The phonology of Classical Greek meter

We propose an analysis of Greek meter based purely on phonology and the ide a that well-formedness in meter is largely gradient, rather than absolute. Our analysis is surface-true, constraint-based and nonderivational, in line with proposals like optimality theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993). The dis cussion centers on two properties of meter, rhythm (dactylic, anapestic, ia mbic...) and line length (hexameter, pentameter, tetrameter...). Unmarked m eters are expected to be binary (dimeter) and rhythmic (no clash or lapse). We analyze individual meters in terms of how they, deviate from this unmar ked state, where deviations (big and small) are encoded directly as constra int violations following Golston (1996). Greek anapests are shown to be unm arked in terms of rhythm I, while dactyls distinctively violate the constra int NOCLASH and lambs distinctively violate NOLAPSE. Similarly, diameter is unmarked in terms of binarity, while trimeter tetrameter, pentameter, and hexameter violate constraints on binarity.