The Art of Grammar

For works in Latin by this title, see Ars grammatica.

The Art of Grammar (Greek: Τέχνη Γραμματική - or romanized, Téchnē Grammatikḗ) is a treatise on Greek grammar, attributed to Dionysius Thrax, who wrote in the 2nd century BC.

Contents

It is the first work on grammar in Greek, and also the first concerning a Western language.^{[citation needed]} It sought mainly to help speakers of Koine Greek understand the language of Homer, and other great poets of the past.^[1] It has become a source for how ancient texts should be acted out based on the experience from commonly read ancient authors.^[2] There are six parts to understanding grammar including trained reading by understanding the dialect from certain poetical figures.^[3] There is a nine-part word classification system, which strayed away from the previous eight-part classification system.^[4] It describes morphological structure as containing no middle diathesis.^[5] There is no morphological analysis and the text uses the Word and Paradigm model.^[6][7]

Translation

It was translated into Syriac by Joseph Huzaya of the school of Nisibis in the 6th century.^[8] It was also translated into Armenian.^[9]