What Graeco-Roman grammar was about / P.H. Matthews.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Matthews, P. H. (Peter Hugoe), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greek language--Grammar.

Greek language.

Latin language--Grammar.

Latin language.

Physical Description:

xii, 243 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2019.

Summary:

This book explains how the grammarians of the Graeco-Romance world perceived the nature and structure of the languages they taught. The volume focuses primarily on the early centuries AD, a time when the Roman Empire was at its peak; in this period, a grammarian not only had a secure place in the ancient system of education, but could take for granted an established technical understanding of language. By delineating what that ancient model of grammar was, P. H. Matthews highlights both those aspects that have persisted to this day and seem reassuringly familiar, such as 'parts of speech', as well as those aspects that are wholly dissimilar to our present understanding of grammar and language. The volume is written to be accessible to students of linguistics from undergraduate level upwards, and assumes no knowledge of Latin or Ancient Greek.

Contents:

Box 1.1 Ancient etymology p. 10

Transcriptions p. 14

2 Grammar p. 17

Box 2.1 Definitions of grammar p. 19

The scope of grammars p. 26

Box 2.2 Two classic authorities p. 29

3 Units p. 35

Box 3.1 Vox articulata p. 36

Box 3.2 Elements p. 41

Syllables p. 43

Box 3.3 The syllable in Latin p. 45

Units with meaning p. 47

4 Words p. 51

Box 4.1 Words and utterances p. 52

Words as parts of an utterance p. 57

Box 4.2 Nouns, verbs, participles p. 62

Words classed ambiguously p. 65

Box 4.3 Adverbs and prepositions in Latin p. 68

5 The eight parts p. 71

Why words were central p. 73

The system of definitions p. 77

Box 5.1 The parts as defined by Apollonius Dyscolus or Priscian p. 84

Box 5.2 The parts as defined by Donatus and by 'Dionysius Thrax' p. 86

Adjectives p. 89

6 Accidents p. 93

Box 6.1 The variable properties of nouns p. 96

Conjugation p. 104

Box 6.2 Conjugations in Latin p. 106

7 Inflectional categories p. 109

Diathesis p. 116

Box 7.2 Types of verb in Latin p. 119

Divisions of time p. 123

Box 7.3 Pairings of times p. 124

8 Speaking correctly p. 129

Types of error p. 134

Box 8.1 Apollonius Dyscolus on solecisms p. 137

9 Utterances p. 147

Box 9.1 Definitions of an utterance p. 148

Box 9.2 Apollonius Dyscolus on the cases taken by verbs p. 156

10 Parts of utterances and their constructions p. 169

Terms in embryo p. 176

Box 10.1 Metalepsis p. 179

11 Derivation p. 189

Box 11.1 The declension of nouns in Latin p. 192

Morphology without morphemes p. 196

Box 11.2 Theodosius of Alexandria on the forms of verbs in Greek p. 200

How far did analyses go astray? p. 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-234) and indexes.

ISBN:

0198830114

9780198830115

OCLC:

1032587667