Pinpointing Linguistic Emphasis in Classical Greek

Vatri, Alessandro

Abstract

Emphasis is a ubiquitous notion in classical scholarship, but its vagueness has repeatedly been criticized (and its usefulness, consequently, questioned) by Greek linguists. This brief study seeks to identify (and secure) a place for this notion in the analytical toolbox for the description of Classical Greek by applying the strict but nuanced definition of emphasis in Functional Discourse Grammar (Hengeveld and Mackenzie 2008) to the identification and classification of linguistic devices in the ancient language. In particular, this study argues for a distinction between emphasis as a rhetorical effect and emphasis as a communicative intention. In the former understanding, emphasis may be produced secondarily by a number of linguistic and rhetorical devices. Conversely, linguistic emphasis stricto sensu would only be conveyed by linguistic devices used primarily to intensify linguistic entities of any level (discourse acts, propositional contents, subacts).

Citation

Vatri, A. (2024). Pinpointing Linguistic Emphasis in Classical Greek. Mnemosyne: A Journal of Classical Studies, 77(6), 896-909. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525x-bja10233

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 30, 2024
• Online Publication Date: May 8, 2024
• Publication Date: May 8, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 9, 2024
• Journal: Mnemosyne
• Print ISSN: 0026-7074
• Electronic ISSN: 1568-525X
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 77
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 896-909
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/1568525x-bja10233
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2522712