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95-521: Institutiones Divinae ( Classical Latin : [ĩːstɪtuːtiˈoːneːs diːˈwiːnae̯] , Ecclesiastical Latin : [institutsiˈones diˈvine] ; The Divine Institutes ) is the name of a theological work by the Christian Roman philosopher Lactantius , written between AD 303 and 311. Arguably the most important of Lactantius 's works, the Divinae institutiones —the title of which

190-580: A lingua franca may evolve by itself, the tendency to formally codify and normalize it is widespread in most parts of the world. Foreign language instruction is also considered a form of prescription, since it involves instructing learners how to speak, based on usage documentation laid down by others. Linguistic prescription may also be used to advance a social or political ideology. Throughout history, prescription has been created around high-class language, and therefore it degeneralizes lower-class language. This has led to many justifications of classism , as

285-548: A certain degree of conceptual overlap as comprehensive descriptive accounts must take into account and record existing speaker preferences, and a prior understanding of how language is actually used is necessary for prescription to be effective. Since the mid-20th century some dictionaries and style guides , which are prescriptive works by nature, have increasingly integrated descriptive material and approaches. Examples of guides updated to add more descriptive material include Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1961) and

380-478: A certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a dead language, while it was still a living." Also problematic in Teuffel's scheme is its appropriateness to the concept of classical Latin. Cruttwell addresses the issue by altering the concept of the classical. The "best" Latin is defined as "golden" Latin, the second of the three periods. The other two periods (considered "classical") are left hanging. By assigning

475-405: A certain time one after another, from century to century, we laugh at the elixir that promises to prolong life to a thousand years; and with equal justice may the lexicographer be derided, who is able to produce no example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can embalm his language, and secure it from corruption and decay, that it

570-433: A detailed analysis of style, whereas Teuffel was more concerned with history. Like Teuffel, Cruttwell encountered issues while attempting to condense the voluminous details of time periods in an effort to capture the meaning of phases found in their various writing styles. Like Teuffel, he has trouble finding a name for the first of the three periods (the current Old Latin phase), calling it "from Livius to Sulla ." He says

665-564: A distinction between "prescription" and "prescriptivism", defining the former as "a process of codification of a certain variety of language for some sort of official use", and the latter as "an unscientific tendency to mystify linguistic prescription". Linguistic prescription is a part of a language standardization process. The chief aim of linguistic prescription is to specify socially preferred language forms (either generally, as in Standard English , or in style and register ) in

760-705: A few cases, an entire publishing sector complies with a publication that originated as a house style manual, such as The Chicago Manual of Style and New Hart's Rules in non-fiction book publishing in the United States and the United Kingdom, respectively, and The Associated Press Stylebook in American news style . Others are by self-appointed advocates whose rules are propagated in the popular press, as in " proper Cantonese pronunciation ". The aforementioned Fowler, and Strunk & White, were among

855-538: A foreign language . Although these have a more democratic base, they still exclude the vast majority of the English-speaking world: speakers of Scottish English , Hiberno-English , Appalachian English , Australian English , Indian English , Nigerian English or African-American English may feel the standard is arbitrarily selected or slanted against them. Therefore, prescription has political consequences; indeed, it can be—and has been—used consciously as

950-471: A form of Greek that was considered model. Before then, the term classis , in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society in accordance with property ownership under the Roman constitution. The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις (clēsis, or "calling") used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class. Classicus refers to those in

1045-407: A phase of styles. The ancient authors themselves first defined style by recognizing different kinds of sermo , or "speech". By valuing Classical Latin as "first class", it was better to write with Latinitas selected by authors who were attuned to literary and upper-class languages of the city as a standardized style. All sermo that differed from it was a different style. Thus, in rhetoric, Cicero

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1140-414: A political tool. A second issue with prescriptivism is that it tends to explicitly devalue non-standard dialects . It has been argued that prescription, apart from formulating standard language norms, often attempts to influence speakers to apply the proposed linguistic devices invariably, without considering the existence of different varieties and registers of language. While some linguists approve

1235-529: A prestige language or dialect over a less prestigious one, even if it is their native tongue. Government bureaucracy tends toward prescriptivism as a means of enforcing functional continuity. Such prescriptivism dates from ancient Egypt , where bureaucrats preserved the spelling of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt into the Ptolemaic period through the standard usage of Egyptian hieroglyphics . From

1330-488: A prestige variety.) A classic example from 18th-century England is Robert Lowth's tentative suggestion that preposition stranding in relative clauses sounds colloquial. This blossomed into a grammatical rule that a sentence should never end with a preposition. For these reasons, some writers argue that linguistic prescription is foolish or futile. Samuel Johnson commented on the tendency of some prescription to resist language change: When we see men grow old and die at

1425-534: A slight alteration in approach, making it clear that his terms applied to Latin and not just to the period. He also changed his dating scheme from AUC to modern BC/AD. Though he introduces das silberne Zeitalter der römischen Literatur , (The Silver Age of Roman Literature) from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan (14–117 AD), he also mentions parts of a work by Seneca the Elder , a wenig Einfluss der silbernen Latinität (a slight influence of silver Latin). It

1520-431: A standard language when a society establishes social stratification and a socio-economic hierarchy . The spoken and written language usages of the authorities (state, military, church) is preserved as the standard language. Departures from this standard language may jeopardize social success (see social class ). Sometimes, archaisms and honorific stylizations may be deliberately introduced or preserved to distinguish

1615-417: A way that is easily taught and learned. Prescription may apply to most aspects of language, including spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Prescription is useful for facilitating inter-regional communication, allowing speakers of divergent dialects to understand a standardized idiom used in broadcasting , for example, more readily than each other's dialects. While such

1710-729: Is Cruttwell's Augustan Epoch (42 BC – 14 AD). The literary histories list includes all authors from Canonical to the Ciceronian Age—even those whose works are fragmented or missing altogether. With the exception of a few major writers, such as Cicero, Caesar, Virgil and Catullus, ancient accounts of Republican literature praise jurists and orators whose writings, and analyses of various styles of language cannot be verified because there are no surviving records. The reputations of Aquilius Gallus, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus , Lucius Licinius Lucullus , and many others who gained notoriety without readable works, are presumed by their association within

1805-580: Is actually used (while avoiding passing judgment). The basis of linguistic research is text ( corpus ) analysis and field study, both of which are descriptive activities. Description may also include researchers' observations of their own language usage. In the Eastern European linguistic tradition, the discipline dealing with standard language cultivation and prescription is known as "language culture" or "speech culture". Despite being apparent opposites, prescriptive and descriptive approaches have

1900-443: Is clear that his mindset had shifted from Golden and Silver Ages to Golden and Silver Latin, also to include Latinitas , which at this point must be interpreted as Classical Latin. He may have been influenced in that regard by one of his sources E. Opitz, who in 1852 had published specimen lexilogiae argenteae latinitatis , which includes Silver Latinity. Though Teuffel's First Period was equivalent to Old Latin and his Second Period

1995-763: Is imposed by regulation in some places. The French Academy in Paris is the national body in France whose recommendations about the French language are often followed in the French-speaking world (francophonie) , though not legally enforceable. In Germany and the Netherlands , recent spelling and punctuation reforms, such as the German orthographic reform of 1996 , were devised by teams of linguists commissioned by

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2090-404: Is in his power to change sublunary nature, and clear the world at once from folly, vanity, and affectation. With this hope, however, academies have been instituted, to guard the avenues of their languages, to retain fugitives, and repulse intruders; but their vigilance and activity have hitherto been vain; sounds remain too volatile and subtle for legal restraints; to enchain syllables, and to lash

2185-607: Is known as "classical" Latin literature . The term refers to the canonical relevance of literary works written in Latin in the late Roman Republic , and early to middle Roman Empire . "[T]hat is to say, that of belonging to an exclusive group of authors (or works) that were considered to be emblematic of a certain genre." The term classicus (masculine plural classici ) was devised by the Romans to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες (encrithentes), and "select" which refers to authors who wrote in

2280-473: Is not that of the golden age... Evidently, Teuffel received ideas about golden and silver Latin from an existing tradition and embedded them in a new system, transforming them as he thought best. In Cruttwell's introduction, the Golden Age is dated 80 BC – AD 14 (from Cicero to Ovid ), which corresponds to Teuffel's findings. Of the "Second Period", Cruttwell paraphrases Teuffel by saying it "represents

2375-634: Is propagated by people with an opposing ideology. Later, during the second half of the 20th century, efforts driven by various advocacy groups had considerable influence on language use under the broad banner of " political correctness ", to promote special rules for anti-sexist , anti-racist , or generically anti- discriminatory language (e.g. " people-first language " as advocated by disability rights organizations). Prescription presupposes authorities whose judgments may come to be followed by many other speakers and writers. For English, these authorities tend to be books. H. W. Fowler 's Modern English Usage

2470-601: Is that period in which the climax was reached in the perfection of form, and in most respects also in the methodical treatment of the subject-matters. It may be subdivided between the generations, in the first of which (the Ciceronian Age) prose culminated, while poetry was principally developed in the Augustan Age. The Ciceronian Age was dated 671–711 AUC (83–43 BC), ending just after the death of Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Augustan 711–67 AUC (43 BC – 14 AD) ends with

2565-543: Is that prescription has a tendency to favor the language of one particular area or social class over others, and thus militates against linguistic diversity. Frequently, a standard dialect is associated with the upper class , for example the United Kingdom 's Received Pronunciation (RP). RP has now lost much of its status as the Anglophone standard, and other standards are now alternative systems for English as

2660-441: Is that prescriptive rules quickly become entrenched and it is difficult to change them when the language changes. Thus, there is a tendency for prescription to lag behind the vernacular language . In 1834, an anonymous writer advised against the split infinitive , reasoning that the construction was not a frequent feature of English as he knew it. Today the construction is in everyday use and generally considered standard usage, yet

2755-587: Is the first known reference (possibly innovated during this time) to Classical Latin applied by authors, evidenced in the authentic language of their works. Imitating Greek grammarians, Romans such as Quintilian drew up lists termed indices or ordines modeled after the ones created by the Greeks, which were called pinakes . The Greek lists were considered classical, or recepti scriptores ("select writers"). Aulus Gellius includes authors like Plautus , who are considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in

2850-512: Is the system of Japanese honorific speech . Most, if not all, widely spoken languages demonstrate some degree of social codification in how they conform to prescriptive rules. Linguistic prestige is a central research topic within sociolinguistics . Notions of linguistic prestige apply to different dialects of the same language and also to separate, distinct languages in multilingual regions. Prestige level disparity often leads to diglossia : speakers in certain social contexts consciously choose

2945-507: Is to be distinguished by: until 75 BC Old Latin 75 BC – 200 AD Classical Latin 200–700 Late Latin 700–1500 Medieval Latin 1300–1500 Renaissance Latin 1300– present Neo-Latin 1900– present Contemporary Latin Prescriptive grammar Prescriptive approaches to language are often contrasted with the descriptive approach of academic linguistics , which observes and records how language

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3040-675: The Hermetica of Hermes Trismegistus . Included in this treatise is also a quote from the nineteenth of the Odes of Solomon , one of only two known texts of the Odes until the early twentieth century. Patrick Healy notes, "The strengths and the weakness of Lactantius are nowhere better shown than in his work. The beauty of the style, the choice and aptness of the terminology, cannot hide the author's lack of grasp on Christian principles and his almost utter ignorance of Scripture." Lactantius's mockery of

3135-952: The American Medical Association , the Modern Language Association , and the Modern Humanities Research Association ; there are many others. Scientific Style and Format , by the Council of Science Editors, seeks to normalize style in scientific journal publishing, based where possible on standards issued by bodies like the International Standards Organization . None of these works have any sort of legal or regulatory authority (though some governments produce their own house style books for internal use). They still have authority in

3230-619: The Antonines ), and the 3rd through 6th centuries. Of the Silver Age proper, Teuffel points out that anything like freedom of speech had vanished with Tiberius : ...the continual apprehension in which men lived caused a restless versatility... Simple or natural composition was considered insipid; the aim of language was to be brilliant... Hence it was dressed up with abundant tinsel of epigrams, rhetorical figures and poetical terms... Mannerism supplanted style, and bombastic pathos took

3325-738: The Greek and Cyrillic alphabets. Judaism used the Hebrew alphabet , and Islam the Arabic script . Hinduism used the Devanagari script . In certain traditions, strict adherence to prescribed spellings and pronunciations was and remains of great spiritual importance. Islamic naming conventions and greetings are notable examples of the linguistic prescription being a prerequisite to spiritual righteousness. Another commonly cited example of prescriptive language usage closely associated with social propriety

3420-553: The World Digital Library , Divinae institutiones was one of the first books to be printed in Italy, as well as the first Italian imprint to be dated. Classical Latin language Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire . It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin , and developed by

3515-483: The classici scriptores declined in the medieval period as the best form of the language yielded to medieval Latin , inferior to classical standards. The Renaissance saw a revival in Roman culture, and with it, the return of Classic ("the best") Latin. Thomas Sébillet 's Art Poétique (1548), "les bons et classiques poètes françois", refers to Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier , who the first modern application of

3610-466: The prima classis ("first class"), such as the authors of polished works of Latinitas , or sermo urbanus . It contains nuances of the certified and the authentic, or testis classicus ("reliable witness"). It was under this construct that Marcus Cornelius Fronto (an African - Roman lawyer and language teacher) used scriptores classici ("first-class" or "reliable authors") in the second century AD. Their works were viewed as models of good Latin. This

3705-506: The 3rd century AD into Late Latin . In some later periods, the former was regarded as good or proper Latin; the latter as debased, degenerate, or corrupted. The word Latin is now understood by default to mean "Classical Latin"; for example, modern Latin textbooks almost exclusively teach Classical Latin. Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic referred to the Latin language, in contrast to other languages such as Greek, as lingua latina or sermo latinus . They distinguished

3800-664: The Classical Latin period formed the model for the language taught and used in later periods across Europe and beyond. While the Latin used in different periods deviated from "Classical" Latin, efforts were periodically made to relearn and reapply the models of the Classical period, for instance by Alcuin during the reign of Charlemagne , and later during the Renaissance , producing the highly classicising form of Latin now known as Neo-Latin . "Good Latin" in philology

3895-463: The English translation of A History of Roman Literature gained immediate success. In 1877, Charles Thomas Cruttwell produced a similar work in English. In his preface, Cruttwell notes "Teuffel's admirable history, without which many chapters in the present work could not have attained completeness." He also credits Wagner. Cruttwell adopts the time periods found in Teuffel's work, but he presents

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3990-421: The Golden Age. A list of canonical authors of the period whose works survived in whole or in part is shown here: The Golden Age is divided by the assassination of Julius Caesar . In the wars that followed, a generation of Republican literary figures was lost. Cicero and his contemporaries were replaced by a new generation who spent their formative years under the old constructs, and forced to make their mark under

4085-602: The Imperial Period, and is divided into die Zeit der julischen Dynastie ( 14–68); die Zeit der flavischen Dynastie (69–96), and die Zeit des Nerva und Trajan (96–117). Subsequently, Teuffel goes over to a century scheme: 2nd, 3rd, etc., through 6th. His later editions (which came about towards the end of the 19th century) divide the Imperial Age into parts: 1st century (Silver Age), 2nd century (the Hadrian and

4180-492: The Roman Empire . Once again, Cruttwell evidences some unease with his stock pronouncements: "The Natural History of Pliny shows how much remained to be done in fields of great interest." The idea of Pliny as a model is not consistent with any sort of decline. Moreover, Pliny did his best work under emperors who were as tolerant as Augustus had been. To include some of the best writings of the Silver Age, Cruttwell extended

4275-474: The Second Period in his major work, das goldene Zeitalter der römischen Literatur ( Golden Age of Roman Literature ), dated 671–767 AUC (83 BC – AD 14), according to his own recollection. The timeframe is marked by the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and the death of the emperor Augustus . Wagner's translation of Teuffel's writing is as follows: The golden age of the Roman literature

4370-500: The ability of the language to make subtle distinctions are easier to defend. Judgments based on the subjective associations of a word are more problematic. Finally, there is the problem of inappropriate dogmatism. Although competent authorities tend to make careful statements, popular pronouncements on language are apt to condemn. Thus, wise prescriptive advice identifying a form as colloquial or non-standard and suggesting that it be used with caution in some contexts may – when taken up in

4465-430: The advance would be perceptible by us." In time, some of Cruttwell's ideas become established in Latin philology. While praising the application of rules to classical Latin (most intensely in the Golden Age, he says "In gaining accuracy, however, classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became cultivated as distinct from a natural language... Spontaneity, therefore, became impossible and soon invention also ceased... In

4560-399: The ancient definition, and some of the very best writing of any period in world history was deemed stilted, degenerate, unnatural language. The Silver Age furnishes the only two extant Latin novels: Apuleius's The Golden Ass and Petronius's Satyricon . Writers of the Silver Age include: Of the additional century granted by Cruttwell to Silver Latin, Teuffel says: "The second century

4655-523: The belief that non-codified forms of language are innately inferior, creating social stigma and discrimination toward their speakers. In contrast, modern linguists would generally hold that all forms of language, including both vernacular dialects and different realizations of a standardized variety, are scientifically equal as instruments of communication, even if deemed socially inappropriate for certain situational contexts. Resulting in standard language ideology , normative practices might also give rise to

4750-470: The claims of pagan writers (who at the time were aiding the persecutors of Christianity by writing specialized attack pamphlets), the author also sought to make his work "sufficiently broad" so that it might stem criticisms from all directions. Book VII of the work indicates a familiarity with Jewish, Christian, Egyptian and Iranian apocalyptic material, and alludes to the (now-lost) Oracle of Hystaspes . The work also makes use of Sibylline sources as well as

4845-402: The classroom – become converted into a ruling that the dispreferred form is automatically unacceptable in all circumstances, a view academic linguists reject. (Linguists may accept that a construction is ungrammatical or incorrect in relation to a certain lect if it does not conform to its inherent rules, but they would not consider it absolutely wrong simply because it diverges from the norms of

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4940-402: The common vernacular , however, as Vulgar Latin ( sermo vulgaris and sermo vulgi ), in contrast to the higher register that they called latinitas , sometimes translated as "Latinity". Latinitas was also called sermo familiaris ("speech of the good families"), sermo urbanus ("speech of the city"), and in rare cases sermo nobilis ("noble speech"). Besides the noun Latinitas , it

5035-484: The concept where a certain language variety is promoted as linguistically superior to others, thus recognizing the standard language ideology as a constitutive element of prescriptivism or even identifying prescriptivism with this system of views. Others, however, use this term in relation to any attempts to recommend or mandate a particular way of language usage (in a specific context or register ), without, however, implying that these practices must involve propagating

5130-484: The consistent transcription of culturally important transactions (laws, scriptures, contracts, poetry, etc.) allow a large number of discussants to understand written conversations easily, and across multiple generations. Early historical trends in literacy and alphabetization were closely tied to the influence of various religious institutions. Western Christianity propagated the Latin alphabet . Eastern Orthodoxy spread

5225-487: The conviction that explicit formal instruction is an essential prerequisite for acquiring proper command of one's native language, thus creating a massive feeling of linguistic insecurity . Propagating such language attitudes is characteristic of the prescriptivists in Eastern Europe , where normativist ideas of correctness can be found even among professional linguists. Another serious issue with prescription

5320-421: The death of Augustus. The Ciceronian Age is further divided by the consulship of Cicero in 691 AUC (63 BC) into a first and second half. Authors are assigned to these periods by years of principal achievements. The Golden Age had already made an appearance in German philology, but in a less systematic way. In a translation of Bielfeld's Elements of universal erudition (1770): The Second Age of Latin began about

5415-419: The earliest attempts at prescription in classical times grammarians have based their norms on observed prestige use of language. Modern prescriptivist textbooks draw heavily on descriptive linguistic analysis. The prescription may privilege some existing forms over others for the sake of maximizing clarity and precision in language use. Others are subjective judgments of what constitutes good taste. Some reflect

5510-443: The extinction of freedom... Hence arose a declamatory tone, which strove by frigid and almost hysterical exaggeration to make up for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein of artificial rhetoric, antithesis and epigram... owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank... In Cruttwell's view (which had not been expressed by Teuffel), Silver Latin

5605-491: The facet of language, or very compact works insistent upon only a few matters of particular importance to the publisher. Some aim to be comprehensive only for a specific field, deferring to more general-audience guides on matters that are not particular to the discipline in question. There are different types of style guides, by purpose and audience. Because the genres of writing and the audiences of each manual are different, style manuals often conflict with each other, even within

5700-422: The fundamental characteristics of a language. The latter provides unity, allowing it to be referred to by a single name. Thus Old Latin, Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin , etc., are not considered different languages, but are all referred to by the term, Latin . This is an ancient practice continued by moderns rather than a philological innovation of recent times. That Latin had case endings is a fundamental feature of

5795-579: The highest excellence in prose and poetry." The Ciceronian Age (known today as the "Republican Period") is dated 80–42 BC, marked by the Battle of Philippi . Cruttwell omits the first half of Teuffel's Ciceronian, and starts the Golden Age at Cicero's consulship in 63 BC—an error perpetuated in Cruttwell's second edition. He likely meant 80 BC, as he includes Varro in Golden Latin. Teuffel's Augustan Age

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5890-595: The idea of a round Earth was criticized by Copernicus in the preface to his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium , in which the author writes, "Lactantius, the writer celebrated in other ways but very little in mathematics, spoke somewhat childishly of the shape of the Earth when he derided those who declared the Earth had the shape of a ball" ( Lactantium, celebrem alioqui scriptorem, sed Mathematicum parum, admodum pueriliter de forma terræ loqui, cum deridet eos, qui terram globi formam habere prodiderunt ). According to

5985-457: The language "is marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent strength..." These abstracts have little meaning to those not well-versed in Latin literature. In fact, Cruttwell admits "The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius , Pacuvius , and Accius , but it may be questioned whether

6080-511: The language. Whether a given form of speech prefers to use prepositions such as ad , ex , de, for "to", "from" and "of" rather than simple case endings is a matter of style. Latin has a large number of styles. Each and every author has a style, which typically allows his prose or poetry to be identified by experienced Latinists. Problems in comparative literature have risen out of group styles finding similarity by period, in which case one may speak of Old Latin, Silver Latin, Late Latin as styles or

6175-481: The lower-class can easily be portrayed to be incoherent and improper if they do not speak the standard language. This also corresponds to the use of prescription for racism , as dialects spoken by what is seen as the superior race are usually standardized in countries with prominent racism. A good example of this is the demeaning of AAVE in the United States , as the idea that the "lower race" speaks improperly

6270-460: The old prohibition can still be heard. A further problem is a challenge of specifying understandable criteria. Although prescribing authorizations may have clear ideas about why they make a particular choice, and their choices are seldom entirely arbitrary, there exists no linguistically sustainable metric for ascertaining which forms of language should be considered standard or otherwise preferable. Judgments that seek to resolve ambiguity or increase

6365-448: The other, would savour of artificial restriction rather than that of a natural classification." The contradiction remains—Terence is, and is not a classical author, depending on the context. Teuffel's definition of the "First Period" of Latin was based on inscriptions, fragments, and the literary works of the earliest known authors. Though he does use the term "Old Roman" at one point, most of these findings remain unnamed. Teuffel presents

6460-562: The period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris . Each author's work in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek. In example, Ennius was the Latin Homer , Aeneid was the equivalent of Iliad , etc. The lists of classical authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology . The topic remained at that point while interest in

6555-410: The period through the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 AD). The philosophic prose of a good emperor was in no way compatible with either Teuffel's view of unnatural language, or Cruttwell's depiction of a decline. Having created these constructs, the two philologists found they could not entirely justify them. Apparently, in the worst implication of their views, there was no such thing as Classical Latin by

6650-583: The philological notion of classical Latin through a typology similar to the Ages of Man , setting out the Golden and Silver Ages of classical Latin. Wilhem Wagner, who published Teuffel's work in German, also produced an English translation which he published in 1873. Teuffel's classification, still in use today (with modifications), groups classical Latin authors into periods defined by political events rather than by style. Teuffel went on to publish other editions, but

6745-419: The place of quiet power. The content of new literary works was continually proscribed by the emperor, who exiled or executed existing authors and played the role of literary man, himself (typically badly). Artists therefore went into a repertory of new and dazzling mannerisms, which Teuffel calls "utter unreality." Cruttwell picks up this theme: The foremost of these [characteristics] is unreality, arising from

6840-456: The practical role of language standardization in modern nation states, certain models of prescriptive codification have been criticized for going far beyond mere norm-setting, i.e. by promoting the sanctioned language variety as the only legitimate means of communication and presenting it as the only valid baseline of correctness, while stigmatizing non-standard usages as " mistakes ". Such practices have been said to contribute to perpetuating

6935-402: The prestige form of the language from contemporary colloquial language . Likewise, the style of language used in ritual also differs from everyday speech. Special ceremonial languages known only to a select few spiritual leaders are found throughout the world; Liturgical Latin has served a similar function for centuries. When a culture develops a writing system, orthographic rules for

7030-401: The promotion of one class or region within a language community over another, which can become politically controversial. Prescription can also reflect ethical considerations, as in prohibiting swear words . Words referring to elements of sexuality or toilet hygiene may be regarded as obscene. Blasphemies against religion may be forbidden. In the 21st century, political correctness objects to

7125-405: The quality of advice given in many usage guides, including highly regarded books like Strunk and White's The Elements of Style . In particular, linguists point out that popular books on English usage written by journalists or novelists (e.g. Simon Heffer 's Strictly English: The Correct Way to Write ... and Why It Matters ) often make basic errors in linguistic analysis. A frequent criticism

7220-467: The respective governments and then implemented by statutes, some met with widespread dissent. Examples of national prescriptive bodies and initiatives are: Other kinds of authorities exist in specific settings, most commonly in the form of style guidebooks (also called style guides, manuals of style, style books, or style sheets). Style guides vary in form, and may be alphabetical usage dictionaries, comprehensive manuals divided into numerous subsection by

7315-415: The rules of politus (polished) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language. However, Latinitas was a form of sermo (spoken language), and as such, retains spontaneity. No texts by Classical Latin authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, with the exception of repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases found on inscriptions. The standards, authors and manuals from

7410-557: The same vernacular of English. Many publishers have established an internal house style specifying preferred spellings and grammatical forms, such as serial commas , how to write acronyms , and various awkward expressions to avoid. Most of these are internal documentation for the publisher's staff, though various newspapers, universities, and other organizations have made theirs available for public inspection, and sometimes even sell them as books, e.g. The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage and The Economist Style Guide . In

7505-432: The self-appointed, as are some modern authors of style works, like Bryan A. Garner and his Modern English Usage (formerly Modern American Usage ). Various style guides are used for academic papers and professional journals and have become de facto standards in particular fields, though the bulk of their material pertains to formatting of source citations (in mutually conflicting ways). Some examples are those issued by

7600-512: The sense that a student may be marked down for failure to follow a specified style manual; a professional publisher may enforce compliance; a publication may require its employees to use house style as a matter of on-the-job competence. A well-respected style guide, and usually one intended for a general audience, may also have the kind of authority that a dictionary does consult as a reference work to satisfy personal curiosity or settle an argument. Historically, linguistic prescriptivism originates in

7695-406: The standard language ideology. According to another understanding, the prescriptive attitude is an approach to norm-formulating and codification that involves imposing arbitrary rulings upon a speech community , as opposed to more liberal approaches that draw heavily from descriptive surveys; in a wider sense, however, the latter also constitute a form of prescriptivism. Mate Kapović makes

7790-437: The term "pre-classical" to Old Latin and implicating it to post-classical (or post-Augustan) and silver Latin, Cruttwell realized that his construct was not accordance with ancient usage and assertions: "[T]he epithet classical is by many restricted to the authors who wrote in it [golden Latin]. It is best, however, not to narrow unnecessarily the sphere of classicity; to exclude Terence on the one hand or Tacitus and Pliny on

7885-623: The third edition Garner's Modern English Usage (2009) in English, or the Nouveau Petit Robert (1993) in French. A partially descriptive approach can be especially useful when approaching topics of ongoing conflict between authorities, or in different dialects , disciplines, styles , or registers . Other guides, such as The Chicago Manual of Style , are designed to impose a single style and thus remain primarily prescriptive (as of 2017 ). Some authors define "prescriptivism" as

7980-421: The time of Caesar [his ages are different from Teuffel's], and ended with Tiberius. This is what is called the Augustan Age, which was perhaps of all others the most brilliant, a period at which it should seem as if the greatest men, and the immortal authors, had met together upon the earth, in order to write the Latin language in its utmost purity and perfection... and of Tacitus, his conceits and sententious style

8075-462: The use of words perceived as offensive. Some elements of prescription in English are sometimes thought to have been based on the norms of Latin grammar . Robert Lowth is frequently cited as having done so, but he specifically objected to "forcing the English under the rules of a foreign Language". Prescriptivism is often subject to criticism. Many linguists, such as Geoffrey Pullum and other posters to Language Log , are highly skeptical of

8170-556: The watchful eye of a new emperor. The demand for great orators had ceased, shifting to an emphasis on poetry. Other than the historian Livy , the most remarkable writers of the period were the poets Virgil , Horace , and Ovid . Although Augustus evidenced some toleration to republican sympathizers, he exiled Ovid, and imperial tolerance ended with the continuance of the Julio-Claudian dynasty . Augustan writers include: In his second volume, Imperial Period , Teuffel initiated

8265-489: The words. According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary , the term classical (from classicus) entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction to the continent. In Governor William Bradford 's Dialogue (1648), he referred to synods of a separatist church as "classical meetings", defined by meetings between "young men" from New England and "ancient men" from Holland and England. In 1715, Laurence Echard 's Classical Geographical Dictionary

8360-442: Was a "rank, weed-grown garden," a "decline." Cruttwell had already decried what he saw as a loss of spontaneity in Golden Latin. Teuffel regarded the Silver Age as a loss of natural language, and therefore of spontaneity, implying that it was last seen in the Golden Age. Instead, Tiberius brought about a "sudden collapse of letters." The idea of a decline had been dominant in English society since Edward Gibbon 's Decline and Fall of

8455-484: Was a happy period for the Roman State, the happiest indeed during the whole Empire... But in the world of letters the lassitude and enervation, which told of Rome's decline, became unmistakeable... its forte is in imitation." Teuffel, however, excepts the jurists; others find other "exceptions", recasting Teuffels's view. Style of language refers to repeatable features of speech that are somewhat less general than

8550-459: Was able to define sublime, intermediate, and low styles within Classical Latin. St. Augustine recommended low style for sermons. Style was to be defined by deviation in speech from a standard. Teuffel termed this standard "Golden Latin". John Edwin Sandys , who was an authority in Latin style for several decades, summarizes the differences between Golden and Silver Latin as follows: Silver Latin

8645-400: Was equal to the Golden Age, his Third Period die römische Kaiserheit encompasses both the Silver Age and the centuries now termed Late Latin , in which the forms seemed to break loose from their foundation and float freely. That is, men of literature were confounded about the meaning of "good Latin." The last iteration of Classical Latin is known as Silver Latin. The Silver Age is the first of

8740-485: Was meant to correspond to the institutiones that expressed the workings of civil law—is both a systematic as well as apologetic work that, as Patrick Healy argues, "point out the futility of pagan beliefs and to establish the reasonableness and truth of Christianity." The work was the first full attempt to defend Christian theology in Latin, and it was likely written to appeal to and convince educated pagans. While Lactantius focused much of Divinae institutiones on combating

8835-737: Was published. In 1736, Robert Ainsworth 's Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into "proper and classical Latin." In 1768, David Ruhnken 's Critical History of the Greek Orators recast the molded view of the classical by applying the word "canon" to the pinakes of orators after the Biblical canon , or list of authentic books of the Bible. In doing so, Ruhnken had secular catechism in mind. In 1870, Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel 's Geschichte der Römischen Literatur ( A History of Roman Literature ) defined

8930-472: Was referred to with the adverb latine ("in (good) Latin", literally "Latinly") or its comparative latinius ("in better Latin", literally "more Latinly"). Latinitas was spoken and written. It was the language taught in schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and when special subjects like poetry or rhetoric were taken into consideration, additional rules applied. Since spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of subsequent registers),

9025-589: Was widely taken as an authority for British English for much of the 20th century; Strunk and White 's The Elements of Style has done similarly for American English . The Duden grammar (first edition 1880) has a similar status for German. Although lexicographers often see their work as purely descriptive, dictionaries are widely regarded as prescriptive authorities. Books such as Lynne Truss 's Eats, Shoots & Leaves (2003), which argues for stricter adherence to prescriptive punctuation rules, also seek to exert an influence. Linguistic prescription

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