[157] “Grammar is a practical knowledge of the usages of language as generally current among poets and prose writers. It is divided into six parts: (1) trained reading with due regard to prosody; (2) explanation according to poetical figures; (3) ready statement of dialectical peculiarities and allusions; (4) discovery of etymology; (5) an accurate account of analogies; (6) criticism of poetical productions, which is the noblest part of grammatic art.” The Grammar of Dionysius Thrax, translated by T. Davidson (St. Louis, 1874), p. 3. In contrast to this definition the body of the work is devoted to reading, punctuation, the alphabet, syllables, and the parts of speech.
[158] The older definition or its substance was still retained, however. See [p. 97]. Its retention is rather an evidence of conservatism than a proof of the continued study of the poets.
[159] The following list of passages gives some idea of the way in which grammatical works were produced in this age.
Vox sive sonus est aer ictus, id est percussus, sensibilis auditu quantum in ipso est. Probi, Instituta Artium in Keil, Grammatici Latini, vol. vi, p. 4, 13.
Vox est aer ictus sensibilis auditu, quantum in ipso est. Donati, Ars Grammatica. Ibid., vol. iv, p. 367, 5.
Vox est aer ictus sensibilis auditu, verbis emissa, et exacta sensus prolatio. Sergii, Explanationum in artem Donati, Liber I., Ibid., vol. iv, p. 487, 4.
Vox est aer auditu percipibilis quantum in ipso est. Marius Victorinus, Ars Grammatica. Ibid., vol. vi, p. 4, 13.
Vox quid est? Aer ictus sensibilisque auditu quantum in ipso est. Maximus Victorinus, Ars Grammatica. Ibid., vol. vi, p. 189, 8.
Vox articulata est aer percussus sensibilis auditu quantum in ipso est. Cassiodorus, Institutio de Arte Grammatica. Ibid., vol. vii, p. 215, 4.
Vox est aer ictus sensibilis auditu, quantum in ipso est. Isidore, Etymologiae, 1, 15.