Word Study Project

Due by 5pm on Friday, October 22.

In this assignment, you will choose a single noun, adjective, or verb; trace its appearances (in all of its inflected forms) throughout Pliny’s Letters; and make some broad generalizations about the word’s use within Pliny’s corpus.

Here is the step-by-step process you should take to complete this assignment:

1. Select a noun, adjective, or verb that Pliny uses that interests you in any way.

2. List the dictionary entry of that word (you can use the glossary in Shelton).

3. Use Perseus to determine where in Pliny’s corpus your chosen word appears. (See video on how to use Perseus here. Please note that the course website at the beginning of the video was last year’s course site, but you can still find the link that I describe either on our Resources page or in the Perseus link in this paragraph.)

4. For all appearances of the word, list the passage citation and the specific form of the word used in that passage.
   • For this reason, if your chosen word has more than 20-30 results, it may be best to select a new word that has fewer than 30; otherwise, this list will be extremely long!
   • As you list, double check what you’re writing down. Can this form actually come from the dictionary entry that you’ve chosen? Perseus may be including unrelated words in the output, so you should validate as you go using your own knowledge of declension and conjugation!
5. From the list, choose five (5) appearances of the word (either randomly or because they interest you in one way or another; see note below).
   • Write out the citation and the full (Latin) sentence in which the word appears.
   • For each, parse the word as it appears:
     • if a noun, give: gender, case, number
     • adjectives: gender, case, number, degree
     • verbs (conjugated): person, number, tense, voice, mood
     • verbs (participles): tense, voice, gender, case, and number
     • verbs (infinitives): tense, voice
     • verbs (gerunds): case, number
     • verbs (gerundives): gender, case, number, paired noun if GRG
     • NOTE: This step could help you strategize when figuring out which five appearances of the word to pick. You could, for example, pick five appearances of a verb that shows up in the exact same person-number-tense-voice-mood combination!
   • Then, paraphrase each sentence in English. Do not translate literally! What is the basic idea of the sentence? Feel free to use online translations to get the basic sense of the sentence, but please state your paraphrase in your own words; do not copy and paste from the translation.
6. Write 2-4 sentences to answer the following reflective questions:
   • Do you notice any patterns amongst the five appearances of your word (or the whole list of appearances)?
     • If it’s a noun, is any one case used more than others?
     • If it’s a verb, any tense or mood or voice that appears more than others?
     • If it’s an adjective, what kinds of nouns does it describe most often?
   • If you do not discern any patterns, make sure to state that too!
   • In either case (pattern or no pattern), do you think your word’s definition contributes to the presence or lack of a pattern? For example, if your word is a noun that is used most often in the accusative case, does something about its definition lend it more to being a direct object than a subject? If it’s a verb that is used most often in the subjunctive mood, does the verb’s definition indicate that it’s more often a possible or potential action than one that actually happens (i.e., indicative mood)?
7. Submit your assignment via the Canvas upload portal here.