4 - Greek Linguistic Thought and its Roman Reception

Summary

This chapter takes an evolutionary perspective on Greek linguistic thought and ends with consideration of the Roman grammatical tradition. It looks at important steps in Greek conceptualization and the terminology linked to it. Under phonic conceptualizing the author studies the development of scripts, the categorization of sounds according to +/- features and the absence of a functional distinction between letter and sound. Regarding morphosyntactic conceptualization, Plato’s (and Aristotle’s) two elements of discourse structure, onómata and rhḗmata (roughly nouns and verbs) are discussed, and also Aristotle’s parts of speech, his division of categories ‘providing signification’ and those that don’t, and the antithesis between nature and convention. The author highlights the Stoics’ fundamental recognition of six parts of speech and presents Greek grammarians’ views on processual aspects of onómata and rhḗmata, i.e., ptôsis/klísis (similar to modern ‘inflection/case’). Greek influence on Latin grammarians and Varro’s lexical choices for translating Greek terminology are reviewed. It is emphasized that Dionysus Thrax’s Techne grammatike was the most influential handbook of language analysis in Late Antiquity and comes close to what we would call a grammar. Finally, Donatus’ Ars grammatica and its long-lasting impact on language study in the West are discussed.