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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 29:3 (2002) ► pp.293–327

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Speculations about the Potestas Litterarum in medieval grammar (11th through 13th centuries)

 | Universidad de Valladolid
Published online: 2 May 2003
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.29.3.03rod
Summary
The aim of this paper is to study the concept of potestas, one of the three ‘accidents’ of ‘letters’ in the Roman tradition. More specifically, it intends to examine the way in which the speculative grammarians from the 11th to the 13th centuries dealt with speech sounds and which issues were attached to it. The commentators of the beginning of this period mapped out the route to be followed in the attempt at a thorough explanation and systematization of Prisician’s adumbrations. To that purpose, they forged the successful term modus pronunciandi and classified the potestas into five types. This chapter was granted as much discussion as any other: some concepts and terminology of the Aristotelian universe were employed in it (e.g., the opposition substantial/accidental, potentiality/act). Nevertheless, some remarkable differences between the points of view of the 12th-century grammarians and those of the 13th-century have been observed, among them the interest on the part of the latter in the generation of sound. In this century, two works, the anonymous Tractatus de grammatica and John Dacus’s modistic Summa, held for different reasons a very particular position in the evolution of the doctrine on the potestas. In this respect, the influence of the former on the latter has been noticed. With their speculations all these medieval grammarians succeded in differentiating two levels within the realm of speech sounds.
Résumé
Cet article a pour but d’étudier une question particulière se rattachant au chapitre de la grammaire sur la ‘lettre’: la potestas, un des trois ‘accidents’ de la lettre dans la tradition romaine. Plus précisément, on y essaye d’examiner comment, depuis le XIe jusqu’au XIIIe siècle, les grammairiens ont traité la sphère du son des lettres et quels sujets ils ont mis en rapport avec elle. Les commentateurs du début de cette époque on montré à leurs successeurs le chemin à suivre dans leur désir d’expliquer et de systématiser tous les informations données par Priscien. À cet effet, par example, ils ont forgé le terme modus pronunciandi, qui aura succès, et classifié la potestas en cinq sortes. Ce chapitre a été l’objet d’autant de spéculations que les autres. On y a employé des concepts et de la terminologie aristotéliens (l’opposition substantiel/accidentel, potentialité/action, etc.). Néanmoins, on y a vu quelques différences importantes entre la vision des grammairiens du XIIe siècle et ceux du XIIIe, d’entre autres l’intérêt de ces derniers pour la génération du son. Deux grammaires de ce siècle, l’anonyme Tractatus de grammatica et la Summa du modiste Jean de Dacie, ont pris pour des raisons différentes une position spéciale dans le developpement de la doctrine sur la potestas. On y a observé que le premier a influencé le second sur certains points. Avec leurs spéculations tous ces grammairiens médiévaux ont réussi à différencier deux niveaux dans leur traitement des sons du langage, s’approchant ainsi de la distinction moderne entre phonétique et phonologie.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Aufsatz behandelt eine der drei ‘Akzidentien’ der Buchstaben in der lateinischen grammatikalischen Tradition: die der potestas. Insbesondere diskutiert die Autorin, wie die Grammatiker zwischen dem 11. und dem 13. Jh. die lautliche Realisierung der Buchstaben einschätzten und welche Fragen sie damit verknüpften. Zu Beginn dieser Periode gaben die Priscian-Kommentatoren bei der Auslegung und Systematisierung von Priscians Ausführungen die Wegweiser für die weitere Entwicklung: z.B. prägten sie den erfolgreichen Begriff modus pronunciandi und unterschieden verschiedene Typen von potestas. Sie behandelten dieses Problem (wie andere grammatikalischen Themen) spekulativ. Dazu bedienten sie sich aristotelischer Begriffe und Terminologie (z.B. die Dichotomien substantiell/akzidentiell, Potenz/Akt). Bei den Grammatikern des 13. Jhs. kann man dennoch wichtige Neuentwicklungen beobachten, darunter ein Interesse an der Lautbildung. Zwei Grammatiken dieses Jhs., der anonyme Tractatus de grammatica und die modistische Summa des Johannes von Dacien, nehmen aus unterschiedlichen Gründen eine besondere Stellung in der Entwicklung der potestas-Doktrin ein. Es ist möglich, einen gewissen Einfluss des Tractatus auf die Summa anzunehmen. Als Ergebnis der Diskussion der Grammatiker dieser Periode steht die Differenzierung zweier Ebenen für die Laute, die der modernen Unterscheidung von Phonetik und Phonologie nicht unähnlich ist.
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Isermann, Michael M.
2007. Letters, sounds and things. Historiographia Linguistica 34:2-3 ► pp. 213 ff. DOI logo
Amsler, M.
2006. Linguistic Theory in the Later Middle Ages. In Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, ► pp. 218 ff. DOI logo

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