The Mechanism of Noun Incorporation in Ancient Greek

Abstract

Based on inner- as well as on cross-linguistic evidence, a copious group of compound verbs of the form [N+V]V such as στεφανη-πλοκέω and νομο-θετέω can be described as instances of noun incorporation in Ancient Greek. These verbs – diachronically, denominal verbs derived from verbal governing compounds – synchronically display characteristics of compounding of a nominal element to a verbal element. This compositional quality, amply attested textually, as well as other unique semantic, pragmatic, and morpho-syntactical properties of the process we term ‘noun incorporation’, set this group of verbs apart from mere denominalization and mark their derivation as a distinct morphological mechanism in Ancient Greek. This is most clearly discernible in the effect this process has on the valency and argument structure of the verbs in question, mostly yielding an intransitive verb, or, under very specific conditions, a transitive verb governing a direct object in a close morphological and semantic relationship to the incorporated noun. Viewing these verbs as cases of noun incorporation not only aligns Ancient Greek with other noun-incorporating languages but also elucidates the internal structure, derivational scheme, and morpho-syntactic behavior of these verbal compounds, as attested in Ancient Greek texts, ranging from Homeric Greek through Hellenistic and Imperial Greek.