The Grammar of Dionysios Thrax Translated from the Greek By

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The Grammar of Dionysios Thrax Translated from the Greek By C+ra~n~rlaris a11 espei~irnei~ti~lliriowlt~dge ;i:c:!:~ii/i ot' t.l!~' IIS:~.::~S of 1t~11g11age:LS generally cu~xr~t,:L~OII~ ~)oel.~ :illd PI-osr:n~.itctrs.Itisdivitlt~dinlosixpu~~fs: 1". 'I'rai~letLrclatiing with clrie rt)gai.tl 1-0 L'ro::c~cly.:~ 2". 43s~)~ariatio11awoldif~gto poclic'al iigurcs. :!'. H.ratly ;.;tatt~rnelltof cli;~!ecli;*;tl~wciili:ii,itit~si:~tlct;11 l I LS~OI~S(Imolr~inr). 4". 1)isc:ovei.yof fi; t,yrriologv. o .I- . Ail :~vcuratc;~cc~ountof :~n;ilogic:s.:j: " I'rohiod~ (T/IOC~.~~II~).in the Greck ic~;.c, incl~id~ic:r crything (1tesi::n:ltcd h,v diacriti<.al mil:-ks-aipir:i:io~i, acrentr~:iti~in,i11i:intity. :inst m~-rirtin~c.:p:~rl-c<. \.id. l<cl<kcr.Anrrdof(z (;i./~u,1>1). 679) wjq.: I<. I<;.A. Sci~n~iilt,/i,it~jicr:I(>. (;/.\(...I' //rh/@ r/r~ (~~a~~zmz~;L~, 131). I?I vl(i. !'t,):~oki\-!I:L!I IICI~II~!:,L: \~!;~t~t~:;vcito (10 with vt.~-sc-m:iking,although it I~-:I. 1-1 l:!ii si 10 mu\ic. f \-id. IVaitz, Lli,isfofeLi.c GY~~ICZ,~111.i. ~)LI.:2,$ :-(I. 4 Grammar of Dionysios Tlzrax. 6". Criticism" of poetical productions, which is the no- blest part of grammatic art. 2. ON READING(civdyvoal;). Reading is the rendering of poetic or prose productions with- out stumbling or hesitancy. It must be done with due regard to expression, prosody, and pauses. Through the expression+ we learn the merit (ripar7j') of tlie piece ; from the prosody, tlie art of the reader; and from the pauses, the meaning intended to be conveyed. In this way we read tragedy heroically, comedy c~onversationally,elegiacs thrillingly, epics sustain- edly, lyric poetry musically, itnd dirges softly and plain- tively. Any reading done without due observance of these rules degrades the merits of the poets and makes the habits of readers ridiculous. 3. ON TONE(rcivo;). Tone* is the resonance of a voice endowed with harmony. It, is heightened in the acute, balanced in the grave, and broken in the ciraumflex. 4. ON PUNCTUATION(arylr$).$ There are three punctuation marks: the full stop, the semi- cdon, and the cornma.// The full stop denotes that the sense is complete ; the semicoloii is a sign of where to take breath ; the comma shows that the sense is riot yet complete, but that something further ir~ustbe added. In time. At the full stop the pause is long, at the comma, very short. ~ -- -- .- ~ * Such Criticism apparently did not include a discussion of the poetical mer- its of'a piece (~pbii(!? rd m~~j,~in:noilx irL id6 ~TLVjj ~rwb.roirjmlj ?;l,o hv ~jlj;b ii,~<,im~v.) t Expression (iah~piiii!.)is defined as being equivalent to /I~/IWTI<or Imitation. $ Tone is what we usually call accent. The Latin nccentus, however, formed in imitation of the Greek ~/~m.)rbo,was undonbtedly intended to 11:lve the satne width of meaning as the latter. Vid. Schmidt, Beitriiyc, pp. 190 sqq. On this whole question. vid. Schmidt, Beitriige, pp. 506-550. 11 These trrms are hardly accurate; the sequel explains their meaning. T It will be seen that in practice Dionysios distinguishes only two pur~ctug. tion marks, the riii:!ilj mi (semicolon) being really not one at all. A Rhapsody is a part, of a poem including a certain (defi- nite) argument. It is called a rhapsody, that is, rhabdody, because those who recited the Homeric poems were girt with a laurel branch (jdWrio;).* 7. ON ELEXIF:NTS(cs~oc~-cTu). f There are twenty-four letters from n to w. They are called letters (y,od/q~mu)from being folwed of lines and scratches. For to write (~,od$(~c),among the ancients, meant to scratch (ibaae), as in Ilorner : I I u 1Y 11' 1 -1)~iill~lil~-ll,Jfil~! -1 ,\Of >,\till 11, -1 I< . They are also called elements (rr~or~G~)fl*om being in a cer- tain series (oroc~6~)or arrangement. Of these letters, seven are Vo~ocls:(1, E, 7, c O, 11, and (0. They are called vowels ((FWY+YT(J)I)~c';LIIs~ thy form ;I com- plete sound (ywvj) by themselves. OF the vowels, two are ZO~UJ, 7 and (1,; two are short, E arid o; arid thre~are d01~7)t- ful, a, r, v. They are called donbtfi~l].because they may be either lengthened or shortened. Fire of the vowels are prepositiw, a, E, 7, o, o. They are called prepositive be- cause, when plared before r or o, t1lc.y form a syllable, as ar, au. Two are subj,j'7~?/rtiae,r :~ndu. 1' is sometimes yreposi- tive to c, as in p&n, (jlpmu, ulk, and the like. There are six diphthongs, ac, uv, Er, EU, oc, ou. The remaining seventeen letters are Cvontsn~~a?~ts,P, 7, 6, 6, 79, X, A, p, v, i,x, p, a, .r, (F, X, $11. They are called consonants because by thenlselves they have no sound, but produce a sound only when they are combined with vowels.$ Of the * Cf. Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 141, note; Wolf. Proleg., pp. $3 sqq. (Edit. Calvary); I<. 0.Miiller, zz?:~t.oj'Lit. uf'rlacied Greece,, pp. 33 sqq. t On Sr~iiyti~ii:,vid. Aristotle, MctnpA. I. I (1026, b. 12); Bonitz, Ari.stoLcZt:F MeLaYA. pp. 225 sq. ; Schmidt. Bez'trG'yc, 1'1). SO sqq., 126. Aristotle's definition of rr:oi,yriov, as meaning a sound, is : "An elclncnt is an indivisible sound, not applicable, how-ever, to every such so~~ntl,h11t only to those which are capable of entering into the formation of intelligible spcec11."-Poet. cap. sx. Cf. Stein- ttial, Gesci. rEEr S$~acfiz~l.Bei den Gr. n~tdR~m.,pp. 248 sq. :A~X~IVOI= of twofold timc. Cf. Rosshach und Westpllai, Mcfrik n'c~Griech., vol. ii. pp. 66 sqq. $ Aristotle, Poetics, cap. ss.,makes three divisions of SOIII~~S-6 :t QL~I'@I) elt:t;ic>nis or xtw:~!ij:~~~;o~I~I:.~ in 1 !!I> j~o1~1in;~:iv~~ (b:)us~A, si11g11- 12r llllnh2t~,:l?o ?~:o] P? ;~y, <?, +, :is -!:~llv, C%x:, l\'\<ml){l, //I$)(:, /.!,420+ ; (I[ ['L,;)li::i~~t*;i~;!ri;;, eil~,iii,IL, 3, o), U, t, [I, G. +, ,?? a ~.., .\. I.- ZLS !VoGm, '/;j,i>~,,F,L:!(~!. :/:wt~ft>, :/,L;- ;)tq;,:PI&!:. j,,h+; of Cl\ ,I 11t~11!-ers,six, (L, (, >, {I. 17. 11; :i;:Gofl:~~( 8 ,ii<j,t. $~PI>!III>,f~o,f~;,> oeir~~c, . ,- ., .. Jhpv. Some :idd :L;SO I,, :\-iI;\ :E!X!. :O~TII. (L/./,O. The ti11:~1 ,, '5 ,, P!t'l~lelit~0 t' tl\I:ll~tli'i! f:::.:,(~, ti, s, ctr, :LS ,r;,/,~!~,a,/,:zr(yt:,?i2cfj; ~t'~~~IIYLL~,~, f~il:., . (L* < , ;:.; . 20!., " j;x:o/)::, ,?dij,il~,,?2).7. iI S~l~;~ljl::i:: Lr>i't)~\s.il;; 1 f!3tx ~~oI~I~~~?;!:I~o~::I, TO~,~V~;]$ ~1;itIl;,, - ~ --- -~ ~ -- - --- ~- ~- f/iflo4r:.r. :;,/I. :),I, 5 { :.,q,!" ~tj(z.,:ir~:c.':~:.i ill.. ~;~~y~~(~z;i,<~p(/I,,.,q~,iccbE() I?LOZ,~- ,<';('* lli>~::,<>~j,\.;17;tx ?l\il',,:. j7,,c.t!:,r<.~<i >., 1,c~t.111. cl.. l\ri,\tlitlc. ,?!d!r15h. .\ i, (yj!51, ' 6 (:cj~,{'~ :o) ; KLI~,II<,F.,,111.!fiih~. C>,ff712. I?/ F GI,.st,,.. ,111. i, ;,, j,<. ? Cf'. L'riktotlc)J',IP!.'~.~.r:111. \.x, : :i,?.mi<Il.h'r,:/t ,!,r,,~ pi). 126.120. SLC::,tl1:11, .~$~nrhx.hr; dr/i (;I,. ut~dZ<ii;~/,, ~j,l. $ Or ~liplill~o::~;~c>\ i~l,:;itl~-. 1%. ON TIIE WORD(Xr;). A MTodis the smallest part of an ordered sentence." 13. ON '1'11~SE:NTE:NCE(26j'o;).t d Sentence is cornbi~iat~ionof words, either in prose or ill verse, rnaking conlplt~tesense. There are eight parts of speech : Noun, Verb, Participle, Article, Pronoun, Preposi- tion, Adverb, and Conjunction. The proper noun, as a spe. cies, is subordinate to the noun.: A Noun is a declinable part of speech, signifying some- thing either concrete or abstract (concrete, as stone; abstract, as educatiou); common or proper (common, as man, horse ; proper, as Socrates, Plate).$ It llas five accidents : genders, species, forms, numbers, and cases. There are three Genders, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter. Some add to these two more, the comlnon and the epicene -common, as man, horse ; epicene, as swallow, eagle. There are two Species of nouns, the primitive and the de- rivative. A primitive noun is one which is said according to origiilal imposition, as 75 (earth); a derivative noun is one which derives its origin from another noun, as yuritoc (earth- born). There are seven classes of derivatives: Patronymics, Possessives, Corr~paratives,Diminutives, Noniinals, Superla- tives, arid Verbals. A .Patror~ywicis properly a noun formed from the name of a father, ini1)roperly a noun formed from the name of another anoestol~,e.g., Achilleus is called both -- * CS. Aristotlc, Poetics, capp. xi~.-xsii.; Waita, Aristotelis Organoz, vol. i. pp. '$23 sq. ; Steinthal, Gesch. des S$ruckwiss., pp. 285 sqq. ; J. Vahlen, Aristo- feles Leh~evon der Rungrfolg-e (ley Theile der Tru~cedie,in Symbols Philologo- rum Bonnensiu?~,pp. 180 sqq. t Aristotlr (De Inter$., cap. iv.) defincs AC)I,L, as "significant sound, whereof any one part is separately significant as an expression, but not as an affirma- tion." Cf: Schmidt, Beifri+, pp.
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