The Linguistics of the Stoics : What is their Contribution to the Understanding of Verbal Aspect?

Some argue that the Stoics founded linguistics in the modern sense. The central notions of their understanding of language are found and preserved in the works of others, such as Diogenes Laertius, Sextus Empiricus and the work of the commentator Stephanos.This paper looks into the Stoic understanding of language and how the Greek verbal system fits into it. The Greek verbal system is put into the larger context of Stoic language philosophy and questions are asked as to what the implications of this language philosophy may be for our understanding of the Greek verb and its forms. Particular attention is given to the 7th-century commentator Stephanos’ account of the Stoic understanding of the Greek tenses – or aspects – and what this text states about the nature the Greek tenses