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This study investigates the decline of the Ancient Greek infinitive in private papyrus letters from the 3rd century BCE to the 7th century CE, arguing that its disappearance is best understood as a register-sensitive and functionally conditioned development rather than a uniform chronological process. Drawing on a corpus of documentary papyri, the analysis shows that from the first century CE onward infinitival forms persist primarily in semi-fixed epistolary expressions and pragmatically specialized constructions, such as health wishes, closing formulas, and directive expressions with καλῶς ποιήσεις + infinitive, where the infinitive retains marked verbal force associated with mitigation or polite persuasion. A three-stage model is proposed to describe this retreat:
(1) Retention of its morphological and syntactic functions, both in fixed and semi-fixed expressions (e.g. ἐρρῶσθαί σε εὔχομαι in BGU 3.822);
(2) Retention of its morphological and syntactic functions, despite orthographic uncertainty (e.g. τὸ διορθῶσε in BGU 3.829.7);
(3) Replacement in contexts of finite subordination (ἵνα + subjunctive, ὅπως, ὅτι), through periphrasis or insubordinate structures (e.g. τό … ποιήση instead of ποιῆσαι in BGU 3.829.8).
The co-occurrence of these three phases within individual letters reveals internal stratification influenced by discourse function and register. Rather than representing a uniform decline, this development reflects socially conditioned variation: distinctions of register, literacy levels, scribal proficiency, and communicative purpose shape the distribution of infinitival and non-infinitival strategies, with variation functioning as evidence of linguistic change in progress rather than stylistic inconsistency. The articular infinitive, discussed by Bentein (Bentein, 2025) as a “verbo-nominal” construction with semiotic potential in documentary contexts, provides a particularly revealing test case: while structurally viable, its orthographic instability and competition with finite forms in the papyri indicate that it was no longer part of the productive grammar of everyday writers. Its presence in letters does not reflect increased vitality, but rather the lingering use of semi-formulaic expressions undergoing reanalysis and erosion. Even in these contexts, however, the infinitive does not represent a stable endpoint but a transitional stage: later papyri show that infinitival constructions are progressively replaced by finite forms and insubordinate strategies, indicating that these residual uses likewise participate in the broader reorganization of subordination.
By foregrounding private letters as evidence of language in transition, this study demonstrates that the loss of the infinitive in Greek originates in the low-register communicative practices of daily life, with semi-fixed expressions serving only as residual strongholds. The conclusion points towards a broader shift in the organization of subordination in the papyri and outlines the emerging finite and periphrastic strategies that replace infinitival constructions in the syntax of Post-Classical Greek.
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