History of linguistics_class-2

LINGÜÍSTICA – LINGUISTICS – LINGUISTIQUE – 语言学 – בלשנות - 言語学 – भाषा वैज्ञान - علم اللغة - LINGÜÍSTICA A BRIEF HISTORY Phonician Alphabet, Greece, Rome

The Phoenician

Historical Context:
Phoenician people used to live in a thin piece of land near the sea, in the area where Lebanon and Siria are nowadays.
They never formes a unified nation, each city was independent, They were remarkable because they wer great sailors (1.500-500 b.c.)
Their ships took them up to England and it is believed they sailed all Africa through.
They founded colonies and factories all along the Mediterranean sea. There they exchanged products and slaves with the natives so they could sold them later.
They were great providers of western articles for the eastern world
.
Their greatest contribution was the improvement and spreading of the alphabet (sound-letter graphic representation).

Phoenician Alphabet

Importance of Phoenician Alphabet –
Linguistic Context:
The Alphabet was invented by the 16th and 15th cneturies before Christ.
Before, the writing systems were based on syllable separations or word-for-word graphic representation (Cuneiform, hyrogliphic).
The alphabet’s great advantage is its easyness and rather rare tendency to mistakes, because there are not polivalences for the written signs.
The writing system was spread from Tyre (located 83 km south of present day Beirut, Lebanon ) and Carthage. (near of present day Tunis, Tunisia)

Tyre  Beirut


Carthage  Tunis

Nowadays

Greek Tradition

Historical Context
Greece is one of the oldest civilizations in the world and the cradle of Western culture as we know it. The first signs of inhabitance were the Cycladic, Minoan and Mycenaean maritime civilisations that lived and ruled during the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC).
However, these collapsed by the 11th century BC and a 'dark age' followed. By 800 BC, there was a cultural and military revival and city-states like Athens and Sparta sprang onto the world map.
The classical (or golden) age of Greece –Ruler being Pericles- started soon after and gave rise to many of the world’s cultural emblems before ending with the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 AD) in which the Athenians were vanquished by the Spartans.

Pericles Greek : Περικλῆς , meaning " surrounded by glory " (495 a. C.- 429 a. C.)

Historical Context
Alexander the Great, who marched into Asia Minor, Egypt, Persia and parts of what are now Afghanistan and India, ushered in the Macedonian empire.
It ruled for three dynasties and is known as the Hellenistic period. During this time, Greek ideas and culture was amalgamated with other proud ancient cultures and a new tradition was created.
The powerful Roman empire turned its sights on Greece around 205 BC and over the next few centuries, the country came under the Romans, the illustrious Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Turks. All these influences combined to create a unique culture.

Alexander III of Macedon (356–323 BC), popularly known as Alexander the Great ( Greek : Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος , Mégas Aléxandros ),

Alexander’s Empire

Hellenic Period (500-300 b.c.)

Greece: Linguistic Context
The Greek grammatical tradition, which also owes its origin to language change, was developed originally by schoolmasters, though it is known only from later writings of philosophers.
Themes important in the ancient Greek tradition have persisted throughout the history of linguistics, such as the origin of language, parts of speech (grammatical categories), and the relation between language and thought, to mention just a few.

Greece: Linguistic Context
Persistent controversy was whether “nature” or “convention” accounted for the relationship between words and their meaning, and this had implications for the history of language and for the origin of words.
Other issues were the questioning of up to what extent was language analogous (structured and ordered by rules).
And up to what extent was language anomalous (variable, irregular and predictable).

Greece: Socrates (470 BC - 399 BC)
Was an important Greek philosopher and teacher.
"father of Western philosophy“
"I know what I don't know.“
He didn’t write much, though his student, Plato, did it upon his teachings.
Socratic method: it is inductive and examines problems, precises terms and clarifies mistakes
Aristotle gives him the merit of having discovered the universality of concepts (defined as a technical-practical, abstract entity).
He contributed, up to certain extent, to Phonetics, giving sounds profound symbolic rections on their birth) .
Hences his teachings and concerns stimulated later philosophers

Greece: Plato (428/427– 348/347 b.c.) and his ‘Cratylus’
At issue was whether language originated in “nature” (phusis), with the first words supposedly imitating the things that they name,
or in “convention” (nomos or thesis), that is, in usage or naming, whether of human or divine invention,
or in a synthesis of the two.
Plato divided the sentence into ‘ onoma’ (“name”) and ‘ rħema’ (“utterance”), constituents of the ‘logo’
Plato's terms are at times equated with the modern categories “noun” and “verb,” respectively, but they equally had shades of “subject” and “predicate,” and “topic” and “comment,” or even entity and relation.

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων , Plátōn , "broad“)
“ Platón era naturalista. Sostenía que la palabra tenía una estrecha relación con la naturaleza de las cosas , igualmente pensaba que estas tenían una conexión ontológica entre el nombre y su realidad. El lenguaje era un reflejo de la realidad.” (Rodriguez online, op.cit.)
Detail of ‘The School of Athens’ by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509, showing Plato (left) and Aristotle (right)

Greece: Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης , Aristotélēs ) (384–322 BC)
Plato’s student and teacher of Alexander the Great.
In his book ‘De interpretatione’, he favored convention over nature
To him, language was not more than a set of symbols.
Language: conventional and created by humans.
To him, names were assigned to objects due to ‘agreement’ (convention) among the speakers of a language.

He creates the conception of categories and universals in the general structure of language.
Aristotle classified the different sentence-categories, broadening the platonic concepts of ‘ onoma’ (“name”) and ‘ rħema’ (“utterance”), into ‘syndesmos’ or conjunction (i.e. Logos = onoma + rhema + syndesmos )

Greece:
Syntax was not described directly, but aspects of syntax were treated in rhetoric and logic.
They dealt with the establishment and definition of different word-classes, each having several syntactic functions, rather than syntactic components themselves.
Syntax was not described directly, but aspects of syntax weretreated in rhetoric and logic.
They intended to uncover reality (expressed and understood through language in a conventional or natural way)
The controversy over ‘nature’ and ‘convention’ would last for several centuries.

Roman Tradition

Historical Context.
The founding of Rome goes back to the very early days of civilization.
Rome was born in Italy, among 7 hills.
Many invasions stuck the region
It is so old, it is today known as 'the eternal city'.
The Romans believed that their city was founded in the year 753 BC. Modern historians though believe it was the year 625 BC.

Historical Context.
The legend claims Rome was constructed thanks to two children named Romulus and Remus.
They are supposed to have been brought up by a female wolf.

Historical Context: The Legend
“ The twin brothers Romulus and Remus were the sons of the God Mars. When they were very young they were abandoned by the banks of the River Tiber and left to fend for themselves. Luckily for them they were found by a she-wolf who took pity on them fed them with her milk. “
“ Later a shepherd found the boys and took them home to look after them. He ended up raising the boys as his own children. The boys grew up to be very strong and clever and they decided to build a town on the spot where the Shepherd had found them. “

Historical Context: The Legend
“ Shortly after building the town the twins had a big argument about who should be in charge. Romulus overpowered his brother Remus who died in the fight. Romulus then became the first king of this town which he named Rome, after himself.”
Romulus goes on to create the Roman Legions and the Roman Senate. He adds citizens to his new city by abducting the women of the neighboring Sabine tribes, which results in the combination of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people.
Rome rapidly expands to become a dominant force, due to divine favour and the inspired administrative, military and political leadership of Romulus.
http://www.schoolshistory.org.uk/birthofrome.htm

Historical Context.
The Roman Republic was a very successful government. It lasted from 510 BC until 23 BC - almost 500 years.
The greatest challenge the Roman Republic faced was that of the Carthaginians. Carthage was a very powerful city which controlled its own empire.
The fight between the two sides was a long one and took place on land and on sea.
The most famous incident came when the great Carthaginian general Hannibal crossed the mountain chain of the Alps to the north of Italy with all his troops, including his war-elephants !, and invaded Italy.
Though Rome in the end won and Carthage was completely destroyed in the year 146 BC.
Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general

Historical Context.
Julius Caesar: He was a Roman politician and general who, without having any orders to do so, conquered the vast territory of the Gauls to the north of his province in France.
In the year 49 BC Caesar crossed the small river between his province and Italy, called the river Rubicon, and conquered Rome itself which he then ruled as a dictator.
His military campaigns also took him to Egypt where he met the famous Cleopatra.
His life though was ended as he was infamously murdered in the senate in Rome.
Julius Caesar

Source: http://gbgm-umc.org/UMW/corinthians/maps/empire2a.gif

Historical Context. Fall
In 212 the emperor Caracalla granted Roman citizenship to all free people in the empire. By then the Roman empire was beginning to decline.
Order and prosperity were temporarily restored by Diocletian (284-305).
Diocletian split the empire into two halves, western and eastern. He abdicated in 305 and there was a struggle for the succession. Constantine was proclaimed emperor in 306 but he was not in complete control of the empire until 324.
Crucially Constantine introduced a policy of tolerating Christianity. He was baptised on his deathbed in 337.
Constantine united both halves in 324 but they split again after his death. Gradually there was less and less co-operation between the two halves.
In the 5th century the Roman empire collapsed piecemeal. In 406-407 Germanic people invaded Gaul and in 407 the Roman army left Britain.
In 476 the last Roman emperor was deposed and a German called Odoacer made himself king of Italy. That is usually regarded as the end of the Roman empire.

Constantine the great.
Constantine was declared emperor in York, England

Rome: Linguistic Context
Roman linguistics continued Greek themes. These roots, were very strong for the romans.
“ Roman grammarians also did not treat syntax (only parts of speech); rather, morphology dominated in an approach focussed on noun declensions and verb conjugations (Hovdhaugen 1982: 87)” ( Lyle Campbell : http://www.blackwellreference.com/subscriber/uid=532/tocnode?id=g9781405102520... 30.11.2007)

Rome: Linguistic Context - Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC – 27 BC)
Notable among roman linguists was Varro (116-27 b.c.), who produced a multi-volume grammar of Latin.
He was concerned on the origin and use of language as well:
‘ Trató de unir la analogía con la anomalía, pues dijo que al escribir y hablar el hombre sigue en parte a la razón y en parte a la costumbre (naturalismo y convencionalismo). Trabajó principalmente en la etimología y la morfología latina.’ (Rodriguez, op.cit.)

Rome: Linguistic Context - Aelius Donatus (fl. mid 4th century AD)
He was the teacher os St. Jerome (translator of the bible in the beginings of Christianity, father of translation)
He wrote two books named Ars Grammatica :
The first (called Ars Minor ), is a brief overview of the eight parts of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adverb, participle, conjunction, preposition, and interjection. ( Nomen, pronomen, verbum, adverbium, participium, coniunctio, praepositio, interiectio ).
The text is done entirely in a question and answer format. "How many numbers does a noun have?" "Two: singular and plural."

Rome: Linguistic Context - Aelius Donatus
He wrote two books named Ars Grammatica :
The second (called Ars Major ) is a bit longer than Ars Minor , but on a more elevated plane.
It is a list of stylistic faults and graces (rethorical devices), including tropes such as metaphor, synecdoche, allegory, and sarcasm.
Donatus also includes schemes such as zeugma and anaphora.

Donatus’ Zeugma
Zeugma: includes several similar rhetorical devices, all involving a grammatically correct linkage (or yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech.
Thus examples of zeugmatic usage would include one subject with two (or more) verbs, a verb with two (or more) direct objects, two (or more) subjects with one verb, and so forth.
The main benefit of the linking is that it shows relationships between ideas and actions more clearly.

Donatus’ Zeugma’s Example
Here’s one form of ZEUGMA (prozeugma), the yoking (grammatically correct linked) word precedes the words yoked. So, for example, you could have a verb stated in the first clause understood in the following clauses:
* Fred excelled at sports; Harvey at eating; Tom with girls.
* Alexander conquered the world; I, Minneapolis.

Donatus’ Anaphora
Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism.
It can be used with questions, negations, hypotheses, conclusions, and subordinating conjunctions, although care must be taken not to become affected or to sound rhetorical and bombastic.

Donatus’ Anaphora’s Example
# Will he read the book? Will he learn what it has to teach him? Will he live according to what he has learned?
# Not time, not money, not laws, but willing diligence will get this done.
# If we can get the lantern lit, if we can find the main cave, and if we can see the stalagmites, I'll show you the one with the bat skeleton in it. be used for

Rome: Linguistic Context - Aelius Donatus
‘ emprendió la misma postura de Prisciano intentando salvar la lengua clásica de la corrupción del uso y del abuso de lenguaje mediante la recolección de escritos selectos de escritores y poetas del período Clásico Romano ’ (Rodriguez, op.cit.)

Note on ‘Rethorics’
Merriam-Webster defines it this way, three definitions listed: 1 : the art of speaking or writing effectively: as a : the study of principles and rules of composition formulated by critics of ancient times b : the study of writing or speaking as a means of communication or persuasion. 2 a : skill in the effective use of speech b : a type or mode of language or speech; also : insincere or grandiloquent language 3 : verbal communication

Rome: Linguistic Context - Priscianus Caesariensis (fl. 500 AD)
He wrote ‘Institutiones grammaticae’ , which became the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the middle ages.
It is a systematic exposition of Latin grammar.
It is composed by eighteen books, the first sixteen on issues related to s ounds, word-formation and inflexions. The last two deal with syntax.

Rome: Linguistic Context - Priscianus Caesariensis (fl. 500 AD)
His approach to the study of language was grounded exclusively on pedagogical matters.
‘ Su trabajo se encargo de recopilar y enseñar la lengua “clásica” latina con autores del pasado como Virgilio y Cicerón.’ (Rodriguez online, op.cit.)

Rome: Linguistic Context
‘ Aelius Donatus’ (fourth century AD) Ars minor and Ars major and Priscian's (sixth century AD) Institutiones grammaticae (18 volumes) became exceedingly important in the middle ages.’
(Campbell online, op.cit.)

History of linguistics_class-2

by Jordán Masías on May 03, 2010

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