Dik Helma. Word order in ancient Greek: a pragmatic account of word order variation in Herodotus

Amsterdam: J. C. Gieben, 1995 – X, 294 p. – (Amsterdam studies in classical philology, 5) – ISBN: 90-5063-457-5.Contents: Preface. Introduction: Word order variation in Greek. Domains and explanations of word order: a preliminary survey: Euphony; Syntax; Semantics; Pragmatics. Method. The Pragmatic Framework: The status of referents at the level of the text. The presentation of referents at the level of the clause. The Greek Particles Revisited: Implications for Word Order and Information Structure: ‘Peninitial position’ and the unit of analysis: Postpositives in classical Greek; Second word in the sentence; Postpositives as boundary markers; Implications for the analysis of Greek sentences; Postpositive-like behaviour of mobile elements. Pragmatic function markers: Markers for counter-presuppositional Focus; Advancing through selection: the role of καὶ δὴ καί. The structure of contrast: About μέν and δέ. The Order of Warfare: Στρατεύομαι: Permutations of the predicate and its arguments: a survey; Topic assignment and the predicate. Some problems in Focus assignment: Complex Focus; Counter-presuppositional Focus. Beyond the limits of the clause: Expansion by extension; Discontinuity; Heads and participles: apart and/or together?. Appendix, statistics, and conclusion. To Rule Or Be Ruled: The Use of ἄρχω and βασιλεύω in Discourse. The first argument of βασιλεύω: Preposed first arguments; Postposed first arguments; The first argument of βασιλεύω - conclusion. The second argument of βασιλεύω. The order of command: ἄρχω in the Histories. ἄρχω in ‘normal narrative: A1-A2-P; A2-A1-P; A1-P-A2; A2-P-A1; P-A1-A2; P-A2-A1. ἄρχω in the catalogue of Xerxes’ troops (7.61-80). The predicate στρατηγέω. Other cases of interest: Subdivision; Focus assignment; Two problems. Appendix: βασιλεύω; ἄρχω. Four Manners of Speaking: Introduction. The position of the first argument: The position of the first argument with λέγει; The position of the first argument with ἔλεγε; The position of the first argument with εἶπε; The position of the first argument with ἔλεξε. The position of the addressee constituent: The position of the addressee constituent with λέγει; The position of the addressee constituent with ἔλεγε; The position of the addressee constituent with εἶπε; The position of the addressee constituent with ἔλεξε. The position of the second argument. Pronominal second arguments and other constituents. The function of the forms. Appendix: λέγει; ἔλεγε; εἶπε; ἔλεξε. Predicates Can Be Topics: Predicate constituents as Topics - the data: (Near) synonyms: From highly to hardly inferrable predicates; Identification, location, possession, attribution … presentation: The description of clause-initial εἶναι; Interim conclusion: The case for Topic assignment to predicate constituents. Introducing new participants. Toward the Analysis of Running Discourse: Word order in the description of Thrace (5.3-5.10) . Word order in the Pythius episode (7.27-29). Studies in Greek Word Order: Dover (1960): Greek Word Order; Loepfe (1940): Die Wortstellung irn griechischen Sprechsatz; Frisk (1933): Studien zur griechischen Wortstellung; Epilogue - On syntactical approaches. References. Index.