PhD Thesis by Łukasz Berger
(*ENGLISH SUMMARY BELOW)
Rozprawa wykorzystuje współczesne narzędzia analizy konwersacji do bada... more (*ENGLISH SUMMARY BELOW)
Rozprawa wykorzystuje współczesne narzędzia analizy konwersacji do badania dialogu komediowego w zachowanych utworach Plauta. Skupia się przy tym na zjawisku otwarcia rozmowy – od nawiązania kontaktu z rozmówcą po wprowadzenie pierwszego tematu. We wstępnej części pracy ustala się jednostki analizy dialogu na poziomie wypowiedzi jednego mówiącego oraz wymiany między dwoma interlokutorami. Ustalenia terminologiczne służą następnie do wyodrębnienia sekwencji otwierających dialog we wszystkich komediach Plauta. W pierwszej kolejności opisuje się sceny wprowadzenia kontaktu między postaciami poprzez podejście oraz wezwanie do rozpoczęcia konwersacji. Kolejnym wyróżnionym elementem otwarcia dialogowego jest (auto)identyfikacja mówiących. Na licznych przykładach zwrotów bezpośrednich towarzyszących inicjacji kontaktu omawia się strategie konstruowania tzw. twarzy interakcyjnej. Najwięcej uwagi poświęca się natomiast formułom pozdrowień wraz z ich różnorakimi wariantami, uzależnionymi od kontekstu spotkania. Równie obszerny jest rozdział dotyczący wymiany fatycznej (tzw. small talk), której budowę odnosi się do typu relacji między interlokutorami. Wreszcie omawia się strategie wprowadzania pierwszego tematu dialogu, które stają się delimitatorami wstępnej fazy konwersacji. Rozprawę zamyka próba syntezy przeprowadzonych badań oraz propozycja powiązania językowych oraz pozajęzykowych (kinezyjnych, proksemicznych) elementów otwarcia dialogowego w ramach swoistej gramatyki interakcji scenicznej.
[[IN ENGLISH:]]
The thesis employs methods of conversational analysis to study the comedy dialogue of the preserved plays by Plautus. Its main focus is the opening phase of the conversation: after establishing contact between the interlocutors till introducing the first topic. The study begins with distinguishing units of dialogue both on the level of one utterance and the exchange between two speakers. Those terms and concepts are later used to describe the opening sequence in all comedies by Plautus. The first chapter discusses the scenes of the encounter between the interlocutors that leads to starting the dialogue by approaching and by verbal summons. Then the (auto)identification move is analyzed in order to indicate different strategies of construing the interactional face by forms of address. Further on, most attention is given to the greeting formulae along with their numerous contextual variants. Also, the phatic communion (small talk) is discussed extensively: it is argued that the shape of this exchange might be determined by the type of relations between the interlocutors. The last part of the study concerns the mechanisms of introducing the first topic slot which serves as delimitating marks of the conversation opening. Finally, some synthesis of the results is made that leads to creating a tentative model of interactional grammar for the theatrical language of Plautus including the verbal and the non-verbal (kinesic, proxemic) means of communicating.
Books by Łukasz Berger
Politeness in Ancient Greek and Latin, ed. L. Unceta Gómez, Ł. Berger, CUP
The first major study of politeness in Ancient Greece and Rome, introducing the linguistic
frame... more The first major study of politeness in Ancient Greece and Rome, introducing the linguistic
framework and showcasing a range of methods, topics, and genres. The individual chapters focus on canonical authors as well as on under-studied texts by ancient scholars and court proceedings.
Apokolokyntoza Boskiego Klaudiusza, czyli dyni(dei)fikacja to szczególne dzieło w dorobku Seneki,... more Apokolokyntoza Boskiego Klaudiusza, czyli dyni(dei)fikacja to szczególne dzieło w dorobku Seneki, słynącego głównie z twórczości filozoficznej, moralizatorskiej lub tragediowej. Ten niewielki utwór, napisany w konwencji satyry menippejskiej, miał być bezpośrednią reakcją autora na śmierć znienawidzonego cesarza Klaudiusza (13 października 54 r.), który ongiś zesłał go na Korsykę. Jeśli uznać Apokolokyntosis za rodzaj nieprzebierającej w środkach literackiej zemsty, byłby to akt tym bardziej okrutny, że dokonany na nieżyjącym wrogu. Najnowszy przekład dzieła próbuje odzyskać to, co — jak się wydaje – zostało stracone lub nie wybrzmiało z wystarczającą mocą przy ostatnim spolszczeniu (ponad 40 lat temu). Priorytetem w proponowanym tłumaczeniu jest komunikatywność, która z założenia powinna ułatwić nawiązanie bliskiej relacji z odbiorcą, kluczowej wszak dla wywołania w nim efektu komicznego. Dopiero wtedy, wracając z zaciekawieniem do tego wielokroć niedocenianego dzieła, możemy, dzięki obszernemu komentarzowi filologicznemu, zwrócić uwagę na szereg problemów natury interpretacyjnej, historycznoliterackiej, gatunkowej i językowej, które stawia przed nami Seneka Satyryk.
Latin Linguistics by Łukasz Berger
Laughter and Humour in Latin Literature, 2026
The chapter analyzes a form of dialogic humor characteristic of Plautus known as the “self-repair... more The chapter analyzes a form of dialogic humor characteristic of Plautus known as the “self-repair joke,” in which one character produces a problematic utterance, another initiates its clarification, and the first delivers the punchline. Drawing on tools from Conversation Analysis, the author shows that this mechanism is based on repair structures typical of natural conversation, but is transformed into a comic device. The study also considers the role of meter and versification in shaping the humorous effect, and argues that such jokes enhance onstage interaction and audience engagement.
The paper explores how Roman novels (by Petronius and Apuleius)
use reporting clauses to segment ... more The paper explores how Roman novels (by Petronius and Apuleius)
use reporting clauses to segment quotations and convey prosodic and pragmatic phenomena. The use of parenthetical inquit creates a concise left periphery for reported speech that can contain full segments of talk or discourse-marking devices that function as communicative pre-units. This type of segmentation helps to instigate interaction (e.g. changes of addressee, attention-managing devices) and inform the recipient about the type of action to come in the first turn-unit. When the first segment of reported speech contains syntactically dependent elements, the placement of inquit serves the narrator as a focalising or highlighting mechanism, which affects the representation of the message and the meaningful organisation of its content vis-à-vis the reader/listener. Finally, the article collects the most common speech-opening segments, which indicate the type of the subsequent illocution and fulfil the function of what is called here a speech-act quotative.
The Human Tragicomedy: the Reception of Apuleius’ Golden Ass in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century, 2024
The face-to-face interactions of the novel’s protagonist, rarely explored by the scholarship on M... more The face-to-face interactions of the novel’s protagonist, rarely explored by the scholarship on Metamorphoses, have been recently examined by Adkins, who draws on Critical Discourse Analysis to reveal ‘the use of discourse as a tool of social power’. Being more interested in Lucius’ discursive self-fashioning (and its failures), the scholar pays little attention to the actual linguistic use. Thus the present chapter, by focussing on the pragmatic aspects of language in a given dialogic exchange, aims at offering a more fine-grained examination of Lucius’ verbal behaviour. To this end, I will read the text closely through the lens of im/politeness theory, a methodology designed specifically to describe the interpersonal dynamics of social interactions. The following sections will analyse Lucius’ most prominent conversations reported in the novel (with strangers, intimates, low-status characters and the members of the elite); but for reasons of space, I will leave out his rather complex relationship with Fotis. First this chapter will set out by presenting the theoretical framework of im/politeness studies.
Self-interruptions (aposiopesis) in Roman Comedy
In the study of ancient dramatic dialogues, utterances that are self-interrupted by the character... more In the study of ancient dramatic dialogues, utterances that are self-interrupted by the characters on stage (aposiopesis) are difficult to distinguish from other conversational phenomena (hesitant speech, ellipsis or interruptions by another speaker). This chapter uses data from Plautus and Terence to define self-interruptions as a strategy for restraining oneself from expressing certain culturally and interactionally delicate content. By contrast to previous research, the authors apply methods of Conversation Analysis in the examination of the comedy dialogues. Accordingly, their revised criteria for the correct identification of aposiopesis include responses to incomplete turns and possible metrical ways of representing gaps of silence.
SPPGL 33(2), 2023: 5–25. © The Author(s), Adam Mickiewicz University Press, 2023.Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the CC licence (BY, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).SYMBOLAE PHILOLOGORUM POSNANIENSIUM GRAECAE ET LATINAE, 2023
This article concerns one recurrent type of conversational joke in Plautus, which consists of thr... more This article concerns one recurrent type of conversational joke in Plautus, which consists of three different steps: (1) some problematic formulation by the joke-teller, (2) a request for an explanation by the interlocutor, and (3) a punchline. Using Conversation Analysis methods, the paper describes how the joke-telling routine is responded to by its in-play recipient(s).
Im/Politeness of Interruptions in Roman Comedy
Politeness in Ancient Greek and Latin, ed. L. Unceta Gómez, Ł. Berger, CUP , 2022
The chapter uses the dialogues of Roman comedy (Plautus, Terence) to examine the correlation betw... more The chapter uses the dialogues of Roman comedy (Plautus, Terence) to examine the correlation between the characters' perception of im/politeness and the practice of interrupting. By adopting the methods of Conversation Analysis, the study sets out criteria to distinguish interruptions from other non-hostile or non-salient types of interventions in a dramatic text without explicit stage directions. According to the main argument, proper interruptions – just like impolite behaviour – are constructed interactionally and their identification depends on how the affected party reacts to someone invading their speaking turn. The analysis of face-work in various types of turn-taking incidents, either collaborative or disruptive and antagonistic, helps to justify why given talk is not handled as an interruption. After comparing some qualitative and quantitative data, the chapter shows that there are many examples of face-threatening and hostile interventions in the comedy corpus that cannot be analysed as interruptions but rather should be associated with the type of interaction (e.g. conflictual talk) or the speaker’s dominant position within.
Studi Italiani di Linguistica Teorica e Applicata, 50.3, 2021
This paper aims to investigate the use of time-related features of talk in evoking (im)politeness... more This paper aims to investigate the use of time-related features of talk in evoking (im)politeness in Roman Comedy. To this end, I use evidence from the scansion of the text to identify syllable shortenings and accumulations of heavy (slow-pacing) tokens, as well as rhythmical patterns within utterances pronounced in socially charged situations. Moreover, the (im)polite value is associated with the meticulously timed delivery of speech acts (e.g., mocking threats) with particular focus on the
culture-specific use of religious formulae. As a result, the paper tentatively presents some methods of recovering prosodic cues for verbal interaction, represented in the comedy text.
Linguisticae Dissertationes. Current Perspectives on Latin Grammar, Lexicon and Pragmatics. Selected Papers from the 20th International Colloquium on Latin Linguistics (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, June 17-21, 2019), ed. Antonio María Martín Rodríguez, Ediciones Clásicas, Madrid 2021, 605-20., 2021
By using the methods of Conversational Analysis, the present chapter aims at investigating the pl... more By using the methods of Conversational Analysis, the present chapter aims at investigating the placement of Nominal Address (here: personal names) throughout the verbal interaction in the comedies by Plautus and Terence. After describing the system of turn-taking, adapted for theatrical dialogue, the main focus is placed on how the tokens of address are integrated into the turn design. Accordingly, various pragmatic functions will be analysed in relation to the positioning of Nominal Address: both in a single turn (in turn-initial, mid-turn and turn-final position) and inside the structure of an adjacency pair. In conclusion, it is stated that, depending on their sequencing patterns, the Nominal Address functions on three different levels: dialogical (turn-taking), interpersonal (stance-taking and politeness), and textual (discourse organization).
Philologia Classica, 2021
** The paper is available in open access at https://philclass.spbu.ru/article/view/11507/8066 **
... more ** The paper is available in open access at https://philclass.spbu.ru/article/view/11507/8066 **
The article addresses the pragmatic and sociolinguistic constraints of interrupting in Roman comedy. It starts with a redefinition of the phenomenon informed by the methods of Conversation Analysis (CA): apart from syntactically incomplete utterances (as a result of interruptions by others), the analysis also includes the cases of interruptions reported by the characters. Furthermore, a distinction is made between intrusive (disaligning) interventions and other forms of competitive turn encroachments. The term ‘interruptions’, however, has been reserved only for the former, antagonistic type which serves to express disagreement and disinterest or to usurp the speaking turn. Using the revised criteria, the article proceeds to comment on quantitative data extracted from all the extant plays by Plautus and Terence. Accordingly, interruptions are viewed in relation to gender, age and status of the speakers, whereas some more detailed analysis concerns male and female citizens, prostitutes and servants. After comparing every character’s share of talk with their proportional use of turn incursions (both collaborative and disruptive), it is argued that the violation of the turn-exchange system is significantly associated with some interlocutors and less so with others. The last section presents interrupting as a pragmatic means of exerting power in interaction while discussing the phenomenon also from a (sociolinguistic) cross-gender perspective.
Las fórmulas de saludo y de despedida en las lenguas románicas. Sincronía, diacronía y aplicación a la enseñanza, 2021
This chapter uses methods of Conversation Analysis to revisit the greeting function of question f... more This chapter uses methods of Conversation Analysis to revisit the greeting function of question formulae (quid agis/ agitur?, quid fit?) in Roman comedy. By identifying the basic organizational structure of dialogue opening, it stresses the functional and sequential closeness of greetings and small- talk tokens. !e analysis of the data from Plautus and Terence suggests that the question- based expression may have a varied status, ranging from a genuine inquiry to a routine greeting and a dialogue- opener.
Dionysus ex machina, 2020
The paper aims at examining different types of talk represented in the plays by Plautus and Teren... more The paper aims at examining different types of talk represented in the plays by Plautus and Terence. To this end, it combines Goffman's participation framework with tools of Conversation Analysis, which serve to offer a more nuanced definition of speaking turns and the conversational floor. After discussing several types of footing within comedy dialogues, turns are differentiated from other strands of communicating: side comments (including theatrical asides), self-directed cries and backchannel talk. Moreover, verbal interactions in Plautus and Terence are analysed in relation to their floor structure and the kind of participation they entail for the interlocutors. Finally, the concepts here presented, as argued throughout the paper, help to revisit some of the existing accounts of verbal interaction in Roman comedy.
L'articolo si propone di esaminare i diversi modi di parlare rappresentati nelle opere di Plauto e Terenzio. A tal scopo, la teoria del quadro di partecipazione di Goffman viene combinata con strumenti di analisi conversazionale che servono a offrire una definizione un po' più elaborata dei turni e del piano (ing. floor) di conversazione. Dopo aver discusso i vari tipi di ancoraggio dialogico nelle commedie, i turni vengono differenziati dagli altri livelli di comunicazione: commenti secondari (compresi gli "a parte" teatrali), esclamazioni autoreferenziali ed espressioni di feedback. Inoltre, le interazioni verbali in Plauto e Terenzio vengono analizzate in relazione alla loro struttura del piano di conversazione e al tipo di partecipazione che instaurano con gli interlocutori. Infine, i fenomeni presentati, come sostenuto in tutto il lavoro, aiutano a chiarire alcune concezioni dell'interazione verbale nella commedia romana.
Journal of Latin Linguistics, 2020
This article investigates multiple pragmatic facets of Latin greeting as depicted in the corpus o... more This article investigates multiple pragmatic facets of Latin greeting as depicted in the corpus of Roman comedy (Plautus, Terence). To this end, different frameworks are combined, including Conversation Analysis, Speech Act Theory, and the most prominent (Im)politeness Theories. The complexity of the greeting phenomenon is first demonstrated by identifying its position inside the opening section of the dialogue with possible reductions, elaborations, and substitutions. Thus a heterogeneous group of greeting tokens is retrieved from the comedy corpus, which, furthermore, fit the speech-act theoretical description of the greeting as a behabitative (Austin), expressive act (Searle) or acknowledgment (Bach and Harnish). Moreover, the paper briefly signalizes the contact-oriented (phatic) functions of the salutation ritual as access display (Shiffrin) or its use as a mechanism of (re)producing the social order (Schegloff). The main part of the investigation, however, is devoted to the greeting formulae and their linguistic variation in Plautus and Terence. After briefly presenting the classical model of (im)politeness (Brown and Levinson), the paper relates the speech-act formulation of the expressions to positive- or negative-politeness strategies. Finally, the article applies the frame-based analysis of the politeness’ formulaic language, as proposed by Terkourafi. The dialogue openings are classified according to their broader extralinguistic context (e.g. participants, temporal setting, the reason for the encounter) into several situational frames. In the last section of the paper, the (im)politeness value of the greeting expressions is revised in relation to their adequacy to a given situation type. In result, some instances of using the formulae inappropriately (i.e., out of frame) are given, which demonstrate the complex interpersonal dynamics of the verbal interaction depicted by Plautus and Terence.
Pragmatic Approaches to Drama. Studies in Communication on the Ancient Stage, 2021
Open Access Publication, available at https://brill.com/view/title/58967.
The present chapter ex... more Open Access Publication, available at https://brill.com/view/title/58967.
The present chapter examines several pragmatic aspects of giving advice in Roman comedy, a speech act particularly concerned with the speakers’ self-representation and their social bonds during critical moments of the plot. The following pages set out to address the complexity of the phenomenon of advising in Plautus and Terence, its discursive realisation and its contribution to the Latin system of politeness, as represented in the comedy texts. To this end, I will need to combine various pragmatic perspectives. The speech-act theoretical description of advising (Section 2) will be followed by its analysis in light of the research on im/politeness (Section 3–4). In addition, the formulation of speech acts will be investigated in relation to their position within an interaction (Section 5) as described by Conversational Analysis. I am also interested in how the act of advising is carried out, starting from the beginning of the adviser’s turn.
Graeco-Latina Brunensia, 2020
The paper interprets the verbal behaviour of pater familias and his subordinates in Plautus' Casi... more The paper interprets the verbal behaviour of pater familias and his subordinates in Plautus' Casina through the lenses of conversation analysis and im/politeness research. According to the approach here presented, turn-allocating techniques can function as a means of depicting power relationships-whether presupposed or emergent and negotiated on-stage-among high-and low-status characters in Roman comedies. The analysed data draw a connection between the active initiating of the dialogue, the management of the turn space, and speakership rights (e.g. silencing through the directive tace) with the dominant social position, prototypi-cally of high-born men. The authority of Roman slave-owners, reproduced in the characteri-sation of the senex, has been viewed in relation to potestas, the Roman conceptualisation of default social dominance. On the other hand, the subordinate role of slaves arguably is governed by quasi-mandatory patterns of linguistic use interpreted as politic behaviour which-in interaction with free-born citizens-consisted of obedience, withdrawal, lack of initiative, and deprivation of face.
"Drama y dramaturgia en la escena romana. III encuentro internacional del teatro latino", ed. R. López Gregoris, Zaragoza: Libros Pórtico., 281-309., 2019
En el presente artículo nos proponemos investigar la interfaz entre la métrica y la pragmática de... more En el presente artículo nos proponemos investigar la interfaz entre la métrica y la pragmática de las comedias de Plauto y Terencio. Más específicamente, trazamos la relación del ritmo de los versos cómicos —tal como viene codificado en el diseño métrico correspondiente— con la gestión de los turnos conversacionales. Asimismo, como un recurso comunicativo complementario a los segmentos del habla, se analizan los silencios, a saber, los vacíos prosódicos inscritos en la estructura del intercambio dialógico. Para atender a los aspectos comunicativos de la métrica, nos valdremos de la división en líneas métricas, como un fenómeno menos polémico y más fácilmente identificable en ambos autores. Por último, el diseño conversacional (prosódico-pragmático) del verso nos servirá para reinterpretar los casos de encabalgamiento en los diálogos cómicos, con su posible motivación de imitación del flujo de la conversación natural.
Current Perspectives in Semiotics. Text, Genres, and Representations, 2018
The paper investigates the ‘small talk’ routine in the dialogues by the Roman comedy playwright P... more The paper investigates the ‘small talk’ routine in the dialogues by the Roman comedy playwright Plautus. Since the theoretical framework of the analysis is based on the dynamic concept of ‘phatic interpretation’, the main stress is put on the way the interlocutors are negotiating the degrees of phaticity and commitment. Firstly, the opening sequence of Plautine dialogue is explained in order to indicate the position of the ‘small talk’ routine in the global structure of conversation. Then the most conventional Latin phatic tokens (e.g. quid agis? quid fit?) are mentioned as a common device of introducing the preliminary topic (e.g. state of health, general state of affairs). In the main part of the paper, different dialogue openings are analyzed in order to localize the interlocutors’ strategies either of extending or abbreviating the phatic (uncommitted) exchange. As a result, some apparently universal (e.g. Sacks “everyone has to lie” rule) and culture-specific (e.g. Roman superstition, symmetry in amicitia) phenomena are pointed out. In conclusion, it is stated that the Plautine dialogue, even in its initial, ritual phase, contains instances of naturalistic real-time negotiations that seem to both dynamize the interaction and fulfill the artistic agenda of the author
"CRUDELITAS. Okrucieństwo w literaturze i kulturze europejskiej", E. Wesołowska, W. Szturc (red.), Poznań 2017, ss. 273-296., 2017
The aim of the paper is to analyze the conversation openings in Plautine comedies highlighting th... more The aim of the paper is to analyze the conversation openings in Plautine comedies highlighting the tokens of phatic communication. The symmetric and friendly dialogic exchanges are contrasted with cases of linguistic aggression in its institutionalized (flagitatio) and comic (verbivelitatio) form. A special attention is paid to the farsical ‘small talk’ scenes between two low characters that both present a range of impolite behavior and phaticity. In conclusion it is stated that those instances of friendly insulting and aggressive humour are in keeping with the modern theories about ritual hostility among marginalized groups. That special way of creating and reaffirming social bonds between Plautine slaves is tentatively defined as ‘dysphemic communion’.
Uploads
PhD Thesis by Łukasz Berger
Rozprawa wykorzystuje współczesne narzędzia analizy konwersacji do badania dialogu komediowego w zachowanych utworach Plauta. Skupia się przy tym na zjawisku otwarcia rozmowy – od nawiązania kontaktu z rozmówcą po wprowadzenie pierwszego tematu. We wstępnej części pracy ustala się jednostki analizy dialogu na poziomie wypowiedzi jednego mówiącego oraz wymiany między dwoma interlokutorami. Ustalenia terminologiczne służą następnie do wyodrębnienia sekwencji otwierających dialog we wszystkich komediach Plauta. W pierwszej kolejności opisuje się sceny wprowadzenia kontaktu między postaciami poprzez podejście oraz wezwanie do rozpoczęcia konwersacji. Kolejnym wyróżnionym elementem otwarcia dialogowego jest (auto)identyfikacja mówiących. Na licznych przykładach zwrotów bezpośrednich towarzyszących inicjacji kontaktu omawia się strategie konstruowania tzw. twarzy interakcyjnej. Najwięcej uwagi poświęca się natomiast formułom pozdrowień wraz z ich różnorakimi wariantami, uzależnionymi od kontekstu spotkania. Równie obszerny jest rozdział dotyczący wymiany fatycznej (tzw. small talk), której budowę odnosi się do typu relacji między interlokutorami. Wreszcie omawia się strategie wprowadzania pierwszego tematu dialogu, które stają się delimitatorami wstępnej fazy konwersacji. Rozprawę zamyka próba syntezy przeprowadzonych badań oraz propozycja powiązania językowych oraz pozajęzykowych (kinezyjnych, proksemicznych) elementów otwarcia dialogowego w ramach swoistej gramatyki interakcji scenicznej.
[[IN ENGLISH:]]
The thesis employs methods of conversational analysis to study the comedy dialogue of the preserved plays by Plautus. Its main focus is the opening phase of the conversation: after establishing contact between the interlocutors till introducing the first topic. The study begins with distinguishing units of dialogue both on the level of one utterance and the exchange between two speakers. Those terms and concepts are later used to describe the opening sequence in all comedies by Plautus. The first chapter discusses the scenes of the encounter between the interlocutors that leads to starting the dialogue by approaching and by verbal summons. Then the (auto)identification move is analyzed in order to indicate different strategies of construing the interactional face by forms of address. Further on, most attention is given to the greeting formulae along with their numerous contextual variants. Also, the phatic communion (small talk) is discussed extensively: it is argued that the shape of this exchange might be determined by the type of relations between the interlocutors. The last part of the study concerns the mechanisms of introducing the first topic slot which serves as delimitating marks of the conversation opening. Finally, some synthesis of the results is made that leads to creating a tentative model of interactional grammar for the theatrical language of Plautus including the verbal and the non-verbal (kinesic, proxemic) means of communicating.
Books by Łukasz Berger
framework and showcasing a range of methods, topics, and genres. The individual chapters focus on canonical authors as well as on under-studied texts by ancient scholars and court proceedings.
Latin Linguistics by Łukasz Berger
use reporting clauses to segment quotations and convey prosodic and pragmatic phenomena. The use of parenthetical inquit creates a concise left periphery for reported speech that can contain full segments of talk or discourse-marking devices that function as communicative pre-units. This type of segmentation helps to instigate interaction (e.g. changes of addressee, attention-managing devices) and inform the recipient about the type of action to come in the first turn-unit. When the first segment of reported speech contains syntactically dependent elements, the placement of inquit serves the narrator as a focalising or highlighting mechanism, which affects the representation of the message and the meaningful organisation of its content vis-à-vis the reader/listener. Finally, the article collects the most common speech-opening segments, which indicate the type of the subsequent illocution and fulfil the function of what is called here a speech-act quotative.
culture-specific use of religious formulae. As a result, the paper tentatively presents some methods of recovering prosodic cues for verbal interaction, represented in the comedy text.
The article addresses the pragmatic and sociolinguistic constraints of interrupting in Roman comedy. It starts with a redefinition of the phenomenon informed by the methods of Conversation Analysis (CA): apart from syntactically incomplete utterances (as a result of interruptions by others), the analysis also includes the cases of interruptions reported by the characters. Furthermore, a distinction is made between intrusive (disaligning) interventions and other forms of competitive turn encroachments. The term ‘interruptions’, however, has been reserved only for the former, antagonistic type which serves to express disagreement and disinterest or to usurp the speaking turn. Using the revised criteria, the article proceeds to comment on quantitative data extracted from all the extant plays by Plautus and Terence. Accordingly, interruptions are viewed in relation to gender, age and status of the speakers, whereas some more detailed analysis concerns male and female citizens, prostitutes and servants. After comparing every character’s share of talk with their proportional use of turn incursions (both collaborative and disruptive), it is argued that the violation of the turn-exchange system is significantly associated with some interlocutors and less so with others. The last section presents interrupting as a pragmatic means of exerting power in interaction while discussing the phenomenon also from a (sociolinguistic) cross-gender perspective.
L'articolo si propone di esaminare i diversi modi di parlare rappresentati nelle opere di Plauto e Terenzio. A tal scopo, la teoria del quadro di partecipazione di Goffman viene combinata con strumenti di analisi conversazionale che servono a offrire una definizione un po' più elaborata dei turni e del piano (ing. floor) di conversazione. Dopo aver discusso i vari tipi di ancoraggio dialogico nelle commedie, i turni vengono differenziati dagli altri livelli di comunicazione: commenti secondari (compresi gli "a parte" teatrali), esclamazioni autoreferenziali ed espressioni di feedback. Inoltre, le interazioni verbali in Plauto e Terenzio vengono analizzate in relazione alla loro struttura del piano di conversazione e al tipo di partecipazione che instaurano con gli interlocutori. Infine, i fenomeni presentati, come sostenuto in tutto il lavoro, aiutano a chiarire alcune concezioni dell'interazione verbale nella commedia romana.
The present chapter examines several pragmatic aspects of giving advice in Roman comedy, a speech act particularly concerned with the speakers’ self-representation and their social bonds during critical moments of the plot. The following pages set out to address the complexity of the phenomenon of advising in Plautus and Terence, its discursive realisation and its contribution to the Latin system of politeness, as represented in the comedy texts. To this end, I will need to combine various pragmatic perspectives. The speech-act theoretical description of advising (Section 2) will be followed by its analysis in light of the research on im/politeness (Section 3–4). In addition, the formulation of speech acts will be investigated in relation to their position within an interaction (Section 5) as described by Conversational Analysis. I am also interested in how the act of advising is carried out, starting from the beginning of the adviser’s turn.