The adnominal adjective in Attic and Modern Greek.

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to analyze the adnominal adjective in Attic and Modern Greek. In both languages the adjective can precede or follow the modified noun while a definite article can precede both the adjective and the noun. It is stated in literature that the adjective functions either as attributive or as predicative modifier. Using alternative terminology (by Huddleston and Pullum 2002) for all functions, firstly I propose that in Modern Greek there can be also one function, namely parathesis, which is assumed to be a function realized only by nouns. I also suggest for both languages that the predictive modifier is actually the same function as what is called predicative adjunct. A further aim of this project is to examine whether the variation in constructions found in both languages is just for emphasis, as suggested in the literature. It is argued that the presence and position of the definite article, the word order and the kind adjective (ascriptive/associative) are factors affecting the function and semantics of AdjP. It is also argued that the same constructions in these two languages are not equal: the default word order is different (Noun, Adjective for Attic Greek and Adjective, Noun for Modern Greek), while the less common constructions in both languages are used in different situations.