The Mirror of Grammar

Theology, philosophy and the Modistae

L.G. Kelly | Darwin College, Cambridge

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027245908 (Eur) | EUR 110.00

ISBN 9781588111760 (USA) | USD 165.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027297303 | EUR 110.00 | USD 165.00

Netlibrary e-Book – Not for resale

ISBN 9780585462523

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.

[Studies in the History of the Language Sciences, 101] 2002. x, 236 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 1 January 2003

https://doi.org/10.1075/sihols.101

Table of Contents

Foreword | p. ix

Introduction | pp. 1–10

1. Vox , Articulation and Porphyry | pp. 11–38

2. Esse, Intelligere, Consignificare | pp. 39–68

3. Noun and Pronoun | pp. 69–102

4. Verb and Participle | pp. 103–132

5. The Indeclinable Parts of Speech | pp. 133–164

6. Construction and Syntax | pp. 165–198

Conclusion: Silvering the Mirror of Language | pp. 199–214

Index Auctoritatum | pp. 225–228

Index Rerum | pp. 229–236

“[...] a particularly thorough historical exploration of the Modistae, the medieval school of speculative grammar that sought to blend Aristotelian logic with Augustinian views on language [...]”

David Golumbia, University of Virginia, in Language Vol. 81:4 (2006)

“For more than seven centuries the Wise in Dantes Sphere of the Sun have awaited a synthesis of their linguistic wisdom in the context of their understanding of God and the human mind. Kelly, having accomplished this monumental task, has earned his seat among them. He charts the revolutionary developments in grammatical theory that took place in the 12th and 13th centuries, and most intensely in the Paris of the 1260s-70s, which he compares to MIT in the 1950s-60s. Composed of erudition and insight in equal measures, the book radiates enlightenment and inspiration. The balance among topics and chapters is exquisite, the writing crystalline. In a word, the book is great, in both the classical and vernacular senses.”

John E. Joseph, University of Edinburgh

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