Syllabic quantity patterns as rhythmic features for Latin authorship attribution

It is well known that, within the Latin production of written text, peculiar metric schemes were followed not only in poetic compositions, but also in many prose works. Such metric patterns were based on so-called syllabic quantity, that is, on the length of the involved syllables, and there is substantial evidence suggesting that certain authors had a preference for certain metric patterns over others. In this research we investigate the possibility to employ syllabic quantity as a base for deriving rhythmic features for the task of computational authorship attribution of Latin prose texts. We test the impact of these features on the authorship attribution task when combined with other topic-agnostic features. Our experiments, carried out on three different datasets using support vector machines (SVMs) show that rhythmic features based on syllabic quantity are beneficial in discriminating among Latin prose authors

Interlitteraria : Tartu Ülikooli maailmakirjanduse õppetooli ja Eesti Võrdleva Kirjandusteaduse Assotsiatsiooni rahvusvaheline ajakiri = international refereed edition of the Chair of Comparative Literature of Tartu University and the Estonian Association of Comparative Literature

http://www.ester.ee/record=b1226153*es

A Grammatical, Theological and Musical Analysis of the Standard Latin Niceno-Constantinopolitan

Käesolev doktoritöö on katse analüüsida ühte kiriku- ja muusikaloo olulisemat teksti, Nikaia-Konstantinoopoli usutunnistust kolme distsipliini, grammatika, teoloogia ja muusika vaatenurgast. Täpsemalt on vaatluse alla on võetud selle usutunnistuse ladinakeelne normtekst (NCL), mis esineb alates 15. sajandist roomakatoliku kiriku ametlikes trükiväljaannetes ja mille alusel on läbi muusikaloo komponeeritud hulgaliselt muusikateoseid, missa Credo-osi. Töö eesmärk on koostada abivahend NCL-i paremaks mõistmiseks. Töö meetodiks on hermeneutiline viis liigendada NCL eri distsipliinide vaatenurgast tähenduslikeks üksusteks. Töö on üles ehitatud nelja peatükina. Esimeses peatükis antakse ülevaate Nikaia-Konstantinoopoli usutunnistuse kui enne 451. aasta Chalkedoni oikumeenilist kirikukogu kreekakeelse ja -meelsena sündinud teksti päritolust, selle tõlkimisest ladina keelde ja selle järkjärgulisest kujunemisest täna roomakatoliku kirikus kasutatavaks normtekstiks. Teises peatükis avatakse NCL foneetilisest, morfosemantilisest, süntaktilisest ja stilistilisest vaatepunktist. Rõhutatud tähelepanu pühendatakse NCL-i kolomeetrilisele analüüsile. Kolmandas peatükis liigendatakse NCL-i teoloogiliselt. Peatüki esimeses alapeatükis vaadeldakse levinumaid viise, kuidas on NCL-i liigendatud süstemaatilises teoloogias. Analoogia alusel pakutakse välja ka muid liigendusvõimalusi. Teises alapeatükis aga tuuakse välja NCL-i liigendusi praktilises teoloogias – eri ajastute roomakatoliku kiriku liturgias. Neljandas peatükis käsitletakse NCL-i muusikalist liigendamist: seda, kuidas on võimalik muusikaliste parameetrite varal NCL-i liigendada ning kuidas võib selle teksti grammatilisest ja teoloogilisest liigendamisest abi olla muusikaanalüüsis. Näiteteosteks on valitud Arvo Pärdi (s 1935) kolm NCL-ile komponeeritud teost: Missa syllabica (1977) ja Berliner Messe (1990/2002) Credo-osad ning Summa (1977).The present thesis is an attempt to analyze the Niceno-Constantinopolitan creed as one of the most important texts in church and music history from the point of view of three disciplines – grammar, theology and music. More exactly, the standard Latin version of this creed (NCL) which can be found in official Roman Catholic publications since the fifteenth century and on the ground of which a large amount of musical compositions – the Credo parts of the Mass – have been created throughout the history of music, is examined. The objective of the thesis is to compile a resource for deepening one’s understanding of the NCL. The method of the thesis is an hermeneutical way to divide the NCL from the perspectives of different disciplines into semantic units. The thesis is organized into four chapters. In the first chapter a survey of the origin of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed as a text of Greek language and Greek turn of mind arisen before the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451, as well as the translation process of the creed into Latin and gradual formation of the creed into standard text now used in the Roman Catholic church, is given. In the second chapter the NCL is treated from the phonetical, morphosemantical, syntactical and stylistical perspective. A special attention on the colometric analysis of the NCL is drawn. In the third chapter the NCL is analyzed theologically. The first subchapter is dedicated to the ways the NCL has been usually analyzed in systematic theology. Analogously, other ways of analysis are suggested. In the second subchapter various ways of analysis of the NCL in practical theology – in the liturgy of different eras of the Roman Catholic church – are brought out. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the musical analysis of the NCL is: namely, how to analyze the NCL by means of musical parameters and how the grammatical and theological analysis of the NCL can be of value for the musical analysis. As an example three NCL’s settings by Arvo Pärt – the Credo parts of Missa syllabica (1977) and Berliner Messe (1990/2002), and Summa (1977) – are chosen

Speech Disorders. The Speaking Subject and Language in Neronian Court Literature

By combining literary criticism, philology, and contemporary psychoanalysis, this dissertation offers an innovative interpretation of Neronian court literature (Seneca, Lucan, and Petronius). I argue that the works of these three authors thematize and embody a problematic relation between the human subject and language. Language is not conceived or represented as an inert tool that can be easily appropriated by the speaking subject, but rather as a powerful entity that may, and often does, take control of the human subject, directing it from without. Besides analyzing how Seneca, Lucan, and Petronius portray the relation between the human subject and language in the internal plots and characters of their works, I also explore the relation between these three authors themselves and language. My conclusion is that this relation is defined by unresolved ambiguities and neurotic tensions, and I suggest that this might be a consequence of the traumatizing circumstances that the three examined authors endured at Nero’s court

Remigius and the "Important News" of Clovis Rewritten

Cet article est un nouvel examen de la Lettre austrasienne no 2, adressée par Remi, évêque de Reims, à Clovis, roi des Francs. Nous proposons une nouvelle transcription du texte, accompagnée d’une traduction, et suivie d’une étude des interprétations proposées du Moyen Âge à nos jours, ainsi que d’un commentaire linéaire. La conclusion propose une révision radicale de la date et de la signification de la lettre. Nous démontrons que cette dernière ne doit pas être datée nécessairement du début du règne de Clovis, ni à la suite d’une campagne spécifique, et qu’elle ne peut être interprété comme une preuve ni de la prise de contrôle par Clovis de l’administration de la province romaine de Belgique seconde, ni du fait qu’il aurait reçu de l’empereur une charge officielle. Nous affirmons que la lettre doit être datée de la fin du règne de Clovis, et qu’elle doit être lue comme une preuve de continuité dans le style – plutôt que dans la substance – du gouvernement du monde romain

Using Cognitive Science to Think about the Twelfth Century: Revisiting the Individual through Latin Texts

This study has several key purposes. First, it tests the potential applicability of the modern discourses of neuro- and cognitive science to the study of medieval texts and languages: more specifically, it does this by using two core methodological tools, namely the embodied view of the mind and a theory of metaphor developed collaboratively by the linguist, George Lakoff, and the philosopher, Mark Johnson, to explore the range of significances which may be drawn from the ways in which human life and existence are represented in a sample of twelfth-century Latin texts. Second, it challenges the view, held by some modern scholars, that by the medieval period Latin was an intrinsically inadequate language for the purposes of self-expression. And finally, it problematises the existing discourses in medieval studies on the individual, self, and subjectivity, first, by developing a new mode of analysing the mental lives of medieval people, and second, by challenging the view that advanced forms of self-awareness were “discovered” during the twelfth century. By following this course, this study offers a number of fresh insights into twelfth-century texts and the phenomena of the individual, self, and subjectivity. Most importantly, it shows that the ways in which human life and existence are represented in medieval texts are best understood in terms of complex interactions between the biological mind and body and their effects in the world (especially their “socio-cultural” effects). From this conclusion, it is argued that the basis of the individual, self, or subject must be found, not just in socio-cultural development, but also the biological realities of human existence. Furthermore, this study contributes to existing literature on the twelfth century by exploring the range of influences, ancient and contemporary, which affected how medieval people thought about themselves and other people, while affirming their basis in the interaction between the mind, body, and culture.Department of History, University of Exete