
Published online:
23 November 2023
Published in print:
26 October 2023
Online ISBN:
9780197612002
Print ISBN:
9780197611975
Contents
Chapter
11 Grammar and Grammarians, Linguistic and Social Change from Gellius to Macrobius
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Pages
191–198
-
Published:October 2023
Cite
Holford-Strevens, Leofranc, 'Grammar and Grammarians, Linguistic and Social Change from Gellius to Macrobius', in Adam Gitner (ed.), Roman Perspectives on Linguistic Diversity: Guardians of a Changing Language (New York , 2023; online edn, Oxford Academic, 23 Nov. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197611975.003.0011, accessed 14 May 2025.
Abstract
This chapter considers in detail the linguistic views of Aulus Gellius. Gellius tends to speak in a tone of gentlemanly superiority toward professional grammarians: he is dismissive of their normative and dogmatic approach to language, which relies on simplistic rules that are not actually supported by the ancient authors. Gellius instead adopts a more nuanced position, showing awareness that older Latin was not uniform and that the gulf between the literary standard and contemporary everyday speech was continuing to widen in the second century. The chapter also mentions the opinions of later authors, including Ausonius, Macrobius, and Servius.
Keywords:
Aulus Gellius, professional grammarian, normative grammar, Fronto, Ausonius, Macrobius, Servius
Subject
Classical Literature
Collection:
Oxford Scholarship Online
Leofranc Holford-Strevens, Grammar and Grammarians, Linguistic and Social Change from Gellius to Macrobius In: Roman Perspectives on Linguistic Diversity. Edited by Adam Gitner, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2023. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197611975.003.0011
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