- Source
- Aristotle. Aristotelis De arte poetica liber. Kassel, Rudolf, editor. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press, 1965 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg034.humanitext-grc2:20.1-20.13
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-28
The author systematically classifies and defines the eight parts of diction, ranging from the smallest units (letters and syllables) to nouns, verbs, inflections, and speech.
τῆς δὲ λέξεως ἁπάσης τάδ’ ἐστὶ τὰ μέρη, στοιχεῖον συλλαβὴ σύνδεσμος ὄνομα ῥῆμα ἄρθρον πτῶσις λόγος.
The parts of diction as a whole are these: the letter, the syllable, the conjunction, the noun, the verb, the article, the inflection, and the speech.
στοιχεῖον μὲν οὖν ἐστιν φωνὴ ἀδιαίρετος, οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς1 πέφυκε συνθετὴ γίγνεσθαι φωνή· καὶ γὰρ τῶν θηρίων εἰσὶν ἀδιαίρετοι φωναί, ὧν οὐδεμίαν λέγω στοιχεῖον.
A letter, then, is an indivisible sound, yet not every such sound, but one from which an intelligible sound can naturally be composed; for beasts also utter indivisible sounds, none of which I call a letter.
ταύτης 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 τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γινόμενον ἀκουστόν,2 οἷον τὸ Γ καὶ τὸ Δ.
The parts of this are the vowel, the semivowel, and the mute. These are: a vowel, that which has an audible sound without any impact; a semivowel, that which has an audible sound with an impact, such as Σ and Ρ; and a mute, that which has an impact but has no sound of its own, though it becomes audible when combined with those that have some sound, such as Γ and 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.
These differ in the shapes of the mouth, in the places of contact, in aspiration and its absence, in length and shortness, and further in acute, grave, and intermediate accent; the proper place for the detailed study of these matters is in treatises on metrics.
συλλαβὴ 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.
A syllable is a non-significant sound composed of a mute and a sound-bearing letter; for ΓΡ without Α is †a syllable, and† also with Α, as in ΓΡΑ. But to investigate the differences of these also belongs to metrics.
σύνδεσμος δέ ἐστιν φωνὴ ἄσημος ἣ οὔτε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν3 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 φωνῶν μιᾶς σημαντικῶν δὲ ποιεῖν πέφυκεν μίαν σημαντικὴν φωνήν.
A conjunction is a non-significant sound which neither hinders nor makes one significant sound out of many sounds, and which is naturally placed both at the ends and in the middle, and which it is not proper to place by itself at the beginning of a speech, such as μέν, ἤτοι, and δέ. Or it is a non-significant sound which, out of many sounds that are significant, is capable of making one significant sound.
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 καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἄκρων καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ μέσου.
An article is a non-significant sound which marks the beginning, the end, or the division of a speech; as, for example, ἀμφί, περί, and the like. Or it is a non-significant sound which neither hinders nor makes one significant sound out of many sounds, and which is naturally placed both at the ends and in the middle.
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.
A noun is a composite significant sound without time, of which no part is significant by itself; for in compound words we do not use a part as being significant by itself, as in the name Θεόδωρος, the part δωρος has no meaning.
ῥῆμα δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ μετὰ 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.
A verb is a composite significant sound with time, of which no part is significant by itself, just as in the case of nouns; for “man” or “white” does not signify when, but “walks” or “has walked” additionally signifies, the former the present time, the latter the past.
πτῶσις δ’ ἐστὶν ὀνόματος ἢ ῥήματος ἡ μὲν κατὰ τὸ τούτου ἢ τούτῳ σημαῖνον4 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.
Inflection of a noun or a verb is either that which signifies “of this” or “to this” and so forth, or that which concerns one or many, such as “men” or “man”, or that which concerns delivery, such as question or command; for “did he walk?” or “walk!” is an inflection of a verb according to these forms.
λόγος δὲ φωνὴ συνθετὴ σημαντικὴ ἧς ἔνια μέρη καθ’ αὑτὰ σημαίνει τι (οὐ γὰρ ἅπας λόγος ἐκ ῥημάτων καὶ ὀνομάτων σύγκειται, οἷον ὁ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὁρισμός, ἀλλ’ ἐνδέχεται ἄνευ ῥημάτων εἶναι λόγον, μέρος μέντοι ἀεί τι σημαῖνον ἕξει) οἷον ἐν τῷ βαδίζει Κλέων ὁ Κλέων.
A speech is a composite significant sound, of which some parts signify something by themselves. (For not every speech consists of verbs and nouns, as, for example, the definition of man; rather, it is possible to have a speech without verbs, yet it will always have some part that is significant), as in “Cleon walks,” the part “Cleon.”
εἷς δέ ἐστι λόγος διχῶς, ἢ γὰρ ὁ ἓν σημαίνων, ἢ ὁ ἐκ πλειόνων συνδέσμῳ, οἷον ἡ Ἰλιὰς μὲν συνδέσμῳ εἷς, ὁ δὲ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τῷ ἓν σημαίνειν.
A speech is one in two ways, either because it signifies one thing, or because it is made one out of many by a conjunction; for example, the Iliad is one by a conjunction, whereas the definition of man is one by signifying one thing.
- 1456b20οὐ πᾶσα δὲ ἀλλ’ ἐξ ἧς
There is an ellipsis of φωνή in οὐ πᾶσα [φωνή], followed by a relative clause with an omitted antecedent: ἀλλ’ [ἐκείνη ἐξ] ἧς.... The relative pronoun ἧς refers back to φωνή. The whole phrase means 'but only that sound from which a composite sound is naturally produced.'
- 1456b25μετὰ δὲ τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνὴν γινόμενον ἀκουστόν
The neuter singular participle γινόμενον agrees with the subject of the clause, ἄφωνον (neuter singular). The genitive participial phrase τῶν ἐχόντων τινὰ φωνήν ('those having some sound') is the object of the preposition μετά. The structure defines a mute as having no sound of its own, but becoming audible when combined with those that have some sound.
- 1456b35ἣ οὔτε κωλύει οὔτε ποιεῖ φωνὴν μίαν σημαντικὴν
The relative pronoun ἣ refers back to φωνὴ ἄσημος (the definition of a conjunction). The feminine singular nominative participle πεφυκυῖα (with συντίθεσθαι) also agrees with φωνή, modifying or supplementing the main verbs κωλύει and ποιεῖ within the relative clause. Despite textual difficulties, the syntax forms a nested restriction: a non-significant sound which naturally has the property of being composed, but neither hinders nor makes one significant sound.
- 1457a15ἡ μὲν κατὰ τὸ τούτου ἢ τούτῳ σημαῖνον
The substantivized neuter singular participle τὸ σημαῖνον takes the inflected forms τούτου ('of this', genitive) and τούτῳ ('to this', dative) as its object or referent. The phrase means 'that inflection which is according to the signifying of "of this" or "to this"'. The initial article ἡ refers back to πτῶσις, defining nominal declension (oblique cases).