La etimología latina. Concepto y métodos

Abstract

The title of this study, ¿Latin Etymology. Concept and Methods¿, encapsulates its content. The object of the study is firstly, a survey of the concept of etymology itself and its theoretical development over time, and secondly, etymological practice spanning the lengthy period between the second century BC and the ninth century AD. This study is made up of two parts. The first deals with theoretical speculation on etymology and its development from several standpoints (mainly grammar and rhetoric). However, the artes grammaticales are not the only grammatical writings studied. Works on orthographical and lexical matters and erudite texts by authors such as Aulus Gellius, who took an interest in grammar, are also considered. Its use in poetry, history and legal works is also outlined. The second part is about the methods (onomatopoeia, antiphrasis, similitudo, compositio and derivatio ) that Latin authors used in their etymological work and the auxiliary techniques (quaternae causae and nomina ficta ). This analysis is centred on Varro, Festus, Gellius, Nonius, Isidorus and Sedulius, authors whose etymologies are the most.