1887
Volume 8, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0302-5160
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9781
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Abstract

SUMMARYIn a recent article R. H. Robins has tried to raise the interest in the grammatical work of Maximus Planudes (c. 1255-1305); still today, we have little on this remarkable late-medieval figure by Byzantinists, classical philologists, or historians of linguistics. The present paper hopes to promote a greater interest in the linguistic production of the Oriental Empire. Following two 'pro-treptic' paragraphs (a general one on Byzantine grammar, and a particular one devoted to Planudes and the Byzantines) the relationship between Planudes and the numerous authors he read are analyzed, e.g., Priscian, Apollonius Dys-colus, and others. Thus, in the section "Prepositions, movement, and Planudean literature" Planudes' proposal is presented according to which the relation between certain Greek prepositions (such as could be analyzed by resorting to a distinction between two types of movement, a rectilinear one extending to all four directions, and a circular one. The latter type is a relative one only, since a circular thing in final analysis remains motionless with regard to external points of reference; only the positions of its points vary. This theory, however, is not original with Planudes, as it harks back to the Aristotelian De caelo and other pre-Planudean sources. In the section "Word order and 'essential' proposition" Planudes' explanation why particular lexemes belonging to a given word class precede others of nearly equivalent meaning is studied, and also his explanation why a sentence model, though containing all parts of speech, could be reduced to a subject/predicate structure through progressive deletions. Even in this Planudes is not entirely original; there are almost identical statements to be found in Apollonius and Priscian. Finally, in the section "Planudes and the disciples mentioned in his works: Kugeas — a fancy?" the traditional view is disproven according to which Planudes alludes in his treatises to his own disciples. In fact, the names mentioned in them, such as Apollonius, Dionysios, and others, are little more than exposes of the writings of Apollonius Dyscolus and Priscian. The paper concludes by noting that Maximus Planudes is hardly an original thinker; however, a full study of his work, in particular the preparation of a critical edition, remains desirable in view of its reflection of the then prevailing 'paradigm', the framework of a fairly neglected period in the history of linguistic thought.RESUMEBien que Robins ait recemment essaye de reveiller l'interet pour les oeuvres grammaticales de Maxime Planude (c. 1255-1305), nous n'avons jusqu'a present aucune contribution de Byzantinistes, philologues classiques et historiens de la linguistique en ce qui concerne les aspects les plus importants de cet erudit du Bas-Moyen-Age. Afin de developper - selon les suggestions de Bursill-Hall -les etudes visant a retrouver la production linguistique de l'empire d'Orient, 1'auteur presente deux paragraphes "protreptiques" (le premier, general, sur la grammaire byzantine, le second limite a Planude et aux byzantins), et d'autres ou sont etudies, sous differents angles, les rapports entre Planude, Priscien, Apollonius Dyscole et les nombreux auteurs lus par Maxime Planude pendant sa vie. "Prepositions, mouvement et lectures de Planude" presente la theorie du savant de Byzance selon laquelle il est possible d'expliquer la relation entre les prepositions grecques en distinguant deux types de mouvement, l'un rectiligne et dans les quatre directions et l'autre circulaire; celui-ci serait seulement relatif, car un corps circulaire qui roule sur son axe reste immobile par rapport a des points exterieurs de relation et seules changent les positions de ses points. Toutefois, cette hypothese ne serait pas originale, puisqu'elle remonte au De caelo d'Aristote et a d'autres lectures de Planude. "Ordre des mots et 'phrase essentielle'" examine comment, selon Planude, des effacements progressifs permettent de reduire un modele de phrase contenant toutes les parties du discours a une construction minimale "sujet/predicat". L'auteur en arrive a la conclusion que, sur ce point aussi, Planude n'est pas tout a fait original, puisque nous avons des passages presque identiques d'ApoUonius Dyscole et de Priscien. "Planude et les disciples nommes dans ses oeuvres: fantaisies de Kugeas?" refute l'opinion de ce byzantiniste connu d'après lequel Maxime Planude ferait allusion a ses eleves: en realite les noms cites (Apollonius, Denys, etc.) seraient tout simplement des exemples generiques, du type de ceux employes par Apollonius et Priscien. Maxime Planude, en definitive, ne serait pas exceptionnel par rapport a ses devanciers, malgre cela, il vaudrait la peine de reetudier et de reediter ses textes, qui constituent des documents significatifs d'une epoque assez negligee dans l'histoire de la lin-guistique.

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/content/journals/10.1075/hl.8.1.02mur
1981-01-01
2024-12-07
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  • Article Type: Research Article
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