Pragmatic Function and Meaning of Ancient Greek Particles

本研究项目主要研究古希腊文学作品中语词的多重功能和意义，研究对象包括史诗、抒情诗歌、戏剧诗歌以及史学散文。小词是复杂的、有问题的语言特征，因为它们通常对包含它们的句子的命题内容没有贡献，而且它们具有不止一种交际功能。然而，它们的数量相当多，最重要的是，它们在几种古印欧语言中被大量使用，尤其是在古希腊语中。从语用学和语篇分析等学科的角度，结合当代对现代语言中助词的看法，对古希腊助词进行系统的描述仍然缺乏。这个项目旨在填补这个方向上的空白，通过汇编一本专著，探索古代和早期古典希腊文学中具有里程碑意义的文本中粒子的意义和使用。语料库的选择一方面是为了捕捉在不同体裁中可能相似或不同的特征，另一方面是为了捕捉与其他古印欧语词相似或不同的特征。基于语篇分析的阅读旨在突出反复出现的特征和鲜明的特征，有助于更好地理解文本的整体意义。

The research project is focused on the multiple functions and meanings of particles in ancient Greek literary works selected from epic, melic and dramatic poetry as well as from historiographical prose. Particles are complex and problematic linguistic features, because they typically do not contribute to the propositional content of the sentences containing them and they serve more than one communicative function. Yet, they are quite numerous, and, most of all, they are largely employed in several ancient Indo-European languages, particularly in ancient Greek. A systematic account of the ancient Greek ones in the light of contemporary views on particles in modern languages, from disciplines such as Pragmatics and Discourse Analysis is still missing. This project aims to start filling the gap in that direction, by assembling a monograph that explores meanings and uses of particles in landmark texts of archaic and early classical Greek literature. The choice of the corpus is meant to capture features that may either be similar or differ across different genres, on the one hand, and features comparable to those of other old Indo-European particles, on the other hand. The discourse analysis-based reading aims at highlighting recurring as well as distinctive features, and will contribute to a better understanding of the overall meaning of the texts.