Review of 'Greek Prepositions from Antiquity to the Present' by Pietro Bortone

What is it about?

This is the most comprehensive history of the Greek prepositional system ever published. In its broad typological context it examines interrelated morpho-syntactic and semantic changes which took place over three millennia. The first three chapters provide a background for the study of the Greek prepositions in terms of their function, meaning and development. The second part of the book consists of four chapters devoted to prepositions and cases in Ancient, Hellenistic, Medieval and Modern Greek. Hellenistic Greek is examined on the basis of Biblical Greek, and Medieval Greek on the basis of "reasonably demotic texts".

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Why is it important?

Dr. Bortone's penetrating analysis of Greek prepositions and case markers has been carried out in a unified theoretical framework of the Localist Hypothesis stating that the spatial meanings are primary. Within the extensive documentation of Greek over three millennia we are in the possession of unique evidence that "new prepositions appear with a spatial meaning, which is slowly extended to non-spatial notions and eventually disappears". His monograph is a signifiicant contribution to the field of Hellenic studies. It should be of major interest to a large audience of Hellenists (especially medievalists and scholars of Modern Greek) and historical linguists.

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