The Syntax-Morphology Interface in Ancient Greek: The Syntactical Properties of Morphemes

Even though syntax and morphology are generally taken to be distinct components of language, two morphological structures in Ancient Greek—denominal adjectives and compounds—possess syntactical properties in that their morphemes, rather than the whole words, participate in select syntactical processes. These phenomena, occurring at the boundary between syntax and morphology, ostensibly violate the generative Lexical Integrity Principle. Nonetheless, instances of such phenomena can be found in various Ancient Greek sources. These instances, traditionally treated as ad sensum constructiones or as syntactical mishaps, are not bereft of internal consistency, and in fact form their own well-organized subsystem and even obey an implicational hierarchy.