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Hyperbaton and register in Cicero 173
2.3 Other related phenomena
One should also probably leave on one side a number of other phenomena
which are sometimes classed as hyperbaton. I mention two of these:
(i) The common phenomenon sometimes called ‘prepositional hyperbaton’
(as in summa cum laude, hac de re) where, in a prepositional phrase,
an adjective or other modifier is placed before the preposition. While it
does seem that some minor shift of emphasis may be conveyed by placing
the modifier before the preposition, this order is routine in Classical
Latin and hardly seems comparable with the other phenomena we are here
considering.
(ii) Conjunct ‘hyperbaton’, called coniunctio in Latin (Rhet. Her. 4.38),
in which a phrase of the form ‘A and B’, involving a co-ordinating conjunction,
is split by another constituent placed before the conjunction, as in
English ‘good men and true’ or Latin impuro homini ac nefario (Cic. Har.
28). This is not so much a hyperbaton as a form of ellipsis, in which e.g.
‘good men and true’ is to be interpreted as short for ‘good men and true
men’. For this common feature see e.g. Kühner-Stegmann (K–S ii.620–1).
2.4 Genuine discontinuity with intervening postpositive
Leaving on one side the above categories, we come now to those noun
phrases which are genuinely discontinuous. These may be further classified
according to the number and type of constituents in the intervening
material, and according to the order of the enclosing constituents of the
noun phrase itself – head first or modifier first.
Even here, however, we shall find that a relatively large proportion
of discontinuous noun phrases are split by nothing more alarming than
an emphatic particle such as quidem or quoque, a connective particle in
the opening gambit of a sentence such as enim, autem, igitur, aweak
personal pronoun attracted to immediate post-focus position (as admirably
elucidated by Adams 1994b), or a part of the verb esse treated similarly
(Adams 1994a). All of these can be classified together as ‘postpositives’
and it can often happen that a noun phrase is split by more than one
postpositive, or by a postpositive together with another word or words
(e.g. Sen. 84 quid habet enim vita commodi?). In the further categorisation
of hyperbaton, particles and weak pronouns can be treated as invisible, so