Stanford University

Lev Blumenfeld
Plautus Wrote No Iambs

Abstract

Much recent empirical study of poetic form is couched in the Jakobsonian hypothesis which states that categories to which metrical and other formal constraints make reference are those that are available to grammar. This hypothesis gave rise to both typological work on poetic form, aiming at uncovering the limits on diversity of formal devices across versification systems ultimately due to the limited set of linguistically relevant categories, as well as to fruitful empirical study of particular systems, where connecting the metrical facts to linguistic structure sheds light on both. The well-described but poorly understood metrical constraints employed by the early Roman playwright Plautus have so far not been subject to such scrutiny. In this talk I examine Plautine meter and its connection with the prosodic structure of Latin.

I concentrate on a set of constraints on the distribution of word boundaries and syllable weight in the dialogue meters of Plautus. I argue that the apparently very complex constraints can only be properly understood in terms of foot structure of Latin, which both simplifies the statement of the constraints and offers better empirical coverage. My analysis makes it necessary to revise the traditional understanding of the constituent structure of Plautus's lines: contrary to received wisdom, the foot-based analysis of the meters suggests that Plautus wrote no iambs, only trochees.

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