Ditransitive ‘teach’ and the status of the Theme “argument”(?)

Abstract

This paper offers new insights into the much-debated topic of double accusatives, taking διδάσκειν as a case study. By focussing on the different syntactic and semantic properties of the two accusatives in expressions such as διδάσκω σε σωφροσύνην ‘I teach you moderation’, it is shown that the mere reference to distinct semantic roles (Recipient vs Theme) does not provide a satisfactory account of some crucial properties of these constructions. As emerges from textual evidence, the so-called “Theme” may alternate with an infinitival complement (e.g. διδάσκω σε σωφρονεῖν ‘I teach you (how) to exert moderation’). Both the infinitival and the nominal complements are bound to the object of διδάσκω through a relationship which may be defined by the notion of control. This finding reveals the predicative function performed here by the “Theme”, thus supporting a multi-predicative approach to the double accusative construction of διδάσκειν. This hypothesis has relevance to the analysis of other double accusatives of Ancient Greek, and opens a new path for the analysis of comparable data offered by modern languages.