Article published In: Register Studies
Vol. 5:1 (2023) ► pp.82–110
The use of periphrasis for the expression of aspect by Greek heritage speakers
A case study of register variation narrowing
Published online: 20 December 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/rs.20022.ale
https://doi.org/10.1075/rs.20022.ale
Abstract
In this paper, we examine the narrowing of register variation in the domain of verbal aspect in the production of
aspect by two different age groups of Greek heritage speakers (HSs), adolescents and adults, which we compared to their
monolingual peers. We first identify a previously undocumented case of register variation for the expression of perfective aspect
in Greek. Both HSs and monolingual speakers have at their disposal synthetic and analytic forms, the latter built on the basis of
light verbs, to express grammatical aspect, and specifically perfective aspect. While monolinguals make use of this alternation to
signal register variation, with periphrastic constructions used in informal settings and in the oral mode, HSs behave differently.
Both adolescent and adult HSs generalize periphrastic constructions across formal and informal communicative situations, thus
showing a case of register variation narrowing. The fact that periphrastic constructions are associated with perfective aspect is
due to aspect levelling: HSs overgeneralize the use of the perfective aspect.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 2.1The Greek verbal system: Aspect, prefixes, and light verbs
- 2.2[+Learned] features in the Greek lexicon
- 2.3Register and register variation (in Greek)
- 3.Research questions and predictions
- 4.Methodology
- 4.1Participants
- 4.2The task
- 5.Results
- 6.Discussion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
References
References (60)
(2014). Variability
and grammatical architecture. In P. Carme (Ed.), Variation
in a minimalist
perspective (pp. 179–196). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Albirini, A., & Chakari, B. (2017). Switching
codes and registers: An analysis of heritage Arabic speakers’ sociolinguistic
competence. International Journal of
Bilingualism, 21(3), 317–339.
Alexiadou, A. (1997a). Adverb
placement. A case study in antisymmetric
syntax. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
(2017b). Building
verbs in language mixing varieties. Zeitschrift für
Sprachwissenschaft, 361, 165–192.
(2017c). Language
variation and change: A case study of the loss of genitive case in Heritage Greek. Belgian
Journal of
Linguistics, 311, 54–72.
(2020). The
complexity of Greek verbal morphology: The case of prefixed
verbs. In P. Stekauer (Ed.), The
complexity of complex
words (pp. 192–216). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Anastasiadis-Symeonidis, A., & Fliatouras, A. (2003). The
features [learned] and [- learned] in Greek: Definition and classification. Proceedings of the
6th International Conference on Greek Linguistics. University of Crete.
(2019). The
learned register in Contemporary Modern Greek: Tendencies in synchrony and the role of morphological change (analogy,
borrowing, grammaticalization). Proceedings of the 13rd International Conference on Greek
Linguistics
(ICGL13) (pp. 429–439). London: University of Westminster.
Anastasiadis-Symeonidis, A., Fliatouras, A., & Nikolaou, G. (2018). The
dictionary of the learned level of Modern Greek. In J. Čibej, V. Gorjanc, I. Kosem, & S. Krek (Eds.), Proceedings
of the XVIII EURALEX International Congress: Lexicography in Global
Contexts (pp. 631–640). Ljubljana: Ljubljana University Press, Faculty of Arts. Available at [URL]
Andersen, R. W., & Shirai, Y. (1994). Discourse
motivations for some cognitive acquisition principles. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition, 161, 133–156.
Andreou, M., & Tsimpli, I. (2017). Aspectual
distinctions in the narratives of bilingual children. International Review of Applied
Linguistics in Language
Teaching, 55(3), 305–324.
Bentein, K. (2012). Verbal
periphrasis in Ancient Greek: A state of the art. Revue belge de philologie et
dhistoire, 901, 5–56.
Biber, D., & Finegan, E. (1994). Situating
register in sociolinguistics. In D. Biber & E. Finegan (Eds.), Sociolinguistic
perspectives on
register (pp. 3–12). New York: Oxford University Press.
Boon, E. D. (2014). Heritage
Welsh: a study of heritage language as the outcome of minority language acquisition and
bilingualism. (Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University).
Bowles, M. A. (2011). Measuring
implicit and explicit linguistic knowledge. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition, 331, 247–271.
Chevalier, C. (2004). Heritage
language literacy: Theory and practice. UCLA, Center for Chineese Studies. [URL]
Christofidou, A., & Stephany, U. (2003). Early
phases in the development of Greek verb inflection. In D. Bittner, W. U. Dressler & M. Kilani-Schoch (Eds.), Development
of verb inflection in first language acquisition. A cross-linguistic
perspective (pp. 89–129). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Christopoulos, C., & Petrosino, R. (2018). Greek
root-allomorphy without spans. In W. G. Bennett, L. Hracs & D. R. Storoshenko (Eds.), Proceedings
of the 35th West Coast Conference on Formal
Linguistics (pp. 151–160). Somerville: Cascadilla Proceedings Project.
Delidaki, S. (2006). The
acquisition of tense and aspect in child Greek. (Doctoral
dissertation, University of Reading).
Dressler, U. W. (1991). The
sociolinguistic and patholinguistic attrition of Breton phonology, morphology, and
morphophonology. In W. Herbert & M. R. Vago (Eds.), First
language
attrition (pp. 99–112). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. (2005). Measuring
implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study. Studies in Second
Language
Acquisition, 271, 141–172.
Galani, A. (2005). The
morphosyntax of verbs in Modern Greek. (Doctoral
dissertation, University of York).
Gavriilidou, Z., & Mitis, L. (2019). Profiling
Greek heritage language speakers in the USA and Russia. European Journal of Language
Studies, 61, 28–42.
Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). The
construction of knowledge and value in the grammar of scientific discourse, with reference to Charles Darwin’s The Origin of
Species. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Advances
in written text
analysis (pp. 136–156). London: Routledge.
Haspelmath, M. (2000). Periphrasis. In G. Booij, C. Lehmann & J. Mugdan (Eds.), Morphology:
A handbook on inflection and word formation. Handbücher zur Sprach- und
Kommunikationswissenschaft (pp. 654–664). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Holton, D., Mackridge, P., & Philippaki-Warburton, I. (1997). Greek.
A comprehensive grammar of the modern
language. London: Routledge.
Iordanidou, A. (2001). Λεξικό λόγιων εκφράσεων της σύγχρονης ελληνικής [Dictionary of
scholarly expressions in Contemporary
Greek]. Athens: Patakis.
Konstantzou, K., van Hout, A., Varlokosta, S., & Vlassopoulos, M. (2013). Perfective
imperfective development of aspectual distinctions in Greek specific language
impairment. Linguistic
Variation, 13(2), 187–216.
Laleko, O. (2010). The
Syntax-pragmatics interface in language loss: Covert restructuring of aspect in heritage
Russian. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota).
Mackridge, P. (1990). Katharevousa
(c. 1800–1974): An obituary for an official language. In M. Sarafis & M. Eve (Eds.), Background
to contemporary
Greece (pp. 25–51). London: Merlin Press.
Maher, J. (1991). A
crosslinguistic study of language contact and language
attrition. In H. W. Seliger & R. M. Vago (Eds.), First
language
attrition (pp. 67–84). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martzoukou, M., Selimis, S., Katsalirou, A., & Fliatouras, A. (2019). The
learned/formal register of Modern Greek as a basis for learning Ancient Greek: Experimental data and educational
considerations. In Z. Gavriilidou, L. Mitits, & C. Dourou (Eds.), Situating
strategy use in the Greek setting (Language’s parallels: Theory and teaching
practice) (pp. 187–220). Kavala: Saita.
Mertyris, D. (2014). The
loss of the genitive in Greek: a diachronic and dialectological analysis. (Doctoral
dissertation, La Trobe University).
Miller, L., & Cuza, A. (2013). On
the status of tense and aspect morphology in child heritage Spanish: An analysis of accuracy
levels. In J. Cabrelli Amaro, T. Judy & D. Pascual y Cabo (Eds.), Proceedings
of the 12th Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference (GASLA
2013) (pp. 117–129). Somerville: Cascadilla Press.
Montrul, S. (2011). Morphological
errors in Spanish second language learners and heritage speakers. Studies in Second Language
Acquisition, 331, 163–192.
(2012). Is
the heritage language like a second language? EUROSLA
Yearbook, 12(1), 1–29.
Panitsa, G. (2010). Aspects
of aspect: The acquisition of viewpoint and situation aspect in Modern Greek. (Doctoral
dissertation, University College London).
Pavlidou, T. S. (2008). Επίπεδα γλωσσικής
ανάλυσης. Θεσσαλονίκη: Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών, Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη.
Polinsky, M. (2008). Without
aspect. In G. Corbett & M. Noonan (Eds.), Case
and grammatical
relations (pp. 263–282). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Ralli, A. (2003). Morphology
in Greek linguistics: The state-of-the-art. Journal of Greek
Linguistics, 41, 77–130.
(2004). Stem-based
vs. Word-based morphological configurations: The case of Modern Greek preverbs. Lingue e
Linguaggio, 21, 241–275.
Rizou, V. (2018). Τα κατάλοιπα της καθαρεύουσας στον προφορικό λόγο: η περίπτωση της γενικής
πτώσης. (Master’s Thesis, Freie Universität Berlin).
Rothman, J. (2007). Heritage
speaker competence differences, language change and input type: Inflected infinitives in heritage Brazilian
Portuguese. International Journal of
Bilingualism, 11(4), 359–389.
(2009). Understanding
the nature and outcomes of early bilingualism: Romance languages as heritage
languages. International Journal of
Bilingualism, 13(2), 155–163.
Shirai, Y. & Andersen, R. W. (1995). The
acquisition of tense/aspect morphology: A prototype
account. Language, 711, 743–762.
Stavrakaki, S. (1999). KANO:
The case of a light verb in Modern Greek. Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium of
Theoretical and Applied
Linguistics (pp. 171–185). Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
Stephany, U. (1981). Verbal
grammar in Early Modern Greek child language. In P. S. Dale & D. Ingram (Eds.), Child
language: An international
perspective (pp. 45–57). Baltimore: University Park Press.
Tambouratzis, G., Markantonatou, S., Hairetakis, N., Vassiliou, M., Tambouratzis, D., & Carayannis, G. (2002). Discriminating
the registers and styles in the Modem Greek language. WCC ’00: Proceedings of the Workshop on
Comparing
Corpora, 91, 35–42.
Thoma, C. (2011). The
function of the historical present tense: Evidence from Modern Greek. Journal of
Pragmatics, 431, 2373–2391.
Cited by (8)
Cited by eight other publications
Coşkun Kunduz, Aylin & Silvina Montrul
Roberta D’Alessandro, Michael T Putnam & Silvia Terenghi
Martin, Fabienne, Ivona Ilic, Gert-Jan Schoenmakers & Artemis Alexiadou
Martynova, Maria, Onur Özsoy, Vasiliki Rizou, Luka Szucsich, Natalia Gagarina & Artemis Alexiadou
Rizou, Vasiliki, Despina Papadopoulou, Onur Özsoy, Artemis Alexiadou & Laura Morett
Shadrova, Anna
Alexiadou, Artemis
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.