Motion pseudo-coordination in Plautus’ and Terence’s plays. A corpus-based analysis

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A particular type of coordination construction has been recently highlighted for Latin, where a generic verb (= V1), such as a motion verb, is conjoined to another verb (= V2) to express a single event: e.g., ibo igitur, parabo (therefore, I will go to prepare: Plavt. Aul. 263); ibo ac dicam (I’ll go and tell; Ter. Haut. 501); abi, nuntia (you go announce; Liv. 1, 16, 7). Typologically, this construction is better known as pseudo-coordination. This paper aims to investigate the distribution of motion pseudo-coordination in Plautus’ and Terence’s plays because of the relative orality of their style. In this respect, we rely on the LatinISE corpus for the collection of the data. The research supports the following claims: i) several instances match the typological criteria for pseudo-coordination; ii) the use of the alleged pseudo-coordination in Plautus’ and Terence’s plays seem to be limited to the indicative future and imperative present; iii) unsurprisingly, the motion verb for ‘go’ eo is more frequently attested as V1 as opposed to other motion verbs such as abeo, adeo and exeo, derived from the same verb.