Topic
Modistae
About: Modistae is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 21 publications have been published within this topic receiving 125 citations.
Papers
Book•
1 Jan 1991TL;DR: This paper presented the linguistic achievements of four major cultures to readers presumably conversant with modern theoretical linguistics, and showed that the Indian and the Arab linguistics have been superior to the European linguistics at least until the 20th century.
Abstract: This wide-ranging book presents the linguistic achievements of four major cultures to readers presumably conversant with modern theoretical linguistics. The chapter on India discusses in detail Pānini's (c. 400 B.C.) grammar Ast-adhy-ay-i as well as the work of his commentators Kātyāyana, Patanjali, and Bhartrhari. In the Chinese tradition, the Confucian doctrine of the Rectification of Names' is singled out for treatment. Arabic linguistics is represented by Sibawaihi's (d. 793) grammar al-Kitāb , in particular its syntax, as well as the subsequent commentary tradition. The chapter on Europe, which is the most comprehensive of the four, covers the time span from antiquity to the 20th century; special attention is devoted to the contributions of Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Varro, Apollonius Dyscolus, and the Modistae. The achievements of the cultures in linguistics are treated throughout from a deliberately value-laden point of view. The achievements of Western antiquity and the Middle Ages are shown to be much more than the average linguist is inclined to believe. Even more importantly, it is shown that the Indian and the Arab traditions have been superior to the European tradition at least until the 20th century. The fact that a linguistic theory created some 2,400 years ago is fully as adequate as our best theories today must have far-reaching implications for the notion of 'scientific progress'. More precisely, it proves necessary to distinguish between 'progress in the human sciences' and 'progress in the natural sciences'. These issues, which pertain to the general philosophy of science, are treated in the final chapter of the book.
73 citations
1 Jan 1995
TL;DR: The port-royal tradition of general grammar was introduced by a small group of Jansenist religious figures in the mid-seventeenth century whose community, affiliated with the convent, was a center of intellectual activity as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter explains port-royal tradition of general grammar. Port-Royal was the name of a convent established near Paris in the early thirteenth century. In linguistics, it refers to a small group of Jansenist religious figures in the mid-seventeenth century whose community, affiliated with the convent, was a center of intellectual activity. The Modistae of the 13th and 14th centuries, adopting many ideas from Aristotle, interrupted centuries of prescriptivist studies by taking up what is referred to as “speculative grammar.” At the time of the GGR, however, grammatical studies in France were synonymous with a concern over what constituted correct Latin or French. Jansenism was an austere Roman Catholic sect whose followers believed that the Church had strayed too far from the teachings of the patriarchs. Their dissatisfaction was aimed in particular at the Jesuits, whose supposedly liberal views were the rule of the day throughout France and much of Europe. The idea for the GGR came from Lancelot, whose intention was to create a sort of guide to facilitate the study of any language.
43 citations
Book•
31 May 2002TL;DR: The grammar of the modistae as mentioned in this paper traces the genesis of a grammar which communicated freely with other speculative sciences, shared their structures and methods, and affirmed its own individuality by defining its object as the causes of language.
Abstract: Much is known about the grammar of the modistae and about its eclipse; this book sets out to trace its rise. In the late eleventh century grammar became an analytical rather than an exegetical discipline under the impetus of the new theology. Under the impetus of Arab learning the ancient sciences were reshaped according to the norms of Aristotle’s Analytics , and developed within a structure of speculative sciences beginning with grammar and culminating in theology. Though the modistae acknowledge Aristotle, Donatus, Priscian and the Arab commentators, their roots also lie in Augustine and Boethius, and they took as much from their scholastic contemporaries as they gave them. This book traces the genesis of a grammar which communicated freely with other speculative sciences, shared their structures and methods, and affirmed its own individuality by defining its object as the causes of language.
29 citations
Book•
1 Jan 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a survey of the Western classical tradition of linguistics and its application in the early Middle Ages, from Epicurus until after Whorf's "Paradigms for Linguistic Analysis".
Abstract: Preface Preface to the Second Edition 1. Linguistics and the Western Classical Tradition 2. Plato on Language 3. Aristotle's Legacy 4. The Stoics and Varro 5. Quintilian, Dionysius and Donatus: The Start of a Pedagogic Tradition 6. Apollonius and Priscian, the Great Grammarians among the Ancients 7. Prescriptivism from the Early Middle Ages On 8. 'General' or 'Universal' Grammar: From the Modistae to Chomsky 9. Phonetics, Phonology and Comparative Philology 10. Language and Thought: From Epicurus until after Whorf 11. Saussurean and Functionalist Linguistics: The Study of Language as Communication 12. Paradigms for Linguistic Analysis: Bloomfieldian Linguistics and the Chomsky Revolution 13. Linguistic Semantics and Pragmatics from Earliest Times Epilogue Life Dates
26 citations
1 Jan 2008
TL;DR: Late 13th and early 14th century logic may be characterized by its interest for grammatical and metalogical problems, and the texts show a considerable disagreement about the origin, status and ontological foundation of this object in the science of logic.
Abstract: Publisher Summary Late 13th and early 14th century logic may be characterized by its interest for grammatical and metalogical problems. Grammar and logic were two of the traditional seven liberal arts, but the works of the logicians and grammarians in this period reflect an interest in grammar and logic as sciences, rather than as arts. There was a common opinion that every science has to have an immutable object, but the texts show a considerable disagreement about the origin, status and ontological foundation of this object in the science of logic. Beside signification the key notion was “imposition.” The basic function of language is to signify things, and imposition is the way words acquire their meanings. This is supposed to work as follows: a first impositor investigates things and their properties and then decides which sound should be used to signify that object.
20 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
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| 2020 | 1 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2004 | 1 |