Priscian - Wikipedia Priscian From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search Not to be confused with Priscian of Lydia. Priscian, or the Grammar, relief from the bell tower of Florence by Luca della Robbia Priscianus Caesariensis (fl. AD 500), commonly known as Priscian (/ˈprɪʃən/ or /ˈprɪʃiən/), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the Institutes of Grammar, which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw material for the field of speculative grammar. Contents 1 Life 2 Works 3 Legacy 4 Editions and translations 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External links Life[edit] The details of Priscian's life are largely unknown. Priscian was born and raised in the North-African city of Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria) the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis – though during his lifetime would be under the control of the post-Roman barbarian kingdom known as the Vandalic Kingdom. According to Cassiodorus, he taught Latin at Constantinople[1] in the early sixth century.[2] His minor works include a panegyric to Anastasius (491—518), written about 512,[3] which helps establish his time period. In addition, the manuscripts of his Institutes contain a subscription to the effect that the work was copied (526, 527) by Flavius Theodorus, a clerk in the imperial secretariat.[4] Works[edit] Institutiones Grammaticae, 1290 circa, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence Priscian's most famous work, the Institutes of Grammar (Latin: Institutiones Grammaticae), is a systematic exposition of Latin grammar. The dedication to Julian probably indicates the consul and patrician, not the author of a well-known epitome of Justinian's Novellae, who lived somewhat later than Priscian. The grammar is divided into eighteen books, of which the first sixteen deal mainly with sounds, word-formation and inflexions; the last two, which form from a fourth to a third of the whole work, deal with syntax.[4] Priscian's grammar is based on the earlier works of Herodian and Apollonius. The examples it includes to illustrate the rules preserve numerous fragments from Latin authors which would otherwise have been lost, including Ennius, Pacuvius, Accius, Lucilius, Cato and Varro. But the authors whom he quotes most frequently are Virgil, and, next to him, Terence, Cicero, Plautus; then Lucan, Horace, Juvenal, Sallust, Statius, Ovid, Livy and Persius.[4] The grammar was quoted by several writers in Britain of the 8th century - Aldhelm, Bede, Alcuin - and was abridged or largely used in the next century by Hrabanus Maurus of Fulda and Servatus Lupus of Ferrières. About a thousand manuscripts exist, all ultimately derived from the copy made by Theodorus. Most copies contain only books I—XVI; these are sometimes known as the Priscianus Major ("Greater Priscian"). Others contain only books XVII and XVIII along with the three books to Symmachus; these are known as his work On Construction (De Constructione) or the Priscianus Minor ("Lesser Priscian"). A few copies contain both parts. The earliest manuscripts are from the 9th century, though a few fragments are somewhat earlier.[4] Priscian's minor works include:[4] Three treatises dedicated to Symmachus (the father-in-law of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius): on weights and measures; on the metres of Terence; and the Praeexercitamina, a translation into Latin of Greek rhetorical exercises from Hermogenes. De nomine, pronomine, et verbo ("On noun, pronoun, and verb"), an abridgment of part of his Institutes for teaching grammar in schools Partitiones xii. versuum Aeneidos principalium: another teaching aid, using question and answer to dissect the first lines of each of the twelve books of the Aeneid. The metre is discussed first, each verse is scanned, and each word thoroughly and instructively examined. The poem on Anastasius mentioned above, in 312 hexameters with a short iambic introduction A translation in 1087 hexameters of the verse-form geographical survey by Dionysius Periegetes. Legacy[edit] Books XVII & XVIII of the Institutes, his work On Construction, was part of the core curriculum of the University of Paris in the 13th century and Roger Bacon's lectures for the class were the probable origin of his own Overview of Grammar, one of the first expositions on the idea of a universal grammar. Dante places Priscian in Hell among sodomites.[5] Editions and translations[edit] Editions Prisciani caesariensis grammatici opera ... Edited by Augvst Krehl. Lipsiae: Weidmann, 1819-20. Prisciani institutionum grammaticalium librorum I-XVI, indices et concordantiae. Curantibus Cirilo Garcia Roman, Marco A. Gutierrez Galindo. Hildesheim, New York: Olms-Weidmann, 2001, ISBN 9783487113081 Prisciani institutionum grammaticalium librorum XVII et XVIII, indices et concordantiae. Curantibus Cirilo Garcia Roman, Marco A. Gutierrez Galindo, Maria del Carmen Diaz de Alda Carlos. Hildesheim, New York: Olms-Weidmann, 1999. Prisciani Caesariensis opuscula. Critical edition edited by Marina Passalacqua with commentary in Italian. Roma: Edizioni di storia e letteratura, 1987 (vol. I: De figuris numerorum. De metris Terentii. Praeexercitamina; vol. II: Institutio de nomine et pronomine et verbo partitiones duodecim versuum aeneidos principalium) German Translations Schönberger, A. 2009. Priscians Darstellung der lateinischen Pronomina: lateinischer Text und kommentierte deutsche Übersetzung des 12. und 13. Buches der Institutiones Grammaticae, Frankfurt am Main: Valentia. ISBN 978-3-936132-34-2 (books XII-XIII; first translation into a modern language.) Schönberger, A. 2008. Priscians Darstellung der lateinischen Präpositionen: lateinischer Text und kommentierte deutsche Übersetzung des 14. Buches der Institutiones Grammaticae, Frankfurt am Main: Valentia, 2008, ISBN 978-3-936132-18-2 (book XIV; first translation into a modern language.) Schönberger, A. 2010. Priscians Darstellung der lateinischen Konjunktionen: lateinischer Text und kommentierte deutsche Übersetzung des 16. Buches der Institutiones Grammaticae, Frankfurt am Main: Valentia. ISBN 978-3-936132-09-0 (of book XVI; first translation into a modern language.) Schönberger, A. 2010. Priscians Darstellung der lateinischen Syntax (I): lateinischer Text und kommentierte deutsche Übersetzung des 17. Buches der Institutiones Grammaticae, Frankfurt am Main: Valentia. ISBN 978-3-936132-10-6 (book XVII = first book of the "Priscianus minor"; first translation into a modern language.) Schönberger, A. 2010. Priscians Darstellung des silbisch gebundenen Tonhöhenmorenakzents des Lateinischen: lateinischer Text und kommentierte deutsche Übersetzung des Buches über den lateinischen Akzent, Frankfurt am Main: Valentia. ISBN 978-3-936132-11-3 (De accentibus; first translation into a modern language). Schönberger, A. 2014: Zur Lautlehre, Prosodie und Phonotaktik des Lateinischen gemäß der Beschreibung Priscians. In: Millennium. Vol. 11, pp. 121–184. French translations Priscien, Grammaire. Livre XIV - XV - XVI, Paris: Vrin 2013. Priscien, Grammaire. Livre XVII – Syntaxe I, Paris: Vrin 2010. Notes[edit] ^ Keil, Gr. Lat. vii. 207 ^ Jones 1964, p. 991. ^ Lejay 1911. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911, p. 360. ^ Dante, Inf., Canto XV, l. 109. References[edit] Jones, A.H.M. (1964), The later Roman empire 284-602: A social, economic, and administrative survey, II, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, p. 991, ISBN 0631149651 Lejay, Paul (1911), "Priscianus" , in Herbermann, Charles (ed.), Catholic Encyclopedia, 12, New York: Robert Appleton Company Attribution  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911), "Priscian", Encyclopædia Britannica, 22 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 360 Further reading[edit] M. Baratin, B. Colombat, L. Holtz, (eds). 2009. Priscien. Transmission et refondation de la grammaire, de l'antiquité aux modernes, Brepols Publishers. ISBN 978-2-503-53074-1. Luhtala, Anneli. 2005. Grammar and Philosophy in Late Antiquity. A Study of Priscian's Sources. John Benjamins. Series: Studies in the history of the language sciences; 107. Preview available at Google Books as of February 2011. External links[edit] Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum: complete texts and full bibliography Rhetores latini minores, Carl Halm (ed.), Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1863, pp. 551-560. Authority control BIBSYS: 90593473 BNE: XX829554 BNF: cb12046697k (data) CiNii: DA06785595 GND: 118596624 ISNI: 0000 0003 9913 3112 LCCN: n82249198 NKC: jn20011211042 NLG: 231336 NLI: 000107896 NLP: A24434966 NTA: 069014000 RERO: 02-A000133025 SELIBR: 84930 SUDOC: 028681436 VcBA: 495/3730 VIAF: 76294069 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n82249198 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Priscian&oldid=993165554" Categories: Ancient linguists Grammarians of Latin 6th-century Latin writers Ancient Roman rhetoricians Quotation collectors 6th-century Byzantine writers Hidden categories: Articles containing Latin-language text Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLG identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLP identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with RERO identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikisource Languages Asturianu Български Català Čeština Deutsch Español Esperanto Français Gaeilge Galego Hrvatski Italiano Latina Magyar Mirandés Nederlands 日本語 Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 9 December 2020, at 03:27 (UTC). 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