Scrambling (linguistics) - Scrambling Within A Constituent

Scrambling Within A Constituent

Classical Latin and Ancient Greek were known for a more extreme type of scrambling known as hyperbaton, defined as a "violent displacement of words". This involves the scrambling (extraposition) of individual words out of their syntactic constituents. Perhaps the most well-known example is magnā cum laude "with great praise" (lit. "great with praise"). This was possible in Latin and Greek because of case-marking: For example, both magnā and laude are in the ablative case.

Hyperbaton is found in a number of prose writers, e.g. Cicero:

Hic optimus illīs temporibus est patrōnus habitus

(word-for-word) he (the) best in those times was lawyer considered

(meaning) 'He was considered the best lawyer in those times.'

Much more extreme hyperbaton occurred in poetry, often with criss-crossing constituents. An example from Ovid is

Grandia per multōs tenuantur flūmina rīvōs.

(word-for-word) great into many are channeled rivers brooks.

(meaning) 'Great rivers are channeled into many brooks.'

An interlinear gloss is as follows:

grandia	per	multōs	tenuantur	flūmina	rīvōs
great.NOM.NEUT.PL	through	many.ACC.MASC.PL	are.tapered	rivers.NOM.NEUT.PL	brooks.ACC.MASC.PL

The two nouns (subject and object) are placed side-by-side, with both corresponding adjectives extraposed on the opposite side of the verb, in a non-embedding fashion.

Even more extreme cases are noted in the poetry of Horace, e.g.

Quis multā gracilis tē puer in rōsā // perfūsus liquidīs urget odoribus // grātō, Pyrrha, sub antrō?

(word-for-word) "Which many slender you boy in rose // infused liquid urges odors // pleasant, Pyrrha, under cave?"

(meaning) 'What slender Youth bedew'd with liquid odors // Courts thee on (many) Roses in some pleasant cave, // Pyrrha ...?'

Glossed interlinearly, the lines are as follows:

Quis	multā	gracilis	tē	puer	in	rōsā
which.NOM.M.SG	many.ABL.F.SG	slender.NOM.M.SG	you.ACC.SG	boy.NOM.M.SG	in	rose.ABL.F.SG
perfūsus	liquidīs	urget	odoribus
infused.NOM.M.SG	liquid.ABL.M.PL	urges.3RD.SG	odors.ABL.M.PL
grātō	Pyrrha	sub	antrō?
pleasant.ABL.N.SG	Pyrrha.VOC.F.SG	under	cave.ABL.N.SG

Because of the case, gender and number marking on the various nouns, adjectives and determiners, a careful reader can connect the discontinuous and interlocking phrases Quis ... gracilis ... puer, multā ... in rōsā, liquidīs ... odoribus in a way that would be impossible in English.