Nonveridicality and the Use of οὐ and μή in Rhetorical Questions in Classical Greek

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu20.2023.205

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the distribution of the ancient Greek negatives οὐ and μή in rhetorical questions, particularly in those which are equivalent to an assertive speech act. Traditionally, their use in this context has been described after the answer that usually follows the question without any further explanation: οὐ favours a positive answer, while μή favours a negative one. However, this rule does not always hold true. A theoretical framework that may explain their distribution is nonveridicality. Nonveridicality is applied to those operators that do not presuppose their proposition to be true or false. In fact, the use of μή with the indicative mood in this type of rhetorical question can be explained as characteristic of a nonveridical operator. Thus, μή is used in confirmative questions to signal that the proposition goes against the speaker’s expectations without implying its falsity. In turn, οὐ would be the general negative, so it can appear both in questions with reversed polarity and in confirmative questions whose proposition conforms to the speaker’s expectations. It must be noted that the study includes the use of οὐ and μή combined with other particles such as ἆρα, ἦ, or οὖν, since they exhibit the same properties in those cases.

Keywords:

οὐ, μή, rhetorical questions, indirect speech acts, polarity reversal, nonveridicality

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Published

2023-12-30

How to Cite

Jiménez Delgado, J. M. (2023). Nonveridicality and the Use of οὐ and μή in Rhetorical Questions in Classical Greek. Philologia Classica, 18(2), 205–215. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu20.2023.205

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2023)

Section

Graecia antiqua

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Articles of "Philologia Classica" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.