Voice and transitivity with perception verbs in Ancient Greek
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Silvia Luraghi
Abstract
The paper surveys the development of the voice system with perception verbs in Ancient Greek. Most such verbs start out as either activa or media tantum in Homeric Greek and feature voice opposition in later prose. I argue that with former activa tantum this reflects an increasing tendency to share constructional features of transitive verbs, with the mediopassive or passive encoding the passive diathesis, while former media tantum develop active causative counterparts over time. Among the verbs surveyed, horáō/eîdon ‘see’ stands out as the only verb that evolves to completely conform to the pattern of change-of-state verbs (transitive prototype). Verbs that indicate touch show a complex development, which reflects the distinction between touch as a perception modality or as a contact event.
© 2025 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents
- Über die Herkunft des Obliquus Singular in manchen Nuristan- und Dardsprachen
- Voice and transitivity with perception verbs in Ancient Greek
- PIE nu-factitives in Balto-Slavic
- The Anatolian reflexes of Indo-European τομή-, φυγή-, τόμος-, and τομός-type nominals and their historical implications
- Lycian Ἐρευάτης in Stephanus of Byzantium
- Lycian zum̃mẽ/zum̃mã and possibly related Luwic words
- Pashto preverbs V
- The Goths in Taurica
- Basic valency orientation in Gothic
- Old English Elene 54a hleowon and Old Norse Grímnismál 29,9 hlóa; two texts, one verb
- Latin placēre ‘like, please’ as an alternating Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat verb
- Albanian dash ‘ram’
- prāvepá- und pravātejā́-/°já-
- Les dérivés adjectivaux grecs et louvites en *-eh₂-i̯o-
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Titelei
- Contents
- Über die Herkunft des Obliquus Singular in manchen Nuristan- und Dardsprachen
- Voice and transitivity with perception verbs in Ancient Greek
- PIE nu-factitives in Balto-Slavic
- The Anatolian reflexes of Indo-European τομή-, φυγή-, τόμος-, and τομός-type nominals and their historical implications
- Lycian Ἐρευάτης in Stephanus of Byzantium
- Lycian zum̃mẽ/zum̃mã and possibly related Luwic words
- Pashto preverbs V
- The Goths in Taurica
- Basic valency orientation in Gothic
- Old English Elene 54a hleowon and Old Norse Grímnismál 29,9 hlóa; two texts, one verb
- Latin placēre ‘like, please’ as an alternating Dat-Nom/Nom-Dat verb
- Albanian dash ‘ram’
- prāvepá- und pravātejā́-/°já-
- Les dérivés adjectivaux grecs et louvites en *-eh₂-i̯o-
