Quia, quoniam, and information management in Plautus

Abstract

Abstract This paper analyzes the Latin subordinate conjunctions quia and quoniam in Plautus’ comedies. Previous studies have shown that quia and quoniam play an important role in managing the information flow of a discourse. Clauses introduced by quia typically contain information that is new to the addressee, while quoniam-clauses tend to present information that belongs to the speech participants’ common ground. Our analysis shows that in Plautus, quia and quoniam each appear in specific communicative contexts that reflect their information management properties. We also demonstrate how Plautus exploits these characteristics of quia and quoniam to manipulate the information flow on stage for the purpose of audience entertainment.