Plato, Theaetetus, section 205b

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[205b] that it contains the letters, not as parts of it, or else that being the same as the letters, it is equally knowable with them?

Theaetetus
It does.

Socrates
And it was in order to avoid this that we assumed that it was different from them?

Theaetetus
Yes.

Socrates
Well then, if the letters are not parts of the syllable, can you mention any other things which are parts of it, but are not the letters¹ of it?

Theaetetus
Certainly not. For if I grant that there are parts of the syllable, it would be ridiculous to give up the letters and look for other things as parts.

1 The reader is reminded that words στοιχεῖον and συλλαβή have the meanings “element” and “combination” as well as “letter” and “syllable.”

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 12 translated by Harold N. Fowler. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.

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