Abstract
The aim of this paper is to discuss Terence's use of Greek loan-words and to examine their distribution by plays and by characters. How far are they used for stylistic effect and what relationship do they have to the themes of different plays? Is there any evidence for the concentration of these words, which often tend to be colloquial in tone, in the mouths of slaves and characters of low social status for the purposes of linguistic characterisation? Finally, does Terence's use of these words develop in the course of his short career? The usefuleness of a previous note on this subject by J. N. Hough is limited by the absence of any comprehensive list of occurrences, so that its objectivity is difficult to check. A more helpful discussion by P. Oksala gives a fuller list, but concentrates mainly on a comparison with Plautine usage in the type and frequency of these words and does not discuss their distribution within the Terentian corpus.The question of characterisation by linguistic means, particularly in the field of New Comedy, has received considerable attention in recent years. The doctrine that a character's speech should be appropriate to his or her age, sex or social status, is well attested in the ancient world, with reference both to the theatre and to the law-courts. The ancient scholia on Aristophanes, as well as the fourth-century commentary on Terence that goes under the name of Donatus, contain comments on the appropriateness of particular words and phrases to particular character types. Leo, commenting long ago on the distribution of Greek words in Plautus, observed that they were used predominantly by slaves and characters of low social standing, a point made earlier by N. Tuchhaendler. More recently M. E. Gilleland has produced detailed statistical evidence for both Plautus and Terence which tends to back up these observations.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Literature and Literary Theory,Philosophy,History,Classics
Reference29 articles.
1. Terence's Use of Greek Words;CW,1947
2. L'étymologie de Macellum « Marché »
3. By Castor and by Pollux;Ullman;CW,1943
4. De Vocabulis Graecis in Ling. Lat. Translatis (diss. Berol. 1876), 70
Cited by
50 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献
1. Greek words in Roman comedy;Glotta;2023-05-17
2. Cambridge Companions to …;The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy;2019-04-04
3. Index Locorum;The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy;2019-04-04
4. Index Rerum;The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy;2019-04-04
5. Roman Comedy on Stage and Screen in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries;The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy;2019-04-04