'Magis rythmus quam metron': the structure of Seneca's anapaests, and the oral/aural nature of Latin poetry

The aim of this contribution is twofold. The empirical focus is the metrical structure of Seneca's anapaestic odes. On the basis of a detailed formal analysis, in which special attention is paid to the delimitation and internal structure of metrical periods, I argue against the dimeter colometry traditionally assumed. This conclusion in turn is based on a second, more methodological claim, namely that in establishing the colometry of an ancient piece of poetry, the modern metrician is only allowed to set apart a given string of metrical elements as a separate metron, colon or period, if this postulated metrical entity could 'aurally' be distinguished as such by the hearer

Variation in English subject extraction : the case of hyperactive subjects

International audienceStarting from the well known observation that for some speakers of English, wh-subjects extracted across a transitive predicate can bear accusative case, we investigate the syntax of the pattern in which a subject is wh-moved across a passive predicate. For a minority of speakers, in this second pattern the moved wh-subject can trigger agreement with the predicate in the matrix clause, yielding an apparent case of finite raising which we will call wh-raising. In attempt to offer a unified account of these two structures, we suggest that both are possible in a grammar that allows for DPs to be 'hyperactive' (Carstens 2011) and to take part in A-operations (i.e. syntactic phenomena related to Case and agreement) in more than one clause. The analysis that we propose is couched in the cartographic framework, and adopts the approach to subject extraction from Rizzi (2006) and Rizzi & Shlonsky (2006, 2007)

Syntacticizing blends : the case of English wh-raising

This paper aims at analysing English structures in which a wh-moved subject triggers agreement both in the clause it is extracted from and in the immediately higher clause. This pattern is only accepted by some native speakers, and it is also attested in corpora. Although the relevant structures could at first sight be analysed as extragrammatical ‘blends’, we propose that they are in fact part of certain speakers’ linguistic competence, and hence generated by the grammar of those speakers. Adopting the approach to subject extraction developed in Rizzi & Shlonsky (2007), we suggest that extracted subjects can exceptionally be ‘hyperactive’ (Carstens 2011), and thus take part in A-relations (case and agreement) in more than one clausal domai

On the left periphery of Latin embedded clauses

The main topic of the present thesis is word order in Latin embedded clauses. More specifically, it deals with a specific surface order in which one ore more constituents are found in the left periphery of the embedded clause, to the left of a subordinating conjunction. This particular pattern is referred to as 'Left Edge Fronting', henceforth LEF. The theoretical framework used is the so called 'cartographic' variety of generative grammar, which assumes a richly articulated (functional) structure to form the syntactic backbone of clauses and noun phrases. The first chapter provides some background concerning the theoretical framework one the one hand and the 'discourse configurational' nature of Latin on the other hand. Chapter 2 focuses on the syntax of the particular subtype of embedded clauses that I investigate, namely adverbial clauses (ACs). Special attention is given to the distribution and availability of so called Main Clause Phenomena in ACs. Chapter 3 gives an overview of the results of a large-scale corpus study on word order in ACs, in which texts from 180 BC to 120 AD were taken into account. These results reveal a quantitative left-right asymmetry: it is shown that LEF occurs most frequently in clause-initial ACs. Moreover, relative and demonstrative pronouns are exclusively found in an LEF-position in clause-initial ACs. These two observations give rise to a distinction between two types of LEF: pronoun fronting in initial ACs (LEF1) and XP-fronting in both initial and final ACs (LEF2). The syntax of LEF1 is analyzed in chapters 4 (on relative pronouns) and 5 (on demonstratives): the phenonenon is characterized as a type of topicalization, which is derived in two steps. First, the pronoun undergoes 'internal movement' to the edge of the embedded clause. This step is followed by an operation of clausal pied-piping, targeting the left periphery of the superordinate clause. A derivation along these successfully explains the left-right asymmetry mentioned earlier. LEF2 on the other hand is argued to be a type of non-contrastive focalization (chapter 6), which can occur in initial and final ACs alike. Chapter 7 focuses on the diachronic evolution of LEF2. The observed decline of this phenomenon is related to a change that took place in the same period, viz. the decreasing frequence of INFL-final clauses

La posició del subjecte en la historia del llatí

The aim of this paper is to provide further support for one aspect of the analysis of Classical and Late Latin clause structure proposed in Danckaert (2017a), namely the diachrony of subject placement. According to the relevant proposal, one needs to distinguish an earlier grammar (‘Grammar A’, whose heyday is the period from ca. 200 BC until 200 AD), in which there is no A-movement for subjects, and a later grammar (‘Grammar B’, which is on the rise from ca. 50-100 AD, and fully productive from ca. 200 AD onwards), where subjects optionally move to the inflectional layer. Assuming the variationist acquisition model of language change developed in Yang (2000, 2002a,b), I present corpus evidence which confirms that it is only in the Late Latin period that TP-internal subjects fully establish themselves as a grammatical option.L’objectiu d’aquest article és proporcionar un suport addicional a un aspecte de l’anàlisi de l’estructura oracional del llatí clàssic i llatí tardà proposada a Danckaert (2017a), a saber, la diacronia de la posició del subjecte. D’acord amb la proposta rellevant, cal distingir una gramàtica anterior (‘Gramàtica A’, l’apogeu de la qual és aproximadament el període comprès entre el 200aC i el 200dC), en què no hi ha moviment-A per als subjectes, i una gramàtica posterior (‘Gramàtica B’, que sorgeix aproximadament el 50-100dC, i esdevé totalment productiva a partir del 200dC en endavant), on els subjectes es mouen opcionalment a la capa flexional. Assumint el model variacionista d’adquisició del canvi lingüístic desenvolupat a Yang (2000, 2002a,b), presento evidència de corpus que confirma que és només en el període del llatí tardà que els subjectes interns a l’ST s’estableixen plenament com una opció gramatical

“The Limits Now Fixed”: Appealing to Authority in the Trullan Canons

The Council in Trullo has shaped the canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church in powerful ways. It was summoned to bring discipline to many aspects of church life, and its canons therefore address liturgical, pastoral, administrative, and ethical issues. Perhaps even more significantly, its second canon confirmed the corpus canonum that we have come to know as authoritative in the Orthodox tradition. For these and other reasons, a number of recent publications have focused on Trullo. Few, however, have examined a particularly unusual characteristic of the Trullan canons: Unlike the majority of earlier canonical legislation, the canons promulgated at Trullo are full of quotations from Scripture, the Fathers, and previous canonical sources. This noticeable departure from previous models of canonical composition reflects a larger trend in theological writing and discourse—a trend with significant implications for the Orthodox understanding of authority

A phase-space approach to directional switching in semiconductor ring lasers

We show that a topological investigation of the phase space of a Semiconductor Ring Laser can be used to devise switching schemes which are alternative to optical pulse injection of counter-propagating light. To provide physical insight in these switching mechanisms, a full bifurcation analysis and an investigation of the topology is performed on a two-dimensional asymptotic model. Numerical simulations confirm the topological predictions.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

The N=4 effective action of type IIA supergravity compactified on SU(2)-structure manifolds

We study compactifications of type IIA supergravity on six-dimensional manifolds with SU(2) structure and compute the low-energy effective action in terms of the non-trivial intrinsic torsion. The consistency with gauged N=4 supergravity is established and the gauge group is determined. Depending on the structure of the intrinsic torsion, antisymmetric tensor fields can become massive.Comment: 29 pages, latex, v2: minor corrections, added references, published versio