lvlt2024 (Latin vulgaire – latin tardif)

Organizers: Paola Cotticelli – Paolo De Paolis (University of Verona)

Contact information for questions:paola.cotticelli(at)univr.it and paolo.depaolis(at)univr.it

Please send abstract to: lvlt2024(at)thesaurus.badw.de

Greek and Latin grammatical treatises recognise two vices which threaten the linguistic correctness in Greek (Ἑλληνισμός) and Latin (Latinitas), namely barbarism and solecism. The first of these, as far as the Latin sphere is concerned, consists of a deviation from the linguistic correctness guaranteed by Latinitas, which occurs mainly in prose, both in scriptu and in pronuntiatu. The phenomenon is treated both in structured Artes, such as those of Sacerdos, Charisius, Diomedes, and overall Donatus (with his commentators, such as Servius and Pompeius), in the section about vitia et virtutes orationis, and in dedicated works such as Consentius’ De barbarismis et metaplasmis (mainly devoted to the barbarism). The discussion on this phenomenon by late antique Latin grammarians thus becomes an important tool for understanding linguistic dynamics from the point of view of the deviations from the standard language spreading in communities of speakers especially following the entry of alloglots (foreign words). The study of Latin treatises on barbarism thus makes it possible to define the complex relationship between the canon of Latin linguistic correctness, guaranteed by the regula and above all by the usus of the auctores, and the concrete realisations in current linguistic practice, evolving towards a sort of neo-standard Latin as witness of language awareness. In this sense, works such as Consentius's, which devotes specific attention to the phenomena of the spoken language, are particularly valuable, because some of his examples of barbarism can be attributed to substandard Latin. Also the discussion on the orthographic realisation, on the phonemic and graphematic value of the litterae, including their possible use as hypercorrectism in foreign words take an important role in these treatises. They are part of a broader sphere of works, such as the fifth section of the Appendix Probi, testifying the linguistic evolution of late Latin towards the romance languages.

The spread of Donatus's treatise, which remained the undisputed model of Latin grammar for centuries, promoted further reflections on barbarism, even at a time when Latin was no longer the mother tongue but was used above all for the understanding of Christian sacred texts; thus it was the 'insular' grammarians, such as Murethac or Sedulius Scotus, who again drew from Donatus the notion of barbarism, applied to the correct written use of the Latin language.

Consequently, the criteria used to define the concepts of Latinitas and Ἑλληνισμός, the scope of which has been broadened in the course of language studies, seem to be returning in the Middle Ages. Concepts such as congruitas, which refers to individual constructions, or perfectio, which refers to the whole sentence, are the new poles of grammaticality, expressed by the Modistae through the modi significandi, and in a way reflect the functions of language, i.e. of language awareness.

The workshop intends to tackle the issue of barbarism in the Latin language from different points of view:

1) the theoretical definition(s) of what Latin grammarians meant by barbarism, including their graphemic counterpart, an issue which will also take account of similar discussions generated in the Greek context;

2) the analysis of individual treatises on barbarism as witness of language awareness;

3) the testimony provided by treatises on barbarism as linguistic phenomena induced by the progressive expansion of the presence of foreign terms in the Latin linguistic community;

4) the reception of ancient discussions on barbarism in the Middle Ages up to the last witnesses which can still be found in the Humanistic and Renaissance Age.

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