"Epei" in Ancient Greek: Conjunction, Connector, and Particle : Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Study
Abstract
The monograph focuses on the analysis, interpretation and description of Greek clauses headed by "epei", which roughly corresponds to the English conjunction "when" on one hand and "for, since" on the other hand. In studying factors determining the interpretation of "epei" (position of the epei clause, negation, reaction, tense, type of text, etc.), the author bases her classification of "epei" clauses on the theory of illocutionary acts and on E.
Sweetser''s cognitive-pragmatic model, comparing the use of "epei" with the French "comme" and the English "because". The book demonstrates that research approaches developed in the field of modern languages can be successfully applied to Ancient Greek, thereby eliciting a more precise understanding of the text and a more coherent linguistic description.