Atticist lexica and Modern Greek dictionaries: a brief comparison of (negative) lexicographical labelling (original) (raw)
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During the Second Sophistic manuals and lexica concerning the ‘correct’ usage of Greek were produced by grammarians and lexicographers; they sought to recapture the language of high Attic literature, particularly its lexicon. Phrynichus was perhaps one of the strictest of these lexicographers, and his floruit during the end of the 2nd century CE coincided with the early stages of diglossia in the Greek language. This paper utilises select lexical dicta from Phrynichus’ Ecloga as metalinguistic tools to determine how far Atticistic usages (approved forms) penetrated the lexical choice of writers of non-literary papyri, and to ascertain the reliability of innovative words (condemned forms) in the same documents as evidence for linguistic change—either beginning or spreading from the spoken language.
The Atticist lexica as Metalinguistic Resource for Morphosyntactic change in Post-Classical Greek
Journal of Greek linguistics 22.2, 2022
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 the historical relevance of Atticist prescriptivism has been observed, the evidence that these social evaluations provide for Post-Classical Greek language change is rarely assessed systematically (except for objectionable ideological reasons). I demonstrate that the Atticist lexica display metalinguistic awareness of the major morphosyntactic changes characterizing Post-Classical Greek (pace Lee 2013:286): paradigmatic (e.g. analogical levelling in verbal system of endings, voice and augment), category changes, category renewal (e.g. dual, pronouns, periphrasis), syntactic change (category expansion of ἔμελλον and τυγχάνω) and case changes (e.g. from case to prepositions).
International Journal of Lexicography, 2020
Liddell and Scott has long been regarded as one of the most valuable pieces of Ancient Greek lexicography. Following its creation in the mid-19th century, this renowned lexicon by two young Oxford postgraduates has undergone a myriad of revisions and incorporated multiple addenda along the way. As recently as 2019, Christopher Stray, Michael Clarke, and Joshua T. Katz edited the compilation of twenty-one articles which I have been commissioned to review here. These articles are, in turn, grouped around the following parts or overarching themes: (1) History and Constitution of the Lexicon; (2) Periods and Genres of Evidence; (3) Methodology and Problems; and (4) Comparisons in Time and Space. Throughout the compilation, contributors pay their particular homage to Liddell and Scott by primarily focusing on the path travelled up to its ninth edition (henceforth referred to as LSJ). Heterogenous, yet inclusive insights are adopted which highlight Liddell and Scott’s strengths and shortcomings alike, with the latter having mostly to do with updates perceived as necessary in the twenty-first century. It might well be this willingness of the Lexicon to embrace change that underlies its long-lived success. Lexica of ancient languages have oftentimes been wrongfully regarded as static quasi-archaeological remnants, based on their tendency to depict a fossilized, no-longer-in-use model of language. However, since the baseline goal of a dictionary is that of making the language that pertains to a particular historical context accessible to a reader, both types of ancient- or modern-language lexica demonstrate a legitimate need for ongoing revisions and constant updates. Even though the corpus of entries in Liddell and Scott has remained largely unaltered through the years, a refinement in the teaching methodologies and a deeper understanding of Ancient Greece have both come a long way since the conception of the Lexicon. This shift in focus correlates with a strong willingness to explore the Greek Antiquity through language and the usage thereof in a variety of literary works, which certainly requires taking on a multidimensional approach. Until recently, the study of Greek would adopt a merely stative stance. Students and scholars alike were expected to acquire the ‘fossilised’ fundamentals of language history and grammatical structure. It is within this context that the lexica became essential tools in verifying (even ‘deciphering’) the meaning of units largely unknown to the community of students and researchers. This process was basically conducted in a mechanical manner, from a lack of criticism or further interest therein. Among the multiple shifts undergone by society since the mid-1800s, gradual emphasis has arisen on complexity, diversity, and (relatedly) critical thinking. As I will review in the following section, this 2019 volume by Stray et al. (eds) vividly demonstrates the fate of this shift in mentality. Its articles, as a whole, embrace a broad spectrum of scholarly concerns, both methodological and societal.
4.15 Problems and Perspectives in Septuagint Lexicography: The Case of Non-Compliance (ἀπειθέω)
This paper assesses the possibilities and limitations of a Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint in the light of the current state of Septuagint lexicography and the opportunities offered by the new digital tools, such as the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, the Hewlett-Packard on-line searchable Greek inscriptions, Perseus, Demetrios, Trismegistos, TLG online etc. that allow for a complete search of attestations of a Greek lexeme in Antiquity. As a sample for such a study and entry for the intended Theological Lexicon of the Septuagint, the Greek word ἀπειθέω is examined. The word occurs regularly in the Septuagint as equivalent for a variety of Hebrew expressions and reflects a specific ideological interest of the Greek translators of the Pentateuch and their followers (Greek Joshua, Greek Isaiah). A study of the attestations of the word in contemporary papyri makes clear that the usage of the word should not be confused with that of ἀπιστεύω in the way we find it in New Testament writings (Acts, Pauline Epistles).
The Dictionary of the Learned Level of Modern Greek
2018
The aim of this paper is to discuss the theoretical background and methodological tools for the elaboration of a specialized dictionary, the Dictionary of the Learned Elements of Modern Greek (DILLEMOG). The learned level of Modern Greek (MG), which originates from the natural diachronic inheritance and from the prototyping of Ancient Greek, includes segments, structures and processes which pertain to all levels of linguistic analysis. DILLEMOG will constitute an innovative lexicographical database which will provide the user with all the necessary information on the [+ learned] linguistic items of MG, such as definitions, collocations, degree of learnedness, lexical and morphological classification, functionality and usage.
This article presents an etymological case study on Pre-Greek (PG): it analyzes about 20 words starting with the letter M that have been catalogued as or <PG?> in the new Etymological dictionary of Greek (EDG), but for which alternative explanations are equally possible or more likely (discussing all instances would be tantamount to rewriting the dictionary). The article briefly discusses the EDG (for an in-depth appraisal the reader is referred to part one of the article) and then analyzes the individual words. This analysis is performed by giving an overview of the most important earlier suggestions and contrasting it with the arguments used to catalogue the word as PG. In the process, several issues of Indo-European phonology (such as the phoneme inventory and sound laws) will be discussed.
Whence and Whither Greek Verbal Lexicography and Pedagogy: A Diachronic Review
Ever since the advent of the printing press, the Latin West and its lexicographic inheritors have used the first person singular indicative verb form (e.g., λύω) as the lemma of the Greek verb. There are historical reasons for this. These historical reasons for using the indicative form, however, are not coextensive with those by which modern lexicographers operate. This issue significantly overlaps with pedagogical concerns. The present article seeks to sketch a basic history of Greek verbal treatments toward a reevaluation of lexicographic and pedagogic practice regarding the ancient Greek verb.