Latin word for period

Introduction to the Period

No, not this :         .

The Period is an extended and logically coherent sentence structure, with its subject and main verb placed at or near the final position in order to ‘hold suspense’ of sense until the entire sentence is read.

• English is given to short sentences, not periodic sentences.
• Latin (an inflected) is friendly toward period structure because the relationship between all words within a longer sentence are easily comprehended by the specific case of each word. Case lends internal structure or Latin sentences, where English relies on specific word order, clauses and their transitional particles.
• The Period encourages Latin reads to view sentences as wholes, where English readers view (long) sentences as interrelated parts.
• The Latin periodus, -ī (complete sentence) is from the Greek περιοδός, -οῦ (cycle, unit) [viz. περὶ + ἣ ὃδος, road]

Period Samples

An English period (rare):

High on a throne of royal state, which far

Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,

Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand

Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,

Satan exalted sat. —Milton, Paradise Lost, ii 1-5

————————————————————————————————————————

A Latin period (appreciably less rare [though not quite common]):

Volscī exiguam spem in armīs, aliā undique abscissā, cum tentāssent, praeter cētera adversa, locō quoquo inīquō ad pugnam congressī, inīquiōre ad fugam, cum ab omnī parte caederentur, ad precēs ā certāmine versī dēditō imperātōre trāditīsque armīs, sub iugum missī, cum singulīs vestīmentīs, īgnōminiae clādisque plēnī dīmittuntur. -Livy, iv.10

The Volscians, determined on trying the slender hope they had in arms, all others now cut off, besides many other disadvantages, having come to an engagement unfavorable for fighting, and still more so for retreat, when they were being cut down on every side, from fighting have recourse to entreaties, having given up their general and surrendered their arms, they are sent under the yoke and dismissed full of disgrace and suffering, with one garment each. (trans. Spillan)

The central verb of the unit, dīmittuntur, is held to the very end, and a grand tapestry of meaning, history and structure is woven from one clause to the next, all hanging in the air until that summary, ultimate note.

The Essential AG: 601

Famous Phrase: quārē nōn, ut intelligere possit, sed, ne omnīnō possit nōn intelligere, cūrandum

[therefore, we must care that the reader be unable to misunderstand, not able to understand]

Related Link: Hyperekperissou, “Translating”

(periodic sense-shift in action)

600. Latin, unlike modern languages, expresses the relation of words to each other by inflection rather than by position. Hence its structure not only admits of great variety in the arrangement of words, but is especially favorable to that form of sentence which is called a Period. In a period, the sense is expressed by the sentence as a whole, and is held in suspense till the delivery of the last word.

An English sentence does not often exhibit this form of structure. It was imitated, sometimes with great skill and beauty, by many of the earlier writers of English prose; but its effect is better seen in poetry, as in the following passage.

High on a throne of royal state, which far

Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,

Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand

Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,

Satan exalted sat. —Paradise Lost, ii. 1-5.

But in argument or narrative, the best English writers more commonly give short clear sentences, each distinct from the rest, and saying one thing by itself. In Latin, on the contrary, the story or argument is viewed as a whole; and the logical relation among all its parts is carefully indicated.

601. In the structure of the Period, the following rules are to be observed.

a. In general the main subject or object is put in the main clause, not in a subordinate one.

Hannibal cum recēnsuisset auxilia Gādēs profectus est. (Liv. 21.21) When Hannibal had reviewed the auxiliaries, he set out for Cadiz.

Volscī exiguam spem in armīs, aliā undique abscissā, cum tentāssent, praeter cētera adversa, locō quoque inīquō ad pūgnam congressī, inīquiōre ad fugam, cum ab omnī parte caederentur, ad precēs ā certāmine versī dēditō imperātōre trāditīsque armīs, sub iugum missī, cum singulīs vestīmentīs, īgnōminiae clādisque plēnī dīmittuntur. (Liv. 4.10). [Here the main fact is the return of the Volscians. But the striking circumstances of the surrender etc., which in English would be detailed in a number of brief independent sentences, are put into the several subordinate clauses within the main clause so that the passage gives a complete picture in one sentence.]

b. Clauses are usually arranged in the order of prominence in the mind of the speaker; so, usually, cause before result; purpose, manner, and the like, before the act.

c. In coördinate clauses, the copulative conjunctions are frequently omitted (asyndeton). In such cases the connection is made clear by some antithesis indicated by the position of words.

d. A change of subject, when required, is marked by the introduction of a pronoun, if the new subject has already been mentioned. But such change is often purposely avoided by a change in structure, the less important being merged in the more important by the aid of participles or of subordinate phrases.

Quem ut barbarī incendium effūgisse vīdērunt, tēlīs ēminus missīs interfēcērunt. (Nep. Alc. 10), When the barbarians saw that he had escaped, THEY threw darts at HIM at long range and killed HIM.

Celeriter cōnfectō negōtiō, in hīberna legiōnēs redūxit. (B. G. 6.3) The matter was soon finished, AND he led the legions, etc.

e. So the repetition of a noun, or the substitution of a pronoun for it, is avoided unless a different case is required.

dolōrem sī nōn potuerō frangere occultābō. (Phil. 12.21) If I cannot conquer the pain, I will hide IT. [Cf. If I cannot conquer I will hide the pain.]

f. The Romans were careful to close a period with an agreeable succession of long and short syllables.

Quod scīs nihil prōdest, quod nescīs multum obest. (Or. 166) What you know is of no use, what you do not know does great harm.

Note— In rhetorical writing, particularly in oratory, the Romans, influenced by their study of the Greek orators, gave more attention to this matter than in other forms of composition. Quintilian (9.4.72) lays down the general rule that a clause should not open with the beginning of a verse or close with the end of one.

The role of Latin
was very important due to such historic events as the
Roman occupation of Britain, the influence of the Roman civilization
& the introduction of Christianity.
That’s why Latin greatly influenced OE: its alphabet, the growth of
writing & literature.

Latin words entered the E.
language at different stages of OE history. Chronologically they can
be divided into several
layers:

1)
The oldest layer words
were borrowed into E. in the 1^st
c. BC. Most of the territory known to us as now Europe was occupied
by Roman Empire. Among the inhabitants of the continent are Germanic
tribes. After a number of wars between Germanic tribes & the
Romans, these 2 opposing peoples come into peaceful contact. Trade is
carried. & the Germanic people get knowledge of some new &
useful things. The first among them are new
things to eat. It is
from the Romans that the Germanic tribes learn how to make butter &
cheese. & as there are no words for these foodstuffs in their
tribal languages, they are to use Latin words to name them.

It is also to the Romans that
the Germanic tribes gain the knowledge of some new fruits &
vegetables. & the Latin names of these fruits
& vegetables
enter the language: cherry, pear, plum, pea, beet, plant.

Among other language borrowings
of this period are: cup, kitchen, kettle, dish, pie

2) The
second layer
consists of words, which directly or indirectly belong to the sphere
of religion &
church, & words connected with learning.
This period of Latin influence began with the introduction of
Christianity in the
late 6^th
century & lasted
to the end of OE. The total number of Latin loan-words in OE exceeds
500, this layer accounting for over 400 words. As Latin was the
official language of the Christian Church, so Latin borrowings came
from church Latin that time. & indicated persons, objects &
ideas associated with church, religion & rituals.

e.g. priest, bishop, abbot,
pope, monk, angle, c&le, devil.

After the introduction of
Christianity many monastic
schools were set up
in Britain. The spread of education led to the wider use of Latin:
teaching was conducted in Latin, or consisted of learning Latin.

e.g. school, scholar, magister

Also:
accent, grammar, meter, notary, decline

A great number of miscellaneous
borrowings came from Latin probably because they indicated new
objects & new ideas, introduced into E. life together with their
Latin names by those who had a good comm& of Latin: monks,
priests, school-masters. Some of these scholarly words became part of
everyday voc-ry. They belong to different
semantic spheres:

names of trees & plants:
elm, lily, pine, pear, mint, fennel, rose, plant.

of illnesses & words
pertaining to medical treatment: cancer, fever, plaster.

names of animals:
camel, elephant, tiger, mule.

names of clothes &
household duties: cap, mat, sack, sock, silk.

names of foods:
beet, oyster, radish.

The Latin impact on the OE
vocabulary was not restricted to borrowing of words. There were also
other aspects of influence. The most important of them is the
appearance of the so-called “translation-loans”
– words & phrases created on the pattern of Latin words as
their literal translations. The earliest examples of
translation-loans are names of the days of the week: Monday ═ day
of the Moon, Tuesday ═ day of Mars, Wednesday ═ day of Mercury.

3) & again in the 16th-17th
following the period of Renaissance, Latin became increasingly
important as the language of learning & academic life

e.g. philosophy, music,
phenomenon, to collect, to attract, to illustrate..

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