XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.language.latin
On Sat, 23 Nov 2024 9:57:39 +0000, Ross Clark wrote:
English clergyman and mathematician (etc.)
A founder of the Royal Society. Lived until 1703.
His Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae (1653, reprinted well into the next century) was written in Latin, but claimed to proceed by "a completely
new method, which has its basis not, as is customary, in the structure
of the Latin language but in the characteristic structure of our own".
It would be interesting to know more, but Crystal mentions only Wallis's recognition that English nouns do not have cases as in Greek and Latin.
(Wiki devotes most of its article to Wallis's mathematica work and
barely mentions the grammar.)
"Wallis's observations could have been written by any modern linguist.
But for 300 years his insight was ignored..." (Crystal)
https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=TXFJAAAAcAAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_johannis-wallis-gra_wallis-john_1674
________________
One example of how Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae emphasized the
unique structure of the English language is its treatment of word order
and syntax, which differs significantly from Latin.
Example: Word Order
In Latin, the word order can be flexible due to its
inflectional nature, meaning the endings of words indicate their
grammatical roles. For instance, the phrase "The dog chased the cat"
could be rearranged in Latin without losing meaning.
Latin Example:
Canis catum persecutus est. (The dog chased the cat.)
Catum canis persecutus est. (The cat was chased by the dog.)
In contrast, English relies heavily on a more fixed word order (Subject-Verb-Object) to convey meaning.
English Example:
The dog chased the cat. (Changing the order significantly alters the
meaning: "The cat chased the dog" changes the subject and object.)
Implications
This focus on the fixed word order in English highlights its grammatical structure, which differs from Latin's flexibility.
Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae would have aimed to teach
students to understand and use English grammar based on these inherent characteristics, rather than imposing Latin rules. This approach helped
lay the groundwork for a more systematic study of English grammar that recognized its distinct identity.
_______________________________________ So his innovation seems so
obvious today that... his new insight is hard for us to appreciate
today?
The idea of analyzing and teaching English based on its own structures rather than through the lens of Latin was groundbreaking. It acknowledged English as a legitimate language with its own rules, which
was not the common practice at the time.
_______________________ Is he the Dante of English (grammar) ?
Differences:
1. Scope and Influence: Dante’s influence extends beyond linguistic contributions to literature, philosophy, and politics, while the focus
of Grammatica Linguae Anglicanae is specifically on grammar.
2. Historical Context: Dante wrote during the late Middle Ages, a
time of significant cultural and political change in Italy, while the grammarian operated in the 17th century, a period characterized by
different linguistic and educational challenges.
3. Literary vs. Scholarly Focus: Dante is primarily known as a poet
and writer, while the author of the grammar book is more of a scholar
focused on linguistic structure and education.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)