The medieval origin of the expression 'mother tongue': a history against the obviousness of meanings of a canonical term over the reflection on language

Authors

  • Jose Edicarlos de Aquino Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v24i48.33619

Keywords:

Mother Tongue. Middle Ages. Latin. Vernaculars.

Abstract

In this article, we make a historical study of the emergence of the expression "mother tongue" in the West, in order to question the obviousness effect formed around this canonical term over the reflection on language. We thus show that the expression mother tongue is a medieval invention, initially used in Latin in the texts of the Church, as a way of counter this language with the emerging vernaculars. Arguing that this expression is not purely and simply explained by the womanly feature, but that it corresponds primarily to certain sociopolitical configurations in history, we show that the earliest records of the expression mother tongue point to peculiar problems of medieval society and to the linguistic issues involved.

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Author Biography

Jose Edicarlos de Aquino, Universidade Federal do Tocantins (UFT)

Professor efetivo no curso de Letras da Universidade Estadual do Tocantins - UFT. É graduado em Letras (Licenciatura plena - português) pela Universidade de Brasília - UnB. Tem mestrado e doutorado em Linguística, na área de História das Ideias Linguísticas, pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP. É também portador de diploma de doutorado em Sciences du Langage pela Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3. Em seus projetos de pesquisa, estuda sobretudo os seguintes temas: história das ideias linguísticas, reflexão sobre a linguagem e as línguas no século XIX, história da língua portuguesa e das teorias linguísticas no Brasil, gramatização brasileira, obra de Júlio Ribeiro, conceito de língua materna.

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Published

2019-04-30

How to Cite

de Aquino, J. E. (2019). The medieval origin of the expression ’mother tongue’: a history against the obviousness of meanings of a canonical term over the reflection on language. Gragoatá, 24(48), 50-74. https://doi.org/10.22409/gragoata.v24i48.33619

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 48 (2019): Epistemologies and contemporaneity: (re)discussing conceptions and categorizations for language(s)

Section

Language Articles

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