[N. + N.] compounds in Medieval Greek : Constantine Manasses's Synopsis Chronike as a case study

Abstract

This paper attempts to provide a descriptive analysis of the newly coined [Ν. + Ν.] compound lexemes in Constantine Manasses's Synopsis Chronike (12th cent.) with a view to tracing the innovations and similarities to the Ancient Greek compound system. First, it provides a brief outline of the main types of Greek compounds according to the underlying syntactic relations between the immediate constituents, referring to the related notion of 'syntagma' (Section 1). Then, it deals with the phonological and morphosyntactic criteria that distinguish compounds from syntactic groups (Section 2). The subsequent section addresses the stress patterns of compounds (Section 3). The final section gives a description of the compounds based on i. the morphemic status of the immediate constituents, namely whether they are free or bound elements, ii. the linear order of the determinatum (dm) and determinant (dt) inside the combination, and iii. the lexical class of the compound as a whole, and equally the class of the compound components (Section 4).