Everything about The First Grammatical Treatise totally explained
The
First Grammatical Treatise is a
12th century work on the
phonology of the
Old Norse or Old Icelandic language. It was given this name because it's the first of four grammatical works bound in the Icelandic manuscript
Codex Wurmianus. The anonymous author is today often referred to as the "
First Grammarian".
The First Grammatical Treatise was of great interest to some mid-
20th century linguists, since it systematically used the technique of
minimal pairs to establish the inventory of distinctive sounds or
phonemes in the Icelandic language, in a manner reminiscent of the methods of
structural linguistics. 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.
Significance
This work is one of the earliest written works in Icelandic (and actually in any
North Germanic language). It is a grammatical work dealing with
Old Norse, in the tradition of Latin and Greek grammatical treatises, generally dated to the mid-12th century.
The
Treatise is important for the study of Old Norse, as it's a major text showing the state of the language just prior to the age of the
Norse Sagas. It also provides a comprehensive study of both the grammar, as seen by the speakers of the language themselves, and the pronunciation of the language, to the extent that it created an
Icelandic alphabet derived from the Latin, and more adapted to writing on paper or parchment than the older, epigraphic
Runic alphabet that was made for shorter carvings on wood or stone. This alphabet included
þ (derived straight from the runes) and
ð as well as diacritic indication of
vowel length and a "buckled o", at the time an independent phoneme, but by now merged with Ö. See
Icelandic alphabet.
Editions
- "First Grammatical Treatise: The Earliest Germanic Phonology. An Edition, Translation, and Commentary" by Einar Haugen
Further Information
Get more info on 'First Grammatical Treatise'.
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