The vocabulary of Martianus Capella commentators. Some observations

Abstract

The oldest commentary traditions on Martianus Capella are not a rich source for neologisms in the strict sense of the word. Newly formed words, arisen from contact with, for example, vernacular languages, are hardly used in these texts. And yet, they are highly interesting sources when one is interested in lexicog­ raphy. They are full of Latinized forms of Greek terminology, and of old words with new meanings, particulary in the area of the technical vocabulary of the seven liberal arts. They have, as will be illustrated in this paper, new forms caused by a faulty transmission of the text. What do we consider these ? Are they new words ? Are they plain errors ? They are, in most cases, edited as errors, or rather dismissed as errors and emended out of existence in scholarly editions, which, consequently, makes it hard to trace them. The focus of this paper will be on this kind of vocabulary ; not so much the phenomenon of the new formation of words, but rather the sheer interest in vocabulary, and especially the technical vocabulary to which the ninth-century commentaries on Martianus Capella testify.