First Grammatical Treatise
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The First Grammatical Treatise (Icelandic: Fyrsta málfræðiritgerðin [ˈfɪ(r̥)sta ˈmauːlˌfraiːðɪˌrɪːtˌcɛrðɪn]) is a 12th-century work on the phonology of the Old Norse or Old Icelandic language. It was given this name because it is the first of four grammatical works bound in the Icelandic manuscript Codex Wormianus. The anonymous author is today often referred to as the "First Grammarian".
Significance
This work is one of the earliest written works in Icelandic (and in any
The First Grammatical Treatise is of great interest to the history of linguistics, since it systematically used the technique of minimal pairs to establish the inventory of distinctive sounds or phonemes in the Icelandic language,[2] in a manner reminiscent of the methods of structural linguistics.[3] It is also notable for revealing the existence of a whole series of nasal vowel phonemes, whose presence in the Icelandic language of the time would otherwise be unknown.
The Treatise is important for the study of Old Norse, as it is a major text showing the state of the language just prior to the writing of the
Alphabet
The author of the First Grammatical Treatise proposes that long vowels be marked with an acute accent, e.g. á. The nasal vowels are marked with a dot.[n 1] Small capitals denote a geminate consonant. The author proposes a letter Ǥ, named eng, which denotes /ŋɡ/.[5]
Raddarstafir (Vowels): a, ȧ, ǫ, ǫ̇, e, ė, ę, ę̇, ı, i, o, ȯ, ø, ø̇, u, u̇, y, ẏ
Samhljóðendr (Consonants): b, ʙ, c, ᴋ, d, ᴅ, f, ꜰ, g, ɢ, ǥ, h, l, ʟ, m, ᴍ, n, ɴ, p, ᴘ, r, ʀ, ſ, ꜱ, t, ᴛ, þ
- Note: "c" is lowercase; lowercase long-s "ſ" is followed by small-capital "ꜱ".
Samsettar (Letters for composite sounds): x, z
Other:
Phonological System
Based on the description of minimal pairs of words in Old Norse, Einar Haugen proposes one tentative interpretation of the vowel description given by the First Grammatical Treatise.[6] There are potentially 36 vowels in Old Norse, with 9 basic vowel qualities, /i, y, e, ø, ɛ, u, o, ɔ, a/, which are further distinguished by length and nasality. Haugen notes that "A system of thirty-six vowel phonemes would have been something of a monstrosity among the world's phonemic systems".[7] However, a system of 18 oral vowels is in no way unusual for a Germanic language, and nasality must be seen an independent category.
Front vowels | Back vowels | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unrounded | Rounded | Unrounded | Rounded | |||||
Close | i • ĩ | iː • ĩː | y • ỹ | yː • ỹː | u • ũ | uː • ũː | ||
Mid | e • ẽ | eː • ẽː | ø • ø̃ | øː • ø̃ː | o • õ | oː • õː | ||
Open, open-mid | ɛ • ɛ̃ | ɛː • ɛ̃ː | a • ã | aː • ãː | ɔ • ɔ̃ | ɔː • ɔ̃ː |
The author
The author is unknown, and is usually referred to as "First Grammarian".[8] Scholars have hypothesized various identities for the First Grammarian. One probable candidate is Hallr Teitsson (born ca. 1085, died 1150).[9][10] Þóroddr Gamlason has also been suggested. [11][12]
Haugen notes that the author of the text cannot be the 11th century Icelandic scholar
The First Grammarian's choice of terminology, such as the use of the Latin terms "capitulum" and "vers", as well as a quotation from Cato's Distichs, suggests he received a Latin education. However, he was also well-versed and familiar with Norse skaldic poetic verse, making him "one of that line of students of poetics, whose greatest representative from Iceland was to be Snorri Sturluson." This can be seen in the illustrative sentences used in demonstrating minimal pairs, which contain allusions to "the giantess Þórgerð Hǫlgabrúð (90.20), Thor and the giant Hymir (90.20), and the legendary Dane Ubbi (90.19)".[14]
Notes
- ^ First Grammatical Treatise: "far, fár; rȧmr, rámr"
References
- ^ Benediktsson 1972, p. 22–33.
- ^ Haugen 1950, p. 8.
- ^ Benediktsson 1972, p. 35.
- ^ Böðvarsson 1974.
- ^ The First Grammatical Treatise, digital reproduction at Old Norse etexts.
- ^ Haugen 1972, p. 34-39.
- ^ a b Haugen 1972.
- ^ Robins 1990, p. 82.
- ^ Benediktsson 1972, p. 203.
- ^ Haugen 1950, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Cleasby & Vigfússon 1874, p.xi, § H., I.: Skálda; Referred to simply as "Thorodd" throughout..
- ^ Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon, p.390, "Thoroddr"
- ^ Haugen 1972, pp. 78.
- ^ Haugen 1972, pp. 77.
Sources
- Robins, R.H. (1990), A Short History of Linguistics (3rd ed.), ISBN 0-582-29145-3
- Böðvarsson, Árni (1974), Handritalestur & gotneskt letur
- Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- e-text via the Germanic Lexicon Project (lexicon.ff.cuni.cz)
- Editions and translations
- Haugen, Einar, ed. (1950), First Grammatical Treatise: The Earliest Germanic Phonology. An Edition, Translation, and Commentary'
- Haugen, Einar, ed. (1972) [1950], First Grammatical Treatise: The Earliest Germanic Phonology. An Edition, Translation, and Commentary' (2nd ed.)
- Benediktsson, Hreinn, ed. (1972), "The First Grammatical Treatise: Introduction, Text, Notes, Translation, Vocabulary, Facsimiles", University of Iceland Publications in Linguistics, vol. 1
External links
- Digital reproduction at Old Norse etexts