Abstract: The accentuation pattern in Ancient Greek has been long debated in Indo-European studies, and the positions of accent in Greek nouns and adjectives are traditionally assumed as lexically stored. In this work, I will follow the works of Probert (2006) and discuss the decisive role different suffixes can play in determining the accent position of Greek nominal derivatives (including nouns and adjectives). Four accentuation patterns are attested in my corpus study: (1) suffix accent: some derivatives have their accents placed on the derivational suffixes; (2) recessive accent: some derivatives have their accents placed as far left as is permitted by the general synchronic constraints on accentuation; (3) limited-recessive accent: the accent is placed as far left as is permitted constraints, not only the general one but also an additional one: the accent can’t be placed on the left constituent of a compound; (4) lexically accent: the accent is not derived by phonological rules but lexically stored.
I will formulate phonological constraints in attempt to derive the accent position of Ancient Greek nominal derivatives in the framework of Optional Theory as accurate as possible, arguing that some constraints are lexically indexed and triggered only in derivatives with certain morphological structure. I will also argue that derivation and inflection are involved in different strata when the actual position of accent is determined in Greek surface forms, following different sets of phonological rules.
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