Vocabulary Analysis and the Generic Classification of Literature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3939408 |
|---|---|
| Authors | D Thomas Benediktson (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1977 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 341 |
| Publication date | 1977-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Phoenix (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/1087565 |
| OpenAlex | W2316084494 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
ALTHOUGH MOST SCHOLARS have not viewed the book in this way, Style and Tradition in Catullus, by David O. Ross, Jr., is more than a book about Catullus; it implies a theory of genres for the history of Latin elegy and epigram which is also taken for granted in his recent book on Gallus.1 As the title of his first book indicates, Ross attempts to analyze the style and vocabulary of Catullus' poems and to avoid the more customary questions of theme and subject matter. His study concludes that the polymetrical poems and the long poems are stylistically similar, while the epigrams belong to an entirely different poetic tradition; the method for making this distinction, as Ross acknowledges, is borrowed from the work of Bertil Axelson.2 Whether or not these traditions can be so distinguished, Ross's method and the assumptions which underlie it need to be examined before the validity of his conclusions can be considered. Perhaps the best way to begin our discussion of Ross's method of vocabulary analysis is to examine closely the method in operation. The section of Style and Tradition in Catullus devoted to seems ideal (pages 22-26). Diminutives are words often cited as being used colloquially, and so we would expect to find them in the shorter poems. But Ross concludes that they are characteristic of the polymetrics and long poems, uncharacteristic of the epigrams. The evidence upon which he bases his conclusions merits detailed consideration. According to Ross (23), diminutives are common in the elevated longer poems (27 used 36 They are also very common in the polymetric poems (45 used 65 times) but uncommon in the epigrams (7 used 9 times). But are these figures conclusive? If we calculate the average number of lines per occurrence, we find that 1 diminutive occurs every 13 lines in the polymetrics, 1 every 31 lines in the long poems, and 1 every 35 lines in the epigrams. Diminutives seem almost as common in the epigrams as in the long poems. And in a footnote, Ross admits that
Linguistics · Natural language processing · Vocabulary · Artificial Intelligence · Classical Antiquity Studies · Computer Science · Historical and Literary Studies · Lexicography and Language Studies · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 1985 - 2005 (21) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |