The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Copula in Latin: on a Textual Problem in Cicero’s Oration „In Defence of Publius Sestius”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2478/v10015-007-0003-5Keywords:
Latin language, syntax, minimalist, natural language semantics, textual criticism, Cicero, Marcus TulliusAbstract
A textual problem from Cicero’s oration In defence of Publius Sestius is discussed in order to determine syntactic and semantic consequences of editorial choices. The discussion involves semantic and syntactic properties of Latin past participles within a minimalist setting. A detailed investigation of the passage indicates that a textual variant not accepted by most editors is to be preferred.
References
M. Tullius Cicero, The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. George Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. 1891.
Google Scholar
M. Tullius Cicero, The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, literally translated by C. D. Yonge, B. A. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1856.
Google Scholar
M. Tullius Cicero, M. Tulli Ciceronis Orationes, eds. A. C. Clark and W. Peterson Oxford: Oxord University Press, 1905–1918.
Google Scholar
M. Tullius Cicero, Cum senatui gratias egit, Cum populo gratias egit, De domo sua, De haruspicum responsis,. ed. T. Maslowski, Teubner, Leipzig 1981.
Google Scholar
M. Tullius Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum, ed. R. Reynolds. Oxford: Oxord University Press, 1998.
Google Scholar
M. Tullius Cicero, Tusculanae disputationes. ed. M. Pohlenz. Teubner, Leipzig 1918.
Google Scholar
Alexiadou, A., M. Rathert, and A. von Stechow (eds.) 2003. Perfect Explorations. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter
Google Scholar
Anagnostopoulou, E. 2003. ‘‘Participles and voice’’. In: Alexiadou et al. (eds), 1–36
Google Scholar
Bhatt, R. 1998. ‘‘Obligation and Possession’’. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 32, 21–40.
Google Scholar
Culicover, P. W., T. Wasow, and A. Akmajian (eds.). 1977. Formal Syntax. New York: Academic Press.
Google Scholar
Déchaine, R.-M. 1993. Predicates Across Categories: Towards a Category-Neutral Syntax. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Google Scholar
Embick, D. 2004. ‘‘On the Structure of Resultative Participles in English’’. Linguistic Inquiry 35, 355–392.
Google Scholar
Ernout, A. and F. Thomas. 1964. Syntaxe Latine. Paris: Klincksieck.
Google Scholar
Freidin, R. 1975. ‘‘The Analysis of Passives’’. Language 51, 385–405.
Google Scholar
Horvath, J. and T. Siloni. 2005. Adjectival Passives: Active Lexicon. Ms., Tel Aviv University.
Google Scholar
Gueron J. and J. Lecarme (eds). 2004. The Syntax of Time. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press
Google Scholar
Kenstowicz, M. (ed.). 2001. Ken Hale: A life in language. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press
Google Scholar
Klein, W. 1994. Time in Language. London, New York: Routledge.
Google Scholar
Kratzer, A. 1998. ‘‘More Structural Analogies between Pronouns and Tenses’’. In: Strolovitch D. and A. Lawson (eds), 92–110
Google Scholar
Kühner, R. and C. Stegmann. 1912. Ausführliche Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache, Bd. 2.1. Hannover: Hahnsche Buchhandlung.
Google Scholar
Lebreton, J. 1901. Études sur la langue et la grammaire de Cicéron. Paris: Librairie Hachette.
Google Scholar
Madvig, J. N. 1842. Opuscula academica altera. Hauniae: typis Schultzianis
Google Scholar
May, J. M. (ed). 2002. Companion to Cicero. Oratory and Rhetoric. Leiden/Boston/Köln: Brill.
Google Scholar
Menge, H. 2000. Lehrbuch der lateinischen Syntax und Semantik. Völlig neu bearbeitet von Thorsten Burkard und Markus Schauer. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Google Scholar
Michael C. A. 2003. The Case for the Prosecution in the Ciceronian Era. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Google Scholar
Miller, D. G. 2000. ‘‘Gerund and Gerundive in Latin’’. Diachronica 17, 293–349.
Google Scholar
Partee, B. 1977. ‘‘John is Easy to Please’’. In: Zampolli A. (ed.), 281–312.
Google Scholar
Paslawska, A. and A. von Stechow. 2003. ‘‘Perfect Readings in Russian’’. In: Alexiadou et al. (eds): 307–362.
Google Scholar
Pesetsky, D. and E. Torrego. 2001. ‘‘T-to-C Movement: causes and consequences.’’ In: Kenstowicz M. (ed.), 355–426.
Google Scholar
Pesetsky, D. and E. Torrego. 2004a. ‘‘Tense, Case, and the Nature of Syntactic Categories’’. In: Gueron J. and J. Lecarme (eds.), 495–538
Google Scholar
Pesetsky, D. and E. Torrego. 2004b. The Syntax of Valuation and the Interpretability of Features. Ms., MIT and Boston University
Google Scholar
Powell, J. and J. Paterson. 2004. Cicero the Advocate. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Google Scholar
Pylkkänen, L. 2002. Introducing arguments. Ph.D. Thesis. Cambridge, MA.: MIT.
Google Scholar
Rothstein, S. 1999. ‘‘Fine-Grained Structure in the Eventuality Domain: the Semantics of Predicative Adjective Phrases and Be’’. Natural Language Semantics 7, 347–420.
Google Scholar
Strolovitch, D. and A. Lawson (eds). 1998. Proceedings of SALT VIII. GLSA Amherst.
Google Scholar
von Stechow, A. 1995. On the Proper Treatment of Tense. Ms., Universität Tübingen.
Google Scholar
von Stechow, A. 1998. German Participles II in Distributed Morphology. Ms., Universität Tübingen.
Google Scholar
von Stechow, A. 2001. The Janus Face of Aspect. Ms., Universität Tübingen.
Google Scholar
Wasow, T. 1977. ‘‘Transformations and the Lexicon.’’ In: Culicover et al. (eds), 327–360.
Google Scholar
Zampolli, A. (ed.). 1977. Linguistic Structures Processing. Amsterdam: North-Holland.
Google Scholar
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
