Ludus e iocus

Percorsi di ludicità nella lingua latina

by Andrea Nuti

cover prize 22 euros

Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche-Viella
Treviso-Rome 1998
232 pages
ISBN 88-85669-67-0
(Ludica, 4)

This work draws on the fact that the changes in attitude and behaviour towards games between Ancient and Imperial Rome were extensively reflected in language.

Textual analysis of early, classical and late Latin documents shows how leisure activities were experienced at individual and collective levels for almost a millennium; and linguistic analysis of the semantic-lexical type proposed by late Wittgenstein provides the framework for a study that traces the use and disappearance of the term ludus. This history of the Latin words associated with games gives an entirely new and revealing insight into the vision and culture of ludus.

Contents

Introduction, 9

1. Ludus in età arcaica, 15: 1.1. Ludi “giochi pubblici”, “spettacoli” e beffe plautine, 16; 1.2. Ludus al singolare: un singolo “spettacolo”, 22; 1.3. Ludus al singolare: i multiformi aspetti del ludus in Plauto, 24; 1.4. Terenzio, Eunuchus 587: ludum ludere, 29; 1.5. Ludus in ambito erotico, 31; 1.6. Ludus nell’ambito dell’apprendimento, 32; 1.7. Il verbo ludo, 34; 1.8. Un composto verbale: eludo, 41
2. Iocus in età arcaica, 47: 2.1. Iocus con verba dicendi, 47; 2.2. Iocus: “scherzo verbale”, 49; 2.3. Iocus vs. serius, 49; 2.4. Il verbo iocor, 54
3. Tre casi di accostamento sintagmatico fra ludus e iocus, 57: 3.1. “Per ioculum et ludum” e il mondo dei saltimbanchi in Plauto, 57; 3.2. Ludus iocus: cumulatio in asindeto, 61; 3.3. Ludum et iocum esse: ‘un gioco da ragazzi’, 64
4. Un’analisi semantica di ludus e iocus in età arcaica, 67
5. Ludus e mimesi, 83: 5.1. ‘Apprendimento’, ‘scuola’, 83; 5.2. ‘Esercizio’, 86; 5.3. Fictio, 89; 5.4. Mimesi, 94
6. Ludus e produzione letteraria, 103: 6.1. Ludus poetico, 103; 6.2. Iocus et vinum in Catullo, 108; 6.3. Ludere e ioci poetici, 109; 6.4. Una nuova contrapposizione: ludus vs. serius, 115
7. Ludus ed Eros, 119: 7.1. Eros come ludus, 119; 7.2. Eros come iocus, 125
8. Ludus e lusus, 133
9. Ovidio e gli ioci di società, 147
10. Ludus iocans e iocus ludens, 157
11. Il gioco della Sorte, 177
12. Conclusioni, 185: 12.1. Per speculum ludi, 185; 12.2. Ludus e iocus tra dinamicità e staticità lessicale, 196

Appendice bibliografica: Edizioni dei testi latini, 213; Concordanze e lessici utilizzati, 216; Passi degli autori citati, 219

Indice dei nomi e delle cose notevoli, 225

Information

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Distribution
In major national bookstore by Viella libreria editrice
Author
Andrea Nuti graduated in Classics at the University of Florence, with a thesis in Glottology, and subsequently completed a PhD in Linguistics at the University of Pisa. His main interests are in the field of historical and Indo-European linguistics, with particular attention to the areas of lexicon, semantics and syntax. His research focuses on Latin and Celtic languages.
Studies on the diachronic semantics of Latin led to the publication dedicated to ludus and iocus. Andrea Nuti lived in Ireland for a long time in order to learn the Celtic language of the island, modern Irish, and studied Old Irish at Trinity College Dublin. The result of these experiences is partly contained in his doctoral thesis, dedicated to the syntax of the possessive sentence in Old Irish. He currently carries out scientific activity within some linguistic research projects and collaborates with the journal «Ludica».