary nuances (they can all express certainty, probability, possibility and impossibility). When we understand how this process occurred in ancient languages, it can provide us insights into the systems of modern languages as well and therefore, this research could be expanded to related languages of other language families. This is also of importance for the study of languages in general, as it can shed new light on the question whether all languages start from a simple structure and evolve into more complicated syntactic constructions or not. In order to investigate this, we included the study of non-Indo-European languages. A second element that this research also addresses the issue of possible contact between these two languages, as some of the issues studied have been explained by contact between them, but our study has shown that the explanation as contact cannot be sustained. This is also important for the study of other languages, as it provides a case study on how one can analyse possible contact-induced syntactic phenomena.
The objectives are the following: for Greek, we intend first to catalogue all the verb forms in Greek epic and the oldest inscriptions as to their mood and their co-occurrence with the particles, and second, to analyse why a certain mood is used and why the particle is (not) present; for Hittite, a list of the particles used to mark modal meanings and an analysis of which particles were combined with which verb forms and/or what other particles. Finally, the project also analyses the concept of subordination and determines if the subordinate clauses of Greek can be reanalysed as original main clauses, and if so, which instances are evidence of this. This project will be the basis for additional and more elaborate investigations into the origin of the moods in the different old Indo-European languages and into the historical syntax of the oldest Indo-European languages.
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.
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.
The project described in great detail the use of the moods and the modal particles and their interaction in Greek, and established that the modal particles in epic Greek were used in speeches to highlight a specific action and remained absent with wishes and in voluntative contexts, when repeated actions or events in a remote past were narrated. Second, it analysed the use of the different particles in Hittite and found that they conveyed either an aspectual or a modal meaning, but were incompatible with iterative actions. The project finally established that the subordinate structures of early Greek, especially the conditional and the relative constructions, were in origin independent main clauses. This provided insights on the origins of subordination and how the use of moods and particles became grammaticalized, i.e. how the combination became a fixed expression and how a certain construction was always used with a specific particle while it never appeared in another. The investigation of the subordinate constructions can be used as reference point for further researches involving other languages and language families.