In (e), the relation between the two sentences is also explanatory, but more complicated: by examining the situation at the neighbours’ farm it is possible to infer something about the quality of the district: if they thrive bene, the district must be bona. 5 Connectors are another important device for creating coherence of discourse. That could have been made explicit by using the connector nam ‘for’. In (d), it is plausible that the second sentence contains the explanation why the ‘I’ hates gold. It is up to the reader to use his knowledge of the language and of the world to conceive of a relation between the There is no connecting device in other words, the sentences are ‘asyndetic’. (Also, bene corresponds to quo pacto and nitere to niteant.)Īlthough the relation between the sentences in (d) and (e) should be perfectly clear for the reader, the semantic relation is not explicitly marked. In (e), vicini, the topic and subject of the first sentence, is also the topic and subject of the accusative and infinitive clause bene nitere in the second. In (d), aurum, the focus and object of the first sentence, is the unexpressed topic and subject of the second. In a good district, they ought to look well.’ Cato Agr. (e) Vicini quo pacto niteant, id animum advertito. (‘I hate gold: it has often led many people to act badly on many issues.’ Pl. This is illustrated by (d) and (e) (‘°’ indicates asyndeton-see below). This phenomenon is one of the means to achieve continuity of participants over a stretch of text. An example of coherence of discourse is the very common rule of Latin that third person subjects are not expressed if they can be easily inferred from what precedes (see §§ 9.9–10). They will be discussed again in this chapter, but now from the perspective of discourse. In the earlier chapters of this Syntax several ways are discussed that assist the reader in correctly understanding the meaning of a sentence and how it coheres with its context. In discourse units of two or more sentences the hearer or reader is still expected to use his knowledge of the world and of the situation, but the correct interpretation of a sentence and its relation with the surrounding context often depends on the information provided by the sentence or sentences that precede or follow. In these cases the reader uses non-linguistic cues, including his knowledge of the world, to arrive at a correct understanding of the message. (‘I ask you to elect Trebius and Gavius as aediles.’ CIL IV.118 (Pompeii, AD 71–5)) (‘Numa Pompilius Ancus Marcius / Gaius Censorinus Rome’ CIL I 2.App. (‘Aulus Cervius, consul, son of Aulus dedicated (this).’ ( CIL I 2.395 (Benevento, 3rd cent. 4 In (c), an electoral graffito which must have been fairly familiar, the text cannot have been a problem for those who saw it. The Romans were used to thisįorm of propaganda. In (b), a coin showing the heads of the Roman kings Numa Pompilius and Ancus Marcius and, on the reverse side, an arch with a statue of Victoria and a boat under the moon, with the name of Gaius (Marcius) Censorinus above it and Roma below, 3 may have served to commemorate the victory of Marius and to suggest Censorinus’ royal descent. In (a), a dedicatory inscription found on a fragment of a pillar, the object of dedication and probably also its social and cultural significance will have been clear from its surroundings. In the Latin material at our disposal it is not as rare as one might think for single sentences, or even single words, to constitute a complete communicative message, but most instances are outside the standard texts that are normally used for grammatical analysis.
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