Asyndeton and its Interpretation in Latin Literature

J. N. Adams CBE FBA is an Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College Oxford, an Honorary Fellow of Brasenose College Oxford and an Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester. He has published many articles and books on the Latin Language, including Bilingualism and the Latin Language (Cambridge, 2003), The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC – AD 600 (Cambridge, 2007) and Social Variation and the Latin Language (Cambridge, 2013). He was awarded the Kenyon Medal of the British Academy in 2009.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Asyndetic and syndetic coordination: definitions and types; 2. 'Asyndeta' that may not be asyndeta: roles of adjectives; appositional compounds; and 'asyndetic hendiadys'; 3. Asyndeton versus coordination, an introduction; 4. Lists of two types; 5. Supposed 'effects' of asyndeton; Part II. 'Grammatical' Types: 6. Asyndetic pairs (mainly of adjectives) of which at least one member is a term with a negative prefix; 7. Simple verb + compound in asyndeton; 8. Juxtaposition of active and passive forms of the same verb; 9. Asyndetic pairs of verbs of different tense or mood; 10. Pairs of imperatives; 11. Masculine-feminine pairs; 12. Recapitulation: 'Grammatical' types and their distribution; Part III. Semantic Types: 13. Pairs of opposites; 14. Pairs denoting family members; 15. 'Semantic' types: some conclusions; Part IV. Structures: 16. Rule of ascending length (?); 17. Correlative distribution; 18. End-of-list coordination and 'weak' asyndeton bimembre; 19. Accumulations of asyndeta: a few patterns; 20. Discontinuous asyndeton and conjunct hyperbaton; 21. Asyndetic pairs dependent on a single preposition; Part V. Genres and Texts: 22. Laws and prayers; 23. Plautus; 24. Virgil and early high-style poetry; 25. Lucilius; 26. Cicero; 27. Catullus; 28. Caesar, Bellum Ciuile: asyndeton and textual criticism; 29. Horace; 30. The Annalists, Sallust and Tacitus; 31. Livy; Part VI. Conclusions: 32. Asyndeton in Latin.