Project description
Searching for Rome’s lost linguistic legacy
The early history of Roman linguistics remains fragmented. Modern accounts often skip from Greek origins and the Roman polymath Varro to later figures without fully exploring the development of Latin grammar from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century AD. This period, pivotal in shaping Western linguistic thought, is primarily known through later references, leaving a gap in our understanding. In this context, the ERC-funded LiTeRA project aims to analyse fragmentary texts from over a hundred Roman scholars, contextualise these within the broader landscape of ancient scholarship, and trace the evolution of Latin grammatical terminology. Digital methodologies will be used to interpret these texts, providing a re-evaluation of early Roman linguistic thought.
Objective
All modern histories of Western linguistics start with its Greek origins (5th - 3rd cent. BC) and then, after mentioning the Latin Republican polymath Varro (1st cent. BC), jump several centuries to explore only some prominent, late figures (4th - 6th cent. AD). The aim of the LiTeRA project is to provide a holistic perspective on the birth and configuration of Roman linguistic science (2nd cent. BC - 3rd cent. AD), an essential moment in the evolution of Western culture. Although we have inherited valuable sources from the late Latin grammatical tradition, this project will shed light on the overlooked works of the preceding Republican and early imperial periods, a vast body of texts, which have not survived in their entirety, but have been excerpted and quoted in late normative handbooks, commentaries, and lexica. LiTeRA’s three interrelated objectives illuminate how the history of ancient Roman linguistic thought can be substantially rewritten by mobilizing:
- A heuristic step: to collect all of the foundational fragmentary texts of Latin grammar, written by a hundred authors and transmitted in the source-texts of late antiquity;
- A hermeneutic step: to contextualize the interpretation of the lost texts, extending the sources of Latin grammar to the wider context of ancient Roman scholarship;
- A historical step: to reconstruct the evolution of Latin grammatical terminology from its historical roots in the reference corpus of source-texts to its modern conceptualization.
LiTeRA’s unique approach to decipher the internal correlations between these related corpora, which are not at all mutually exclusive, will necessitate new methodologies that consider their textual polyphony and intricate technical vocabulary. LiTeRA demonstrates that examining these interconnected issues can only be accomplished in a digital environment that guarantees the interoperability of its objects.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75006 PARIS
France
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