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Linguistics Theory, Foundations, and Modern Development

An Overview of Linguistics and Linguistic Applications

On the Origins of Linguistics

Early Western Linguistics: The Greeks, the Church, and Medieval Philosophy

[ > ] Realism, Nominalism, Humanism, and the Renaissance

[ < ] Ancient Linguistics: Babylon and India

Western Linguistics: The Greeks, the Church, and Medieval Philosophy

Western linguistic theories have followed two main trends, originating from a philosophic opposition between Heraclitus (ca. 540 - ca. 480 B.C.E.) and the Eleatic school (Parmenides, ca. 504 B.C.E.), and consist of "genetic dynamism" ("functionalism") arguments and "static elementarism" ("entitarism") arguments. These two separate views are firmly embedded in common language. For example, the "universe" is "Wirklichkeit" ("what works") in German, and "reality" ("things") in English. The first Western writing about the study of language is Plato's (427-347 B.C.E.) Kratylos which, in dealing with the orthotès (rightness) and the alètheia (truth) of words, continues the controversy, and wavers constantly between the two sides, eventually disregarding the truth of words, but only of the proposition as a whole (sentences and paragraphs). While Plato sought the truth of language, the rhetorics sought the practical effectiveness of the language, not so much based on knowledge, but on one's skill in speech [Pieter A. Verburg, "Vicissitudes of Paradigms," in Hymes, 191-195].

Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.E.) believed that there was but one world view, one inner language (one mode of thought, as it were), merely differences in the sound system which identified languages. While he has had direct influence on linguistics, it was likely Aristotle's taxonomies of disciplines which fostered the philology of Alexandria, including Dionysios Thrax's (first century B.C.E.) identification and elaboration of word classes and Apollonios Dyscolos's (second century C.E.) study of syntax. Alexandria started its own studies of philology and grammar at this time. While Alexandria kept grammar as its own study, isolated from logic and philosophy through the existence of the Roman Empire, in the Medieval period, we find a resurgence of philosophical study and acceptance of Aristotelian logic because, as Verburg notes, the Church could accommodate Aristotle in naturalibus because he generally avoided the supernatural [Verburg in Hymes, 195-197].

Medieval grammatical studies were, prior to approximately 1100 C.E., limited to the study of Latin, for the same reason that the Indians strove to preserve the ancient Vedic: religion. Unlike the Indians, however, departure into "modern" language of the time was all but prohibited; it should be noted that this position was not unique for grammar in the least. The Roman Catholic Church (and its political counterpart, the Holy Roman Empire) actively discouraged any knowledge-seeking outside of the holy writ [G. L. Bursill-Hall, "Toward a History of Linguistics in the Middle Ages, 1100-1450," in Hymes, 77-92]. Following this period, there was a steadily increasing interest in grammars of native (vulgar) languages and dialects. It should be noted that the increasing interest in grammar (linguistics) coincided the resurgence of the Aristotelian dialectic method. According to Bursill-Hall, the study of languages during the Medieval period was predominantly data-oriented, or specific to the problem at hand. Verburg notes that the Church's responsibility in the Middle ages was to "teach culture to barbarians as well as to preach faith to unbelievers" [in Hymes, 197] which resulted in a scholastic study of Latin. Verburg also notes that "the Crusades resulted in a widening of the cultural horizon and a renewed interest in knowledge" [in Hymes, 198].

[ ^ ] On the Origins of Linguistics

[ > ] Realism, Nominalism, Humanism, and the Renaissance

[ < ] Ancient Linguistics: Babylon and India

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