-
450 BCE
GREECE
-Beginning of our language knowledge
-The Greeks were aware that other languages were spoken
-There was linguistic contact between Greeks and non-Greeks in commerce, diplomacy and aspects of daily life -
430 BCE
5th century: Rhetoric
-Use words to persuade
-Gorgias of Sicily was a famous rhetorician -
420 BCE
Linguistic debate:
-Naturalistic thesis: words are not arbitrary, they come from nature
-Conventional thesis: language is arbitrary -
315 BCE
315 BC: The Stoics
-Zeno was the creator of stoicism
-Dichotomy between form and meaning -
190 BCE
170-190 BC: Dionysius of Thrace
Did the first Greek grammar
Focuses on morphology -
120 BCE
Rome
-Previous languages were displaced
-Latin prevailed as an "official" language
-They adapted and applied Greek knowledge to Latin
-They collected the Greek knowledge
-They were aware of multilingualism -
116 BCE
116-127 BC:Varro
-First to analyze Latin
-Divided into etymology, morphology and syntax -
1200
The Middle Ages
They used Latin to convey the word of God
They did all the works for the purpose of teaching -
1300
Speculative grammar
Ideas about linguistic universals
Authors group
They started thinking outside of Greek and Latin
They refined word classes, for example nouns and adjectives -
1400
The Renaissance
-Dante: wrote in the vulgar language, gave it the same value as Latin
-The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg
-Protestantism: Luther translated the Bible -
1420
Greek and Latin Word Roots
During the Renaissance, scientists and scholars became interested in the history and languages of ancient Greece and Rome.
Many of the words we use every day are based on
words spoken by people in these ancient civilizations.
