The Linguists in Classical Period

1. Aristotle

Aristotle (384-322 BC) [Classical Antiquity] The youngest of the three Greek giants of philosophy. Aristotle — as opposed to Socrates and Plato — had wide scientific interests, but he did not share the political concerns of the last mentioned to the same degree. He was born in Macedonia and moved as a young man to Athens, later to Assos in Asia Minor, back to Macedonia again (where he tutored Alexander the Great). When the latter became king in 335 Aristotle moved back to Athens and founded his own school there, the Lyceum, which was also known as the peripatetic, or walking, school from the custom of its students of strolling about the grounds. After the death of Alexander he retired to Euboea. Aristotle was an adherent of the conventionalist view of language which is seen in his De interpretatione where he stresses that language does not arise naturally but is set by convention.

2. Panini

Panini (fl. c.400 BC) [Classical Antiquity] An Indian grammarian, Panini is famous for the grammar of Sanskrit, known as the Astadhyayi 'Eight Books' which is a concise and aphoristic summary of the rules of phonology and morphology for Sanskrit and which was intended to serve as a guide to the classical language which then no longer corresponded to spoken forms. His work became known to western scholars through the report by the British judge and amateur linguist Sir William Jones in 1786. Panini is, together with the First Grammarian, regarded as one of the few descriptive linguists before the advent of the discipline of linguistics in the late 18th century.

3. Plato

Plato (c.428-c.347 BC) is a Greek philosopher and one of the most influential thinkers in Western philosophy. He was born in Athens of a noble family. He became a disciple of Socrates and came to share his style of attaining truth by questioning all accepted beliefs. In 387 Plato founded the Academy in Athens an institution which resembled a university and where various branches of science from astronomy to philosophy were taught. After Socrates death at the hands of the Athenian authorities in 399 he left and travelled in the eastern Mediterranean. He returned to Athens, however, and but for a few breaks remained there for the remainder of his life. Plato is very versatile in his writings and his significance for linguistics lies in his philosophy of idealism and in his view that the spoken word is superior to the written word.

4. Socrates

Socrates (470-399 BC) is a Greek philosopher, born near Athens as the son of a sculptor and a midwife. He twice held public office although he was not interested in gaining position. Accused of introducing new deities and corrupting youth he was to be put to death but pre-empted this by taking hemlock. Socrates' great influence on Western thought is through Plato whose teacher he was. Socrates himself wrote nothing and all that is known about him comes from the dialogues of Plato and the treatises of Xenophon in which he figures prominently. His teachings seem to have been moral in the widest sense with the view that science is most useful when it contributes to a knowledge of virtue. Socrates is known as the permanent doubter deriving from his practice of questioning all beliefs and assumptions.

5.Varro, Marcus Terentius (116-27 BC) [Classical Antiquity] Roman scholar born of a noble family in Sabine territory who served with Pompey in Spain (76 BC) and was later reconciled with Caesar. Varro was a very prolific writer. His works amount to more than 600 volumes and include some on philosophy, education, law, geography apart from grammar. Little has survived, however; of his mammoth De lingua latina, which originally comprised 25 volumes, 6 are extant (Books V-X). This work is a systematic treatise on Latin grammar and deals with etymology, morphology and syntax.

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