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The Graeco-Roman Legacy
continued
Parts of Speech (Varro)
words
inflecting
noninflecting
nomina
verba
prior
later
prior
later
homo
doctus
scribit
docte
• hierarchical system
• based on heterogeneous criteria:
1. morphology (endings)
2. syntax (prior vs posterior, modified vs modifier)
3. semantics (object vs action, etc.)
• this is still a problem when divising
systems of word classes
• formal criteria such as morphology or
syntactic behavior appear more precise
than semantic criteria, but often fail to
carry over crosslinguistically
another system (Varro)
+case
-case
-tense
homo, pulcher docte, facete
(N, A)
(Adv)
+tense
docens,
doctus
(participles)
docere, facit
(V)
• cross-classifying
system
• similar systems still in
use, e.g. the X-bar
feature system of
Chomsky 1970
• gives ‘natural classes’
(e.g. [-N] is the class
of case assigners,
[+N] the class of case
marked elements in
Latin, [+V] the class of
elements that agree)
+N
-N
+V
A
V
-V
N
P
Morphology
•
Romans were
aware of all the
basic morphological
facts of the Latin
language, such as
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
case
tense
mood
person
number
declension classes
compounding
irregularities
Priscian (6th century)
• Institutiones grammaticae
• Most elaborate work on grammar from
Antiquity
• Includes a rare section on syntax
• Introduces the notion of transitivity
Transitivity
• transitio personarum
• in a transitive sentence, the verb gives a
transition from one thing (the subject) to
another (the object)
• hence transitive sentences do not contrast
with intransitives only, but also with
reflexive sentences (where subject and
object corefer)
• in modern terms, transitive verbs form a
covert class
• overt classes can be recognized on the
basis of formal properties such as endings
or function words
• covert classes require analysis of the
context
• and are therefore harder to detect