__NOTOC__ Publius Consentius was a 5th-century

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...

and the author of two treatises, which are perhaps the fragments of a complete grammar: one entitled, ''Ars de Duabus Partibus Orationis, Nomine et Verbo'', on the noun and the verb, much used during the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippi ...

period; and the other, ''Ars de Barbarismis et Metaplasmis'', on

barbarism Barbarism, barbarity, or barbarous may refer to: * Barbarism (linguistics), a non-standard word, expression, or pronunciation ** Hybrid words, formerly called "barbarisms" * Any society construed as barbarian ** Barbarian invasions, a period of m ...

s and

metaplasm A metaplasm is generic term for almost any kind of alteration, whether intentional or unintentional, in the pronunciation or the orthography of a word. The change may be phonetic only, such as pronouncing ''Mississippi'' as ''Missippi'' in Engli ...

. The latter refers to a third essay, ''de Structurarum Ratione'', on the structure of periods, which, if ever published, is no longer extant. ''Nomine et Verbo'' was published by J. Sichard at

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

in 1528, and subsequently, in a much more complete form, in the collection of Putschius, who had access to manuscripts which enabled him to supply numerous and large deficiencies. ''De Barbarismis'' was discovered by Cramer in a Regensburg manuscript now at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and was published at

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

by Buttmann in 1817.''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', William Smith, Editor. Consentius is believed to have lived at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

in the middle of the fifth century, and may have been the same as the poet Consentius, his son, or his grandson. The poet and his grandson are praised by

Sidonius Apollinaris Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris (5 November of an unknown year, 430 – 481/490 AD), was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Sidonius is "the single most important surviving author from 5th-century Gaul ...

, but the son may be the best candidate for the grammarian. According to

Fabricius Fabricius ( la, smith, german: Schmied, Schmidt) is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *people from the Ancient Roman gens Fabricia: **Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome * Johann Goldsmid (1587� ...

, in some manuscripts the grammarian is styled not only ''vir clarissimus'', the ordinary appellation of learned men at that period, but also ''quintus consularis quinque civitatem'', indicating that he had achieved high office and imperial favour. Consentius the son rose to high honour under

Valentinian III Valentinian III ( la, Placidus Valentinianus; 2 July 41916 March 455) was Roman emperor in the West from 425 to 455. Made emperor in childhood, his reign over the Roman Empire was one of the longest, but was dominated by powerful generals vying ...

, by whom he was named ''

Comes Palatii A count palatine (Latin ''comes palatinus''), also count of the palace or palsgrave (from German ''Pfalzgraf''), was originally an official attached to a royal or imperial palace or household and later a nobleman of a rank above that of an ord ...

'', and dispatched upon an important mission to

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after the death of his ...

Johann Albert Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (11 November 1668 – 30 April 1736) was a German classical scholar and bibliographer. Biography Fabricius was born at Leipzig, son of Werner Fabricius, director of music in the church of St. Paul at Leipzig, who was the ...

, ''Bibliotheca Latina Mediae et Infimae Aetatis'', vol. iii, p. 745. Some of Consentius' ideas are surprisingly modern. He explicitly differentiates signifié and signifiant, the word itself and the thing signified by it. He explains

grammatical gender In linguistics, grammatical gender system is a specific form of noun class system, where nouns are assigned with gender categories that are often not related to their real-world qualities. In languages with grammatical gender, most or all nouns ...

by saying that masculine or feminine gender was ''ascribed'', either randomly or by some consensus (''seu licenter seu decenter''), to some entities which lack natural gender.

Notes

References

*Keil, ''Grammatici Latini'' (Leipzig), vol. V, p. 336. *Thorsten Fögen, ''Der Grammatiker Consentius'', Glotta 74 (1997/98), 164–192. *

External links

Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum: complete texts and full bibliography
*http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04284a.htm Year of birth missing Year of death missing Ancient linguists Grammarians of Latin 5th-century Latin writers {{Europe-linguist-stub

See also

Notes

References

External links