scansion purement automatique de l'hexamètre...

Scansion

de

purement automatique

l'hexamètre dactylique ln the U ,S .A, there is a fa mous soap which advertises itself as 99,44% pure. Given that eminently respectable deviation from perfection, we offer herein a version of automatic scansion that is about 92% pure.

lt was noted in the pages of this journal (N°. 4, 1966, p. 2) in connection with the inde pendent work of Prof essor Wilhelm Ott (wh ich 1 admire very much) and of myself that "ni l'un ni l'autre ne résout le problème d'une scansion purement automatique de l'hexamètre dactylique , 11 lt was also noted that su ch a program wou Id require the storage in me mory of the quantities of endings and the rules of quantity relative to position. These latter observations are quite correct, but it was perhaps an oversight not to note that a part of the task had already been performed. On page 11 of that same issue of Revue, Professor Ott noted "scansion independently computed by the program" which is apparently "based on the length of diphthongs and ofvowels followed by two consonants other than muta cum 1 iquida, and on the length or shortness of some frequent words and word-ending sy llables, and on a few rules," ln the continuation of his article in Revue n° 1, 1967, page 41 and appendices 2 and 3, Professor Ott expanded a bit on his remarks and suppl ied a sample of his print-out.

ln that same issue, 1 noted, on pages 2 and 3, that our program took standard diphthongs into account and allowed elision and ecth 1 ipsis wherever possible. 1 did not mention that our program a Iso obeyed the ru les of quantity due to position, although our exemples should have made that quite clear.

Extrait de la Revue (R.E.L.O.) III, 1 à 4, 1967. C.I.P.L. - Université de Liège - Tous droits réservés.

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lt is also clear, however, that al· that time, Professer Ott's program for scansion was more sophisticated than ours and, perhaps, he has since developed it further. ln any case, Professer Ott deserves ali credit for precedence in this area.

With this background in mind, we may now proceed. Viewing the wotds of the editor as a friendly challenge, 1 and my assistant, Mr. Paul Rappoport, dec ided to devote a portion of our energies to the prob lem of "scansion purement automatique", hoping to find out just how closely thot goal mighi· be achieved with a minimum of stored rules and Information and with ds much programming finesse as we could. muster. The resultant program successfully scons about 92% of the lines in Aeneid 1 and Metamorphoses 1. We are not dissatisfied by this result, not only because we believe that 92% representsa significant saving of human energy, but also because, as a corollary, our program tends to identify those verses (the unscanned residue) which are metrically interesting.

SURVEY OF THE PROGRAM

Our program consists of three parts entitled SCAN-1, SCAN-2 and SCAN-3, which are now to be described in turn. Generally spealdng, it was our strategy to regard every syllable in the line as provisionally short in metrical quantity. SCAN -1 and SCAN -2 were then to discern and designc:tte a proportion of the long syllables in the line sufficient to allow (or compel) the mechanical procedures of SCAN-3 to produce a unique (and correct) metrlcal scansion of the line. We also found it necessary to designate which syllables were clearly (not simply provisionally) short. A preliminaty example will clarify our procedures and format, and will illuminate the following discussion.


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Aeneid 1, 1 recels :

Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris

We begin by considering every vowel to represent a syllable which is provisiona lly short, but which may be long, Such a sy llable is represented by a 1 printed under the vowel :

Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris 1 111 111 1111111111

The row of numbers under the line is modHied by the successive stages of our program. After SCAN-1, the line appears as follows :

Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris 1 1- 1 2 1 - 1 1 - 2 2- 1- 1 1 - 1 - 1 1

Here the 2 represents a syllable which is certified as long by SCAN-1. The dash (-) represents word division. lt should a Iso be noted that the correct number of syllables in the li ne is now indicated,

After SCAN-2, the line appears as follows:

· Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris 2 1- 1 2 0- 1 2- 2 2- 2- 1 1- 0- 1 1

Note that the 11s under theo in cano and the i in qui have been replaced by 2's. Note a Iso the O's ünder the enc 1 itic -:que and the preposition ab.

· These re present syllables which are c learly short, and no scansion is acceptable wh ich lengthens them,


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After SCAN-3, the line appears as follows:

Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris 2 1- 1 2 0- 1 2- 2 2- 2- 3 1-0- 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

The 3's in the first row of numbers represent provisionally short syllables (1 's) which have been converted to longs by SCAN-3, The second row of numbers simply indicates the metrical feet for visual clarity (as weil as other uses, e, g ., statistical study of particular feet), When SCAN-3 cannat produce an acceptable scansion, no numbers are printed and an appropriate message is printed in the margin, Multiple acceptable scansions are ali printed, (Exception : a spondaic alternative is indicated by a message in the margin),

Our fi na 1 printout puts the product of SCAN-2 above the 1 ine of text, that of SCAN-3 below the text, as follows:

2 1- 1 2 0- 1 2- 2 2 - 2- 1 1- 0-1 1 Arma virumque cano Trojae qui primus ab oris 2 1- 1 2 0- 1 2- 2 2 - 2- 3 1- 0- 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

An example of our printout is exhibited in Appendix 2,

SCAN- 1

The reason for separating SCAN- 1 from SCAN-2 is not theoretical but historical , SCAN- 1 was devised over a year a go to accompl ish the work wh ich was published in Revue 1 (1967) pp. 1-16, lt provides good scansion for a text in which the quantity of every long vowel is indicated (in our case by a slash /).


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ln sum, SCAN-1 performs the following operations :

1. A 2 is printed under the vowel of every syllable which is long by position. ThiS inc ludes vowels followed by :5_, ~' and l (if no word-ending intervenes in the latter case).

2. A 2 is printed under the first vowel of the diphthongs ae, au, oe. Noth ing is printed under the second vowel. - - -

3. Nothing is printed under ~ after s_, or when prevocalic ~ is preceded by ng (as in sanguis).

4, Cases of elision and ecthlipsis are indicated by printing nothin!;;l under the final vowel or diphthong involved.

5. Originally our program printed a 3 under vowels followed by mute plus liquid. lt now prints 1 (provided thot a word-ending does not intervene between mute and 1 iquid, in which case a~ is printed) ,1

6. The following useful feature has also been added: a dash (-) is printed to indicate the division between words; an equal-sign (=) is printed to indicate elision; a plus-sign (+) to indicate ecthlipsis. This last feature, which is preserved through SCAN-2 and SCAN-3, can be t·he basis for the automatic collection of statistics on the position and frequency of elisio~, ecthlipsis, caesura, and various metrical word-types, We use it for the discerning of monosyllabic words by SCAN-2.

Finally, it should be noted that SCAN-1 provides the basic count of syllables in the line. lt does not, of course, recognize cases of synizesis or of


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non-Latin diphthongs contained in Greek nomes. Such irregularities are detected (if at ali) by SCAN-3. A sample of the output of SCAN-1 is shown in Appendix 3.2

SCAN-2

lt was apparent to us thot the information derived from SCAN-1, i.e., the isolation of standard diphthongs, vowels followed by double consonants, and ali possible elisions and ecthlipses, was not sufficient for a satisfactoryscansion of the text. SCAN-2 was therefore devised to supply further information. This is done by the application of ru les concerning hidden quantity. We have chosén rules which are, in ovr opinion, general enough to be usefui, and simple enough to be easily programmed. SCAN-2 is therefore an ad hoc collection of rules which is subject to revision and addition, and it is our hope thot further investigations in the fiels will refine what we have done he re.

Before listing and explaining the rules which we included in SCAN-2, it will be of interest to note some of the materiels which we used for the formulation of these ru les. lt was important for us to know just where in our text any possible combination of letters occurred. While we utilised Wetmore's Index Verborum Vergilianus (Yale University Press, 1911), it was not sufficient for our purpose. For convenience, we prepared our own alphabetical listing of the words in Aeneid 1. We also produced a reversed alphabetical listing of the text, which despite its bizarre appearance proved to be very useful for this and other programs.3 Reverse indices have, of course, been produced heretofore, although we know of none confined to the text of Aeneid 1. Our next listings are a product of the computer age. Wh ile quite simple in conception and easily produced by computer, it is questionable


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whether the ir considerable uti lity would ever have justified the la bor involved in producing them manually. Changing our format to conserve space, we produced a series of alphabetical listings of the words in Aeneid 1 according to the following principle •. ln the first 1 ist, the first letter of each word is ignored; in the second the first two letters of each word are ignored, and so on. These lists allowed us to check every occurrence of particular combinotions of letters in the text ,4

SCAN-2 performs the following operations :

1. EU decision. SCAN-1 treats the letter combination eu as two separate syllables, printing 1 under each letter (unless the e is the second half of a regular diphthong)-;- The present subroutine of SCAN-2 ignores the case in parentheses, but otherwise treats ali cases of eu as diphthongal with the following exceptions : eum when it is final orthe whole word; eund; eunt; eus when it is final (exception : heus). -- -- -

2. Monosyllables. On the basis of the word-separating symbols introduced by SCÀN-1, this subroutine of SCAN-2 isolates monosyllabic words in the line and dea ls only with those that have been left presumptively short by SCAN -1, i.e., with 1 printed under them. Monos}tllabic words ending in b, d, t, rn have a Q P.iëiced under them. (So a Iso the exceptions :quis, cor,lef';" mel;"" vir, pol, fac, fer, per, ter, bis, cis, nec, vel). The 0 can neverbe changed to a 3by5CAN -3. (Exception :. a 0 between two 2's will be changed, and a message printed thot this has beën clone) •

. Ali other monosyllabic words have a 2 printed under them.

3, 1-0-U-E. Final i, o, u, are made long (i.e., have 2's placed under them) except in the foiîoWing words : naso, endo, cito, immo, ergo; ego, duo,


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mihi, tibi, sibi, nisi, sicuti, quasi, ibi, ubi, Cui is made monosyllabic ,5

A Q is placed under the.:_ in words ending in -isse and -re ,6

4. Vowel before another voweiJ Excluding the diphthongs ae, oe, au and the combination eu (dealt with above), a 0 is placed below any vowelpreceding another voweT:" For a series of three or more vowels, the rule applies only to the first. _t!~ is made monosyllabic,

5. QUE. Final -que is always treated as the enclitic and marked with a Q. Once the' -que has been dealt with, the word is recycled through SCAN-2 with the syllable preceding -que treated as final, Exception :the~ in quo~ and the..!_ in ubique are not marked long,

6. AS-OS. Final -as and.:=.~ are marked long with the following exceptions compos, i mpos ,

7. A final syllable ending in vowel plus consonant (not_:) is marked Q.

8. Miscellaneous. ln our experience with the text of Aeneid 1, we encountered difficulties which we attempted to solve by the formulation of further ru les, These rules are generally valid but cover situations of less frequent occurrence.

a) Initial de+ consonant (except dec- ded·· deh-), initial pri + consonant, initial um- and un- are ali long~itial ~ is short,

b) The letter combination oe is bisyllabic in initial coer- and when there are no subsequent vowels inthe word, --


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c) Final -aum is bisyllabic, The combinations suad, suav, and suet are mo-nosyllabic, -- -- --

d) The i and u in -ibus are short; the o and the a in -orum and -arum are long~ - -- - - -- --

e) Initial~ and aen- are treated as bisyllabic •8

This completes the description of the ru les subsumed in SCAN-2, As sa id above, these rules are subject to revision and addition, For exemple, it moy weil prove useful to program the recognition of the long -ur- formant in future active participles, Certainly it would be useful to program the long -at- formant in first conjugation perfect passive participles. Again, we reiterate our hope that other investigators will aid us in the revision and refinement of this part of the program,

SCAN-3

This portion of our program represents our major conceptuel contribution toward a solution of the problem of scansion, If, for the moment, we ignore the last two syllables of the line, there remain five metrical feet which can contain as many as 15 syllables and as few as 10, These totals will also determine the numbers of long and short syllables respectively :

TOTAL LONGS SHO~TS

15 5 10 14 6 8 13 7 6 12 8 4 11 9 2 10 10 0


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SCAN-3 uses this table to achieve its results, The program begins by deducting the last two syllables, which are not restored until the bulk of thework has been performed, Then, if a l or a 0 appears at the beginning of SCAN-2's output, it is changed to a 2 without apology. The series 212 is a Iso changed to 222 without apology, -202 is a Iso changed to 222, but amessage to that effeëTTs printed in the margin. Once this preparation is completed, the program compares the total number of syllables present with the ratio of longs and shorts present, and determines how many additiona 1 longs must be placed, An exemple at this point will help:

SCAN-2 produces the following for Aeneid 1, 2

Ital iam fato profugus Lavinjaque venit l l 02- l 2- l 1 2 - 1 1 1 0- 1 0

ln its preparatory steps, SCAN-3 changes this to :

2 1 02 - 2 2- 1 1 2 - 1 1 1 0- 1 0

The total number of syllables present is 15, Deducting the last two, it is seen that the first 13 syllables should conta in 7 longs and 6 shorts, Since the line contains only five 2's, it is decided that SCAI'l-3 must place 3's (i ,e ., convert two 1's, only these being eligible for conversion) in positions th at wi Il produce an acceptable scansion. Then, in an exhaustive and very swift procedure involving the use of nested subroutines, SCAN-3 surveys every possible placing of two 3's in the line. Each timea placement involving unacceptable combinations such as a single short between longs, more than two shorts in succession, an even number of longs in succession (unless the last syllable of the fifth foot is included, in which case it rejects an odd


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number of longs), lt would be tedious to list ali the possibilities here, lt is suffie ient to note that the only acceptable placement in this case is :

2 1 0 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 3 1 0

for the first five feet. 30 for venit in the sixth foot is added at a lote stage in the program.

We have provided for the placement of up to seven 31s in our program, although we have never needed thot many. If, due to conflicts, SCAN-3 finds more thon the necessary number of longs already present, or if it finds the proper number present but illegally placed, it will note the situation with a message.

We have a Iso devised an alternate approach to the task of SCAN-3 which is somewhat simpler in conception. This alternative approach requires the storage in core of four arrays containing respectively the various possible metrical schèmes for lines of 13, 14, 15 and 16 syllables in length. (Li nes of 12 or 17 syllables have only one possible scansion). Si nee there are five different scansions for lines of 13 or 16 syllables, the dimensions for the ar rays in these cases are 13 x 5 and 16 x 5, Li nes of 14 or 15 sy llables each have 10 possible scansions, and so the dimensions here are 10 x 14 and 10 x 15, An ex~mple will clarify the discussion. The following is the array for lines of 16 syllables.


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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

1. 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 Il. 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2

Ill. 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 IV. 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 v. 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2

Note thot there are 5 horizontal rows and 16 vertical columns. As an illustration of aline containing 16 syllables, we cite Metamorphoses 1, 190 with the output of SCAI'I-2 and a cou nt of the syllables,

cuncta prius temptata sed immedicabile vulnus 2 1- 02- 2 1 1-0 -2 1 1 1 1 1- 2 1 1 2 34 5 6 7 8 9 10 etc.

By surveying the positions of the O's and 2's supplied by SCAN-2, it is possible to eliminate horizontal rows of the 16-syllable array. Thus the 0 in the third syllable eliminates Row 1 which demands a long in thot position:- However, the 2 in the fifth syllable is decisive since it eliminates ali but Row Il which contains the correct scansion of the line,

The two versions of SCAN-3 yield identical results and the choice between them is a matter of programming convenience, l'leither con go beyond the information supplied by SCAI'I-2, However, the second version, employing arrays or matrices, holds greater promise for the near future because it con be so easily generalized for any metrical scheme, For exemple, it would be quite easy to devise the arrays containing ali possibilities of scansion for the second line of the elegiac distich ,9


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As a final note on SCAN-3, it is obvious that this portion of the program casts no light on the quantity of the final syllable of the hexameter line. The rules of SCAN-1 and SCAN-2 do, of course, apply, but they have never been aimed at exhaustiveness. lt would require a different approach to solve the problem of the final syllable ,10

Results for Aeneid 1

The efficacy of the program in its present state may be assessed as follows :

First, there are those cases where the program fa ils to achieve scansion and prints a message to that effect, ln Aen-eid 1, our program fails toscan 34 li nes. Of these, three (534, 560, 636) are incomplete li nes. Two (332, 448) are hypermetric, The other failures are due to various reasons : the presence of hiatus (16, 617); Greek proper nomes (41, 72, 100, 120, 257, 474,491,500,521,535,559, 611,631, 657, 665); the variation in unius (251); 11 artific ia 1 lengthening (308, 651, 668); synizesis (131, 195, 256, 614, 726); and aer- as a single syllable (35, 448, 449). This amounts to 4,5% of the tot~but it must be emphasized that in each of these cases, the computer prints a message calling attention toits failure, thus, in effect, isolating !ines with metrical peculiarities. This seems tous an achievement which does not really deserve the name of failure.

Much the same reasoning applies to the twenty-one cases (18, 21, 137, 181, 266, 290, 414, 415, 439, 464, 490, 522, 542, 594, 596, 639, 650, 654, 686, 728, 740) where alternate scansions are offered ,12 These amount to 2,8% of the total, and we wish that the number were not so great, lmprovements in SCAN-2 would reduce this number, but we hope that the present leve! is not considered intoleràble, ln any case, it is easier to select the


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proper scansion from among those presented by the computer that to do without such scansions.

Finally, a las, there are those cases which are indeed serious, where the computer scons a li ne incorrectly, and where there is no indication thatanything has gone away. So far as we have been able to determine, there .are three cases of this in Aeneid 1 (499, 618, 698). These must be considered at length. Here is our computer output.:

2 2 2- 01 1- 1 2- 2 - 2 1- 1 1 2 499 exercet Diana choros quam mille secutae

2 2 2- 01 3 3 2- 2 - 2 1 -1 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 6

This scansion is, of course, incorrect, and it is little consolation to note that this is the only passage where V erg il has lengthened the i in Diana, The problem posed by this line con be solved only by massive programming which would store and compare the standard quantities of the first a in Diana anr! of the first o in choros. - --

2 1- 1 2 - 1 02- 1 02- 1 2 1- 0- 2 618 alma Venus Phrygii genuit Simoentis ad undam

2 1- 1 2 - 1 02- 1 02- 2 2 1- 0- 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

Here the computer does not realize that the oe in Simoentis is not a diph~ thong, and has therefore assigned an incorrect quantity to the first sy llable. Happily, this error may be avoided by adding to our SCAN-2 program the provision thot the combination -oent- is bisyllabic. Wê believe that this n:le may be appl ied genera li y.---


2 01- 2 1 02- 2 1- 1 02 0 - 1 1 0 698 aurea composuit sponda mediamque locavit

2 01- 2 1 02- 2 3- 1 02 0 1 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

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This is the most interesting of our failures since we see no way at ali of solving this problem, short of the ideal (and very remote) solution of automatic translation. The computer has in fact, scanned the line very weil, and has recognized in the process that sponda is in the ablative case. lt is only through comprehending the meaning of the line that one can conclude that aurea must be in the ablative case and that therefore synizesis must be present. To be sure, synizesis occurs in the same word at the end of 726 with a message, but that is of no help here. This line will remain an impasse for sorne ti me to come, ln the end, we make a virtue out of necessity and indu Ige in just a bit of Schadenfreude : we have not yet been replaced by the computer,

Of these three problems, then, one (618) can be solved immediately; a second (449) has a hypothetical solution; the third (698) is, for the moment, beyond our means, Together, they constitute 0, 4% of the tota 1, and less (0,27%) if we exclude line 618,

To sum up, our program scons successfully 92,3% of Aeneid 1. _If, however, (and we believe this is not inappropriate) we take cases of multiple scansion, and perceived failures to be a kind of success, our program functions effec-

. tively for 99,6% of Aeneid 1.

Clearly, one cannot ever allow the computer to scan without carefully checking the results. But there is nothing wrong with that, The computer


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is our servant, not our master, and its labor, like thot of any servant, must be superintendend, This is not the same as doing the labor ourse Ives,

Results for Metamorphoses 1

Our scansion program was developed on the basis of our extensive experience with the text of Aeneid 1. Hence, it was with some trepidation thatwe prepared a different text upon which we might test the program's efficacy, We chose the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses as a suitable text for our purpose.

We selected an edition of the text which did not differenciate between vocalic and consonantal i, since we also wished to test the program which we devised to make just thot differentiation,13 Only the line number 14 and raw text were punched into cards, and no diacritical marks whatever were used.

We then passed the text through the preliminary routine which printed the letter l in place of consonantal _! ,15 The transformed text was then submitted to the scansion program with the following results, Out of 778 !ines, 714 were scanned without difficulty. (This includes 13 cases where the program indicated thot a spondaic scansion was a Iso possible on the basis of the information from SCAN-2. These are : 21, 78, 186, 265, 272, 278, 298, 321, 392, 443,460,467,491,527,528,550,572,593,598,602, 633, 649, 665. ln these cases, it was assumed correctly thot the !ines were not spondaic, but the message is presented just the same, This number a Iso inc ludes two cases where it was correctly noted thot only a spondaic scansion was possible : 117, 731). This is equivalent to 91,7% of the total, not as good as the comparable figure of 92,3% for Aeneid 1, but not dishearteningly lower. ----


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Next we list those cases where the program fails to achieve any scansion and prints a message to that effect. There are 22 cases in Metamorphoses 1. Ten are due to the presence of Greek proper nomes (198, 221, 313, 379, 516, 544, 568,578, 597, 667). Three instances of synizesis (77, 353, 423); and nine instances of a miscellaneous sort : These are : aer-as a single syllable (92, 98, 115); artificial lengthening (114, 193); short final o in nescio(461, 589); the interjection ei a monosyllable (523), and undique (567) with a short i. These amount to 2,8% which compares favorably with the figure of 4,5~Çfor Aeneid 1.

There are twenty-six cases where alternate scansions are given. Two scansions are presented in eighteen of these (19, 39, 55, 85, 181, 224, 333, 339, 346, 358, 383, 390, 415, 420, 573, 620, 684, 708). Five !ines have three scansions (303, 547, 621, 637, 715) and one line (217) has four. Finally, there are two !ines (61, 689) which are in fact spondaic, but our program prints an incorrect dactylic scansion and only notes the spondaic possibility. These twenty-six cases amount to 3,4% as compared to 2,8% for Aeneid 1.

Finally, the most serious category, instances of unique but incorrect scansion where no indication of error or doubt is given by the computer. So far as we can tell, there are 13 !ines where this occurs, amounting to 1,7% of the total. The comparable figure for Aeneid 1 was 0,4% a considerable disparity. Under the most charitable interpretation, then, we can c la iln an efficiency of 98,3% for our program. lt is noteworthy, however, that of these 13 cases (82, 187, 363, 369, 452, 472, 504, 525, 583, 627, 628, 669, 690), 12 are due to the presence of Greek na mes. The th irteenth (363) came about because our program allowed the interjection 0 to be elided. This can be repaired. Again in three cases (369, 452, 525) our program


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noted unique spondaic scansions which are always suspicious, and finally, three cases (583, 627, 628) were due to our j-routine's conversion of the name loto Jo~ difficulty which cana Iso be repaired since there are no cases in Latin where a two-letter word begins withj. Thus, our failures can be reduced to six, and involve the followi ng 1 ines.

2 - 1 2 - 1 1 2- 2 2 - 1 01 0 0- 2 1 82 quam satus lapeto mixtum fluvial ibus undis

2 - 2 2 - 1 1 2 2 2 - 1 03 0 0- 2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

2 1- 1 2 - 1 02- 1 1- 2-2 0- 2 1 504 nympha precor Penei mane non insequor hostis

2 1- 1 2 1 02- 3 3 2-2 1 0 -2 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

ln these two !ines, lapeto should be quadrisyllabic, and Penei is to be scanned 221, As a result, incorrect quantities are assigned to satus and mane, As noted above in connection with Aeneid 1, 499, the problem posed by these !ines can only be solved by massive programming techniques and the storage of proper quantities, lndeed, ~ is scanned correctly in 1 ine 505,

The remaining lines involve the following names: Nereus (187); Peneide (472); Pleias (669) and Naias (690), ln none of these cases does the incorrect scansion of the na mes affect the proper scansion of the re ma inder of the li ne. Thus it wo.uld be conceivable, although hardly reasonable, to defend the idiosyncratic scansions produced by our program,

Perhaps the only wisdom to be derived from this discussion is the imperative to inspect especially closely ali lines containing proper nam!'!s,


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CONCLUSION

We have described our scansion program including its obvious shortcomings. The serious question re mains wh ether or not the ente rpr ise has been worthwhi le. Clearly, we think that it has been worth our energies, despite our awareness a head of ti me th at we could not hope to a ch ieve 100% efficacy with the programming strategy we envisioned. We knew that our results would be limited; we did not know the extent of those limitations. lt was our arbitrary notion that an efficiency of 90% would be sufficient to justify the program, and we hoped to do better than that, as we in fact have.

However, our satisfaction with partial success roises a fundamental issue concerning the proper use of computers which we do not wish to avoid. On page 9 of his first article, Revue 4 ( 1966), Professor Ott re marks : "The ideal would be to punch the text just as it is found in the editions, without any added scansion and other signs". With this view, we vehemently agree. However, Professor Ott goes on: "But the other aim we pursue is to secure reliability in the portion of the work thot needs human intervention, thot is, to exclude, as far as possible, the influence of punching errors occurring in the preparation of the input cards. Up to now, we have therefore preferred to leave sorne redundancy for the sake of better checking possibi 1 ities." 16 Then five procedures are listed, of which the most onerous is manual scansion.

We admit, of course,. thot accuracy in the text is a prime desideratum, just as it always has been. Surely, however, there are better ways of achieving this goal thon to anticipate and to duplicate needlessly the very task which we cali upon the computer to perform. Similar reasoning would demand that ali computer operations be duplicated manually in order to check the accuracy of the data entered.


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ln fa ct, checking the occurocy of input dota is a problem common to a Il users of computers, and no really satisfactory way of dea ling with the problem hos yet been devised. A standard method is the use of a verifier, which omounts to having the data punched twice by independent operators, whose versions are th en compared. ln the case of a 1 iterary text, one easi ly gets a listing which must then be proofed by readers, the standard procedure of the publishing industry for centuries. The future holds promise of efficient automatie opticol scanners and perhops other means for the automatic collation of texts. ln the interva 1, however, probably the most efficient way to check the occuracy of texts is to do exactly thot : proofread them.

The fact thot we deal here with metrical texts does afford us an advantage, but it is an advantage which is best exploited through automatic scansion. lt is worth noting thot we detected sorne inaccuracies in our text as a result of the scansion program.

The history of scholarship too contains a lesson. Schoolboys ascertain the scansion of a line by finding hidden quontities in the dictionary. But the information which the dictionary possesses has itself been ascertained by the scansion of innumerable lines of poetry. lt is exactly this process ofscansion which con now be clone by the computer. After ali, it is only through scansion thot we con detect the presence of hiatus, or thot we con tell whether or not a particular i is consonantal. To indicate instances of hiatus before submitting a text to the computer would seem to be a rather thankless task, and certainly it does not exploit the full capacities of the computer. For the modern computer is more thon a glorified desk calculator and it is more thon an extraordinarily efficient fi ling cabinet. Despite the primitive crudity of our present a ch ievements, the computer can a lready approximate to a surprising degree quite complex chains of reasoning ,17

Nathan A. GREEN BERG Oberlin Co liege.


21

NOTES

1 • This last case has surely been previously noted, but we have been able to fi nd no reference.

2. A brief account of technical details is given in Appendix 1.

3. Due to an oversight in programming, our program prints the words themselves in reversed order. lntrigued by the unusual appearance of Latin printed backwards, we have chosen not to repair this error. The usefulness of the 1 ist is in no way impa ired.

4. An extract from one of these lists is shown in Appendix 4. The fiveplace number is for identification. First three places refer to line; last twoto position in line.Whilethe programming for such lists is not particularly difficult, the conception is new and important. Full credit for this innovation is to be given to my assistant, Mr. Paul Rappoport.

5, There are cases where the final syllable in mihi, tibi,• and sibi is long. We have not therefore, certitied them as short by printing a 0 under them, but have left them open to change by SCAN-3. This is done by allowing_the printed 1 to remain. Despite the dictionary entry for ubi, we have chosen to certify the shortness of the final i by printing 0 since thot is Vergil's practice in Aemeid 1. Had we allowed the 1 to remain under the final i (and perhaps this was the proper thing to do), alternative scansions wou id have been produced for Aen.l, 81, 100, 205, 693.

6, This last provision may be questioned. We have programmed for the exceptions qua re and fere, but there are others. Neverthe less, the ru le


22

seems sufficiently useful to us to be included, Perhaps it can be refined,

7, This rule has caused us difficulties with proper names of Greek origin, 1'-·levertheless, the rule has such general application to Latin, that we have kept it,

8, The difficu lty he re is obv ious, The better a !ternat ive is to scan the 1 i ne twice, first with these combinations as monosyllables, and second as bisyllabic, We have chosen the bisyllabic version, si nee we are more apt to get the useful error message in this case, if we are wrong, than in the other, Exception : out of respect to the epie 's hero and the frequency of his name, we have programmed so that Aeneas is always correctly scanned , ---

9, Allowing substitution in the first two feet, the pentameter 1 ine must consist of 14, 13 or 12 syllables, Since only the 13-syllable li ne has two versions of scansion, the tota 1 possib i 1 ities are only four,

10, Similar to this is our problem with multiple scansions, For example, we do not geta unique scansion for Aeneid 1, 290, Ourprintout is as follows :

2 1 02 - 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0 - 2 - 0- 1 1 accipies secura vocabitur hic quoque votis 2 1 02- 3 3 1- 1 3 1 0 -2- 1 0- 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6

2 1 02- 1 1 3- 3 3 1 0 - 2 0- 3 1 1 2 3 4 5 6


23

From the above, it is apparent that the problem resides in the hidden quantities of the words secura and vocabitur, A quick glanee at the lexicon tells us that no easy rules concerning the quantity of sec- or voc- can be formulated, One can, however, indicate a technique whereby such problems could be solved, but it seems to us, at the moment, too strenuous to be programmed, ln cases where alternative scansions are given, it is possible to isolate the words of uncertain quantity, lt is a Iso possible to store in me mory a Il the words who se hidden quantity has been ascertained by unique scansion, A matching program cou Id then be instituted. Thus, a comparision of secura with the word sec urus in the successfu lly scanned 1 ine 350 wou Id solve our present problem, Similarly, a match of voc- with forms in 109, 219 and 610 would produce the necessary short syllable, Here, however, a fi.Jrther problem arises si nee nominal forms beginning with voc- (a long syllable) appear in 64, 94, 208, etc, We take this occasion to announce that we are weil advanced with a program which distinguishes between verbal and nominal forms. Although this program has been designed for a different purpose, it is clear that it could be applied here.

11. Vergil's usage is inconsistant : cf, illius (16, 683); unius (41, 251); ipsius (114), We have, therefore, chosen not to amend the rule that vowel before another vowel is short, The priee we pay is the error message at 251 , Successful scansion is achieved at 683 togetber with the message that 202 has been changed to 222,

. 12. This does not inc lude the 24 cases where the correct scansion was given, but where the computer notes that, so far as SCAN-3 can tell, a spondaic scansion is possible (46, 48, 144, 262, 273, 275, 350, 361, 389, 403, 418, 439, 450, 490, 498, 562, 619, 626, 637, 650, 652, 658, 681 1 697) .


24

13. Incidente lly, we have prepared a sma Il a mount of Lucon where there is no differentiation between vocalic and consonantal u, and we have de-vised a program to make this differentiation. -

14. A slight complication concerning the numbering of lines in the text of Ovid. Many editions surmise an interpolation at li ne 546 but count it anyway. Our text omits the interpolation and continues to count in sequence. Hence it may be necessary for purposes of reference to increese by one the 1 i ne numbers of our text a ft er 545.

15. The rules for this transformation are relatively few, and the new text is very rapidly produced. Briefly (and with exceptions) intervocalic i is transformed, as is initial i before vowels. The latter situation a Iso -opplies to words with prefixes ending in a consonant. ln connection with this routine, we speculated to some degree on what would have been the results had we had a text of Aeneid 1 which did not differentiate between i and j. For exemple, the nome lulus occurs in 267, 288, 556, 690, 709. ln-each of these cases, our routine would have changed the nome to Julus and then have produced anacceptable, but spondaic, scansion. We then proceeded to inspect every other instance of the nome in Vergil and found to our surprise thot a similar spondaic scansion is acceptable in 29 out of 30 times thot the nome occurs. The thirtieth instance in Aen. Xli, 185, the only place where the nome does not occur at the end of the line, but here too an initial j wou Id a llow perfect ly acceptable scons ion . There are, therefore, th ir-: ty-four lines in the Aeneid which may or may not be spondaic. We cannot make the distinction.


25

16. The words "up to now" indicate that perhaps some of these laborious tasks have since been abandoned,

17. The work described he re has be en do ne und er the auspices of fi nanc ia 1

grants from the Great Lakes Colleges Association and the Productive Work Committee of Oberlin College. 1 wish to express special gratitude here to Mrs, Carolyn D, Smith who graciously volunteered to punch the text of Metamorphoses 1. The work could not have been done without the help of my programming assistanl·, Mr. Paul Rappoport, and the ki nd cooperation of the Computer Center of Oberl in Co liege.


26

APPENDIX 1

lt is not useful to describe here ali the details of our programming, We shall be happy to supply a complete listing of our programs to anyone who wishes to use them, What follows is a bare indication of our language and a des~ cri pt ion of the machine configuration necessary to execute our programs.

SCAN-1 was originally written for the IBM 1620 computer, Our present modified version, as weil as SCAN-2 and SCAN-3, have been written for execution on the present installation at Oberlin Col lege which includes an IBM 360/30 with 32K core, floating point arithmetic, and assembler, and an 1 BM 2311 Disk drive, (The 360/30 is to be replaced short ly by a 360/44 with 131 K core).

The programs are written in a modified version of FORCOM, which we cali ORANGE (Oberl in Routines for Alpha-Numeric GEneral ization of Fortran), Unlike FORCOM, which supplies a restricted set of manipulations for an array of ten "card" images, ORAN GE affords an array of up to 500 such images (lOO columns each) and a larger number of manipulative options, Within this array, for exemple, it is possible to move strings of unlimited size from column to column and from row to row. lt is a Iso possible to compare strings of any size, Data can be punched from any row, but must be passed into the ninth row for printing, Details of ORANGE can be supplied by the Computer Center of Oberlin Col lege, but it should be possible to duplicate the necessary techniques at any computer installation,


The core requirements for the program are :

SCAN-1 SCAN-2 SCAN-3

ca. 27.000 32.000 31.000

The execution time for the 756 lines of Aeneid 1 is :

SCAN-1 SCAN-2 SCAN-3

23 minutes 27 minutes 41 minutes

Given the requisite core, linkage of the programs would result in a large saving of ti me.

27


···~·············································································· 4..27 2 - 2 1 -1 0 =2 1 02 - 2 -2 l- 01 427 HIC-PORTUS-ALII~EFFOOIUNT-HIC-ALTA-THEATRIS

427 2 - 2 3 -1 0 =2 1 02 - 2 -2 1- 03 1 2 3 4 5 6

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 426 2 1 2 1- 1 2 -1 o =2 1 2 o- 1 2 2 426 FUNOAIIENTA-LOCANT-AL.II=l"'MANISOUE-COLUMNAS 428 2 2 2 1- 1 2 -1 o =2 2 2 o- 1 2 2

2 3 5 6

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 429 1 0 0 -2 1 2 2 2 - 1 1 =2 1- 1 l 1 429 RUPIBUS-EXCIOUNT-SCAENtS-OECORA=ALTA~FUTURIS 429 2 0 0 -2 2 2 2 2 - 1 1 =2 1- 1 3 1

2 3 4 5 6

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 3 0 1 1 -l 1 -2 1 1- 1 1- 2 - 1 01- 1 1 430 OUAL.IS-APES-AESTATE-NOVA-PER~FL.OREA-RURA 430 2 1 -1 3 -2 3 1- 1 3- 2 - 3 01- 3 1

2 3 4 5 6

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 431 2 2 2 - 2 - 1 1- 1 2 - 2 - 2 1 -1 2 2 431 EXERCET-SUB-SOL.E-LABOR-SU"'-GENTIS-AOULTOS 431 2 2 2 - 2 - 3 1- 1 2 - 2 - 2 1 -1 2 2

1 2 3 4 5 6

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 432 1 •1 2 - 1 1 -.2 - 2 - 1 2 01- 2 432 EOUCUNT-FETUS-~UT-CUM-LIOUENTIA-MELLA

432 2 2 2 - 3 3 -2 2 - 2 2 01- 2 1 2 3 4 5 6

···················~····························································· 433 1 2 -2 - 2 2- 2 2 2 - 2 1 o- 2 2 t 433 STlPANT-ET-DUL.CI-OISTENOUNT-NEOTARE-CEuL.AS 433 2 2 -2 - 2 2- 2 2 2 2 1 o- 2 2

1 2 3 4 5 6

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 34 2 -1 1 =2 1 02 - 1 02 +2 -2 1 1- 2 2 434 AuT-ONERA=ACCIPIUNT-VENIENTUM+AUT-AGMINE-FACTO 434 2 -1 l =2 1 02 - l 02 +2 -2 1 1- 2 2

2 3 4 5 6

................................................................................ ,


Il ~"XEC 1 ARMA-VIRUMGUE-CANO-TROJAE-OUI-PRIMUS-AB-ORIS 1 2 1- 1 2 1- 1 1- 2 2 - 1- 1 1 -1 -1 1 2 ITALIAM-FATO-PROFUGUS-LAVINAQUE-VENIT 2 1 1 12 - 1 1- 1 1 2 - 1 1 1 1- 1 1 3 LITORA--MULTUM+ILLE=ET-TERRIS-JACTATUS-ET-ALTO 3 1 1 1-- 2 +2 =2 - 2 2 - 2 1 1 -1 -2 1 4 VI-SUPERUM-SAEVAE-MEMOREM-JUNONIS-OB-IRAM 4 1- 1 1 ~ - ~ 2 - 1 1 a - 1 1 1 -1 -1 1 5 MULTA-OUOOUE=ET-BELLO-PASSUS-DUM-CONDERET-URBEM 5 2 1- =2 - 2 1- 2 2 - 2 - 2 1 1 -2 1 6

6 1 NFERRETOUE-DEOS-LA TI 0--GENUS-UNDE-LAT 1 NUM -----~--------2 2 2 1- 1 2 - 1 1 1-- 1 1 -2 1- 1 1 1

7 _ ALBAN 1 GUE-PATRES-A TOUE= AL TAE-MOEN I A-ROMAE 7 2 1 1 1- 1 1 -2 =2 2 :... 2 11- 1 2 8 MUSA-MIHI-CAUSAS-MEMORA-QUO-NUMINE-LAESO

1 1- 1 1- 2 2 - 1 1 1- 1- 1 1 1- 2 1 8

9 9

OUI DVE-DOLENS-REG 1 NA-DEUM-TOT-VOLVERE-CASUS _______________ _ 2 1- 1 2 - 1 1 1- 12 - 2 - 2 1 1- 1 1

INSIGNEM-PIETATE-VIRUM-TOT-ADIRE-LABORES 2 2 2 - 11 '1 1- 1 2 - 1 -1 1 1- 1 1 1

10 10 Il 1 1 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17

1 MPULER 1 T-TANTAENE=ANI M 1 S-CAELES T IBUS- IRAE ______ _ 2 1 1 2 - 2 2 =1 1 2 - 2 2 1 1 -1 2 URBS-ANTIQUA-FUIT-TYRII-TENUERE-COLONI 2 -2 1- 12 - 1 11- 1 .tl 1- 1 1 1 KARTHAGO=ITALIAM-CONTRA-TIBERINAOUE-LONGE

2 1 =1 1 12 - 2 1- 1 1 1 1 1- 2 1 OST lA-DI VES-OPUM-STUDII SQUE=ASPERR lM A-BELL 1 ________ _ 2 Il- 1 1 -1 2- 1 12 =2 2 1 1- 2 1 QUAM- JUNO-FERTUR-TERR 1 S-MAG 1 S-OMNIBUS-UNAM ------~ ________ _

2 - 1 1- 2 2 - 2 2 - 1 1 -2 1 1 -1 1 POSTHABITA-COLUISSE-SAMO=HIC-ILLIUS-ARMA

2 1 1 1- 1 12 1- 1 = 1 -2 11 -2 1 H 1 C-CURRUS-FU 1 T-HOC-REGNUM-DEA-GENT 1 BUS-ESSE ______ _ 2- 2 2- Il - 2- 2 2- 11- 2 1 1 -2 1

18 S 1-QUA-FATA-SI NANT-JAM-TUM-TEND 1 TQUE-FOVETQUE _______ ~-- __ 18 1- 1- 1 1- 1 2 - 2 - 2 - 2 2 1- 1 2 1 19 PROGEN lEM-SEO-ENI M-TROJAND=A-SANGU 1 NE-DU~l _______________________ _ 19 1 1 12 - 1 -1 2 - 2 1 =1- 2 1 1- 1 1 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23

AUD!ERAT-TYRIAS-OLIM-QUAE-VERTERET-ARCES 2 1 1 2 - 1 11 -1 2 - 2 - 2 1 1 -2 1 HINC-POPULUM-LATE-REGEM-BELLOQUE-SUPERBUM

2 - 1 1 2 - 1 1- 1 2 - 2 1 1- 1 2 1 VENTURUM+EXCIDIO-LIBYAE-SIC-VOLVERE-PARCA~

2 1 +2 1 11- 1 12 - 2 - 2 1 1- 2 1 ID-METUENS-VETERISOUE-MEMOR-SATURNIA-BELLI 2 - 1 12 - 1 1 2 1- 1 2- 1 2 11- 2 1

24 PR I MA-OUOD-AD-TROJAM-PRO-CAR 1 S-GESSERAT-ARGI.S _______________ _ 24 1 1- 1 -2 - 2 2 - 1- 1 2 - 2 1 1 -2 1 25 NECDUM +ET 1 AM-CAUSAE= 1 RARUM-SAEV 1 QUE-DOLORES=-------------------25 2 +1 12 - 2 =1 1 2 - 2 1 1- 1 1 1 26 EXCIDERANT-ANIMO-MANET-ALTA-MENTE-REPOSTUM 26 2 1 1 2 -1 1 1- 1 1 -2 1- 2 1- 1 2 1 27 27

JUD IC IlJIJ-PAR 1 D 1 S-SPRETAEQUE= INJURIA-FORMAE _____________ _ 1 1 12 - 1 1 2- 1 2 =2 1 11- 2 2

28 ET-GENUS-!NV!SUM+ET-RAPTI-GANYMEDIS-HONORES 28 2 - 1 l -2 1 +2 - 2 1- 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 29 29 30 30 31

HIS-ACCENSA-SUPER-JACTATOS-AEOUORE-TOTO 1 -2 2 1- 1 2 - 2 1 1 -2 1 1- 1 1

TROAS-RELLIQUIAS-DANAUM+ATQUE=IMMITIS-ACHILLI 12 - 2 12 - 1 +2 =2 1 1 -1 2 1

ARCEBAT-LONGE-LAT!O-MULTOSQUE-PER-ANNOS

-------------


EG ENOS C 1 E·NT CC EP lT SC EPTRA. SA EPTUS AT ER PU ER ON ERANTOUE AC EREAE CN ERENT HA ERET PU ERl IN ERIJ.IS UIJ EROSOUE AV ERTERE AP CP SP TP. GR AC LA FR

ERTO ERUMOUE ES ESAUROS ESSUM EST EN ETA ETA

PI ETAlE LA ETI LA ETITIAE CC ETU LA ETUS SA EVAE ER EVITER SA evus IN FAI\COS IN FELIX IN FERRETOUE DE FESSI EF FICIT AD FLARAT EF FCCIUNT EF FUNCERE RE GABITUR FU GAIJ. FU RE RE IN IN n.

GAT GEM GEMCUE GENS GENTEM GENTIA

AE GER LE GESCUE RE GIA FL GIENTEM RE GINA RE GlNA RE GII\AM VI GINTI RE GIS MA GISTRATUSOUE SA GITTAS P'l GIIALIOI\ MA Gr-.A RE GNA ~A GNAIJ Pt: GNAS RE GNI RE GN!SOUE

59906 AG ENS 54102 AD EO 52106 SA EPSIT 07807 SC EPTRA 43903 ER EPTUS 51103 IT ER 67802 PU ER 36302 ON ERARAT 66805 EX ERCET 70604 OU ERENTEM 49504 HA ERET 68405 UM ERIS 48705 ST ERNIT 58902 AV ERSA 03805 AV ERTIT 39407 50705 55605 35901 40109 55806 50306 60702

AP OP OP RH GR AC LA LA

ERTO ERUMOUE ES ESI ES SU MOUE ESTES ETA ETANTIS

19102 EG ENS 56703 SA EPE 41106 SA EPTA 25307 SC EPTRA 59604 FR EOUENTES 65603 JT ER 26702 PU ER, 19506 SP ERARE 43101 EX ERCET 38507 MA ERENTlA 71801 OP ERI 31802 AP ERIT 19003 UM ERO 48205 AV ERSUS 47202 AV ERTIT 15505 45505 36402 A6904 41003 19507 70707 39304

AP AL CA LA AB AC LA PJ

ERTO ES ESAR es a EST ESTES ETA ET ATE

01002 Pl ETATIS 25302 AL ETES 03503 LU EliS 13607 LA ETISSIMUS

LA ETITIAOUE CO ETUM

73402 LA ETITIAMOUE 63602 39802 LA ETUM 73202 69605 LA ElUS 27506 AB EUNTIBUS

BR EVIA 00403 LA EVAOUE 61104 56102 SA EVITOUE 14902 SA EVUM 09901 AV EXERAT 51204 NE FANDI 59703 IN FANDUM 25102 AD FATUR 71202 IN FELIX 74901 RE FERET

00601 RE FERT --·--·--··-· 20803 RE FERT 15701 DI FFUNDERE 31904 SU FFUSA 16001 DE FIXIT 22604 IN FIXIT 59105 AD FLICTIS 45203 DE FLUXIT

RE FULSIT JU GA

42704 AD FORET 57601 09806 RE FUSA 12602 27206 RE GALl 63704 MA GALIA

FU GAr-I 35703 FU GAM 13702 14302 03806 06202 44604 48503 36505

TO IN RE IN IN IN

GAT AM GEMI NANT GE MOUE GENS GENT~ GENTIBUS

20806 AG GERE 50703 FI GET 44305 RE GIA 40603 RE GINA 52202 RE GINA 30306 RE GINA 66002 RE GINAM 63401 RE GIO 23002 AR GIS 42602 RE GIT 18706 RE GlUS 34701 PV GMALIONIS 49702 liA GNA 24401 RE GNA 56904 liA GNANIMUM 45606 I<'A GNE 56304 RE GNIS 50405 CO GNITUS

28205 74701 55804 09908 45303 20805

RE IM IN IN AR AR

GE GEMIT GENS GENS GENTI GENTUM

11204 FU GERENT 68707 UR GET 69601 FU GIENS 07606 RE GINA 69706 RE GINA 04606 RE GINAE 59403 RE GINAM 46002 RE GIOUE 28506 AR GIS 34004 RE GIT 67701 AR GIVAE 36401 TE GMINE 66405 RE GNA 33802 RE GNA 26001 RE GNANTEM 24106 RE GI'.:ET 22606 RE GNIS 62307 MA GNO 67502 MA GNO


scansion purement automatique de l'hexamètre...

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