On ποιέω ἀγάπην and Its Intersubjective Function in Byzantine Greek

The aim of this paper is to analyze the transition of the phrase ποιέω ἀγάπην (‘to do a favour’) from a polysemic collocation to the intersubjective politeness marker ποίησον ἀγάπην (‘please’) in Byzantine Greek. While it has been repeatedly emphasized that collocations interact with syntax and semantics (Baños et al., 2022; Fendel, 2024), their pragmatic functions have received significantly less attention (Fendel, 2024; Tarriño Ruiz, 2022). The intersubjectification of imperatives in Ancient Greek led to the development of various pragmatic markers, such as ἄγε, ἴθι, and φέρε (Fedriani, 2019; Zakowski, 2018). These are often phonetically reduced (Traugott & Trousdale, 2010), making the existence of markers like ἀμέλει (Blomqvist, 1969; La Roi, 2022), τὸν νοῦν προσέχω (Fendel, 2024), and ποίησον ἀγάπην—in which phonological reduction is not evident—particularly noteworthy. Ποίησον ἀγάπην can be analyzed as a pragmateme, a lexical unit restricted to a specific communicative context (Fendel, 2024; Mel’čuk, 2023, pp. 159–165). From the 4th century AD onward, ποιέω ἀγάπην is increasingly found in the imperative and in topic position, preceding questions and requests. The corpus, which includes all occurrences of ποίησον ἀγάπην in the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae, reveals a diachronic development toward syntactic independence, fixed word order, and usage in interrogative and directive speech acts.