Spacing out speech acts : textual units and their visual organization in Greek letters on papyrus
- Author
- Klaas Bentein (UGent) and Marta Capano (UGent)
- Organization
- Project
-
- EVWRIT (Everyday Writing in Graeco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt (I - VIII AD). A Socio-Semiotic Study of Communicative Variation)
- Abstract
- This study explores the textual and visual organisation of Greek letters on papyrus. While previous scholarship has focused on cataloguing formulaic elements in epistolary texts, it has often overlooked how these elements, along with other linguistic features such as discourse particles, tense-aspect marking, and pronouns, provide cues for discourse segmentation. This contribution discusses the preliminary results of an annotation framework designed to capture these aspects more effectively and examines the correspondences between generic structure and pragmatic concepts such as ‘speech act’. In the second part of the study, we identify various layout elements that contribute to the visual organisation of the texts. We preliminarily assess how sensitive writers were to the type of speech act being expressed and the ways in which visual cues were used to emphasise certain thematic blocks within the letters. This integrated analysis offers new insights into the complex interactional form of communication presented by ancient letters.
- Keywords
- Ancient Greek, Papyri, Layout, Discourse analysis, Text segmentation, Speech acts, Greek letters
Downloads
-
published version.pdf
- full text (Published version)
- |
- open access
- |
- |
- 1.30 MB
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01JM1RFR2APARDW874P19QX4MN
- MLA
- Bentein, Klaas, and Marta Capano. “Spacing out Speech Acts : Textual Units and Their Visual Organization in Greek Letters on Papyrus.” Everyday Communication in Antiquity : Frames and Framings, edited by Klaas Bentein, vol. 18, Ca’Foscari, 2025, pp. 95–143, doi:10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6/004.
- APA
- Bentein, K., & Capano, M. (2025). Spacing out speech acts : textual units and their visual organization in Greek letters on papyrus. In K. Bentein (Ed.), Everyday communication in Antiquity : frames and framings (Vol. 18, pp. 95–143). https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6/004
- Chicago author-date
- Bentein, Klaas, and Marta Capano. 2025. “Spacing out Speech Acts : Textual Units and Their Visual Organization in Greek Letters on Papyrus.” In Everyday Communication in Antiquity : Frames and Framings, edited by Klaas Bentein, 18:95–143. Venice: Ca’Foscari. https://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6/004.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Bentein, Klaas, and Marta Capano. 2025. “Spacing out Speech Acts : Textual Units and Their Visual Organization in Greek Letters on Papyrus.” In Everyday Communication in Antiquity : Frames and Framings, ed by. Klaas Bentein, 18:95–143. Venice: Ca’Foscari. doi:10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6/004.
- Vancouver
- 1.Bentein K, Capano M. Spacing out speech acts : textual units and their visual organization in Greek letters on papyrus. In: Bentein K, editor. Everyday communication in Antiquity : frames and framings. Venice: Ca’Foscari; 2025. p. 95–143.
- IEEE
- [1]K. Bentein and M. Capano, “Spacing out speech acts : textual units and their visual organization in Greek letters on papyrus,” in Everyday communication in Antiquity : frames and framings, vol. 18, K. Bentein, Ed. Venice: Ca’Foscari, 2025, pp. 95–143.
@incollection{01JM1RFR2APARDW874P19QX4MN,
abstract = {{This study explores the textual and visual organisation of Greek letters on papyrus. While previous scholarship has focused on cataloguing formulaic elements in epistolary texts, it has often overlooked how these elements, along with other linguistic features such as discourse particles, tense-aspect marking, and pronouns, provide cues for discourse segmentation. This contribution discusses the preliminary results of an annotation framework designed to capture these aspects more effectively and examines the correspondences between generic structure and pragmatic concepts such as ‘speech act’. In the second part of the study, we identify various layout elements that contribute to the visual organisation of the texts. We preliminarily assess how sensitive writers were to the type of speech act being expressed and the ways in which visual cues were used to emphasise certain thematic blocks within the letters. This integrated analysis offers new insights into the complex interactional form of communication presented by ancient letters.}},
author = {{Bentein, Klaas and Capano, Marta}},
booktitle = {{Everyday communication in Antiquity : frames and framings}},
editor = {{Bentein, Klaas}},
isbn = {{9788869698873}},
issn = {{2724-377X}},
keywords = {{Ancient Greek,Papyri,Layout,Discourse analysis,Text segmentation,Speech acts,Greek letters}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{95--143}},
publisher = {{Ca'Foscari}},
series = {{Lexis Supplementi}},
title = {{Spacing out speech acts : textual units and their visual organization in Greek letters on papyrus}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-886-6/004}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2025}},
}
- Altmetric
- View in Altmetric