Arnobio sull'analogia e sull'anomalia nella lingua

Abstract

Analogy and anomaly, adequacy and inadequacy, regularity and irregularity, necessity and contingency, symmetry and asymmetry, order – cosmos and disorder – chaos and lastly thesis et physis – these antonyms were crucial terms playing a key role in the early phase of the development of linguistics in the classical antiquity. The author of this paper focuses on Arnobius’ views about language and style, being the matter not presented by this writer within a frame of a systematic discourse, but having its significant position among views of the philosophers who raised the issue of latinitas, as a proper manner of speaking in terms of correct idiom. It is consuetudo that Arnobius regarded as the most important and absolute rule, to which even the people with recognized authority yield and let relativity influence their use of grammatical forms. An example of the effect consuetudo has could be coexistence of various grammatical genders of the same nouns.