Defining the Art of Grammar: Ancient Perceptions of Γραμματική and Grammatica
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TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS ____________________________________________________________________ SARJA – SER. B OSA – TOM. 379 HUMANIORA Defining the art of grammar: Ancient perceptions of γραμματική and grammatica Minna Seppänen Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, with the permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Turku, in the Auditorium of Quantum, on 7 March 2014, at 12 noon. Department of Classics TURUN YLIOPISTO UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Turku 2014 TURUN YLIOPISTON JULKAISUJA ANNALES UNIVERSITATIS TURKUENSIS ____________________________________________________________________ SARJA – SER. B OSA – TOM. 379 HUMANIORA Defining the art of grammar: Ancient perceptions of γραμματική and grammatica Minna Seppänen TURUN YLIOPISTO UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Turku 2014 Minna Seppänen Department of Classics University of Turku (School of Languages and Translation studies), Finland Custos: Professor Jyri Vaahtera, University of Turku Opponent: Dr. Martti Leiwo, University of Helsinki External examiners: Dr. Casper De Jonge, University of Leiden Prof. Emeritus Toivo Viljamaa, University of Turku Supervisors: Dr. Anneli Luhtala, University of Helsinki Dr. Jaana Vaahtera, University of Turku The originality of this thesis has been checked in accordance with the University of Turku quality assurance system using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service. ISBN 978-951-29-5671-5 (PRINT) ISBN 978-951-29-5672-2 (PDF) ISSN 0082-6987 Painosalama Oy – Turku, Finland 2014. Tiivistelmä TURUN YLIOPISTO Humanistinen tiedekunta Tohtoriohjelma Utuling / Kieli- ja käännöstieteiden laitos SEPPÄNEN, MINNA: Defining the art of grammar: ancient perceptions of γραμματική and grammatica Väitöskirja, 256 s. Klassilliset kielet ja antiikin kulttuuri (Latinalainen filologia) Maaliskuu 2014 - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Klassillisen filologiaan kuuluvan väitöstutkimukseni aiheena ovat grammatii- kan määritelmät kreikan- ja latinankielisissä lähteissä klassiselta kaudelta 100- luvulle j.a.a. Tutkimus on toteutettu keräämällä kaikki ajanjaksolle osuvat säi- lyneet määritelmät ja asettamalla ne tarkastelun kohteeksi. Tarkastelen määri- telmiä pääasiassa kahdesta eri näkökulmasta: yhtäältä sitä, kuinka ne on muo- dostettu ja toisaalta sitä, mitä ne kertovat itse oppialasta. Määritelmiä on säilynyt filosofeilta, grammaatikoilta ja yleisoppineilta. Määrit- telemisen taito ymmärrettiin klassiselta kaudelta lähtien tärkeäksi. Grammatii- kan määritelmä näyttää vakiintuneen osaksi käsikirjojen (tékhne, ars) alkukap- paleita, joihin sijoitettiin huomioita oppialan perusteista, tärkeimpänä näistä juuri määritelmä. Tyypillisiä olivat myös listat ”osista”; näitä laadittiin erilaisin perustein, hyödyntäen ”jaottelua” (diaíresis, divisio) tai ”osittelua” (merismós, partitio). Yksittäiset grammaatikot eivät välttämättä näitä teorioita kuitenkaan tunteneet. Parhaiten niitä pystyivät seuraamaan tasavallan ajan lopun oppineet Varro ja Cicero. Merkittäväksi kysymykseksi nousi se, perustuuko grammatii- kan ala kokemusperäiseen tietoon (empeiría) vai taustalla vallitsevaan järjestel- mään (lógos, ratio). Tämä oli kysymys, jonka liittyminen grammatiikkaan juon- taa juurensa Aleksandriassa vaikuttaineista lääketieteen teoreetikoista. Grammatiikan kehityksessä erottuu määritelmissä kolme vaihetta: klassisella kaudella grammatiké koski konkreettisesti kirjaimia (grámmata); hellenistisellä kaudella Aleksandrian oppineiden työn myötä se tuli merkitsemään teksti- ja kirjallisuuskritiikkiä; hellenistisen kauden lopulta lähtien oikeakielisyysaspekti tulee mukaan vähitellen. Asiasanat filosofia – antiikki; kielitiede; klassiset kielet; määritelmät. Abstract UNIVERSITY OF TURKU Faculty of Humanities Doctoral Programme Utuling / School of Languages and Translation Studies SEPPÄNEN, MINNA: Defining the art of grammar: Ancient perceptions of γραμματική and grammatica Doctoral Dissertation, 256 pages Department of Classics March 2014 - – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – The subject of this dissertation, which belongs to the field of Classical Philology, are the definitions of the art of grammar found in Greek and Latin sources from the Classical era to the second century CE. Definitions survive from grammarians, philosophers, and general scholars. I have examined these definitions from two main points of view: how they are formed, and how they reflect the development of the art itself. Defining formed part of dialectic, in practice also of rhetoric, and was perceived as important from the Classical era onwards. Definitions of grammar seem to have become established as part of preliminary discussions, located at the beginning of grammatical manuals (tékhnai, artes). These discussions included certain principal notions of the art; in addition to the definition, a list of the parts of the art was also typically included. These lists were formed by two different methods: division (diaíresis, divisio) and partition (merismós, partitio). Many of the grammarians may actually have been unfamiliar with these methods, unlike the two most important scholars of the Late Republic, Varro and Cicero. Significant attention was devoted to the question whether the art of grammar is based on lógos or empeiría. This epistemological question had its roots in medical theories, which were prominent in Alexandria. In the history of the concept of grammatiké or grammatica, three stages become evident. In the Classical era, the Greek term is used to refer to a very concrete art of letters (grámmata); from the Hellenistic era onwards it refers to the art developed by the Alexandrian scholars, a matter of textual and literary criticism. Towards the end of the Hellenistic era, the grammarian also becomes involved with the question of correct language, which gradually begins to appear in the definitions as well. Acknowledgements My deepest thanks are due to Dr. Anneli Luhtala, under whose attentive guidance I have made my way through the process of writing this thesis: starting out as a project researcher in her Finnish Academy Project “The Arts of the Trivium in the Early Middle Ages” and continuing to be funded by Lang- net, The Finnish Graduate School of Language Sciences, and – in the final stage – by the Turku University Foundation (Turun Yliopistosäätiö). Dr. Luhtala, with her knowledge, both deep and wide, of ancient linguistics, as well as in her devotion to scholarship, has been an invaluable support since 2005. Dr. Jaana Vaahtera has been my home-based specialist and tutor; I do not think this work would have been completed without her in-depth teaching and her kind assistance. To Professor Jyri Vaahtera I owe my heartfelt thanks for his patience and support in various matters over the years. The external examiners of the manuscript were Dr. Casper De Jonge and Professor Emeritus Toivo Viljamaa, whom I thank for providing me with numerous corrections and insightful suggestions. Dr. Martti Leiwo has agreed to serve as my examiner in the defence of the thesis, for which – as well as for patience he has shown in the drawn-out final stages of the work – I thank him. My colleagues, many of them completing their theses around the same time as myself, have offered excellent peer group support. For insightful conversation and profound collegiality, I thank above all Dr. Inkeri Kinnari and Dr. Antti Lampinen; thanks are also due to my fellow classicists Tiina Hiekka- linna, Kalle Knaapi, Ville Leppänen, Dr. Martti Nyman, Veli-Matti Rissanen, and Ilkka Valve. I especially thank Emmi Hynönen for sharing with me some of the most significant moments of my life. My friend Ulla Di Mariano has always been there for me no matter what the subject, for which I wish to thank her. Dr. Lotta Lehti has shown a keen interest in my work, never failing to be supportive, for which I cordially thank her. My English was kindly proofread by Dr. Ellen Valle; any remaining errors are my own. Finally, I would like to thank my family: my mother and father, my dear sister and her family, and above all my husband, who is beyond doubt the best husband anyone could ever have. My two daughters, who were born in the course of the writing of this thesis, have been my blissful escape from the academic world, and I could not be more thankful for them. Minna Seppänen Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 The aim of the thesis ................................................................................... 1 1.2 Sources ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 The ancient theory of defining and definitions ...................................... 5 1.3.1 Defining and the art of dialectic ......................................................... 5 1.3.2 Defining and the art of grammar ....................................................... 14 2. THE ART OF GRAMMAR IN THE MAKING ......................................................... 18 2.1 A starting point: what makes an expertise? ............................................ 18 2.2 Ancient historiography of the early art of grammar ............................. 19 2.3 Plato and Aristotle ...................................................................................... 22 2.4 The Stoics ....................................................................................................