Sunoikisis DC 2015
Session 11: An Introduction to Treebanking
Neven Jovanović / neven.jovanovic@ffzg.hr
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Classical Philology
His writing is condensed and direct, almost austere in places, and is meant to be read rather than delivered orally. (...) Only in his speeches does he sometimes fall short of the lucidity of the narrative prose; his fondness for abstract expressions and the obscurity of his rhetorical antithesis often make the passages difficult to understand.
Encyclopaedia Britannica on Thucydides' style
How does Greek condensed writing look like? Greek direct writing? Austere writing? Lucidity?
What features of the text suggest Thuc. wrote to be read rather than spoken and heard?
How do we demonstrate — show, explain, and teach others to show and explain — Thuc.'s fondness for abstract expressions? Obscure rhetorical antitheses?
Fondness for abstract expressions?
Sexual intercourse began
In nineteen sixty-three
(which was rather late for me) —
Between the end of the Chatterley ban
And the Beatles' first LP.
Up to then there'd only been
A sort of bargaining,
A wrangle for the ring,
A shame that started at sixteen
And spread to everything.
Philip Larkin, Annus Mirabilis
Stylistic approaches to Thucydides
Source: www.gnomon-online.de
- Expressions of time in Thucydides (2014)
- Meta + G y syn + D en griego antiguo: análisis en la lengua lirica y prosa tucididea (2006)
- Parataxe und Hypotaxe bei Thukydides (2003)
- The persuasive style of debates in direct speech in Thucydides (1992)
- El periodo condicional en Tucidides (1992)
- Structure, Style, and Sense in Interpreting Thucydides: The Soldier's Choice (1986)
Stylistic approaches to Thucydides
Source: www.gnomon-online.de
- Die Rolle der irrealen Bedingungssätze in der Geschichte des griechischen Denkens (1979)
- Grammar, discourse, and style in Thucydides' book 8. (1978)
- The syntax of the participle in Thucydides (1974)
- Untersuchungen zu den Anakoluthen bei Thukykdides (1950)
Stylistic approaches to Thucydides
Source: www.gnomon-online.de
- Erkennen und Wollen bei Thukydides. Untersuchung über den Sprachgebrauch (1939)
- Der lokale Grundton und die persönliche Eigenart in der Sprache des Thukydides und der älteren attischen Redner (1930)
- Untersuchungen zum Satzbau des Thukydides (1930)
"But — it is all translated!"
A look at the Thuc. 1.128
Hobbes 1629
After that Pausanias the Lacedaemonian was recalled by the Spartans from his charge in Hellespont, and having been called in question by them was absolved though he was no more sent abroad by the state, yet he went again into Hellespont in a galley of Hermione as a private man, without leave of the Lacedaemonians, to the Grecian war, as he gave out, but in truth to negotiate with the king, as he had before begun, aspiring to the principality of Greece.
Jowett 1881
When Pausanias the Lacedaemonian was originally summoned by the Spartans to give an account of his command at the Hellespont, and had been tried and acquitted, he was no longer sent out in a public capacity, but he hired a trireme of Hermionè on his own account and sailed to the Hellespont, pretending that he had gone thither to fight in the cause of the Hellenes. In reality he wanted to prosecute an intrigue with the King, by which he hoped to obtain the empire of Hellas.
Hammond 2009
When the Spartan Pausanias was originally recalled by the Spartiates from his command in the Hellespont, and put on trial by them but acquitted of the charges against him, he was not sent out again in any official capacity, but on his own initiative he took a trireme from Hermione without Spartan authority and sailed to the Hellespont. His pretence was that he had come to help the Greek war-effort, but in fact he was there to continue the intrigue with the King of Persia which he had already started earlier: his aim was to become the ruler of Greece.
Mynott 2013
After the first occasion when Pausanias the Spartan had been recalled by the Spartiates from his command in the Hellespont and was tried and found not guilty by them, he was no longer sent out in an official capacity; but on his own initiative and without involving the Spartans he took a trireme from the town of Hermione and made a private visit to the Hellespont. His professed reason was to support the Greek cause in the war, but in fact he wanted to pursue an agenda with the Persian King, just as he had tried to do on the first occasion, his ambition being dominion over Greece.
What if linguistic categories influence perception and cognition?
(the "Sapir–Whorf" hypothesis)
having been called in question by them was absolved
had been tried and acquitted
[was] put on trial by them but acquitted of the charges against him
was tried and found not guilty by them
as a private man, without leave of the Lacedaemonians
on his own account
on his own initiative [...] without Spartan authority
and without involving the Spartans [...] made a private visit
he went again [...] to the Grecian war, as he gave out
pretending that he had gone thither to fight in the cause of the Hellenes
His pretence was that he had come to help the Greek war-effort
His professed reason was to support the Greek cause in the war
Style: death by a thousand cuts
What if our impression of a writer and his world-view is actually shaped by many barely noticed linguistic events?
OK — how do I analyse style?
Or, a bit easier question: how do I analyse syntax?
Traditional syntactic analysis
he went again to the Grecian war
SUBJECT PREDICATE ADVERBIAL PREPOSITIONAL OBJECT
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird
Modern linguistics knows many ways to describe syntax of a sentence.
All Sentence Components Are Not Created Equal
We can represent a hierarchy by which a sentence is organised.
One way to represent it is a dependency tree.
Made with www.perseids.org.
A dependency tree clearly shows the difference between main and subordinate clauses.
Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Clause," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
(accessed June 15, 2015).
Parts of a dependency tree
Parts of a dependency tree
- Hierarchy layer (connections)
- Morphological annotations (parts of speech)
- Syntactical annotations (clause and sentence components)
καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτα διδάξας καὶ ὑπειπὼν τἆλλα ὅτι αὐτὸς τἀκεῖ πράξοι ᾤχετο.
So with these instructions given, and intimating that he himself would deal with all other business there, Themistocles set off for Sparta.
Materials and tools
- Corpora: PROIEL, Perseus (and Sunoikisis!)
- Annotation and review: Perseids and Alpheios
- Analysis (querying): Perseus Annis
- Sample queries for Annis: Perseus Annis Adventures
διαφερόντως γὰρ δὴ καὶ τόδε ἔχομεν ὥστε τολμᾶν τε οἱ αὐτοὶ μάλιστα καὶ περὶ ὧν ἐπιχειρήσομεν ἐκλογίζεσθαι
For also in this we excel others, daring to undertake as much as any
and yet examining what we undertake
Thuc. 2.40
Sunoikisis DC 2015
Session 11: An Introduction to Treebanking
Neven Jovanović / neven.jovanovic@ffzg.hr
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Classical Philology