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[2] Of nouns and verbs it is the proper ones that make style perspicuous1; all the others which have been spoken of in the Poetics2 elevate and make it ornate; for departure from the ordinary makes it appear more dignified. In this respect men feel the same in regard to style as in regard to foreigners and fellow-citizens.

1 “Nouns and verbs” is a conventional expression for all the parts of speech. Cp. Hor. AP 240 “non ego inornata et dominantia nomina solum verbaque,” where dominantia is a literal adaptation of κύρια, the usual Latin equivalent for which is propria.

2 Aristot. Poet. 21.

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