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On some recent views concerning the development of the Greek future system*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2016

Brian D. Joseph
Affiliation:
The Ohio State University, Department of Linguistics, [email protected]
Panayiotis A. Pappas
Affiliation:
Department of Linguistics, Simon Fraser University, [email protected]

Abstract

Researchers of the historical grammar of Modern Greek agree in general terms that the particle θά derives from an older construction which included the verb θέλω. In the past years, however, there has been some disagreement about the exact point of departure, and, consequently, the exact route (or routes) of the development of θά. In this article we present a straightforward account of θά, explicating several of the disputed aspects of its development, and comparing our account to other, recently published, views. In this way we try to set the record straight with respect to the history of this important element of the Greek verbal system.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham 2002

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Footnotes

*

We would like to thank an anonymous referee and David Holton for their many useful comments on this paper. A preliminary version of it was given at the 4th International Conference on Greek Linguistics at the University of Cyprus in September 1999 and will appear in the conference proceedings (Pappas & Joseph, to appear).

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