Thus, according to Zanker, the historical period (specifically, the 7th – 5th c. Approaches to the concept of signifying are to be seen as well in epic allegorical interpretations: in order to make an allegorical interpretation it is necessary to separate the apparent meaning of the words from what the author really meant. Further the genitive absolute can stand in for A means B in such expressions as “A happening…B will happen” (Hes. Thus the verb σημαίνειν is used in the sense of “making a sign”, “commanding”, “marking” the verb ὑποκρίνεσθαι means “to interpret, to explain” and emphatic affirmative expressions such as ἦ μάλα “surely” stand for “it means” ( Il. Zanker argues that the vocabulary of meaning is present neither in Homer nor in Hesiod, but the vocabulary of interpretation of signs and dreams is well developed. 104-122) goes back ad fontes and analyzes Archaic poetry. Further, the usages of all semantic fields discussed above, with the exception of those of equivalence (εἶναι, δύνασθαι etc.), were transferred from animate to inanimate subjects.Ĭhapter five (pp. Using various (ancient and modern) theories of metaphor Zanker argues that the terminology of meaning established itself in Greek and Latin (Latin being influenced by Greek) in three ways: through new coinages, borrowing from a foreign language, and metaphor and metonymy. 90-103) turns to the second important argument developed in the work: that the polysemy of expressions of meaning originally issued from metaphorical and metonymical transference. Thus the argument that the verbs for “signifying” occur in both the active and the passive voice is surely important, but the classification is not coherent and, at the very least, questionable when presented in this way.Ĭhapter four (pp. One might question, however, the category of passive constructions, since all of Zanker’s other groups have a semantic basis whilst this one is built on a syntactic one, and the same lemmata treated elsewhere are considered here, but in their passive form. This classification reveals the broad spectrum of the semantic field of meaning. δύνασθαι and valere), and finally showing and sign-giving (e.g. λέγειν and dicere), passive constructions (e.g. 22-89) deal with the polysemy of expressions of meaning, which are classified in complex groups such as desiring and wanting (e.g. It covers an important gap in classical studies, given that only a small amount of work has been done in this area. This monograph considers the terms for “meaning”, “signification”, “to mean”, and “to signify” in Greek and Latin texts, with the emphasis on the nature and the development of the vocabulary of meaning rather than on theoretical approaches to the concept of meaning.
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