La grammaire italienne de Lodewijk Meijer (1672): Anatomie d'une grammaire didactique "raisonnée".

Summary: In 1672, an Italian grammar written in Dutch was printed by Abraham Wolfgang (1634–1694) in Amsterdam. The author of the grammar, published anonymously, can be identified as Lodewijk Meijer (1629–1681). His work, the Italiaansche Spraakkonst, displays a particularly explicit methodical organisation, which is reflected in the rigid and systematic presentation of the grammatical material, a consistent use of bilingual (Latin–Dutch) terminology, a highly parallel description of the word classes, and a rigorous application of the principle of structural conformity (analogia in Latin, gelijkvormigheidt in Dutch). Written in the framework of general and philosophical grammar, the Italiaansche Spraakkonst is conceived as a particular grammar of the Italian language which, though based on bookish sources, provides a very complete and didactically adequate description. The word classes form the core of the grammar: they are defined and described according to their nature, their (formal and semantic) subcategorisation and their possible combinations. The theory of the parts of speech is organised around two word classes, the noun and the verb, in relation to which all the other classes are defined. This paper sketches the historiographical context of L. Meijer's Italiaansche Spraakkonst, followed by an analysis of the methodology and terminology used in this work. Next, we investigate the organisation of the grammar by giving a global overview of the word classes, before proceeding to a more detailed analysis of two particular classes, the article and the adnomen (Dutch: bynaam), the latter referring to all types of adjectival forms. The positing of the adnomina as an autonomous word class is one of the most remarkable contributions of Lodewijk Meijer, a philosopher and friend of Spinoza (1632–1677), and a figure representative of post-Cartesian rationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]