Verbal inflection in the Greek tradition: an imperfect system?
Abstract
The paper retraces the main steps leading to the codification of a system of rules governing verbal conjugation, which finds full expression in the Κανόνες εἰσαγωγικοὶ περὶ κλίσεως ὀνομάτων καὶ ῥημάτων by Theodosius of Alexandria (4th-5th century AD). The documentation offered by papyri is examined, showing how verbal conjugations were taught in school classrooms and the variations to which the inflectional system was subject. Overall, the inflectional system described and prescribed by Theodosius, as well as that documented by the papyri, presents a highly artificial character, making it distant from the language found in literature and, very likely, also from the spoken language. However, the papyri also reveal that practice imposed some adjustments to the rules canonized in the treatises.
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References
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