Isidoro, Orig. IX 1, 8 e la tipologia fonetica delle lingue mediterranee

A passage contained in the ninth book of Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae (IX 1, 8) is discussed in some detail. The passage, which immediately follows the celebration of the tres linguae sacrae, offers an original description of the phonetic typology of Semitic (Hebrew and Aramaic), Greek and Late Latin. The languages are mentioned according to a geographical ordering from East to West and in accordance with a scheme of phonetic description of the articulations: along the palatine vault from the deepest, presumably pharyngeal portion (guttur), to the central or velar portion (palatum), and fi- nally to the more advanced alveolopalatal section (dentes). After reviewing the few available com- mentaries of the chapter, for the first time the source of the description of the pharyngeal sounds of Hebrew (Hebrei) and Aramaic (Siri) is traced to a couple of passages in Jerome. An account is then given of the articulations described in relation to Greek and Italic and Iberian pre-Romance pronun- ciation (omnes Occidentis gentes verba in dentibus frangunt, sicut Itali et Spani). The latter is a clear allusion to the acoustic effect opposed to that of an occlusive /t/, i.e., an affricate sound ([ts], [dz]) of which there is evidence also in grammarians such as Servius, Papyrianus, Pompeius and Priscianus, as well as in Isidore himself (orig. XX 9, 4). The obvious conclusion is that Isidore also in this passage gives evidence of uncommon metalinguistic sensitivity and awareness.