Volume 15, Issue 1 -

En donnant au terme « marges » le double sens de « périphérie ou bords » et de « cas atypiques ou non standard », on s’attachera d’abord à l’étude du déplacement de certains constituants de la proposition complétive ((pro)nom, syntagme nominal, termes en qu -) par prolepse, traiectio ou montée du thème en * k w -. Ces phénomènes, qui ont, du moins en ce qui concerne l’anticipation thématique d’un (pro)nom ou syntagme nominal, une motivation pragmatique, entament les limites « naturelles » segmentales des propositions, et ont des répercussions variables sur l’interprétation structurale et la morphosyntaxe de la (macro-)phrase. En partant ensuite de la définition usuelle de la proposition complétive comme une proposition substantive, capable de commuter, comme actant ou argument d’un noyau verbal, avec un pronom neutre du type de id , on étudiera des « cas-limites » de construction complétive; on analysera certaines subordonnées détachées, qui, susceptibles d’être reprises ou annoncées par un élément-support de statut actanciel, semblent intervenir indûment en lieu et place de complétives. Une prise en compte de l’ordre de succession des propositions permettra de mettre à jour des différences substantielles de fonctionnement entre détachées à gauche et détachées à droite. L’étude sera menée dans une optique de synchronie large, essentiellement du latin préclassique au latin postclassique. L’approche sera surtout syntaxique et pragmatique, sans que les points de vue morphologique et sémantique soient entièrement négligés. L’unité et l’apport nouveau de l’étude consistent dans l’intérêt constant porté à l’ordre tactique ou à la succession des constituants dans l’énoncé, d’une part à ses motivations pragmatiques, d’autre part à ses répercussions morphosyntaxiques sur la chaîne phrastique.

Since causativity is either scarcely or not at all marked in Latin, most grammars and textbooks do not mention this verbal category. Nevertheless, from a functional point of view, there are many different means of causative constructions (CCs) in Latin, especially upon examination of analytical forms. After some methodological remarks in Section 1, the focus of Section 2 is a morphosyntactic survey of CCs in Latin. Apart from those cases that are not marked ( Caesar … pontem rescidit , Gal . 4.19.4) there is a large group of lexical causatives (with subclasses in regard to the base verb), and even relics of a morphological causative which can be seen in the – facere /– ficere type. Additionally, there is no doubt that there are many analytical causatives. Within the latter group, which is the largest and most productive type of causative construction, the base verb appears not only embedded in different forms (as a predicative participle or an adjective, an infinitive, a gerund, a verb in subjunctive form within an ut -clause), but also as a noun of a functional verb construction ( afficere +abl.; facere/dare/adferre +acc.). If it is possible to have “two or more causative mechanisms” in any given language, they “always have different meanings” (Dixon 2000. A typology of causatives. In R. M. W. Dixon & A. Y. Aikhenvald (eds.), Changing valency. Case studies in transitivity , 30–83. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 33). This typological generalization can be seen in the syntactic and the semantic behavior of the single analytical causative constructions. The syntactic analysis of Section 3 shows if there are restrictions in relation to the Latin base verbs, i. e. whether transitive, intransitive or ditransitive verbs are possible, the valency status of the causee, to what extent the possibility of passivizing the CCs is available for the different types of causative constructions, and if so-called second causatives are possible. In the semantic analysis in Section 4, different parameters, like control and dynamicity, and semantic features like animateness will be applied with regard to the causer, the base verb and the whole construction. In the last instance, it will be explored to what extent the different semantic types of causatives, namely direct versus indirect and permissive versus declarative causatives, can be found in Latin. The conclusion in Section 5 will summarize the main results. A causative basically consists of two different states of affairs which are in a causal relation to each other. In the following, we will use the expression causative construction (hereafter, CC) as a functional cover term with a broader meaning which will also include the so-called factitive (Biville 1995. Énoncés factitifs en latin: syntaxe et sémantique. In D. Longrée (ed.), De usu, 31–44. Louvain-la-Neuve: Peeters; Kulikov 2001. Causatives. In M. Haspelmath, E. König, W. Oesterreicher & W. Raible (eds.), Language typology and language universals. An international handbook. Vol. 2, 886–898. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter). Such a CC acts just like passive and reflexive voice, and is in this way a derived predicate structure (Dik 1997b. The theory of functional grammar. Part 2: Complex and derived constructions. Ed. by K. Hengeveld. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 9), or more precisely: an incorporating structure (Von Stechow 1993. Die Aufgaben der Syntax. In J. Jacobs, A. v. Stechow, W. Sternefeld, T. Vennemann & H. E. Wiegand (eds.), Syntax, vol. 1: 1–88. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 30), which changes the syntactic and semantic form of the basic predication. Syntactically, there will be regular valency increase, because one argument that causes the basic predication, whose nucleus is the base verb (BV), will be added secondarily. This new argument will fill the subject slot, and the former subject of the BV has to take over a new position. The morphologically modified BV will be referred to as the causative verb (CV), which is then the nucleus of the CC. For example assuefacere is the CV to the BV assuescere .

This article provides an analysis of the syntactical and metrical alignment of the subject pronoun of the first person singular in Latin epic. Based on the observation that, due to its prosody, ego may only feature in a certain number of sedes within the dactylic hexameter line, a quantitative and qualitative argument is made for a careful distinction between emphatic and unstressed uses in relation to consistent patterns of metrical and syntactical collocation.

Nedum (‘let alone’) is a connective scalar particle which indicates that the second act is entailed by the first one. Usually the first act contains a semantic, lexical or pragmatic negation; it can however also be used after an affirmative first act. In examining in which contexts nedum can be paraphrased ‘much more’ or ‘much less’, I distinguish four uses of nedum , depending on whether the first act has either a semantic or a lexical/pragmatic/no negation and on whether nedum introduces a phrase or a clause. Typically the first act is the more informative, the second or nedum -act the most relevant in the context. The speaker can make his point in the second act, which is all the more convincing as it is entailed by the first act. Nedum is composed of negating ne and the focus or scalar particle dum . Many scholars connect this with the illocutionary use of ne ; but there are several problems with this approach. An alternative explanation of the origin of ne in nedum could be a negation, nedum originally meaning ‘surely not’ or ‘not yet’.

In studies on Latin adverbs (e. g. Menge 1961. Repetitorium der Syntax und Stilistik , 16th edn. A. Thierfelder (ed.). Munich: M. Hueber; Bos 1967. L’adverbe en Latin. Tentative de classification structurale. B.S.L . 62. 106–122; Löfstedt 1967. Bemerkungen zum Adverb im Lateinischen. IF 72. 79–109; Pinkster 1972. On Latin adverbs (North Holland Linguistic Series 6). Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company), the discussion of a specific temporal adverb in a certain corpus is rare. On the other hand, several items of research are worth mentioning: the position of adverbs denoting measure in Roman comedy and in de Agri Cultura by Cato (Booth 1923); abhinc and ante ( Lundström 1961 ); adhuc (Torrego 1991); nunc (Risselada 1996); modo (Bertocchi 2001); iam (Huitink 2005). Moreover, an adverb peculiar to the treatises of Cornelius Tacitus (55–56 until the second decade of the second century ad ) has not yet been analyzed in the studies concerning his language and style (e. g. Draeger 1967 [1882]. Ueber Syntax und Stil des Tacitus , 3rd edn. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner. Reprint, Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert; Voss 1963. Der pointierte Stil des Tacitus (Orbis Antiquus 19). Münster: Aschendorff). Our study fills a gap, to a certain extent, in the research on the adverbs in Latin prose in general and in the corpora of Tacitus in particular, by examining the characteristic and unique usages of aliquandō in his treatises regarding content and style. The grammatical approach adopted here is descriptive. Quotations are made in order to clarify and illustrate the phenomena with a literal translation, wherever applicable. Maximum use of statistics is made by comparative tables concerning the following points: (i) the distribution of the adverb in each book; (ii) its proximity to an additional temporal/measure adverb; (iii) the sentence types, in which it is included; (iv) the part of speech modified by aliquandō , which is mainly a finite verb, sometimes infinitive, rarely P.P.P., an adjective, an adverb or a whole clause (cf. Pinkster 1972. On Latin adverbs (North Holland Linguistic Series 6). Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company: 59; Menge 2000. Lehrbuch der lateinischen Syntax und Semantik . Th. Burkard and M. Schauer (eds.). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: 198, § 148); (v) the position of aliquandō concerning its modified element, along with examining the linguistic and stylistic means employed by the author in this context (where some message is to be highlighted, word order, anaphora, a chiastic structure or a parallel one [mainly when two pairs of words are contrasted; cf. Fanetti 1978–1979. Il Chiasmo nell’ Agricola di Tacito. MCr 13/14. 389–400], the omission of words, etc.). Aliquandō is usually placed before the modified element with exceptions, in which the adverb occurs after it (apart from monosyllabic words, such as non , vel = valde ); (vi) A concluding comparison, in which identical and different features of aliquandō between Ag ., Hist . and Ann . have been highlighted in the points indicated above. Phenomena which are peculiar to aliquandō in one of his books do not necessarily occur in his other ones, because each book has features of its own, which are influenced by its content and style.