Book contents
- Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin Literature
- Frontispiece
- Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part 1 Introduction
- Chapter I Asyndetic and Syndetic Coordination: Definitions and Types
- Chapter II ‘Asyndeta’ That May Not Be Asyndeta: Roles of Adjectives; Appositional Compounds; and ‘Asyndetic Hendiadys’
- Chapter III Asyndeton Versus Coordination, an Introduction
- Chapter IV Lists of Two Types
- Chapter V Supposed ‘Effects’ of Asyndeton
- Part 2 ‘Grammatical’ Types
- Part 3 Semantic Types
- Part 4 Structures
- Part 5 Genres And Texts
- Part 6 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Subject Index
- Index Mainly of Selected Pairs and Longer Sequences
- Selective Index Locorum
Chapter III - Asyndeton Versus Coordination, an Introduction
from Part 1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 May 2021
- Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin Literature
- Frontispiece
- Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Part 1 Introduction
- Chapter I Asyndetic and Syndetic Coordination: Definitions and Types
- Chapter II ‘Asyndeta’ That May Not Be Asyndeta: Roles of Adjectives; Appositional Compounds; and ‘Asyndetic Hendiadys’
- Chapter III Asyndeton Versus Coordination, an Introduction
- Chapter IV Lists of Two Types
- Chapter V Supposed ‘Effects’ of Asyndeton
- Part 2 ‘Grammatical’ Types
- Part 3 Semantic Types
- Part 4 Structures
- Part 5 Genres And Texts
- Part 6 Conclusions
- Bibliography
- Subject Index
- Index Mainly of Selected Pairs and Longer Sequences
- Selective Index Locorum
Summary
It is sometimes stated or implied that asyndeton is older than syndetic coordination. This is a view that is put bluntly by Timpanaro (1994: 7): ‘Senza dubbio l’asindeto è più antico dell’uso di congiunzioni copulative’. He was aware of the frequency of -que compared with asyndeton in what he calls carmina, and therefore falls back on the idea that the few instances of asyndeton are archaisms of a type that was losing ground (1994: 8). Luiselli (1969: 165–6) likewise says that in carmina syndetic coordination is more common than asyndetic, but suggests that asyndeton was probably more ancient and that it was gradually replaced later by syndetic coordination. But why should asyndeton have been more ancient than explicit coordination? It is to be assumed that underlying the belief is a sense that absence of coordinators must be more ‘primitive’. In fact the coordinator that in Latin has the form -que must be very ancient, as it has cognates in a wide variety of early Indo-European languages (see e.g. De Vaan 2008: 506; also Penney 2005: 40–3, and particularly Dunkel 1982). Dunkel (1982: 141) simply says: ‘Oldest were asyndeton and single *-kwe’.
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- Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin LiteratureHistory, Patterns, Textual Criticism, pp. 55 - 65Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021