Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Update on Casus Interrogandi

In a previous post I mentioned Nigidius Figulus' discussion of the intonation and/or stress of the vocative and genitive of Valerius.  I didn't say anything about Nigidius' odd term casus interrogandi, in this context, apparently meaning the genitive.  This term and the interpretation of this passage and others are the subject of a book-length treatment by Walter Belardi and P. Cipriano, Casus interrogandi. Nigidius Figulus e la teoria stoica della lingua. They argue that casus (plural)  interrogandi refer to the oblique cases in general, a term originating in Stoic grammatical theory.

The authors specifically lament the fact that English-speaking scholars, especially on the subject of ancient Grammar, don't read works written in Italian (p. 159).  I try very hard to read what Italian scholars produce, but I missed this one.  

Belardi W. and P. Cipriano, 1990. Casus interrogandi. Nigidius Figulus e la teoria stoica della lingua. Rome: Libreria Herder.

1 comment:

  1. See this: Marcello De Martino, "Noctes Atticae, 13, 26 e il presunto ‘equivoco’ di Gellio: riaperto il caso del ‘casus interrogandi’", in Indogermanische Forschungen, 111, 2006 pp. 192-226

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