Language and Rhythm in Plautus: Synchronic and Diachronic Studies

This book consists of linguistic case-studies of selected features of the language and meter of Plautus. These phenomena are investigated for the light they can shed on the prosodic organization of Latin speech and the intersection between prosodic phonology and syntax; some are also placed in a broader comparative-historical context. Topics discussed include Meyer’s and Luchs’s laws, split resolutions, contraction of est ("is”), enjambement, iambic shortening, and the pragmatic effects on the rhythmic organization of phrases.