Die Textgliederung in Christian Pudors Grammatik (1672)

Abstract

Christian Pudor's grammar book has not received a lot of attention, despite its importance as the first German grammar book, which gives a syntactically based theory on punctuation. Our paper focuses on another aspect of his book, that of Pudor's very specific and progressive way of visualizing of the text structure. Nowadays, it is typical to use a linear system of numbering. Pudor used numbering in combination with a system of brackets on the page margin, which often cross multiple pages. These brackets are supposed to visualize the logical structure of the text, and its layers and substructures. We can compare this two-dimensional system with a similar attempt by Gottlob Frege in the field of Logic. Frege developed a notational system for logical formulas which is two-dimensional in space, unlike the contemporary linear way, which originates in the notation of Peano and Russell. Although the usage of semiotic possibilities for text structuring did not develop chronologically, and the structural elements are used at different times with various intensities, it is obvious, that the linear approach was more successful. It is worth discussing why this is so and whether we can be inspired by those more complex structural systems now that there are better technical possibilities.

Keywords

• Christian Pudor
• grammar book
• text structure
• two-dimensionality
• brackets
• Gottlob Frege