Gapping in Classical Greek prose

The order of gapping has repeatedly been connected with the basic word order of a language. Such a view is inadequate for free word order languages, such as Classical Greek. Classical Greek allows both right- and leftward gapping; besides, some cases of bi-directional gapping are also attested. All types of gapping can occur both with VO and with OV order. The preference for rightward gapping, rather than pointing toward a certain basic word order, appears to be connected with general properties of human processing capacities, while the order of gapping of each specific occurrence can be shown to be pragmatically motivated.