Ezra la Roi
Biographic Data
| ID | 5651271 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ezra la Roi |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ezra |
| FAMILY NAME | la Roi |
| SIGNATURE | LA ROI E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Ghent University Hospital |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4542-0610 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Towards a Contrastive Pragmatics of Dyadic Syntax in Greek and Latin Comedy
Turns intertwine in various ways as speakers make their utterances depend on each other through shared linguistic common ground. This paper offers a first contrastive pragmatic exploration of the understudied phenomenon of dyadic syntax , clauses marked as subordinate that are syntactically independent but pragmatically dependent on preceding speech acts by the addressee or speaker. Based on a contrastive study of Greek and Latin comedy, it is ar…
Polarity reversal constructions and counterfactuals in Ancient Greek
Polarity reversal has recently been argued to be the defining characteristic of counterfactuality. Ancient Greek had a diverse set of constructions which bring about polarity reversal that is not the direct result of a negation marker nor do they all express a counterfactual meaning. It is the aim of this paper to detail the major differences between these constructions synchronically and especially diachronically, focusing on counterfactual mood…
The life cycles of counterfactual mood in early Indo-European languages
In this article, I argue that the counterfactual function of the optative was inherited from Proto-Indo-European and that its past-referring counterfactual function (e.g. in Vedic Sanskrit, Archaic Greek, and Gothic) seems to be the oldest preserved function of the optative in early Indo-European languages. In these and in languages where the optative underwent mood syncretism with other moods such as the subjunctive (e.g. Latin or Old English), …
The Life Cycles of Counterfactual Modal Verbs in Ancient Greek
Grammars of ancient Greek usually mention past modal verbs in the imperfect (e.g., ἔδει or ἐχρῆν) as an exception to general “rules” of tense, aspect, and temporal reference in ancient Greek. Though formally a past imperfect, they do not always refer to the real past, but also to, for example, the counterfactual past “he should have helped [but has not]” or present “you should be silent [but are not].” In this article, I provide one of the first …
The impact of insubordination on the history of Greek
In this paper, I trace the impact of insubordination and semi-insubordination on the history of Greek, focusing on its impact on the modal system used to express speech acts. Starting from the cross-linguistic connections of insubordinate and semi-insubordinate ἵνα and να constructions with those found in other languages, I show that ἵνα only had subordinate usages in Classical Greek (including in dyadic syntactic contexts), but developed insubor…
Down the paths to the past habitual
To complement existing synchronic typological studies of the marking strategies of (past) habituality, this paper details the diachronic paths leading to and from past habitual constructions. The rich corpus evidence from the diachrony of Ancient Greek demonstrates at least four source constructions: (1) past counterfactual mood (in optative and indicative), (2) futures in the past, (3) iteratives (with - sk ) and (4) lexical sources with semanti…
Towards a chronology of the modal particles
Research on the modal particles in Ancient Greek has mostly focused on speculations on their prehistory based on Homeric Greek or generalizing about their synchronic distributions (esp. in Classical Greek). Instead, this article details the diachronic spread of the modal particles in different modal constructions from Archaic to Classical Greek. It highlights those cases where its obligatory presence resulted in a different modal meaning (e.g. co…
Insubordination in Archaic and Classical Latin
This paper analyzes subordinate clauses which have gained both syntactic and discursive independence through insubordination, the diachronic conventionalization of main clause usage. First, I introduce the notion of insubordination and discuss its application to a corpus language such as Latin from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. Second, cases of insubordination from Archaic and Classical Latin are critically evaluated on the basi…
Interlocked life cycles of counterfactual mood forms from Archaic to Classical Greek
Based on a corpus study of 2074 occurrences in Archaic (424) and Classical (1650) Greek, I offer a unified explanation for the temporal reference extensions of counterfactual mood forms in declarative, interrogative, wish and de-activated illocutions (i.e. subordinate clauses). I propose a diachronic trajectory (life cycle) for counterfactual mood forms from past to present and future reference. Extensions are constrained diachronically by gramma…
Las interjecciones secundarias εἶεν y εἶἑν como optativos de deseo fosilizados
Se ha afirmado generalmente que las interjecciones εἶἑν y εἶεν marcan cierta forma de aceptación y no están relacionadas con el optativo de deseo de tercera persona plural εἶεν. En este trabajo demostraremos que ambas interjecciones son optativos de deseo de tercera persona de plural fosilizados que, en vez de expresar la aceptación, se emplean en conversaciones y monólogos para señalar que el locutor no sigue en la línea del turno / acto de habl…
Weaving together the diverse threads of category change
This paper investigates category changes among imperative particles in Ancient Greek. Using diachronic evidence from the category change of the imperative ἀμέλει ( amélei ‘don’t worry’ > ‘of course’) and similar imperative particles, ἄγε ( áge) , ἴθι ( íthi) , φέρε ( fére) , εἰπέ μοι ( eipé moi) and ἰδού ( idoú ), this paper investigates the diachronic interdependence of intersubjectification, grammaticalization and language change in general. It…
The Atticist lexica as metalinguistic resource for morphosyntactic change in Post-Classical Greek
While ancient metalinguistic resources such as lexica and scholia are increasingly studied in the field of ancient scholarship (Montanari 2020), they are investigated less within the historical sociolinguistics of Ancient Greek. Analysing the Atticist lexica by Phrynichus, Moeris and Aelius Dionysius, this article illustrates the historically persistent connection between social perception of and diachronic change within Ancient Greek. Although t…
Habitual auxiliaries in Ancient Greek
This article discusses the grammaticalization of the habitual auxiliaries εἴωθα, φιλέω, ἐθέλω and νομίζω in Archaic and Classical Greek. I aim to (1) provide a more complete understanding of the Ancient Greek expressions of habituality; (2) distinguish clearly between habitual aspect and (possibly diachronically) related semantic categories such as iterativity and genericity; (3) demonstrate the usefulness of grammaticalization and collocation cr…
A rephilologized diachronic analysis of “Post-Classical Greek”
Picking up on the notion of “rephilologization” promoted by the editors of the 2020 volume Postclassical Greek as a recurring theme in the book under consideration here, I offer in this review article an overview and critique of the ways in which philological analysis intersects with grammatical and diachronic analysis in the 12 studies contained in this work. In addition, I discuss various pitfalls and principles for progress in analysing Greek …
The Variation of Classical Greek Wishes
This paper examines several unobserved variations of realizable Classical Greek wishes which radically change our conception of them. Using the layered approach to clause structure from Functional Discourse Grammar, I demonstrate that the wish optative has both a semantic and a pragmatic illocutionary value. Semantically, the wish optative, in Classical Greek, is non-subjective epistemic (instead of the previously proposed deontic) as witnessed b…
Epistemic modality, particles and the potential optative in Classical Greek
This paper challenges the commonly held view that the Classical Greek potential optative has a subjective epistemic semantics, the result of a conceptual confusion of subjectivity and epistemic modality inherited from our standard grammars. I propose that this view becomes less convincing when the optative’s unique interaction with the subjective particles ἦ and ἄρα is incorporated into the analysis. Rather, the potential optative has a non-subje…
Paradigmatic Possibilities as Perspective for Absolute Constructions
Compared to Greek genitive absolutes, Latin ablative absolutes are of two types. The first have agents that are non-coreferential with the subject of the main clause. The second have agents that are coreferential with the subject of the main clause. The first type strongly resemble Greek genitive absolutes because of their high frequency of animate subject complements and the similar way in which they articulate referential coherence. The second …
The Variation of Classical Greek Wishes
This paper examines several unobserved variations of realizable Classical Greek wishes which radically change our conception of them. Using the layered approach to clause structure from Functional Discourse Grammar, I demonstrate that the wish optative has both a semantic and a pragmatic illocutionary value. Semantically, the wish optative, in Classical Greek, is non-subjective epistemic (instead of the previously proposed deontic) as witnessed b…
Paradigmatic Possibilities as Perspective for Absolute Constructions
Compared to Greek genitive absolutes, Latin ablative absolutes are of two types. The first have agents that are non-coreferential with the subject of the main clause. The second have agents that are coreferential with the subject of the main clause. The first type strongly resemble Greek genitive absolutes because of their high frequency of animate subject complements and the similar way in which they articulate referential coherence. The second …
Epistemic modality, particles and the potential optative in Classical Greek
This paper challenges the commonly held view that the Classical Greek potential optative has a subjective epistemic semantics, the result of a conceptual confusion of subjectivity and epistemic modality inherited from our standard grammars. I propose that this view becomes less convincing when the optative’s unique interaction with the subjective particles ἦ and ἄρα is incorporated into the analysis. Rather, the potential optative has a non-subje…
Habitual auxiliaries in Ancient Greek
This article discusses the grammaticalization of the habitual auxiliaries εἴωθα, φιλέω, ἐθέλω and νομίζω in Archaic and Classical Greek. I aim to (1) provide a more complete understanding of the Ancient Greek expressions of habituality; (2) distinguish clearly between habitual aspect and (possibly diachronically) related semantic categories such as iterativity and genericity; (3) demonstrate the usefulness of grammaticalization and collocation cr…
A rephilologized diachronic analysis of “Post-Classical Greek”
Picking up on the notion of “rephilologization” promoted by the editors of the 2020 volume Postclassical Greek as a recurring theme in the book under consideration here, I offer in this review article an overview and critique of the ways in which philological analysis intersects with grammatical and diachronic analysis in the 12 studies contained in this work. In addition, I discuss various pitfalls and principles for progress in analysing Greek …
The Variation of Classical Greek Wishes
This paper examines several unobserved variations of realizable Classical Greek wishes which radically change our conception of them. Using the layered approach to clause structure from Functional Discourse Grammar, I demonstrate that the wish optative has both a semantic and a pragmatic illocutionary value. Semantically, the wish optative, in Classical Greek, is non-subjective epistemic (instead of the previously proposed deontic) as witnessed b…
Towards a chronology of the modal particles
Research on the modal particles in Ancient Greek has mostly focused on speculations on their prehistory based on Homeric Greek or generalizing about their synchronic distributions (esp. in Classical Greek). Instead, this article details the diachronic spread of the modal particles in different modal constructions from Archaic to Classical Greek. It highlights those cases where its obligatory presence resulted in a different modal meaning (e.g. co…
Insubordination in Archaic and Classical Latin
This paper analyzes subordinate clauses which have gained both syntactic and discursive independence through insubordination, the diachronic conventionalization of main clause usage. First, I introduce the notion of insubordination and discuss its application to a corpus language such as Latin from both a synchronic and a diachronic perspective. Second, cases of insubordination from Archaic and Classical Latin are critically evaluated on the basi…
Interlocked life cycles of counterfactual mood forms from Archaic to Classical Greek
Based on a corpus study of 2074 occurrences in Archaic (424) and Classical (1650) Greek, I offer a unified explanation for the temporal reference extensions of counterfactual mood forms in declarative, interrogative, wish and de-activated illocutions (i.e. subordinate clauses). I propose a diachronic trajectory (life cycle) for counterfactual mood forms from past to present and future reference. Extensions are constrained diachronically by gramma…
Las interjecciones secundarias εἶεν y εἶἑν como optativos de deseo fosilizados
Se ha afirmado generalmente que las interjecciones εἶἑν y εἶεν marcan cierta forma de aceptación y no están relacionadas con el optativo de deseo de tercera persona plural εἶεν. En este trabajo demostraremos que ambas interjecciones son optativos de deseo de tercera persona de plural fosilizados que, en vez de expresar la aceptación, se emplean en conversaciones y monólogos para señalar que el locutor no sigue en la línea del turno / acto de habl…
Weaving together the diverse threads of category change
This paper investigates category changes among imperative particles in Ancient Greek. Using diachronic evidence from the category change of the imperative ἀμέλει ( amélei ‘don’t worry’ > ‘of course’) and similar imperative particles, ἄγε ( áge) , ἴθι ( íthi) , φέρε ( fére) , εἰπέ μοι ( eipé moi) and ἰδού ( idoú ), this paper investigates the diachronic interdependence of intersubjectification, grammaticalization and language change in general. It…
The Atticist lexica as metalinguistic resource for morphosyntactic change in Post-Classical Greek
While ancient metalinguistic resources such as lexica and scholia are increasingly studied in the field of ancient scholarship (Montanari 2020), they are investigated less within the historical sociolinguistics of Ancient Greek. Analysing the Atticist lexica by Phrynichus, Moeris and Aelius Dionysius, this article illustrates the historically persistent connection between social perception of and diachronic change within Ancient Greek. Although t…
Down the paths to the past habitual
To complement existing synchronic typological studies of the marking strategies of (past) habituality, this paper details the diachronic paths leading to and from past habitual constructions. The rich corpus evidence from the diachrony of Ancient Greek demonstrates at least four source constructions: (1) past counterfactual mood (in optative and indicative), (2) futures in the past, (3) iteratives (with - sk ) and (4) lexical sources with semanti…
Polarity reversal constructions and counterfactuals in Ancient Greek
Polarity reversal has recently been argued to be the defining characteristic of counterfactuality. Ancient Greek had a diverse set of constructions which bring about polarity reversal that is not the direct result of a negation marker nor do they all express a counterfactual meaning. It is the aim of this paper to detail the major differences between these constructions synchronically and especially diachronically, focusing on counterfactual mood…
The life cycles of counterfactual mood in early Indo-European languages
In this article, I argue that the counterfactual function of the optative was inherited from Proto-Indo-European and that its past-referring counterfactual function (e.g. in Vedic Sanskrit, Archaic Greek, and Gothic) seems to be the oldest preserved function of the optative in early Indo-European languages. In these and in languages where the optative underwent mood syncretism with other moods such as the subjunctive (e.g. Latin or Old English), …
The Life Cycles of Counterfactual Modal Verbs in Ancient Greek
Grammars of ancient Greek usually mention past modal verbs in the imperfect (e.g., ἔδει or ἐχρῆν) as an exception to general “rules” of tense, aspect, and temporal reference in ancient Greek. Though formally a past imperfect, they do not always refer to the real past, but also to, for example, the counterfactual past “he should have helped [but has not]” or present “you should be silent [but are not].” In this article, I provide one of the first …
The impact of insubordination on the history of Greek
In this paper, I trace the impact of insubordination and semi-insubordination on the history of Greek, focusing on its impact on the modal system used to express speech acts. Starting from the cross-linguistic connections of insubordinate and semi-insubordinate ἵνα and να constructions with those found in other languages, I show that ἵνα only had subordinate usages in Classical Greek (including in dyadic syntactic contexts), but developed insubor…
Towards a Contrastive Pragmatics of Dyadic Syntax in Greek and Latin Comedy
Turns intertwine in various ways as speakers make their utterances depend on each other through shared linguistic common ground. This paper offers a first contrastive pragmatic exploration of the understudied phenomenon of dyadic syntax , clauses marked as subordinate that are syntactically independent but pragmatically dependent on preceding speech acts by the addressee or speaker. Based on a contrastive study of Greek and Latin comedy, it is ar…
Philosophy (15 works) · Linguistics (14 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (12 works) · History (10 works) · Linguistics and language evolution (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Counterfactual thinking (6 works) · Psychology (6 works) · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies (5 works)