Modality across Time and Space in the Greek Languages

Undergraduate / Graduate

Modality, negation, and polarity are phenomena that have been closely intertwined throughout the millennia-long history of Greek. Although the precise nature of their interaction-and the way this interaction is reflected in syntax-has evolved over time, the relationship among them has remained both strong and stable. This course offers a broad historical overview of these developments while concentrating on specific changes, including the use of modal verbs as negative polarity items, the emergence of new negators and the restructuring of the nonveridical domain, the grammaticalization of modality, and the various ways in which belief is encoded through subjunctive forms. To deepen our understanding of the syntax-semantics interface and the mechanisms of language change, we draw on relevant data from Pontic Greek, particularly the Romeyka variety spoken in the Black Sea region today. This variety not only exemplifies the strong interaction among modality, negation, and polarity, but also diverges in important ways from mainland Greek varieties. The overarching aim of the course is to equip students with a solid understanding of how modality is structured crosslinguistically and how it evolves over time. No prior knowledge of Greek is required.