Appositive construction or noun phrase? On the status of postnominal adjectives in Latin and Ancient Greek
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Olga Spevak
Abstract
The aim of this article is to examine the status of postnominal modifiers in Latin and Ancient Greek. Compared to prenominal modifiers, modifiers in postposition are more loosely integrated into the noun phrase. However, whereas modern scholars analyse them as integral parts of noun phrases, Classical philologists claim that postnominal modifiers are, at least originally, appositive elements. Furthermore, from a typological point of view, there are languages in which postnominal modifiers do not form a part of noun phrases at all. Several criteria of a semantic, syntactic, or pragmatic nature can help us with distinguishing between true modifiers belonging to noun phrases and apposed elements, specifically, semantic completeness and incompleteness of referents, restrictions on predication of modifiers, coordination, and context.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Latin free-choice pronouns in relation to one another (and to other indefinites)
- The argument/satellite distinction and absolute verbal use in Latin stative verbs
- Two letters by Brutus and Cassius to Mark Antony: different people, different times, different styles
- Some observations on ille and ipse in the Mulomedicina Chironis
- Appositive construction or noun phrase? On the status of postnominal adjectives in Latin and Ancient Greek
- Book Review
- Adams, J. N.: Social Variation and the Latin Language
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Latin free-choice pronouns in relation to one another (and to other indefinites)
- The argument/satellite distinction and absolute verbal use in Latin stative verbs
- Two letters by Brutus and Cassius to Mark Antony: different people, different times, different styles
- Some observations on ille and ipse in the Mulomedicina Chironis
- Appositive construction or noun phrase? On the status of postnominal adjectives in Latin and Ancient Greek
- Book Review
- Adams, J. N.: Social Variation and the Latin Language
