The Language of the Freedmen in Petronius' Cena TrimalchionisRealistic representation of the speech of the lower classes in ancient literature is largely confined to the comic genres, and Petronius' realism in this area is more thorough-going than that of any other ancient author. A vast scholarly literature has grown up around the question of how faithfully the speeches of Petronius' freedmen reflect characteristics of actual popular speech; this literature is reviewed and evaluated. A survey of the phonological, morphological, lexical, and syntactic peculiarities in these speeches is then undertaken, in which they are compared with other 'vulgar' Latin sources such as the Pompeian inscriptions; Petronius is in fact one of our most important early sources for the study of popular Latin. The way in which Petronius used specific varieties of non-standard Latin to characterize different freedmen speakers is explored: Petronius has subtly modulated his freedmen's speeches to reflect differing emotional states and the different attitudes of the speakers toward their social position. The present study is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject undertaken in over forty years in any language and the only one in English. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Language of the Freedmen | 36 |
Morphology | 46 |
Copyright | |
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ablative accept accusative active Aeschylus already appears attempt attested authors Cena Cena Trimalchionis century chapter characterization characters cites classes classical colloquial common comparative completely confusion consistent constructions contrast correct cultivated declension Dell'Era diction discussion Echion educated element employed Encolpius especially evidence example expressions fact feminine Finally formation forms freedman speech freedmen French frequently furnish further Ganymedes genitive given Greek Habinnas hand Hermeros hyperurbanisms Ibid imitate important indicative Italian later Latin linguistic literary literary language manuscripts masculine nature Nelson neuter Niceros noted nouns occurs parallels passages Petersmann 1977 Petronius phenomenon Plautus plural pointed Pompeian inscriptions popular language prefers present question quid quod readings reflect regard replaced represent Romance languages Satyrica Seleucus sense Smith social sources speech spoken Stefenelli style Suess suggests syncopated tended third Trimalchio urbane Väänänen verbs vowels vulgar vulgar Latin