Description

From the twelfth century onwards, notable advances in the theoretical development occur
in independent treatises on syntax, which on their side are intimately linked with medieval
commentaries on the last two books, the so-called Priscian Minor, of the Institutiones
Grammaticae I-XVIII, where Priscian deals with syntax. A number of the independent treatises
on syntax are now available. But of the many commentaries on Priscian Minor known, only
a few have been edited, so let me start by editing an interesting 12^th c. gloss on Priscian Minor,
called the Glosa Victorina. Priscian Minor itself begins with introducing the notion of what is a
perfect sentence, what is a well-formed utterance and which parts of speech are indispensable
or the most important, stating their order of importance : noun, verb, participle, pronoun,
and the indeclinable word classes. As the argumentation unfolds, comparisons between
letters, syllables and words are introduced providing a continuity and refinement on what was
taught earlier in the so-called Priscian Maior, and how this concerns grammar on the level of
syntax. Very quickly, this leads to an interdisciplinary discussion of what constitutes a perfect
sentence (according to the grammarians and the dialecticians), involving the commentators in
redefinitions of the principal parts of speech and explaining their distinguishing features. In this
process, notions of substance, of person, of deixis, of reference - signification, and many other
important grammatical issues are discussed. So in principle, the beginning of any commentary
on Priscian Minor provides its author with scope for developing his particular doctrines and
ideas of prime importance in linguistics.

Here the Glosa Victorina deserves a closer look, because it provides us with insights into
discussions normally only hinted at by Abelard, or a use of terminology which then becomes
refined and partially rejected by William of Conches and Petrus Helias.