Aristotle · Complete work
Chapter 20
Chapter 20 of 26. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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[Bekker 1456b line 20]τῆς δὲ λέξεως ἁπάσης τάδ’ ἐστὶ τὰ μέρη, στοιχεῖον συλλαβὴ σύνδεσμος ὄνομα ῥῆμα ἄρθρον πτῶσις λόγος.στοιχεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς πέφυκε συνθετὴ γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν λέγω στοιχεῖον.ταύτης[Bekker 1456b line 25]δὲ μέρη τό τε φωνῆεν καὶ τὸ ἡμίφωνον καὶ ἄφωνον. ἔστιν δὲ ταῦτα φωνῆεν μὲν τὸ ἄνευ προσβολῆς ἔχον φωνὴν ἀκουστήν, ἡμίφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς ἔχον φωνὴν ἀκουστήν, οἷον τὸ Σ καὶ τὸ Ρ, ἄφωνον δὲ τὸ μετὰ προσβολῆς καθ’ αὑτὸ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἔχον φωνήν, μετὰ δὲ[Bekker 1456b line 30]τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γινόμενον ἀκουστόν, οἷον τὸ Γ καὶ τὸ Δ.ταῦτα δὲ διαφέρει σχήμασίν τε τοῦ στόματος καὶ τόποις καὶ δασύτητι καὶ ψιλότητι καὶ μήκει καὶ βραχύτητι ἔτι δὲ ὀξύτητι καὶ βαρύτητι καὶ τῷ μέσῳ· περὶ ὧν καθ’ ἕκαστον ἐν τοῖς μετρικοῖς προσήκει θεωρεῖν.συλλαβὴ[Bekker 1456b line 35]δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος συνθετὴ ἐξ ἀφώνου καὶ φωνὴν ἔχοντος· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ΓΡ ἄνευ τοῦ Α † συλλαβὴ καὶ † μετὰ τοῦ Α, οἷον τὸ ΓΡΑ. ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτων θεωρῆσαι τὰς διαφορὰς τῆς μετρικῆς ἐστιν.σύνδεσμος δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος ἣ οὔτε[Bekker 1457a][Bekker 1457a line 1]κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν ἐκ πλειόνων φωνῶν πεφυκυῖα συντίθεσθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου ἣν μὴ ἁρμόττει ἐν ἀρχῇ λόγου τιθέναι καθ’ αὑτήν, οἷον μέν ἤτοι δέ. ἢ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἣ ἐκ πλειόνων μὲν[Bekker 1457a line 5]φωνῶν μιᾶς σημαντικῶν δὲ ποιεῖν πέφυκεν μίαν σημαντικὴν φωνήν.ἄρθρον δ’ ἐστὶ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἣ λόγου ἀρχὴν ἢ τέλος ἢ διορισμὸν δηλοῖ. οἷον τὸ ἀμφί καὶ τὸ περί καὶ τὰ ἄλλα. ἢ φωνὴ ἄσημος ἣ οὔτε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν ἐκ πλειόνων φωνῶν πεφυκυῖα τίθεσθαι[Bekker 1457a line 10]καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου.ὄνομα δέ ἐστι φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ ἄνευ χρόνου ἧς μέρος οὐδέν ἐστι καθ’ αὑτὸ σημαντικόν· ἐν γὰρ τοῖς διπλοῖς οὐ χρώμεθα ὡς καὶ αὐτὸ καθ’ αὑτὸ σημαῖνον, οἷον ἐν τῷ Θεόδωρος τὸ δωρος οὐ σημαίνει.ῥῆμα δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ μετὰ[Bekker 1457a line 15]χρόνου ἧς οὐδὲν μέρος σημαίνει καθ’ αὑτό, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὀνομάτων· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ἢ λευκόν οὐ σημαίνει τὸ πότε, τὸ δὲ βαδίζει ἢ βεβάδικεν προσσημαίνει τὸ μὲν τὸν παρόντα χρόνον τὸ δὲ τὸν παρεληλυθότα.πτῶσις δ’ ἐστὶν ὀνόματος ἢ ῥήματος ἡ μὲν κατὰ τὸ τούτου ἢ τούτῳ[Bekker 1457a line 20]σημαῖνον καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἑνὶ ἢ πολλοῖς, οἷον ἄνθρωποι ἢ ἄνθρωπος, ἡ δὲ κατὰ τὰ ὑποκριτικά, οἷον κατ’ ἐρώτησιν ἐπίταξιν· τὸ γὰρ ἐβάδισεν; ἢ βάδιζε πτῶσις ῥήματος κατὰ ταῦτα τὰ εἴδη ἐστίν.λόγος δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ ἧς ἔνια μέρη καθ’ αὑτὰ σημαίνει τι(οὐ γὰρ ἅπας λόγος ἐκ ῥημάτων καὶ ὀνομάτων σύγκειται, οἷον ὁ[Bekker 1457a line 25]τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁρισμός, ἀλλ’ ἐνδέχεται ἄνευ ῥημάτων εἶναι λόγον, μέρος μέντοι ἀεί τι σημαῖνον ἕξει) οἷον ἐν τῷ βαδίζει Κλέων ὁ Κλέων.εἷς δέ ἐστι λόγος διχῶς, ἢ γὰρ ὁ ἓν σημαίνων, ἢ ὁ ἐκ πλειόνων συνδέσμῳ, οἷον ἡ Ἰλιὰς μὲν[Bekker 1457a line 30]συνδέσμῳ εἷς, ὁ δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τῷ ἓν σημαίνειν.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved for fidelity, technical precision, clarity, and structure.
[Bekker 1456b line 20]The parts of diction as a whole are these: letter, syllable, conjunction, noun, verb, article, inflection, and phrase.A letter is an indivisible sound—not every such sound, but one from which a compound sound naturally arises; for animals also make indivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter.The parts of a letter[Bekker 1456b line 25]are vowel, semivowel, and mute. A vowel is that which has an audible sound without any contact of the vocal organs; a semivowel is that which has an audible sound with such contact, as S and R; and a mute is that which, with such contact, has no sound by itself, but becomes audible in combination[Bekker 1456b line 30]with letters that have some sound, as G and D.These differ according to the shapes and positions of the mouth, aspiration and absence of aspiration, length and shortness, and further according to acute, grave, and intermediate pitch; the detailed study of these matters belongs to metrics.A syllable[Bekker 1456b line 35]is a composite sound without meaning, formed from a mute and a letter having sound; for GR without A is †a syllable, and† so is GR with A, as in GRA. But the study of the differences among these also belongs to metrics.A conjunction is a sound without meaning which neither[Bekker 1457a][Bekker 1457a line 1]prevents nor produces a single significant sound from several sounds, and which naturally stands either at the ends or in the middle, but which it is not fitting to place by itself at the beginning of a phrase—for example, men, ētoi, and de; or it is a sound without meaning which, from several sounds[Bekker 1457a line 5]that each have meaning, naturally produces a single significant sound.An article is a sound without meaning that marks the beginning, end, or division of a phrase, such as amphi, peri, and the others; or it is a sound without meaning which neither prevents nor produces a single significant sound from several sounds, and which naturally stands[Bekker 1457a line 10]both at the ends and in the middle.A noun is a composite significant sound without reference to time, no part of which has meaning by itself; for in compound nouns we do not use a part as though it also had meaning in itself: for example, in Theodorus, dorus has no meaning.A verb is a composite significant sound with reference[Bekker 1457a line 15]to time, no part of which has meaning by itself, just as with nouns. For “man” or “white” does not signify when, whereas “walks” or “has walked” signifies in addition, respectively, present time and past time.An inflection is a form of a noun or verb: one kind signifies “of this” or “to this”[Bekker 1457a line 20]and the like; another signifies one or many, as “men” or “man”; another follows the forms of delivery, such as question or command—for “Did he walk?” and “Walk!” are inflections of a verb according to these forms.A phrase is a composite significant sound, some parts of which signify something by themselves(for not every phrase is composed of verbs and nouns, as, for example, the[Bekker 1457a line 25]definition of man is not; a phrase may exist without verbs, though it will always have some part that signifies something), as “Cleon” in “Cleon walks.”A phrase is one in two ways: either because it signifies one thing, or because it is composed of several parts joined together. Thus the Iliad is[Bekker 1457a line 30]one by conjunction, while the definition of man is one by signifying one thing.
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 26 Ancient Greek chapters with all 279 Bekker markers preserved.
[Bekker 1456b line 20]The parts of language as a whole are these: letter, syllable, conjunction, noun, verb, article, inflection, and statement.A letter is an indivisible sound—not every indivisible sound, but one from which a compound sound can naturally be formed. Animals also make indivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter.The divisions of the letter[Bekker 1456b line 25]are vowel, semivowel, and mute. A vowel is a letter that has an audible sound without contact of the speech organs; a semivowel is a letter that has an audible sound with such contact, such as S and R; and a mute is a letter that, with such contact, has no sound by itself, but becomes audible when combined[Bekker 1456b line 30]with letters that have some sound, such as G and D.These differ according to the shapes and positions of the mouth, aspiration and lack of aspiration, length and shortness, and also acute, grave, and intermediate pitch. The detailed study of these belongs to metrics.A syllable[Bekker 1456b line 35]is a compound sound without meaning, made up of a mute and a letter that has sound. Thus GR without A is †a syllable, and† so is GR with A, as in GRA. But the study of the differences among these also belongs to metrics.A conjunction is a sound without meaning that neither prevents nor produces a single meaningful sound naturally composed of several sounds, and that can be placed both at the ends and in the middle, though it is not fitting for it to stand by itself at the beginning of a statement—for example, “indeed,” “surely,” and “but.” Or it is a sound without meaning that, from several[Bekker 1457a][Bekker 1457a line 1]sounds, neither prevents nor produces a single meaningful sound naturally composed of them, and can be placed both at the ends and in the middle, though it is not fitting for it to stand by itself at the beginning of a statement—for example, “indeed,” “surely,” and “but.” Or it is a sound without meaning that naturally forms one meaningful sound out of several sounds,[Bekker 1457a line 5]each of which is meaningful.An article is a sound without meaning that indicates the beginning, end, or division of a statement—for example, “around,” “about,” and the others. Or it is a sound without meaning that neither prevents nor produces a single meaningful sound out of several sounds and that can naturally be placed[Bekker 1457a line 10]both at the ends and in the middle.A noun is a compound sound with meaning, without reference to time, no part of which has meaning by itself. In compound nouns, we do not use a part as though it also had meaning by itself; for example, in “Theodore,” the element “dore” has no meaning.A verb is a compound sound with meaning and with reference[Bekker 1457a line 15]to time, no part of which has meaning by itself, just as with nouns. For “man” or “white” does not indicate when, but “walks” and “has walked” additionally indicate time, the former the present and the latter the past.An inflection is a form of a noun or verb: one kind signifies “of this” or “to this”[Bekker 1457a line 20]and other such relations; another signifies one or many, as in “men” or “man”; and another corresponds to forms of delivery, such as a question or command. Thus “Did he walk?” and “Walk!” are inflections of a verb according to these forms.A statement is a compound sound with meaning, some parts of which have meaning by themselves.For not every statement is composed of verbs and nouns—the definition[Bekker 1457a line 25]of man, for example—but a statement can exist without verbs; nevertheless, it will always have some part that has meaning. In “Cleon walks,” for example, “Cleon” is such a part.A statement is one in two ways: either because it signifies one thing, or because several parts are joined by conjunction. Thus the Iliad is one[Bekker 1457a line 30]by conjunction, while the definition of man is one because it signifies one thing.