On Cicero’s fine-grained perception of the prosodic features in Latin
-
Giovanna Marotta
Abstract
The long tradition of philology and comparative linguistics acknowledges the distinctive value of vowel length in Latin phonology. However, to think of Latin as a spoken language, and not only as a literary one, implies the adoption of a sociolinguistic perspective based on the idea of variation, at all levels of grammar. In this view, with due caution, it is possible to argue that vowel length was unstable ab antiquo in spoken Latin, at least in the low diaphasic and diastratic levels. In this view, the paper analyzes some passages by Cicero often interpreted as testimonies in favor of the maintenance of contrastive vowel length in the phonological competence of Roman speakers. In those passages, Cicero compares the performance of the orators in the forum to the one of the actors in the theater. This comparison is based on the idea that the competence in the phonetic and prosodic elements of language could determine the success of the locutory act in both communicative contexts. The detailed analysis of the texts suggests that the whistles of the audience in the theater of which Cicero speaks to us might refer to prosodic errors concerning the length of the verse rather than that of the vowel. Therefore, those testimonies could not be considered an evidence in favor of the fine-grained perception of vowel length by all the speakers of Latin.
Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to Rolando Ferri, Ernesto Stagni and Anna Zago, who discussed the content of this article with me.
References
Abbott, F. F. 1907. The accent in vulgar and formal Latin. Classical Philology 2(4). 444–460.10.1086/359085Suche in Google Scholar
Adams, J. N. 2013. Social variation and the Latin language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511843433Suche in Google Scholar
Benedetti, M., & G. Marotta. 2014. Monottongazione e geminazione in latino: Nuovi elementi a favore dell'isocronismo sillabico. In P. Molinelli, P. Cuzzolin & C. Fedriani (eds.), Latin vulgaire-latin tardif X: Actes du Xe Colloque international sur le latin vulgaire et tardif, I, 25–43. Bergamo: Sestante.Suche in Google Scholar
Boldrini, S. 1992. La prosodia e la metrica dei romani. Roma: NIS.Suche in Google Scholar
Clackson, J. 2011. The social dialects of Latin. In J. Clackson (ed.), A companion to the Latin language, 505–526. Chichester & Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781444343397Suche in Google Scholar
Consani, C. 2014. Ancient Greek sociolinguistics and dialectology. In G. K. Giannakis (ed.), Encyclopedia of ancient Greek language and linguistics, 117–124. Leiden & Boston: Brill.Suche in Google Scholar
Cuzzolin, P. 2000. Aristotele, ars poetica 1458a 1–5: Una nota di lettura. Linguistica e Filologia 12. 15–24.Suche in Google Scholar
Cuzzolin, P. 2014. Il classico in linguistica. Ovvero: Del rapporto tra classicismo e frontiere del sapere. In N. Grandi, M. Nissim, F. Tamburini & M. Vayra (eds.), La nozione di classico in linguistica. Atti del XXXVIII Convegno Annuale della Società Italiana di Glottologia, 25–37. Roma: Il Calamo.Suche in Google Scholar
Devine, A. M., & L. D. Stephens. 1980. Latin prosody and meter: brevis brevians. Classical Philology 75. 142–157.10.1086/366554Suche in Google Scholar
Fanciullo, F. 1992. Un capitolo della Romania submersa: Il latino africano. In D. Kremer (ed.), Actes du XVIII Congrès International de Linguistique et de Philologie Romanes, I, 162–187. Tübingen: Niemeyer.Suche in Google Scholar
Fantham, E. 2004. The Roman world of Cicero’s De Oratore. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199263158.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Fontaine, M. 2010. Funny words in Plautine comedy. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195341447.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Fortson, B. W. 2008. Language and rhythm in Plautus. Synchronic and diachronic studies. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110210026Suche in Google Scholar
Fortson, B. W. 2011. Latin prosody and metrics. In J. Clackson (ed.), A companion to the Latin language, 92–104. Malden, MA & Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781444343397.ch7Suche in Google Scholar
Giannini, S., & G. Marotta. 1989. Fra grammatica e pragmatica: La geminazione consonantica in latino. Pisa: Giardini.Suche in Google Scholar
Herman, J. 2004. Un aspect de la transition du Latin au Roman: Les changements dans la langue et leur reflets dans la conscience métalinguistique de la communauté – L’exemple du vocalisme. Aemilianense I. 271–287.Suche in Google Scholar
Hernández Campoy, J. M., & J. C. Conde Silvestre (eds.). 2012. The handbook of historical sociolinguistics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1002/9781118257227Suche in Google Scholar
Kerr, M. R. 2010. Latino-Punic epigraphy. A descriptive study of the inscriptions. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.10.1628/978-3-16-151140-0Suche in Google Scholar
Laver, J. 1994. Principles of phonetics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139166621Suche in Google Scholar
Ledgeway, A. 2012. From Latin to Romance. Morphosyntactic typology and change. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199584376.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Leumann, M. 1977. Lateinische Laut- und Formen-lehre. München: Beck.Suche in Google Scholar
Luque Moreno, J. 2009. Los rétores y la cantidad silábica: Cicerón, Quintiliano. In T. Arcos, J. Fernández & F. Moya (eds.), Pectora mulcet. Estudios de retorica y oratoria latinas, 1, 203–216. Logroño: Istituto de Estudios Riojanos.Suche in Google Scholar
Mancini, M. 2001. Agostino, i grammatici e il vocalismo del latino d’Africa. Italian Journal of Linguistics/Rivista di linguistica 13. 309–338.Suche in Google Scholar
Mancini, M. 2006. Dilatandis litteris: Uno studio su Cicerone e la pronunzia “rustica”. In R. Bombi, G. Cifoletti, F. Fusco, L. Innocente & V. Orioles (eds.), Studi linguistici in onore di Roberto Gusmani, II, 1023–1046. Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso.Suche in Google Scholar
Mancini, M. 2012. Su alcune questioni di metodo in sociolinguistica storica: Le defixiones sannite. In V. Orioles (ed.), Per Roberto Gusmani. Linguistica storica e teorica, Studi in ricordo, 2, t. 1. 239–271. Udine: Forum.Suche in Google Scholar
Marotta, G. 1999. The Latin syllable. In H. van der Hulst & N. A. Ritter (eds.), The syllable: Views and facts, 285–310. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110806793.285Suche in Google Scholar
Marotta, G. 2015. Talking stones. Phonology in Latin inscriptions? Studi e Saggi Linguistici 58(2). 39–63.Suche in Google Scholar
Marotta, G. 2017. Tra fonologia e sociofonetica: Il tratto di lunghezza in latino. In G. Marotta & F. Strik Lievers (eds.), Strutture linguistiche e dati empirici in diacronia e sincronia, 57–81. Pisa: Pisa University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Marotta, G. 2018. Sul contrasto di quantità vocalica in latino. In R. Bombi & F. Costantini (eds.), Percorsi linguistici e interlinguistici. Studi in onore di Vincenzo Orioles, 395–410. Udine: Forum.Suche in Google Scholar
Marotta, G., & I. De Felice. In press. Patterns of prosodic distribution of Latin long vowels. In Proceedings of the 19th International Colloquium on Latin Linguistics, München, April 24–28, 2017.Suche in Google Scholar
Moore, T. J. 2012. Music in Roman comedy. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Mullen, A. 2011. Latin and other languages: Societal and individual bilingualism. In J. Clackson (ed.), A companion to the Latin language, 527–548. Chichester & Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.10.1002/9781444343397.ch29Suche in Google Scholar
Müller, R. 2000. Sprachbewusstsein und Sprachvariation im lateinischen Schriftum der Antike. München: Beck.Suche in Google Scholar
Narducci, E. 1997. Cicerone e l’eloquenza romana. Retorica e progetto culturale. Roma & Bari: Laterza.Suche in Google Scholar
Narducci, E. 2009. Cicerone. La parola e la politica. Roma & Bari: Laterza.Suche in Google Scholar
Pulgram, E. 1975. Latin-Romance phonology: Prosodics and metrics. Munich: Fink.Suche in Google Scholar
Questa, C. 2007. La metrica di Plauto e di Terenzio. Urbino: QuattroVenti.Suche in Google Scholar
Rawson, E. 1975. Cicero. A portrait. Bristol: Bristol Classical Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Romano, E. 2015. Introduzione. In P. Li Causi, R. Marino & M. Formisano (eds.), Cicerone, De oratore, VII–XXXVI. Alessandria: Edizioni Dell’Orso.Suche in Google Scholar
Rovai, F. 2015. Le lingue dell’Italia antica e l’altra. In L. Filipponio & Ch. Seidl (eds.), Le lingue d’Italia e le altre, 169–186. Milano: FrancoAngeli.Suche in Google Scholar
Seidl, Ch. 2015. L’influsso delle lingue sabelliche sul latino ossia la sostratite superata. In L. Filipponio & Ch. Seidl (eds.), Le lingue d’Italia e le altre, 53–79. Milano: FrancoAngeli.Suche in Google Scholar
Sihler, A. L. 1995. A new comparative grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Vineis, E. 1984. Problemi di ricostruzione della fonologia del latino volgare. In E. Vineis (ed.), Latino volgare, latino medioevale, lingue romanze. Atti del convegno della Società Italiana di Glottologia, 45–62. Pisa: Giardini.Suche in Google Scholar
Wallace, R. 2007. The Sabellic languages of ancient Italy. München: Lincom Europa.Suche in Google Scholar
Weiss, M. 2009. Outline of the historical and comparative grammar of Latin. Ann Arbor, MI: Beech Stave Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Zebian, G. 1965. The relative use of the ablatives of quality and respect in Latin literature. The American Journal of Philology 86(3). 240–257.10.2307/293532Suche in Google Scholar
Zeleny, K. 2008. Itali Modi: Akzentrhythmen in der lateinischen Dichtung der augusteischen Zeit. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (ÖAW).10.1553/0x001b1f86Suche in Google Scholar
Zirin, R. 1970. The phonological basis of Latin prosody. The Hague: Mouton.Suche in Google Scholar
Translations and comments on Cicero’s works
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1913. Orator. Edited and commented by W. Kroll. Berlin: Weidmann [Nachdruck 1958].Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1923. Pro Archia. Translated by N. H. Watts, Loeb Classical Library, 158. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.10.4159/DLCL.marcus_tullius_cicero-pro_archia.1923Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1939. Orator. Edited by G. L. Hendrickson & H. M. Hubbell. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.10.4159/DLCL.marcus_tullius_cicero-orator.1939Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1942. Paradoxa Stoicorum, Translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.10.4159/DLCL.marcus_tullius_cicero-paradoxa_stoicorum.1942Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1958. Orator. Edited by E. D’Arbela. Milano: Istituto Editoriale Italiano.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1964. Orator. Translated by A. Yon. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1994. De oratore. Libri III. Edited by E. Narducci. Milano: BUR.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 1997. Orator. Edited by G. Barone. Milano: Mondadori.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 2008. De oratore. Libri III. Edited and commented by J. Wisse, M. Winterbottom & E. Fantham. Heidelberg: Winter.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 2011. De oratore. Libri III. Edited by D. Mankin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Cicero, Marcus Tullius. 2015. De oratore. Libri III. Edited by P. Li Causi, R. Marino & M. Formisano. Alessandria: Edizioni Dell’Orso.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Copular clause classification in Latin
- Quintilian, Inst. 1, 5, 40 on solecism and Apollonius Dyscolus
- Some remarks on the infinitivus indignantis. Is this label necessary?
- Vulgar Latin as an emergent concept in the Italian Renaissance (1435–1601): its ancient and medieval prehistory and its emergence and development in Renaissance linguistic thought
- On the use of facio as support verb in late and Merovingian Latin
- On Cicero’s fine-grained perception of the prosodic features in Latin
- Section on Latin teaching
- Preface to seven articles on Latin learning and instruction
- Reading Latin and the need for empirical research: A psycholinguistic approach to reading comprehension in Latin
- Latin students’ bottom-up and top-down strategies for reading Latin literature and the impact of cross-linguistic influence
- How do Dutch adolescents translate Latin into coherent Dutch? A Journey into the Unknown
- Erratum
- Erratum to: Periphrastic comparison in Latin
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Copular clause classification in Latin
- Quintilian, Inst. 1, 5, 40 on solecism and Apollonius Dyscolus
- Some remarks on the infinitivus indignantis. Is this label necessary?
- Vulgar Latin as an emergent concept in the Italian Renaissance (1435–1601): its ancient and medieval prehistory and its emergence and development in Renaissance linguistic thought
- On the use of facio as support verb in late and Merovingian Latin
- On Cicero’s fine-grained perception of the prosodic features in Latin
- Section on Latin teaching
- Preface to seven articles on Latin learning and instruction
- Reading Latin and the need for empirical research: A psycholinguistic approach to reading comprehension in Latin
- Latin students’ bottom-up and top-down strategies for reading Latin literature and the impact of cross-linguistic influence
- How do Dutch adolescents translate Latin into coherent Dutch? A Journey into the Unknown
- Erratum
- Erratum to: Periphrastic comparison in Latin
