Language and rhythm in Plautus : synchronic and diachronic studies / Benjamin W. Fortson IV.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fortson, Benjamin W.

Series:

Sozomena (Berlin, Germany) ; v. 3.

Sozomena ; v. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Latin language--Prosodic analysis.

Latin language.

Plautus, Titus Maccius--Versification.

Plautus, Titus Maccius.

Plautus, Titus Maccius--Language.

Plautus, Titus Maccius--Criticism and interpretation.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (313 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Walter de Gruyter, c2008.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The plays of Plautus have long been recognized as a unique mine of information about the spoken Latin of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. But detailed and up-to-date linguistic treatments of the Plautine meters and other phenomena in his plays have hitherto been lacking. This book seeks to remedy that gap by presenting a series of case-studies to glean information about the synchronic grammar of Plautine Latin, in particular the rhythmic organization of Latin speech and the effects of syntactic processes on Latin prosodic phonology. Some of the topics, such as enjambement and the aphaeresis of "est", have never before received such treatment, while others, such as Meyer's and Luchs's laws, split resolutions, and iambic shortening, are provided a firmer linguistic footing, and fuller discussion of allied issues, than hitherto. Topics in Italic syntax (such as the syntactic structure of adpositional phrases and their history) and in Indo-European morphophonology (such as the prosodic status of finite verbs) are dealt with as well, as is an investigation into the effects of pragmatics on the rhythmic organization of phrases. The book will be of interest to classicists, comparative philologists, and general linguists.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and Symbols

Chapter One. Preliminaries

Chapter Two. Plautine Iambo-Trochaics

Chapter Three. The Linguistic Background of Luchs's Law

Chapter Four. Meyer's and Jacobsohn's Laws

Chapter Five. Enjambement

Chapter Six. The Aphaeresis of Est

Chapter Seven. Breuis Breuians I

Chapter Eight. Breuis Breuians II

Chapter Nine. Towards a Reconstruction of the Prosody of Plautine Latin Speech

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [271]-288) and index.

ISBN:

9786611993429

9781281993427

1281993425

9783110210026

3110210029

OCLC:

437113315