Analysis of Classical Greek and Latin Compositional Word-Order Data
Fiona J. Tweedie, Bernard Frischer · Journal of Quantitative Linguistics · 1999
A recent paper by Frischer et al. (forthcoming) examines the position of the direct object and its governing verb in works in Classical Greek and Latin. The paper confirms the SOV ordering expected in texts in Latin, and the S(O)V(O) ordering expected in texts written in Greek. Texts written in Greek by Cassius Dio were found to have a Latinate word-order. However, subsequent research on the statistical analysis used in that paper has resulted in a refinement that will be presented in the present paper. For each of the sixty texts examined, one hundred direct objects were categorised. The knowledge of the total number of direct objects examined constrains the data; it is described as being compositional. In this paper we re-examine the data using techniques developed for compositional data analysis. The conclusions of Frischer et al. are confirmed and new insights into texts by Marcus Aurelius and Plutarch are obtained.