BOOK REVIEWS 509 (229–230),butpassesonachancetoconnectVergil’sothermonstrumhorrendum, the many-eyed Fama. AfourpageConclusion(233–236)clearlyrestatesthemainargumentsofthe book, and thirty pages of bibliography precede a copious general Index. If a separate Index Locorum would have been a welcome addition for a book with such expansive subject matter, its absence is a small quibble. On formal grounds, Monsters is generally well written and edited, although the discursive style of argumentation occasionally obscures the theses of larger units within the book. I note only minor mistakes (e.g. “4428 BC” as the building date for the Temple of Divus Julius(19); missing punctuation in a section title (213)). THOMAS BIGGS University of Georgia,biggs@uga.edu * * * * * * Syntactical Mechanics: A New Approach to English, Latin, and Greek. By BRUCE A. MCMENOMY. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2014. Pp. xvi + 210. Paper,$24.95. ISBN 978-0-8061-4494-8. This book aims to be a “sketch of ... how Greek and Latin work, with reference to English” (196) and by and large it succeeds. The underlying philosophy here is that language is used to express meaning and that while the syntactic pathway to two constructions may be different, “their semantic burden is very similar” (61). The way ideas are cloaked in language is generally something that one learns after years of study and in the past I have usually sought enlightenment on the many ways to skin a cat (or express purpose) in composition textbooks. This book makes much of that information available in a reader-friendly format that is suitable for students, while many of the ways through which McMenomy approaches the material is also of use to teachers. The book provides a pragmatic wayto think aboutwhat language doesand mightbe somethingofan antidote for students who have less and less exposure to English grammar at the elementary and high school level. The organization of the book is unusual in that the author starts with a chapter surveying the parts of speech, and next moves into a discussion of BOOK REVIEWS 510 sentences and clauses. Subsequent chapters break down the various types of clauses into adverbial, adjectival, or noun clauses. As McMenomy states, “...every subordinateclausethatappearsin acomplexsentencefulfillsthefunctionofsome simpler part of speech in the clause on which it depends” (29). Again, where the book excelsis in the explicationof function (rather than morphology upon which first year languages perforce dwell). This is followed by a brief digression on the relationshipof Greek and Latin to Indo-European thatallowsMcMenomy, in the remainder of the book, to use some historical linguistics to explain both the similarities in verb systems and the anomalies in case use between Greek and Latin—for instance, how each uses a different case to express the locative. Examples are proffered throughout from Latin, Greek and English. The syntaxes we hand to our students tend to be descriptive, surveying instances or usage. Syntactical Mechanics is less cut and dried than either textbook or traditional grammar, but gives, in my view, a truer understanding of how Latin and Greek actually work. In addition, the author provides brief discussions throughout of some of the philosophical issues with the way that language expresses ideas—such as implied causality, or the existential use of the verb “to be”—that broaden the intellectual appeal. ThisisaveryreadablebookthatcouldbeusedwithamixedseminarofGreek and Latin students, as all examples are translated. For the instructor, it will help frame new ways of introducing concepts and awakening understanding. As someone who enjoys syntax and has read and used almost all of the books in the annotated bibliography provided by McMenomy, I still found new insights. For students finding their footing in the ancient languages, this book presents illuminating parallels and contrasts to English syntax. It can be used in the classroomastheproseisclearenoughforrelativelynovicestudentstounderstand and even present to their classmates. And for those of us immersed in the ancient languages,itprovidesofwealthofcomparandaandclearexplanationsthatrun the gamutfromclausestoaspect. Inshort,SyntacticalMechanicsfillsanicheasahandy reference for both teachersand studentsofAncient Greek and Latin. AISLINN MELCHIOR University of Puget Sound, amelchior@pugetsound.edu ...
Search from 250 M+ research papersSearch from 250 M+ research papers
Open Access
Jan 1, 2015
Qingshun He + 1
