Organizer: Paola Cotticelli Kurras (University of Verona), Research Center LA.LE.LIM
The framework of our proposal conceives grammar as a meeting point for knowledge and reflection on language, as a training ground for measuring metalinguistic awareness to increase the dimension of ‘national language’ as language of use and linguistic system. Overall, the concept of a national language is shaped by political, social, cultural, and historical factors specific to each country, making it a complex and multifaceted aspect of national identity and governance. Nevertheless, we have to state that we cannot address questions such as how (with some exceptions) a nation and a specific language were identified, or what are the origins of this identification, or even what is the actual (symbolic and practical) weight that language has in community identification processes, particularly in nationalist claims. The selected chronological period of attention will be mainly that between the 16th and 18th centuries, starting from some premises rooted in grammars of the 15th century. Therefore, the contributors will focus on a European linguistic reality, namely the progressive loss of the use of Latin as written language, since vernaculars have been already developed in most countries. We will look at the written languages also implied in the education processes in the transition between the use of Latin and the respective national languages.
In line with the contrastive studies between the Latin model and the Eurocentric grammar and its terminology, the proposal will encourage a reflection on the study of national and extra-national grammars. In particular those of both educational and descriptive nature (for national and classical languages) written in the context of Jesuit proselytizing activities, as well as the more theoretical ones, which accompany the formation of the concept and linguistic (national) awareness that the Jesuits certainly supported are welcome.
The contributions will focus on the systems applied to the description of the grammars of European languages, in the Romance, Germanic, and Slavonic area, according to the approach followed by Ising (1970), and on those employed in the first grammars of non-European languages. This line intertwines with the metalinguistic and theoretical innovations and peculiarities and in general with the grammars of other traditions and their influence on European ones.
A first systematization of the history of grammatical concepts of the 16th-17th centuries is available in HSK 18.1 (2008), with specific reference to chapters 16-21. We particularly mention the transition from the medieval tradition to Humanism. In this period, we observe in centers such as Padua and Bologna an enhancement of Latin grammar for civil purposes through the study of rhetoric, to the point that oratory teachers become prestigious figures. Therefore, the concept of functional grammar becomes dominant over that of rhetoric (ch. 16.88, Tavoni). An additional important collection on the state of studies on linguistic historiography is represented by the selection of papers from previous ICHOLS conferences, especially ICHOLS IV conference in 1987 (published by Niederehe and Koerner in 1990). Some contributions in this work are of methodological and illustrative nature: to this purpose, we only mention the hypothesis put forth by Scaglione, to which the author subscribes, and well describes already in the title of his contribution “The Origins of Syntax: Descartes or the ‘Modistae’?”. Hereby Scaglione anticipates the great influence of the Modistic syntactic theories on the elaboration of the Cartesian sentence structure, thus marking the transition from the medieval heritage to the linguistic concepts in the western European thought from the 16th century onwards of the concept of linguistic awareness.
Furthermore, the lexicon of Hassler-Neis (2007; especially chapter V dedicated to the “Grammatische
Beschreibung”) offers an overview of the first Renaissance grammars in which we observe metalinguistic uses and theoretical concepts treating the later period between 17th and 18th century. Specifically, entries such as ‘Syntax’ (1066-1088), ‘Satz’ (1089-1114) and ‘Wortstellung’ (1115-1149) are constitutive element from Sanctius onwards, outlining a series of fundamental works, which are useful for the scholarly discussion and for the creation of metalinguistic concepts.
A current research carried out by the proponent as PI with the teams linked with the project PRIN 2022 (2022ZCE5RA) intends to consider some relevant aspects which have not yet been examined in detail, in particular the formation of the concept of ‘national language’. In fact, this notion grew through the development of vernaculars; even emerging in various grammatical works organized according to new methodologies and forming a new language awareness about vernacular as national language (see e.g. Buzássyová 2023). In particular, this phenomenon becomes evident when taking into account the role of Latin and vernacular grammars in the description of non-European languages. The history of such process is still missing. The underlying metalinguistic key concepts of this research are particularly reinforced through other grammatical works, namely the European and non-European missionary grammatography, with a specific focus on the Spanish and Portuguese production in South America. The so called “missionary linguistics” is nowadays acknowledged as an integrating part of language studies (Adelaar 2012: 7; Van Loon & Peetermans 2020: 55, besides Zwartjes and Paolo De Troia, (eds.), 2022).
However, an in-depth linguistic analysis, embedded in the syntactical framework of the missionary grammars from South America, remains a desideratum (Simone 1990: 327; Peetermans 2020: 309). In addition, we aim at investigating the (few and still hidden) conceptual descriptions in the works dedicated to the structure and classification of sentences, looking at those related to the concepts of dependence and government both in the grammars of national languages and in rhetorical works between the mid-15th and the 17th century.
We propose some main lines of research
- The elaboration of a specific metalanguage in grammars for each language,
- Theories and elaboration of syntactic concepts as a hidden inheritance of the medieval Modistae and grammarians, dealing with the Port-Royal School, in continuity with the previous speculative reflection and with Modism. This implies the studies of grammar, history of syntactic concepts and language ideas in the Renaissance till to the 18th century grammars, completing the investigation path on the origin and development of syntactic theories.
2.1 In particular, we underline the role of subordination, including the role of punctuation on syntax, as well as the study of the functions of conjunctions, participles and embedding structures, and of metalinguistic aspects.
2.2 Their intertwining with rhetoric, pursuing the codification of the syntax of subordination from Thomas of Erfurt until the end of the 17th century, as a development of grammatical concepts in Europe and the origin of the definition of subordination.
2.3. Furthermore, the study of rhetorical treatises are welcome, which include theoretical parts on the structure and definition of sentences, dependent and coordinated. - The description of grammars in national languages vernaculars, as an expression of cultural identity: National languages are often closely tied to the cultural identity of a nation. They may reflect the history, values, and traditions of the people who speak them. Furthermore, the symbolic importance of such works: The designation of a language as the national language can have symbolic significance, representing unity, identity, and sovereignty for the nation.
- The role of the new grammars according to the Jesuit strategies and sustained by some governments as a sign of Language Policy: Many countries have language policies that regulate the use of national languages in various domains, such as education, media, and public administration. These policies may aim to promote linguistic unity, preserve cultural heritage, or address issues of linguistic diversity.
- The role of grammars as a path to standardization: National languages often undergo standardization processes to establish norms for spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. This helps ensure consistency and facilitate communication within the country.
References
Adelaar, W. F. H. 2012, Historical overview: Descriptive and comparative research on South American Indian languages, in L. Campbell – V. Grondona eds, The indigenous languages of South America, Berlin/Boston, 1–57.
Amsler, M. 1990, Commentary and Metalanguage in Early Medieval Latin Grammar, in Niederehe-Koerner eds., 175-188.
Auroux, S., 2008, Port-Royal et la tradition française de la grammaire générale, in Auroux et al. eds., HSK 18,
Berlin/NY, 1022-1029.
Colombat, B., 2008, La réforme de l’étude du latin à l’époque de l’humanisme, in Auroux et al. eds., HSK18.1, Berlin/New York, 661-665.
Copeland, R. 1987, Vernacular translation and instruction in grammar in fifteenth-century England, in H. Aarsleff et al. eds., Papers in the History of Linguistics. ICHoLS III, Amsterdam /Philadelphia, 143-154.
Eliášová Buzássyová, Ľ., 2023. “Word-formation in neo-Latin school grammar”, in: B. Machajdíková, L. Eliášová Buzássyová (eds.), Greek – Latin – Slavic. Aspects of Linguistics and Grammatography, Tübingen: Narr Franck Attempto Verlag.
Haßler, G./C. Neis, 2009, Lexikon sprachtheoretischer Grundbegriffe des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts, Berlin/NY.
Ising, E. 1970. Die Herausbildung der Grammatik der Volkssprachen in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Studien über den Einfluss der lateinischen Elementargrammatik des Aelius Donatus De octo parteibus orationis Ars Minor. Berlin.
Ising, Erika, 1960. “Zur Entwicklung der Sprachauffassung in der Frühzeit der deutschen Grammatik“, in Forschungen und Fortschritte 34. Berlin.
Koerner, E.F.K. 1990, On ‘Unrewriting the History of Linguistics’, in Niederehe-Koerner, 63-77.
Koerner, E.F.K. 2004, Essays in the History of Linguistics. Amsterdam/Philadelphia.
Leser, E. 1912. Zur Geschichte der Grammatischen Terminologie im 17. Jahrhundert. Lahr.
Niederehe H.-J. – E.F.K. Koerner eds., 1990, History and historiography of linguistics. ICHoLS IV, Amsterdam-Philadelphia.
Scaglione, A. 1990, The Origins of Syntax: Descartes or the ‘Modistae’? in Niederehe-Koerner eds., 339-348.
Simone, R. 1990, Sei e Settecento, in G. C. Lepschy (ed.), Storia della linguistica, vol. 2, Bologna, 313–395.
Tavoni, M. 2008, The traditional study of Latin at the university in the age of Humanism, Auroux, et al. eds., HSK 18.1, Berlin/NY.
Van Loon / Petersman, A.2020, Missionary Linguistic Studies from Mesoamerica to Patagonia (Brill’s Studies in Language, Cognition and Culture, 22) Amsterdam-Philadelphia.
Zwartjes, O. and P. De Troia, (eds.), 2021, Missionary Linguistics vi: Missionary Linguistics in Asia. Selected Papers from the Tenth International Conference on Missionary Linguistics, Rome, 21–24 March 2018, Studies in the History of the Language Sciences, 130. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
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