Grammatical Theory in Western Europe 1500–1700: Trends in Vernacular Grammar II

This is the final part of the late Professor Padley’s comprehensive opus on grammatical theory in Western Europe, 1500-1700. ‘Trends in Vernacular Grammer 1’ (CUP 1985) dealt with the early grammars of the five European languages, and the tension between them and the underlying Latin tradition they share. This complementary volume investigates grammars written by authors who followed the dictates of usage and took account of the inevitable variations introduced by vernacular speakers. The author covers the Vaugelas school in France, the early Latinizing grammars, and the rhetorically oriented Italian grammars which were caught up in the ‘questione della lingua’ debate. The relationship between the purist’s and the pragmatist’s approach to language is explored through an analysis of the different attitudes displayed by grammarians, who saw in the invention of printing an unprecedented chance to establish uniform grammatical usage.