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‘Irrational Lengthening’ in Virgil

Published version
Peer-reviewed

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Authors

Thompson, Rupert 
Zair, Nicholas 

Abstract

jats:titleAbstract</jats:title> jats:pWord-final syllables consisting of a short vowel or a short vowel followed by a single consonant sometimes scan as heavy in Latin hexameter poetry, a feature known as ‘irrational lengthening’, lengthening in arsis, jats:italicdiastole</jats:italic> etc. We examine the contexts in which this occurs in the poetry of Virgil. It is widely acknowledged that this phenomenon is based on a similar licence in earlier Greek and Roman models for Virgil, but it has also been argued that other, metrical or phonological, aspects may have been relevant to the use of lengthening. We examine these environments, and, where possible, carry out statistical analysis. We conclude that, while some of these are descriptively true, the position of lengthened words is primarily due to the constraints that Virgil applied to the construction of his hexameter rather than any other explanation.</jats:p>

Description

Keywords

47 Language, Communication and Culture, 4703 Language Studies, 4704 Linguistics, 4705 Literary Studies

Journal Title

Mnemosyne

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0026-7074
0026-7074

Volume Title

73

Publisher

Brill
Sponsorship
Stiftelsen Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (via Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)) (Unknown)
Pro Futura Scientia Fellowship, funded by the Stiftelsen Riksbankens Jubileumsfond