The augment use in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (HH 2)

Abstract

This article analyses the use and absence of the augment in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter (HH 2). This is done in three steps: first, a corpus of forms with a metrically secure presence or absence of the augment is established based on metrical bridges and caesurae. Then, the forms without a secure augment are analysed and an attempt is made to determine the augment presence or absence in those forms via internal reconstruction and comparison. After establishing a corpus of forms with and without an augment, the article proceeds to analyse the use and absence of the augment, based on previous scholarship. The article will show that the function of the augment is determined by an interaction of different metrical, morphological, syntactic and semantic factors, and it confirms the augment as focus marker or emphasising tool for recent and new information.(1)