Signum: Estudos da Linguagem (Dec 2015)
GRAMMAR AND (GRAECO-)ROMAN IDENTITY: THE CASE OF PRISCIAN’S “PREFACE” TO THE INSTITUTIONES GRAMMATICAE (C. VI AD)
Abstract
Priscian’s epistle to Julian, which prefaces the modern editions of his Institutiones grammaticae (c. VI AD), offers interesting aspects of the discursive project carried out by the grammarian. Among them, we highlight the fact that Priscian calls out the Greek grammarians – not the Latin – as the very models he intends to follow. Even though Priscian’s treatise aims at describing the Latin language - not the Greek - this author calls out Greek grammarians for his explanations, such as Apollonius Dyscolus (c. II A.D.) and Herodian (c. III A.D), whereas there is not a single mentioning of any Latin author - not even the renowned Varro (c. I BC) or Donatus (c. IV A.D.). In this article, we aim at presenting an analysis for this epistle, both taking into consideration its relationship with the Institutiones grammaticae in its context of production, and pointing out the role of discursive memory and imitatio as important factors to produce a discourse in support of a Graeco-Roman identity, which is carried out on the one hand, by the revival of some technical aspects of the Greek grammar by Apollonius Dyscolus, and, on the other hand, by the critical reading of such legacy.
