Copy-raising in Koine Greek

This thesis deals with a phenomenon of Koine Greek known in traditional grammars as prolepsis or attraction. Though occurrences of prolepsis have not been ignored in the past, modern linguistic theory in general and relational grammar in particular have much to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon. This thesis proposes that one major type of proleptic construction results from the application of the rule COPY-RAISING in the derivation of a sentence. COPY-RAISING claims that any noun phrase that is a constituent of a complement clause may be duplicated or copied, the copy being then raised into the clause of which the complement clause is a constituent. It is significant that variations of this rule account for similar constructions in various stages of Greek, as well as in Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, Blackfoot and other languages. This thesis also gives evidence for the claim that COPY-RAISING best explains the proleptic constructions found in Koine Greek. Examples from the New Testament are discussed and are distinguished from other constructions which may appear to be similar, but which do not result from the application of COPY-RAISING. Consideration is also given to the function of COPY-RAISING in Koine Greek