Antique grammar

Antique grammars is the common name for a number of ancient scholars who studied the Greek and Latin languages. They can be considered the founders of philology and the forerunners of modern linguistics .

The predecessors of ancient grammars are philosophers who dealt with the theory of language (for example, Plato , Aristotle , Stoics ), as well as rhetoricians who studied the theory and practice of eloquence (in particular, sophists ). Initially, grammar was the art of reading and writing, and grammarians were school teachers who taught elementary literacy. The Alexandrian philologists can be considered the first ancient grammars: Zenodotus of Ephesus , Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace . Their works were the first experience of applying philological and linguistic methods to the analysis of the text to establish genuine readings, “correct” forms of words, etc.