Negation and grammaticalization in ancient Greek

Not first at all: on negation, grammaticalization, and ancient Greek (tēn) arkhēn 

One of the various meanings of the ancient Greek noun ἀρχή (arkhē) is ‘beginning’, ‘start’ (cf. Engl. archetype). From the noun’s accusative case ἀρχήν (arkhēn) — also with the definite article, τὴν ἀρχήν (tēn arkhēn) — developed a related adverbial use ‘at first’, ‘in the beginning’, ‘to begin with’. This adverb in turn is regularly combined with negatives to mean ‘(not) at all’, ‘(not) in the first place’. An example is: 

Herodotus 1.193.2-3: ἔστι δὲ χωρέων αὕτη πασέων μακρῷ ἀρίστη τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν Δήμητρος καρπὸν ἐκφέρειν. τὰ γὰρ δὴ ἄλλα δένδρεα οὐδὲ πειρᾶται ἀρχὴν φέρειν ... τὸν δὲ τῆς Δήμητρος καρπὸν ... (esti de khōreōn hautē paseōn makrōi aristē tōn hēmeis idmen Dēmētros karpon ekpherein. ta gar dē alla dendrea oude [neg] peirātai arkhēn pherein ... ton de tēs Dēmētros karpon ...) 

‘This land is by far the most fertile for grain of all that I am aware of. It does not even attempt to bear trees at all, but when it comes to grain ... ’ 

In this use, (tēn) arkhēn appears to have developed into a member of the quirky class of negative polarity items, i.e. items restricted to the scope of negated contexts (e.g. Engl. ‘He has done that at all’ is normally infelicitous). Cross-linguistic evidence suggests that such items follow very specific paths of grammaticalization in tandem with the negatives with which they are combined. In my presentation I will assess to what extent the uses of (tēn) arkhēn can be explained using contemporary research into grammaticalization. I will also address the added complication that arkhēn in all of its adverbial uses can occur either with or without the article, seemingly without distinction. I hope to contribute to a broader discussion on how grammaticalization can be studied in Greek and other ancient languages.