Early Irish grammarians and the study of speech sound

Abstract

ABSTRACT Irish grammatical tradition, with its thoroughly bilingual mindset, was one of the most prolific in early medieval Europe. Bringing together vernacular and Hiberno-Latin texts from ca. 700–900, this article explores Irish grammarians’ approaches to the linguistic study of sound on various levels, from single phonemes to complete phonological units. It is argued that the combination of corporeal and incorporeal views of speech sound displayed in the sources resulted from the symbiosis of Stoic and Aristotelian philosophy of language. The innovative and transformative character of Irish grammarians’ work is explored through an analysis of vernacular terminology for phonetics and phonology. Abbreviations: eDIL: The Electronic Dictionary of Irish Language; GL: Grammatici Latini; LSJ: Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon; PL: Patrologia Latina.