CC BY
47
DOI: 10.30842/ielcp230690152233
S. I. Dmitrieva
NASAL-INFIXED IMPERFECTS AND THEIR COLLATERAL AORISTS IN HOMERIC GREEK: A DIACHRONIC APPROACH1
С. И. Дмитриева. Имперфекты с назальным инфиксом и их одно-коренные аористы у Гомера и в диахронии
В статье проводится сопоставительный анализ употреблений форм имперфекта с назальным инфиксом и однокоренных аористных форм у Гомера с привлечением данных более поздних авторов (Геродот, Платон, Аполлоний Родосский). Имперфекты от предельных презенсов часто выражают значение перфектива. В таких случаях формы имперфекта и аориста демонстрируют тенденцию к дополнительной дистрибуции за счет ограничения сферы употребления. Эта тенденция лучше представлена у Гомера; позднее конкуренция между формами нейтрализуется: как правило, выбор склоняется в сторону аориста, и назальный имперфект перестает употребляться. В ходе истории древнегреческого языка можно наблюдать тенденцию выравнивания парадигмы за счет употребления только одного типа претерита. Сравнительно высокая конкуренция между рассмотренными формами имперфекта и аориста у Гомера свидетельствует о более тесном взаимодействии категорий аспекта и акциональности в греческом языке более раннего периода.
Ключевые слова: аспект, акциональность, назальный инфикс, предельность, имперфект, аорист, перфектив
Introduction
The semantic difference between imperfects and aorists in Ancient Greek has been subject to close attention and interest from earlier grammatics to recent years (cf.: Crespo 2014, Hedin 2000, Krasukhin 2007). The present study analyses the uses of the Greek verbs derived from the IE present stems with the nasal infix2 and their collateral aoristic formations attested in the poems of Homer and compared with the later authors (Herodotus, Plato and Apollonius of Rhodes).
Indo-European nasal-infixed presents are known to be connected with transitivisation (Meiser 1993; Sihler 1995; Shatskov 2016). It
1 This research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities (RFH) grant №17-04-00228.
2 Of the type R(CiC2)-ne/n-R(C3> or R(Ci)-ne/n-R(C2> (LIV2).
has also been noted that the Greek nasal verbs, along with higher degree of transitivity, demonstrate higher degree of telicity in comparison with the verbs of the same roots without the nasal infix. This feature had been mentioned particularly concerning the nasal presents in -avrn (Vendryes 1923; Chantraine 1961) and was recently addressed with regard to other Greek nasal presents (Dmitrieva 2017).
It should be considered that lexical aspect played a significant role in the earlier periods of Ancient Greek (Moser 2017). Imperfects from telic verbs can often express perfective meaning; the employment of imperfectives "pro perfective" has been discussed in the studies dealing with Homeric aspect (Napoli 2006: 191). In this respect the nasal verbs provide a good opportunity to study the employment of the telic imperfect forms, to investigate to what extent they compete with the corresponding aorists and to outline the patterns of correlation between the preterites.
The study is focused on the verbs with the old nasal present stems listed in the lexicon of the Indo-European verbs that have both aoristic forms and nasal imperfects in Homer3, making a set of 30 imperfects and 47 aorists4, which is then traced in the works of Herodotus, Plato and Apollonius of Rhodes. The research is based on more than 1400 instances, which had been retrieved with the help
3 snnsAAa 'enjoin, prescribe, command', avSava 'please, delight, gratify', avv/ui 'effect, accomplish', ansiAsa 'promise; threaten', apvso/uai 'deny, disown', pOllm 'throw, hit', da^vn^i 'tame, break in', dvva/uai 'be able', S6va> 'cause to sink, sink', Kajuvrn trans. 'work'; intrans. 'toil, labour', Kigvn^i 'mix', KAivrn 'lean, rest', Kpiva 'choose; decide', Kuvsrn 'kiss', Aajuna 'give light, shine', ¡lapaivrn 'die away, go slowly out', o^vv^i 'swear', ojuopyvvjui 'wipe', opiva 'stir, raise', naAAa 'poise, sway', nepvmii 'export for sale', nnyvv/ui 'stick or fix on; fasten', niAva/uair 'draw near to, approach', nizvmui 'spread out', nvvOavo^ai 'learn', oKiSva^ai 'to be spread or scattered, disperse', ra/uvm 'cut', vpaivrn 'contrive, plan', paivrn 'bring to light; reveal', xavSava 'hold, include, contain'.
4 еткц, snszsiAa, svaSs, tfoaro, tfvvoa, aneiAnoav, apvrfoaoOai, /ЗХцто, efiaAov, ¿Sdjuaoa, Sa^doOn, Svvrfoazo, SvvdoOn, eSuv, eSuoa, SKajuov, Kepaooe, eKAiva, SKAiv&n, SKpiva, skvoos, епешцщ, e^apavdn, rnjuooe,
V г у У r Y У У r /1 У Л г -Л У г У г
ofiopqa, ano^opqato, opiva, rnpivdn, a/unenaArnv, ntfAa, enepaooa, enayn, enn^ev, nAtfro, eneAaoa, nsAaoOsv, nsraoa, nexdoQnoav, ¿nvOojunv, nsnvOoiro, soKsSaoa, SKsSaoOsv, ern^ov, vpnva, epnva, epavnv, exaSov. Active and middle forms were counted as one instance. For some verbs there were taken the aorists that synchronically belong to different presents, but historically represent the old root aorist (this is the case of erAnv), or the ones that are semantically close (like tfoazo, which corresponds to the present tfSo/uai).
of the TLG database5. All contexts were examined in terms of lexical and grammatical semantics, pragmatical features and the distribution of usages.
I. Nasal imperfects in Homer 1. Imperfects and aorists displaying aspectual opposition
In a number of uses the difference between the preterites conforms to the generally held definition of the imperfect / aorist aspectual opposition. The nasal imperfects describe an ongoing or repeated action and the aorists are punctual or completed (cf. Rijksbaron 2006: 11).
1.1 Durative imperfects
The imperfects from da/vn/i refer to ongoing actions: Il. 14, 439 outk; §' s^orcioro rc^qxo x^ovi, xro §8 oi ooos // vu^ ¿KaAuys ^s^aiva- Pc^o^ §' |xt Bu^ov sSa^va. 'Then again he sank back upon the ground, and both his eyes were enfolded in black night; and the blow still overwhelmed his spirit'. The corresponding aorists refer to completed actions: Od. 22, 413 xo,6o§s §8 ^otp' £8a^aoo£ 0srov Kai o^Sx^ia spya- 'These men here has the fate of the gods destroyed and their own reckless deed'.
The imperfects from Xa/n< are durative: Hector's armour is shining during the attack at the gates in Il. 12, 463 Xa^rcs §8 xa^Kro // o^sp§a^8ro, xov ssoxo nspi xpo'i', §oia §8 xspoi // §oup' exsv 'and he shone in terrible bronze wherewith his body was clothed about, and in his hands he held two spears'. Sigmatic aorist eneXa/jye is attested only once (with a prefix) and has a perfective meaning: the sun appeared and the entire battle field became visible. Il. 17, 650 §' §' sni rcaoa ^aavBn 'and the sun shone
forth upon them and all the battle was made plain to view'.
1.2 Iterative, distributive, habitual imperfects
More nasal imperfects are attested in the contexts where the action is repeated or a verb has distributed objects or subjects.
The verb fiakXw is polysemous (s. Cunliffe 1963 s. v.), and the grammatical semantics of the imperfect seems to differ according to the lexical value. This is especially remarkable for the meaning 'to
5 The English translations of the passages are taken from (Murray 1919 and 1924) for Homer, (Godley 1921-24) for Herodotus, (Fowler, Lamb 1914) for Plato and (Seaton 1912) for Apollonius of Rhodes.
strike, wound', where the imperfect is always different from the aorists and has either distributive or iterative value. The distributive action is marked with the pronoun аХХцХоюд 'one another': Il. 18, 534 oxnoa^svoi §' 8^&xovto ^a^nv noxa^oto nap' o^Bac, // PaXXov §' all^louc xalKqpsoiv 8yxsrnoiv. 'Then set they their battle in array and fought beside the river banks, and were ever smiting one another with bronze-tipped spears'. The aoristic contexts with (e)PaXov and (е)рХщто have perfective semantics: Il. 4, 518 "EvB' A^apuyKsi§nv Airopsa ^otpa n8§nos- // XsP^a§iro yap pX^xo napa G9upov OKpiosvxi // Kv^^nv §s^ixsp^v- PaXs §8 ©p^Krov ayoc av§prov 'Then was Amarynceus' son, Diores, caught in the snare of fate; for with a jagged stone was he smitten on the right leg by the ankle, and it was the leader of the Thracians that made the cast'.
Imperfect middle mXvaxo is iterative and marked with аХХоте jusv... аХХоте 3': Il. 23, 368 ap^axa §' allois |i8v %Bovi niXvaxo nouluPoxsip'n, // alloxs §' ai'^aoKs ^sx^opa- 'And the chariots would now course over the bounteous earth, and now again would bound on high'. The corresponding aorists6 are perfective: Il. 14, 438 atixic §' 8^onioro rcX^xo xBovi, тю §8 oi ooos // vu^ 8Kaluys ^8laiva- 'Then again he sank back upon the ground, and both his eyes were enfolded in black night'; Il. 12, 420 oftis nox' aix^nTOi Aavaoi Лигалис 8§'6vavxo // xsi^soc ay rooaoBai, 8nsi xa nproxa nsXaoGcv 'nor ever could the Danaan spearmen thrust back the Lycians from the walI, when once they had drawn nigh thereto'.
Imperfect middle еошЗуауто is distributive: Il. 1, 487 auxoi §' SGKidvavxo Kaxa Klioiac xs v8ac xs 'and themselves scattered among the tents and ships'. Passive sigmatic aorist екеЗаовеу does not convey this semantical nuance, though it is used in the sense that could possibly be interpreted as conative - the Argives did not attempt to scatter because of shame and fear: Il. 15, 657 Apystoi §8... otd' EKsdaoGsv ava oxpaxov- 'to^s yap ai§roc // Kai §8oc 'And the Argives... scattered not throughout the camp; for shame withheld them and fear'.
2. Imperfects applied "pro perfective": avoiding the competition
2.1 Different distribution and valency
Complementary distribution of forms is one of the ways to eliminate the competition between the telic imperfects and their collateral aorists.
6 Aor. ind. med. жХцхо; sigmatic aorist eneXaaa is built on the root aorist (LIV2: 470); aor. pass. жеХаовц.
The imperfect ano/opyvv in the active voice is attested with the prefix (II. 5, 416; II. 5, 798; II. 18, 414). The aorist with the prefix ano- is only attested in the middle voice (ano/op^aro)7. Middle imperfect (/uopyvvvto (Od. 11, 527) is attested in a personal form, sigmatic aorist without prefixes is restricted to the participle o/op^d/svog (Il. 18, 124; Od. 8, 88; Od. 11, 530).
There also are four cases, where the aorists are only attested in non-finite forms and outside indicative: ipf. jpveito (Il. 19, 304 ff.) - inf. aor. apviqaaaQai (Il. 14, 212; Od. 8, 358; Od. 21, 345), opt. aor. apv^aaio (Il. 14, 191 ); ipf. ndkXov (Il. 3, 316 ff.) - part. aor. a/jnsnahwv (Od. 24, 519 ff.); ipf. nuvQavo/nv (Od. 13, 256) - opt. aor. nenvQono (Il. 6, 50; Il. 10, 381; Il. 11, 135); ipf. vyaivs (Il. 3, 212 ff.) - conj. aor. vytfvw (Od. 13, 303), imperat. aor. vvynvov (Od. 13, 386).
Their corresponding imperfects can be used "pro perfective": Il. 23, 42 anxap o y' ^pv£ixo oxspsro^, srci §' opKov opooosv- 'But he steadfastly denied them, and swore an oath thereto';
Il. 6, 187 xro §' ap' avspxopcvro nuKivov So^ov a^ov v^awE: // Kpiva^ 8K AuKin^ cupsin^ ^roxa^ apioxou^ // doc ^o^ov 'And against him, as he journeyed back therefrom, the king wove another cunning wile; he chose out of wide Lycia the bravest men and set an ambush'.
The preterites eSvvavto and Sw^aaro appear in similar contexts, both are used in negations and have aoristic participles beside them. The aorist indicative is attested less frequently, and it seems that these forms could have been introduced metri gratia, providing 4-syllabic (Swrfaato) and 5-syllabic (eSvvijaato) metrical options for the 3rd person singular (having 2-syllabic Svvar' and 3-syllabic Svvaro). It is interesting that the 4-syllabic augmented imperfect ¿Svvaro is not attested in Homer8 (yet it is well-attested in Herodotus, cf. Hdt. 1, 10, 1; 1, 26, 10; 1, 185, 7; 2, 2, 6 etc.).
Il. 13, 436 tov xo0' tin' 'ISo^svn'i noasi5a®v s5a^aaas // Bs^ac; oaas ^asiva, ns5nas 5s yuia- // onxs yap s^oma® ^uyssiv
Svvax' onx' a^saaBai 'this Alcathous did Poseidon subdue beneath Idomeneus, for he cast a spell upon his bright eyes and ensnared his glorious limbs that he might nowise flee backwards nor avoid the spear';
n
And with perfective value, while the active imperfect anojuopyvv has progressive (Il. 5, 798) or distributive (Il. 18, 414) values.
There are also no attestations with a final -e before Svvaro where the reinterpreted word border could have implied the presence of the augment (cf. Il. 3, 451 ou xiç ôûvaxo etc.).
II. 3, 451 aAA,' ой тц divaxo Tprorov K^eixrov т' гпгкоирюу // §8i^ai A^e^avSpov тот' арп'гф^ф MsvsMro- 'But none of the Trojans or their famed allies could then discover Alexander to Menelaus, dear to Ares';
Od. 17, 303 8^ тотг у', ю^ svon^sv 'О8иоога гууи<; еоута, // ойр^ ^ev p' о у' so^vs ка! ойата KaPPa^ev а^фю, // aooov 8' ойкгт' 8П81та duv^oaxo oio avaKTo^ // e^Bs^sv 'when he marked Odysseus standing near, he wagged his tail and dropped both his ears, but nearer to his master he had no longer strength to move'.
2.2 Pragmatical difference: temporal reference
For the verbs avvw, ка/ую and щртую, while the imperfects might have perfective value, the aorists denote a preceding event (especially when used with the adverbs enei and npiv).
The work of Odysseus was quickly finished: Od. 5, 243 Boro^ 8s oi ^vuxo spyov.
In the aoristic passage Agamemnon in Hades tells Achilleus about his funeral: Od. 24, 71 айтар end 8^ os ^vuocv
Нфаштою, // ^roBsv 8^ то1 ^syo^sv ^ок' оотг', Axi^su, // o'ivro ev акр^тю ка! а^фап. 'But when the flame of Hephaestus had made an end of thee, in the morning we gathered thy white bones, Achilles, and laid them in unmixed wine and unguents'.
One of the wooers had exhausted his hands before he could draw up the string: Od. 21, 150 orq 8' ар' en' ou8ov irov ка! то^ои
л у //'С*' ? л л л г ** ? л л //
^ф^тк^су // ой8г ^iv evTOvoos^ np!v уар кац£ х£1ра^ avsA^v // атрштои<; апа^а^. 'he went and stood upon the threshold, and began to try the bow; but he could not string it. Ere that might be his hands grew weary, as he sought to draw up the string, his unworn delicate hands'.
The Patroclus' pyre died out at the hour of dawn: Il. 23, 228
Tt T r У r ' r 1 \ ~ ~ .. \
Нцос 8 гюофоро^ stoi фою^ 8p8юv еп! yаlаv..., тдцос пиркагп £^apaiv£xo, паиоато 88 ф^о^. 'But at the hour when the star of morning goeth forth to herald light over the face of the earth... -even then grew the burning faint, and the flame thereof died down'.
The preceding event expressed by the aorist e/apayQr\ is emphasized with enei: Il. 9, 212 айтар ens! ката пир ека^ ка! s^apavGn, // аvBpакl^v оторгоа^ оРе^ой^ ефиперВе тауиоое 'But when the fire had burned down and the flame was abated, he scattered the embers and laid thereover the spits'.
2.3 Preterites demonstrating differences in lexical semantics
Lexical differences between the preterites, including a tendency of one form to be involved in a certain formula, can be observed in general for polysemous and frequently attested verbs like PaAAm, Svv< and yaivw. However, there are two verbs that carry this difference as the only criterion for distinction between the imperfects and the aorists.
The imperfect snexsAls 'prescribed, commanded' and the root aorist stA^v 'suffered, underwent; dared' are inherited from the same IE root *telh2- /*tlh2-, but have different lexical meanings.
The imperfect x^vSavsv denotes a possibility to physically contain a certain volume or amount (Il. 23, 742; Od. 17, 344): Il. 23, 742 Kpnxqpa... §' apa ^sxpa xavSavsv 'mixing bowl... six measures it held'.
The aorist exaSov has the meaning 'to sustain': Il. 11, 462 xpi^ ^sv snsix' ^uosv ooov Ks^a^ xa§£ ^roxo^ 'thrice shouted he then loud as a man's head can shout'. The metaphorical semantics of the aorist exaSov could support the idea that it had been built on the nasal stem, which is suggested to be a possible development (LIV2: 194).
3. Competition between the preterites9
avSavro - suaSs
The imperfect eiqvSave is intensified with the adverb najunav which makes the passage even more deliberate than the aoristic context with the negation in Od. 24, 465.
Od. 3, 143 sv0' ^ toi Msvs^ao^ avroysi navxa^ A^aiou^ // vooxou ^vnoKso0ai sn' stipsa v&Ta // otS' Aya^s^vovi
naiinav £^vSav£- 'Then in truth Menelaus bade all the Achaeans think of their return over the broad back of the sea, but in no wise did he please Agamemnon'.
Od. 24, 465 ro^ 8^a0', oi §' ap' avqi^av ^sya^ro a^a^T® // ^iosrov n^siou^- - Toi §' aBpooi atiToBi ^stvav - // oti yap o^iv aSs ^u0o<; svi ^psoiv, a^' EtircsiBsi // rcsiBovf 'So he spoke, but they sprang up with loud cries, more than half of them, but the rest
9 Semantical and functional equivalence in Homer is not restricted to "perfective" imperfects: some of the examined aorists take the "imperfective" semantics, although such examples are much less common (iteratives efialov Il. 7, 176 and naysv Il. 11, 572).
remained together in their seats; for his speech was not to their mind, but they hearkened to Eupeithes'.
arcsi^sov - arcsHnoav
Some imperfects from aneihew are retrospective (II. 13, 143; II. 16, 201; Il. 13, 220) and some aorists have different lexical meaning 'to vow' (Il. 23, 863; Il. 23, 872), but there are contexts where the aorists and imperfects are used in the same situation, starting the reported speech:
Il. 15, 179 si 5s oi onK snssoo' srcircsiosai, aAA,' a^oyqosi<;, // Kai Ksivo^ svavxtpiov rco^s^rov // svBa5' s^snosoBar 'And if so be thou wilt not obey his words, but shalt set them at naught, he threateneth that he will himself come hither to set his might against thine in battle';
Il. 9, 682 anxo^ 5' ^rcsiXnosv a^' ^oi ^aivo^svn^i // vqa<; snoos^^on^ a^a5' saks^sv a^^is^iooa^. 'But himself he threateneth that at break of day he will launch upon the sea his well-benched curved ships'.
sPa^ov - sPa^ov
In certain lexical meanings10 the imperfects from fiaXkw are used "pro perfective" and are equivalent to the thematic aorist (which is almost always perfective).
Penelope greets Odysseus and Telemachus in the passages that are nearly identical: Od. 23, 208 5aKpnoaoa 5' srcsix' Kisv, a^i 5s xsipa^ // 5sipfi PaXX' D5no^'i, Kapn 5' skuo' ^5s rcpoonn5a^ 'Then with a burst of tears she ran straight toward him, and flung her arms about the neck of Odysseus, and kissed his head, and spoke, saying';
Od. 17, 38 a^i 5s nai5i ^i^ro PaXs nq^ss 5aKpnoaoa, // rcuoos 5s ^iv Ks^a^qv xs Kai a^ro ^asa Ka^a 'and bursting into tears she flung her arms about her dear son, and kissed his head and both his beautiful eyes'.
In the middle voice with the value 'to put on clothes / armour' both forms appear in the same passage: Il. 2, 43-45 s^sxo 5' opBroBsi^, ^a^aKov 5' sv5uvs xitwva // Ka^ov vnyaxsov, nspi 5s ^sya PaXXsxo ^apo^ // noooi 5' nno ^ircapoioiv s5^oaxo Ka^a rcs5i^a, // a^i 5' ap' ro^oioiv PaXsxo ^i^o^ apyupon^ov 'He sat upright and did on his soft tunic, fair and glistering, and about him
10 'To throw, cast'; 'to put'; 'to let fall', 'to fling (the arms)' and, in the middle voice, 'to put on (clothes or armour)'.
cast his great cloak, and beneath his shining feet he bound his fair sandals, and about his shoulders flung his silver-studded sword'.
8§uvov - 8§uv11
For the verb dvvw the uses of all preterital forms (imperfects, root aorists and sigmatic middle aorists) overlap in the meanings 'to enter, go into', 'to put on clothes, armour' and 'to come upon, befall (of feelings, physical and mental states)', for example:
Il. 15, 219 sinrov Aarcs ^aov A%aiiKov svvooiyato^, // Suvs §8 novxov irov, noBsoav §' ^pros<; A%aioi. 'So saying, the Shaker of Earth left the host of the Achaeans, and fared to the sea and plunged therein; and the Achaean warriors missed him sore';
Il. 6, 19 ...ouxov Kai Bsparcovxa Ka^qoiov, o^ pa xoB' trcrcrov // soKsv u^nvioxo^- xro §' a^ro yatav sSix^v. '...himself and his squire Calesius, that was then the driver of his car; so they two passed beneath the earth';
Od. 7, 336 ayxi^o^ov §8 ^sx' atixov eSvgexo §ro^ax' // nxrox® ^suya^8ro sva^iyKio^ ^§8 y8povxi, // OK^nxo^svo^- 'Night after him Odysseus entered the palace in the likeness of a woeful and aged beggar, leaning on a staff.
Il. 11, 19 §suxspov au Brop^Ka nspi ox^Bsooiv sSuvs, // xov rcox8 oi Kivupn^ §wk8 ^srvqtov sivai. 'Next he did on about his chest the corselet that on a time Cinyras had given him for a guest-gift';
Il. 18, 416 orcoyyro §' a^i rcpoororca Kai a^ro xstp' arco^opyvu // a^x8va xs oxiPapov Kai orqBsa ^a%vqsvxa, // Sv §8 xit®v', §8 CKqrcxpov naxu, P'q §8 Bupa^s // xro^surov- 'And with a sponge wiped he his face and his two hands withal, and his mighty neck and shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff, and went forth halting';
Il. 13, 241 l§o^svsu^ §' oxs K^iorqv suxukxov tKavs // Svgexo xsuxsa Ka^a nspi xpoi' 'and Idomeneus, as soon as he was come to his well-built hut, did on his fair armour about his body'.
It looks like the better attested verbs, like fiaXXw and dvva> show competition between the forms in order to provide the variety of lexemes and overcome tautology.
11 The imperfect contains long u, so the form 3 sg. sSvvs / Svve could formally be a sigmatic aorist. However, unlike the other three examples with ambiguous 3 sg. (Klivm, Kpivm, opivrn), the verb Svvrn does have the 1sg imperfect form Svvov. The long vowel is considered to be inherited from the root aorist (LIV2: 130).
There are also cases where one of the preterites is attested occasionally, whereas the other is used more frequently.
o^vue-ro^ooe
The imperfects from o^w^i appear only twice, and one instance is identical to the aoristic passage. Odysseus, pretending to be a Cretan beggar, tells Eumaeus that the king Pheidon had promised to send Odysseus home.
Od. 14, 331 &poo£ 88 npo^ 8^' anxov, arcoorcsv8rov svi o'iKro, //
HW 'A \ n r V V. r / / ^ C ' r
vqa KaxeipnoBai Kai snapxsa^ c^ev sxaipou^, // oi o^ ^iv rcs^youoi ^i^nv rcaxp(8a yaiav. 'He swore in my own presence, as he poured libations in his halls, that the ship was launched and the men ready who were to convey him to his dear native land'.
Later in the poem Odysseys tells the same story to Penelope, but in this passage the verb is in the imperfect form: Od. 19, 288 &pvu£ o8 npo^ anxov, anoonsvorov svi oixro, // vqa KaxeipnoBai Kai
1 r ir f. r r rf\ ? r c>
snapxsa^ c^ev sxaipou^, // oi o^ ^iv rcs^youoi ^lAnv s^ rcaxpioa yaiav. 'He swore in my own presence, as he poured libations in his halls, that the ship was launched and the men ready who were to convey him to his dear native land'
? r 9 f
snsxeAAs - srcsxeiAa
Sigmatic aorist snstsda (Il. 5, 818; Od. 1, 327) is in competition with the imperfects.
Il. 5, 818 onxs xi ^e 8so<; 'io^si a^qpiov onxs xi^ okvo^, // a^' 8xi osrov ^s^vn^ai S^ex^srov a^ £rc£T£iXa^ 'In no wise doth spiritless terror possess me nor any slackness, but I am still mindful of thy behest which thou didst lay upon me';
Il. 5, 320 on8' uio^ Karcavqo<; S^qBexo ouvBeoiarov // xarov a^ £n£T£^^£ Po^v ayaBo^ Aio^qSn? 'but the son of Capaneus forgat not the commands that Diomedes good at the war-cry laid upon him'.
rcixva- rcsxaoa
For nitvn^i the grammatical equivalence with the aorist is only present in the active voice12:
10
Outside the active voice there is a difference between the perfective passive aorist and the progressive imperfect middle: Il. 22, 402 xou 5' ^v ¿AKQ|i£voio KoviaaXo;, ap^i 5e xaixai // Kuaveai nixvavTO, Kapn 5' anav ev Kovvpai // Keixo napo; xaPi£V" 'And from Hector as he was dragged the dust rose up, and on either side his dark hair flowed outspread, and all in the dust lay the head that was before so fair'
II. 21, 7 ^spa §' Hpn // rcixva np6o0s Pa0stav spuKs^sv 'and Hera spread before them a thick mist to hinder them';
Il. 1, 480 oi §' ioxov ox^oavx' ava 0' ioxia ^suKa nsxaooav 'and they set up the mast and spread the white sail'.
rcuv0avo^nv - snu06^nv
The imperfect middle nvvOavojutfv is attested once and has a perfective value: Od. 13, 256 rcuv9avo^nv I0aKn<; ys Kai sv Kp^x^ supsrn, // xn^ofi urcep rc6vxou vfiv §' siXq^ou0a Kai atixo<; // Xp^aoi ouv xoio§soor 'I heard of Ithaca, even in broad Crete, far over the sea; and now have I myself come hither with these my goods'. The Greek nasal present could have been derived from the root aorist as well (LIV2: 83).
The aorist is attested in a similar passage in Od. 14, 321 sv0' syro Kstvo^ yap s^aoKs // ^sivioai ^§e ^i^qoai
i6vx' s^ rcaxpi§a yatav 'There I learned of Odysseus, for the king said that he had entertained him, and given him welcome on his way to his native land'.
V 1 r v ? r
s^aivov, med. ^atvsxo - s^nva, pass. s^avqv
The active imperfect eyaivov appears in one context similar to the active aorist with the meaning 'bring to light or notice, display':
Od. 18, 67 ro^ 8^a0', oi §' apa navxs^ sn^vsov. auxap // Z®oaxo ^sv •aKsoiv nspi ^q§sa, ^aivs §e ^npout; //
f r f\ r C» r C 9 r y / / r r\ r
KaAou^ xs ^syaAou^ xs, ^avsv §8 oi supss^ ro^oi // ox^0sa xs oxiPapoi xs Ppa^iovs^ 'So he spoke, and they all praised his words. But Odysseus girded his rags about his loins and showed his thighs, comely and great, and his broad shoulders came to view, and his chest and mighty arms';
Il. 2, 324 xircx' avsro sy8vso0s rapn Ko^orovxs^ A%aioi; // ^iv
\ ' C ? " r r r r-w / / •»r ? r f\
^ev xo§ £9nv£ T8pa^ ^8ya ^nTis^a Zsu^ // oyi^ov oyix8Asoxov 'Why are ye thus silent, ye long-haired Achaeans? To us hath Zeus the counsellor shewed this great sign, late in coming, late in fulfillment '.
In the middle voice there are more examples of similar uses, particularly with the meanings 'to appear, be seen' and 'to be so and so (with adjectives)':
Ares appeared to Diomedes toiog 'in such wise': Il. 5, 867 xoto^ Tu§s'i§'n Aio^q§st xa^Kso^ 'Apn^ // 9aiv£9' o^ofi vs^8sooiv irov si<; oupavov supuv 'even in such wise unto Diomedes, son of Tydeus, did brazen Ares appear, as he fared amid the clouds unto broad heaven';
Odysseus with his friends were dear to see on their safe return from the cave of Cyclops: Od. 9, 466 aonaoioi §8 фНош' sxapoioi // oi фпуо^у Bavaxov 'And welcome to our dear comrades was the sight of us who had escaped death'.
Aorists homonymic to imperfects: SK^ive, SKpive, opive
When the nasal infix spread to the entire verbal paradigm, the -s- in sigmatic aorists was lost after it with the subsequent compensatory lengthening: sKhva < *£Kfovoa, SKpiva < *SKpivaa, opiva < *opivaa (Chantraine 1961: 412; Sihler 1995: 517-518, Beekes 2010: 781).
As a result, in the active voice 3r person singular (with the ending -s(v)), the imperfect forms became undescernable from the aorists, as can be observed for the preterites skIivs, eKpive, opive.
In the 3rd person plural, in the passive voice and in the non-finite forms the aorists can be identified: 3 pl. sKpivav (Od. 18, 264), med. sKpivat' (Od. 4, 778), 2 sg. (pivag (Od. 8, 178), opivag (Od. 14, 361; Od. 15, 486), 1 sg. opiva (Od. 4, 366), med. (pivsro (Od. 18, 75), pass. ¿pivQn (Il. 5, 29).
As seen in the examples below, the preterites skIivs, eKpivev are similar to the aorists SKhvav, ¿Kpivato.
Od. 22, 121 anxap end Aarcov ioi oioxsnovxa avaKxa, // xo^ov ^ev npo^ oxaB^ov snoxaBeo^ ^syapoio // skXiv' soxa^svai, npo^ evronia na^avorovxa 'But when the arrows failed the prince, as he shot, he leaned the bow against the door-post of the well-built hall, and let it stand against the bright entrance wall';
Il. 8, 435 Kai xon^ ^sv KaxeS^oav en' a^Ppoornoi Kan^oiv, // ap^axa §' ёкХ-ivav npo^ svronia na^avorovxa- 'and tethered them at their ambrosial mangers, and leaned the chariot against the bright entrance wall';
Il. 1, 309 Axpd§n? §' &pa vqa Bo^v a^a §8 npoepnoosv, // ev §' epexa^ EKpivsv seiKooiv 'Atreus launched a swift ship on the sea, and chose for it twenty rowers';
Od. 4, 778 ю^ dnrov SKpivax' esiKooi фюха^ apioxon^, // Pav §' isvai eni vqa Bo^v Kai Biva Ba^aoo^^. 'So he spoke, and chose twenty men that were best, and they went their way to the swift ship and the shore of the sea'.
The coincidence in 3sg. is not exclusively formal, since the clearly imperfect forms also have perfective values. For example, the middle form (pivsTo which is an imperfect, is semantically similar to the passive aorist ¿piv6ц:
Od. 18, 75 ro^ ap' s^av, "Ipro §8 KaK®^ »pivsTO 'So they
spoke, and the mind of Irus was miserably shaken';
l. 5, 29 Tpros^ §8 ^sydBu^ot ercsi i§ov uis Aap^xo^... rcaotv opivGn 0u^o<^ 'But when the great souled Trojans beheld the two sons of Dares... the hearts of all were dismayed'.
II. A diachronic overview
The Homeric set of preterite pairs was addressed in the works of three later authors. Unsurprisingly, some of the verbs from that list were not attested; moreover, some verbs show no uses of preterital forms at all. These cases excluded, the initial Homeric list is represented by 13 verbs in Herodotus13, 11 in Plato14 and 20 in Apollonius of Rhodes15 that have at least one preterite attested (imperfect or aorist indicative).
As seen in the Table 1, most of the examined imperfects are able to express perfective value, although the percentage tends to lower from 70% in Homer to 40% in Apollonius of Rhodes. Frequently attested and polysemous verbs provide greater semantical variety.
Table 1
Imperfects applied "pro perfective"
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 SO
Homer
Herodotus
Plato
ApoM. Rhod
13 avöavm, avu^i, aneiXem, ápveojuai, ßaXXm, öuva/iai, Kajuvm, Kpivm, ojuvüjui, naXXm, nuyQavo¡iai, rajuvm, yaívm.
avy¡ii, aneiXem, ßaXXm, övvafiai, Svvm, Kpivm, öfivufii, nnyvu¡ii, nuv0avo¡iai, rajuvm, paívm.
15 SKiTsXXm, r avöavm, avu^i, aneiXem, ßaXXm, övva^ai, övvm, Kajuvm, KXivm, Kpivm, Kuvem, Xajunm, ö^vu^i, opivm, naXXm, nnyvujui, niXva¡iai, oKiöva^ai, ra/uvm, yaívm.
The greater frequency of the perfective contexts leads to a higher competition between the forms, which is decreased in Herodotus, raises slightly in Plato and then drops in Apoll. Rhod.
(Table 2).
Table 2
Competition
60
20 10
0
Homer Herodotus Plato ApofL Rhod.
Table 3 describes the ways of handling the competition between the preterites.
Table 3
Avoiding the competition
■ Grammatical semantics Pragmatics, lexical semantics, distribution Only one type of preterites attested (ao./ipf.)
In Herodotus, the correlation between the forms is similar to those in Homer: the percent of grammatically different forms is almost the same, but the set of verbs is different. For example, the preterites from dvSavrn in Herodotus have different valency: the aorists are used with infinitives: Лакгбаг^уюшг §8 шд£ бвквабаг xon^ Mivna^ en' oioi Bs^onoi anxoi. 'The Lacedaemonians were happy to receive the Minyae on the terms which their guests desired' (4, 145, 18); the imperfects are accompanied exclusively by
fSj Г У С Л > 1—Г Л г <"V л
pronouns ravra, та, SKsiva: oi Aoinoi nsAonowqoioi xoioi ш a^sivro rnvdavs 'the rest of the Peloponnesians who chose the better cause' (9, 19, 3).
The process of setting the forms apart could be related to lexical semantics. In Homer the verb nvvOavo/ai means 'to learn', in Herodotus it aquires the value 'to ask', in Plato that lexical difference forms the base for the distribution between the preterites: the imperfects always mean 'to ask, inquire' whereas the aorists have the value 'to learn': Меха xanx^v x^v anoKpioiv гую
r\ г ? с» л tr Л r 9 r •> ~ Л
npoOn^on^svo^ оафю^ siosvai oxi Asyoi, £rcuv9avo^nv anxon xon^ ayaBon^ noxepov xpn^i^ou^ ц ахр^^тои^ dvai nno^a^Pavoi. 'Well, after this answer I was eager to know clearly what he meant, so I inquired of him whether he conceived of good men as useful or useless.' (Amatores, 136b 4); On§8 та nepi т^ §(кп^ apa £nu9£o9£ ov Tponov eysvsTo; 'Did you not even hear about the trial and how it was conducted?' (Phaed. 58a, 1).
The initial set of pairs attested in Homeric Greek has significantly depleted throughout history, which is especially remarkable for Apollonius of Rhodes. On the one hand, he tends to use the Homeric formulas and lexemes, on the other hand, he deals with the preterital pairs differently: in the 'Argonautica' 11 verbs out of 20 have only one preterite attested (9 imperfects and 2 aorists are lost): avu/i, Ka/vm, kAivw, Kpivm, Kvvem, ojuwjui, n^yvv/i, niXva/ai, oKiSva/ai have no imperfects, no aorists are attested for aneiXew and Suva/ai.
Conclusion
Nasal infixed presents, like all other presents, demonstrate in the past tense aspectual opposition with the aorists. However, a significant number of the imperfects with the infix does happen to be applied "pro perfective".
Cases of functional equivalence are inevitable, especially for frequently attested verbs, but the competition between the perfective
forms is in most cases avoided by different means: distribution of the uses, temporal reference and lexical semantics and, later, - by eliminating one of the preterites (usually the nasal imperfect is the one that is lost).
Keeping only one telic preterite along with the functional distribution between the stems point to a tendency of the paradigm leveling over the time.
The higher competition of the preterites in Homeric poems illustrates closer interrelation of Aktionsart and aspect in the Greek verbal paradigm of the earlier periods.
References
Ameis, K. F., Hentze, K., & Cauer, P. (Hrsgg.). 1964: Homers Odyssee
(2. Aufl., Bd. 1-2). Leipzig; Berlin. Beekes, R. S. P., & Beek, L. van. 2010: Etymological dictionary of Greek
(Vol. 1-2). Leiden; Boston: Brill. Chantraine, P., 1961: Morphologie historique du grec. Paris: Klincksieck. Chantraine, P., 1968: Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue grecque:
histoire des mots (T. 1-4.2). Paris: C. Klincksieck. Crane, G. R. (Ed.). Perseus Digital Library. Tufts University.
http:// www.perseus.tufts.edu Crespo, E. 2014: A rule for the choice of aorist and imperfect. In: Bartolotta, A. (ed.). The Greek Verb. Morphology, Syntax, and Semantics. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. Cunliffe, R. J. 1963: A lexicon of the Homeric dialect. Norman: University
of Oklahoma Press. Dmitrieva, S. I. 2017: Osobennosti upotreblenija drevnegrecheskih prezent-nyh osnov s nazal'nym infiksom u Gomera [Some characteristic features of the nasal-infixed presents in Homer]. Indoevropeyskoe yazykoznanie i klassicheskaya filologiya [Indo-European Linguistics and Classical Philology] 21. 194-205. Duhoux, Y. 2000: Le verbe grec ancien: éléments de morphologie et de
syntaxe historiques (2nd ed.). Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters. Fowler, H. N., Lamb, W. R. M. 1914: Plato, with an English translation.
London; New York: W. Heinemann; Macmillan Co. Giannakis, G. K. 2014: Encyclopedia of ancient Greek language and
linguistics (Vol. 1). Leiden; Boston: Brill. Godley, A. D. 1921: Herodotus, with an English translation. London; New
York: W. Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons. Hedin, E. 2000: The type-referring function of the Imperfective. In: Ö. Dahl (ed.), Tense and aspect in the languages of Europe (cc. 227-264). Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Heubeck, A., West, S., & Hainsworth, J. B. 1990: A commentary on Homer's Odyssey (T. 1). Oxford; New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press.
Kirk, G. S., Edwards, M. W., Janko, R., Hainsworth, J. B., Richardson, N. J. 1985: The Iliad: a commentary (T. 1-6). Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. Krasuhin, K. G. 2007: Aspekty i vremena praindoevropejskogo glagola. Chast' II: Aorist i imperfekt drevnegrecheskogo glagola. Voprosy jazykoznanija, (4), 8-36. Kurylowicz, J. 1964: The inflectional categories of Indo-European. C.
Winter, Heidelberg. Liddell, H. G. Scott, R., Jones, H. S., 1996: A Greek-English lexicon. With
a revised supplement., 9th ed. Clarendon Press, Oxford. Meiser, G. 1993: Zur Funktion des Nasalpräsens im Urindogermanischen, in: Indogermanica et Italica: Festschrift für Helmut Rix zum 65. Geburtstag. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, Univ., Innsbruck, pp. 280-313.
Miller, C. W. E. 1895: The Imperfect and the Aorist in Greek. The
American Journal of Philology. Moser, A. 2017: Aktionsart, Aspect and Category Change in the History of Greek, in: Bentein, K., Janse, M., Soltic, J. (Eds.). Variation and Change in Ancient Greek Tense, Aspect and Modality. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 131-157. Murray, A. T. 1919: The Odyssey. With an English translation by A.T. Murray. London.
Murray, A. T. 1924: The Iliad. With an English translation by A.T. Murray.
London; New York. Napoli, M. 2006: Aspect and actionality in Homeric Greek: a contrastive
analysis. Franco Angeli, Milano. Pantelia, M. C. (Ed.). Thesaurus Linguae Graecae© Digital Library.
University of California, Irvine. http:// stephanus.tlg.uci.edu Rix, H., Kümmel, M., Zehnder, T., Lipp, R., Schirmer, B. 2001: Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben: die Wurzeln und ihre Primärstammbildungen, 2. Aufl. ed. Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden. Seaton, R. C. 1912: The Argonautica. With an English translation by R.C.
Seaton. London: Heinemann. Shatskov, A. V. 2016: K voprosu o funkcii nazal'nogo infiksa v praindoevropejskom i hettskom [The function of the infix in Hittite and PIE]. Indoevropeyskoe yazykoznanie i klassicheskaya filologiya [Indo-European Linguistics and Classical Philology] 20 (2). 10591066.
Sihler, A. L. 1995: New comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford; New York.
Vendryes, J. 1923: Sur la valeur des présents grecs en -av®, in: Festschrift J. Wackernagel zur Wollendung des 70. Lebensjahres am 11. Dezember, 1923. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 265-273. Willi, A. 2018: Origins of the Greek verb. Cambridge University Press.
S. I. Dmitrieva. Nasal-infixed presents and their collateral aorists in Homeric Greek: a diachronic approach
The paper is focused on the verbs with the old nasal present stems that have both aoristic forms and nasal imperfects attested in Homer. All contexts were examined in terms of lexical and grammatical semantics, pragmatical features and distribution of usages. The study investigates the extent to which the nasal imperfects compete with the corresponding aorists and outlines the patterns of correlation between the preterites. The Homeric data is compared to the attestations in the works of Herodotus, Plato and Apollonius of Rhodes. It is observed that the competition between the forms tends to lower over time and the verbal paradigm is leveled by employing only one type of telic preterite.
Key words: aspect, Aktionstart, nasal infix, telicity, imperfect, aorist, perfective.
