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Word Order, Focus, and Clause Linking in Greek Tragic Poetry


Type

Thesis

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Authors

Fraser, Bruce L. 

Abstract

The thesis comprises an investigation of three aspects of sentence structure in Classical Greek (henceforth CG) dramatic poetry: order of the main sentence elements (subject, verb, and object) within the clause, the emphatic position at the start of the clause, and the structure of inter-clausal linking. It is argued that these three features, usually considered separately, are interdependent, and that intra-clausal word order is directly related to the structure of compound and complex sentences. The discussion undertakes a systematic survey of subject, verb, and object order in a corpus of texts, proposes an explanation for the observed order, and develops a model which explains how prominence within the clause is exploited in clause linking to produce the complement structures observed in Homeric and tragic complementation.

Description

Date

Advisors

Keywords

historical linguistics, Ancient Greek literature, word order, syntax, Greek tragedy, complementation, focalisation, clausal subordination, comparing poetry and prose, enclitics, topic and focus

Qualification

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Awarding Institution

University of Cambridge
Sponsorship
This work was supported by the British Academy and by the Cambridge Faculty of Classics.