Have you always been bothered by types, votes, and computers? But what would you say if you learned that there was a divine origin in Homer, that the words mountain and rock were born as ὁ βουνός in ancient Greek and τὸ βράχος in Hellenistic Greek, and that the fairy etymologically derives from the Nereid with false etymology?
This book focuses on a key category of language change in the Greek language, morphological change (and consequently lexical change), aiming to succinctly capture the what, how, and why of the transformations. Specifically, it attempts based on modern theories to classify the phenomena of morphological change with examples from the entirety of the history of the Greek language, to present the mechanisms of modification and their interrelation, and to interpret the causes of the changes.
The study of the fascinating world of the diachrony of the Greek language helps to answer questions such as the following: - How "similar" are ancient Greek, Hellenistic, and medieval Greek to modern Greek based on morphological criteria? - Does language change over time based on specific and systematic mechanisms, and if so, how transparent are these processes and what goals do they serve?
This book is aimed at those interested in the history of the Greek language. Specifically, for undergraduate/graduate students of linguistics, it can serve as a valuable tool and a spark for research work. The analysis is accompanied by a glossary and an index of terms, an index of fragments, and an appendix of diagrams.
