V. 58 N. 2 (2020)
Articoli

Reduplicated presents and pluractionality in Greek and Sanskrit

Romano Lazzeroni
University of Pisa
Biografia
Elisabetta Magni
Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture Moderne Università di Bologna

Pubblicato 2020-10-05

Parole chiave

  • Ancient Greek,
  • Vedic Sanskrit,
  • Verb,
  • Reduplication,
  • Pluractionality,
  • ...Più
    Meno

Abstract

In Indo-European languages the recessive category of reduplicated presents encompasses a variety of forms whose semantics is still a matter of intense debate. In this respect, scholars’ opinions are divided as to whether the original meaning of these formations was related to the iterative-intensive Aktionsart, or to the perfective aspect, but neither of the hypotheses seems to be fully supported by the preserved materials. Considering that the intertwining between lexical and verbal aspect is also one of the key points in the investigation of pluractionality, we will make reference to the features of this broad cross-linguistic category in order to clarify the functions of reduplicated presents in Homeric Greek and in Vedic Sanskrit. In particular, we will show how different pluractional meanings, all related to the basic notion of iterativity, emerge through the various contexts of use, and how the category of reduplicated formations can receive a unitary reading as expression of pluractionality.

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