Office Address: Cocke Hall B028

Professor of Classics and Director of Undergraduate Studies. His chief area of research is the historical development of the Greek language, and he is particularly interested in the syntax of the Greek verb, word order, discourse particles, and prepositions, as well as the stylistic implications of linguistic choices, especially in Attic prose. He is the author of Expressions of Agency in Ancient Greek (Cambridge, 2005), Expressions of Time in Ancient Greek (Cambridge, 2014), and, most recently, a general introduction to six different ancient and medieval languages, How Dead Languages Work (Oxford, 2020).

Research Interests

My research is centered on the historical development of the Greek language. Why does a Greek author use one syntactic construction rather than another similar one? How do the reasons for the choice of construction change over time? To what extent do stylistic considerations, the genre of the text, and contact with other languages play a role in such variation?

In Expressions of Time in Ancient Greek (CUP, 2014), I analyze the conditions under which Greek authors, especially writers of Classical prose and Koine, use not only the genitive, dative, and accusative of time, but also the numerous competing constructions with prepositions. For a wider audience, I have also published How Dead Languages Work (OUP, 2020), a guided tour through the features that give Greek, Latin, Old English, Sanskrit, Old Irish, and Biblical Hebrew each its own linguistic personality. Currently, I am writing a monograph that uses recent linguistic research to help us better understand Classical Greek prose style.

Selected Publications

Books

• How Dead Languages Work (Oxford University Press, 2020)
• Expressions of Time in Ancient Greek (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
• Expressions of Agency in Ancient Greek (Cambridge University Press, 2005)
• Greek and Latin from an Indo-European Perspective, co-edited with M. McCullagh, B. Nielsen, A. Ruppel, O. Tribulato (Cambridge Classical Journal suppl. vol. 32, 2007)

Articles and Chapters

• "A Functional Grammar approach to Ancient Greek syntax: Review of Sintaxis del griego antiguo," Mnemosyne 76: 153-73 (2022)
• "Prose" in The Herodotus Encyclopedia, ed. C. Baron (Wiley-Blackwell, 2021)
• "Homeric ἄρα: An (in)consequential particle," Classical Philology 113: 241-54 (2018)
• "Verbal aspect and the Greek future: ἕξω and σχήσω," Mnemosyne 69: 597-627 (2016)
• "Lexical aspect (Aktionsart)" and "Verbal valency" in Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Language and Linguistics, ed. G. Giannakis et al. (Brill, 2014)
• "The temporal characteristics of the historical present in Thucydides," in The Historical Present in Thucydides: Semantics and Narrative Function, ed. J. Lallot, A. Rijksbaron, B. Jacquinod, and M. Buijs (Brill, 2011)
• "Jewish and Christian Greek," in Companion to the Ancient Greek Language, ed. E. J. Bakker (Blackwell, 2010)
• "Greek particles: Just a literary phenomenon?" in Discourse Cohesion in Ancient Greek, ed. Gerry Wakker and Stéphanie Bakker (Brill, 2009)
• "The spatial use of ana and kata with the accusative in Homer," Glotta 82: 70-95 (2006)

Reviews

• review of Postclassical Greek Prepositions and Conceptual Metaphor: Cognitive Semantic Analysis and Biblical Interpretation, ed. W. A. Ross and S. E. Runge (Classical Review 74(1): 250-2 (2024))
• review of Formes et fonctions des langues littérires en Grèce ancienne: neuf exposés suivis de discussions, ed. A. Willi (Classical Journal Online 2021.07.08)
• review of Form and Function in Greek Grammar: Lingusitic Contribiutions to the Study of Greek Literature, A. Rijksbaron, edited by R. Allan, E. van Emde Boas, and L. Huitnik (BMCR 2019.09.02)
• review of Orality and Performance in Classical Attic Prose: A Linguistic Approach, A. Vatri (Journal of Hellenic Studies 139: 301–2 (2019))
• review of Greek Interjections: Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics, L. Nordgren (BMCR 2016.11.17)
• review of Early Greek Relative Clauses, P. Probert (Classical Review 66(1): 1-3 (2016))
• review of Entre conjonction, connecteur et particule: le cas de ἐπεί en grec ancien, D. Muchnová (Gnomon 86: 264-6 (2014))
• review of Bilingual Notaries in Hellenistic Egypt: A Study of Greek as a Second Language, M. Vierros (The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 50: 343-8 (2013))
• review of Latin Embedded Clauses: The Left Periphery, L. Danckaert (BMCR 2012.12.49)
• review of Etymological Dictionary of Greek, 2 vols., ed. R. Beekes (New England Classical Journal 38(1): 49-52 (2011))
• review of Greek Prepositions: From Antiquity to the Present, P. Bortone (Linguist List 22.728)
• review of The Language of Literature: Linguistic Approaches to Classical Texts, ed. R. J. Allan and M. Buijs (Mnemosyne 63: 492-7 (2010))
• review of The Non-Literary Latin Letters: A Study of Their Syntax and Pragmatics, H. Halla-aho (The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 47: 323-7 (2010))
• review of Word Order in Greek Tragic Dialogue, H. Dik (Gnomon 81: 481-4 (2009)
• review of The Moods of Homeric Greek, J. Willmott (Classical Journal Online 2009.04.01)
• review of The Syntax and Semantics of the Verb in Classical Greek: An Introduction, 3rd edn, A. Rijksbaron (BMCR 2008.02.24)
• review of Suppletion und Defektivität im griechischen Verbum, D. Kölligan (BMCR 2007.08.20)

Personal

I was an undergraduate at Rice University (B.A. 1997 in Classics and German). I then went to graduate school in England at the University of Cambridge (M.Phil. 1998, Ph.D. 2002). I then taught at Rice for two years, before returning to Trinity College, Cambridge, for a four-year research fellowship. I joined the department here in Charlottesville in 2007, and have recently returned from a wonderful year as a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford (2022-2023). If I'm not thinking about ancient languages, you can probably find me at the piano, playing Bach, Brahms, and friends.