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Article published In: Latin Grammars in Transition, 1200 - 1600
Edited by Anneli Luhtala and Mark E. Amsler
[Historiographia Linguistica 44:2/3] 2017
► pp. 255–277

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Articles / Aufätze

Latin parsing grammars from the Carolingian age to the later Middle Ages

Trends and developments

 | Joensuu, Finland
Published online: 28 May 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00004.rei
Abstract
This article traces the history of Latin parsing grammars from Late Antiquity up to the 14th century, focusing on the group of texts with the incipit Dominus quae pars. These grammars circulating mainly north of the Alps were intended to be studied at the elementary and intermediate levels of education following the study of the Donatus minor. By asking questions about a chosen headword of each part of speech in turn, the parsing manuals offered a technique which allowed the pupil to put into practice what he had already learnt and the teacher to focus on the information he considered as relevant, including different aspects of morphology, semantics, etymology, prosody or accentuation. A number of novelties introduced into the theoretical grammars also filtered down to the lower levels of teaching. Thus, when a section on syntax began to be incorporated into pedagogical grammars in the 12th century, some syntactical concepts also entered into parsing grammars. From the 13th century onwards, elements of Aristotelian logic and physics were also integrated into the theory of the parts of speech and their syntax in the Dominus quae pars texts.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The origins of the parsing method in Antiquity
  • 3.Early medieval parsing grammars
  • 4.The re-emergence of parsing grammars: 800–1000
  • 5.Parsing grammars 1100–1400: The rise in popularity
  • 6.Postscript
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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