Future Periphrases in John Malalas
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Daniel Kölligan
Abstract
The paper discusses the various means of expressing future reference in the earliest Byzantine world chronicle written in a language close to the vernacular. After the demise of the classical future tense formation, both simple present tense forms and periphrastic constructions are employed to this end. Some of the patterns found in Malalas continue pre-Byzantine uses, others are innovations neither found in Classical Greek nor in the later language: the use of the present tense for reference to the future and that of méllō ʻto be aboutʼ as a future-in-the-past are attested already in Classical Greek, whereas the use of ékhō ʻto haveʼ as a future-in-the-past and as a counterfactual is an innovation Malalas shares with other authors of his time. His use of opheílō ‘to owe/shallʼ in the syntactic position where the classical language employs a future participle is not continued in Modern Greek.
Abstract
The paper discusses the various means of expressing future reference in the earliest Byzantine world chronicle written in a language close to the vernacular. After the demise of the classical future tense formation, both simple present tense forms and periphrastic constructions are employed to this end. Some of the patterns found in Malalas continue pre-Byzantine uses, others are innovations neither found in Classical Greek nor in the later language: the use of the present tense for reference to the future and that of méllō ʻto be aboutʼ as a future-in-the-past are attested already in Classical Greek, whereas the use of ékhō ʻto haveʼ as a future-in-the-past and as a counterfactual is an innovation Malalas shares with other authors of his time. His use of opheílō ‘to owe/shallʼ in the syntactic position where the classical language employs a future participle is not continued in Modern Greek.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Postclassical Greek. An Overview 1
-
Section I: Grammatical Categories
- Purpose and Result Clauses: ἵνα-hína and ὥστε-hōʹste in the Greek Documentary Papyri of the Roman Period 19
- Syntactic Factors in the Greek Genitive- Dative Syncretism: The Contribution of New Testament Greek 39
- Future Periphrases in John Malalas 71
- Combining Linguistics, Paleography and Papyrology: The Use of the Prepositions eis, prós and epí in Greek Papyri 97
- Future Forms inPostclassical Greek. Some Remarks on the Septuagint and the New Testament 111
- Greek Infinitive-Retreat versus Grammaticalization: An Assessment 145
- Postclassical Greek and Treebanks for a Diachronic Analysis 163
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Section II: Sociolinguistic Aspects and Variation
- The Perfect Paradigm in Theodosius’ Κανόνες: Diathetically Indifferent and Diathetically Non-Indifferent Forms 205
- Forms of the Directive Speech Act: Evidence from Early Ptolemaic Papyri 221
- What’s in a (personal) Name? Morphology and Identity in Jewish Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods 245
- Confusion of Mood or Phoneme? The Impact of L1 Phonology on Verb Semantics 283
- Change in Grammatical and Lexical Structures inPostclassical Greek: Local Dialects and Supradialectal Tendencies 303
- Index 337
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Postclassical Greek. An Overview 1
-
Section I: Grammatical Categories
- Purpose and Result Clauses: ἵνα-hína and ὥστε-hōʹste in the Greek Documentary Papyri of the Roman Period 19
- Syntactic Factors in the Greek Genitive- Dative Syncretism: The Contribution of New Testament Greek 39
- Future Periphrases in John Malalas 71
- Combining Linguistics, Paleography and Papyrology: The Use of the Prepositions eis, prós and epí in Greek Papyri 97
- Future Forms inPostclassical Greek. Some Remarks on the Septuagint and the New Testament 111
- Greek Infinitive-Retreat versus Grammaticalization: An Assessment 145
- Postclassical Greek and Treebanks for a Diachronic Analysis 163
-
Section II: Sociolinguistic Aspects and Variation
- The Perfect Paradigm in Theodosius’ Κανόνες: Diathetically Indifferent and Diathetically Non-Indifferent Forms 205
- Forms of the Directive Speech Act: Evidence from Early Ptolemaic Papyri 221
- What’s in a (personal) Name? Morphology and Identity in Jewish Greek Literature in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods 245
- Confusion of Mood or Phoneme? The Impact of L1 Phonology on Verb Semantics 283
- Change in Grammatical and Lexical Structures inPostclassical Greek: Local Dialects and Supradialectal Tendencies 303
- Index 337
