Latin Aphorisms and Phrases: Classifications and Interpretations

Abstract

In addition to updating classifications that have become traditional in analyzing Latin aphorisms and phrases (chronological perspective, ab ovo perspective), this article offers new perspectives to approach the Latin aphoristic corpus, such as the formal-semantic dimension, which allows attesting the phenomena of semantic increase, establishing relations of synonymy, antonymy, homonymy, inter- – intra-aphoristic levels, etc.; all these investigations are accompanied by etymological and semantic-pragmatic elucidations. The presence of figures of speech (antithesis, oxymoron, etc.) increases the degree of expressiveness of Latin formulas. The interpretation of the hypernymy phenomenon is based on the three-dimensionality: ontology, deontology, gnoseology, their concepts having the status of hypernyms in establishing the semantic field.