Anceps

Anceps ( Latin anceps "ambiguous", "undecided"; plural ancipitia ; German also anzeps ) denotes metrical ambivalence in ancient verse theory .

The elementum anceps is a verse element that can be realized in the concrete verse as length , shortness or double shortening . In metric notation it is represented with ×.

Often no distinction is made between elementum anceps and elementum indifferens , the latter being a verse element that can only be realized with a single long or short syllable, but not with double abbreviations. It appears in the metric scheme as ◠ with a line below, often also as ◠̣ with a point below. Finally, metric ambivalence can be expressed even more specifically:

• ◡ is usually a length, but can also be a shortness; is reversed
• ◡ mostly a short, but can also be implemented as a length.

According to Paul Maas, there is also a metric distinction between the metric ambivalence at the end of the verse and period , for which he coined the term brevis in longo . Accordingly, there is no anceps here, but a longum, whereby the length or shortness of the corresponding syllable is not decisive. This is occasionally noted as a longum with a dot below it (—̣), but mostly as an indifferent ( ◠ ).

As Syllaba anceps one is syllable referred to as may be short in verse depending on the context both long as well.

literature

• Dieter Burdorf, Christoph Fasbender, Burkhard Moennighoff (ed.): Metzler Lexicon Literature. Terms and definitions. 3rd edition Metzler, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-01612-6 , p. 24.
• Gero von Wilpert : Subject dictionary of literature. 8th edition Kröner, Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-520-84601-3 , p. 28.