Phonation in Textualization

Greek Particles Preserving Pragmatically-Derived Prosody

Bibliographic Data

ID10288461
AuthorsRonald Blankenborg (0000-0001-7369-6035, Dept. of History, Art History & Classics, Radboud University https://dx.doi.org/6029 Nijmegen Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume78
Issue2
Pages204-228
Publication date2025-03-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMnemosyne (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0026-7074 • E-ISSN: 1568-525X
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/1568525x-bja10315
OpenAlexW4408546977
LanguageEN
References cited16

This article argues for ancient Greek particles representing sounds and functioning as aural signs. Greek particles are susceptible to considerable phonetic reduction and do not have a stable thesis in prosody; as such, they are phonation substance, much like syllables and affixes, without much autonomous, lexical or nuancing (poly)semantic function, let alone independent semantics. Usage of lexemes as particles is the direct result of phonetic reduction, itself the effect of intonational variance. As phonation, particles extend the phonetic word’s intonational rise and slope, and facilitate, as do other morphemes, the cohesion and demarcation of rhythmical unities. Particles are thus written representations of phonemes, of sound, and their prosodic versatility makes them exceptionally suitable for emphasis. Their preservation in writing reflects ancient Greek’s idiosyncrasies as a spoken language

Art · Linguistics · Literature · Phonation · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism

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