Negative directives in Homeric Greek: Function, origin, and development

This paper examines the form, function, and origin of negative directive constructions (prohibitions) in Homeric Greek. Curiously, the aspect of the verb in these constructions depends on its mood: aorist stem for subjunctive, present stem for imperative and infinitive. Previous scholarship has taken the Greek constructions to be replacements of earlier "injunctive"ones (based on comparison to Sanskrit) and seen aspect as responsible for functional differences in negative directives. I challenge both of these assumptions on the basis of a comprehensive corpus study of the Homeric language. My analysis introduces more precise usage labels and underscores the importance of the infinitive construction in the Homeric system. I show that mood, not aspect, underlies the observed functional differences. While I agree with prior research that the present infinitive is used for instructions and that the aorist subjunctive has a "preventive"function, I find that the present imperative construction is the semantically unmarked default. On this basis, I formulate a new diachronic model linking these constructions to a single Proto-Indo-European rule, accounting for the outcomes in Greek, Sanskrit, and related languages without positing arbitrary replacements of earlier constructions.