John of Genoa
Encyclopedia
John of Genoa or Johannes Balbus (died c. 1298) was an Italian
grammarian and Dominican priest.
At an advanced age, John gave away his wealth to the poor of Genoa
and entered the Order of St Dominic. Nothing is known of him before this.
He is best known for his Latin grammar, Summa Grammaticalis, better known as the Catholicon
, apparently the first lexicographical work "to achieve complete alphabetization (from the first to the last letter of each word)." This work is made up of treatises on orthography
, etymology
, grammar, prosody
, rhetoric, and an etymological dictionary of the Latin language (primae, mediae et infimae Latinitatis). It was highly respected as a textbook for over a century after its publication, and received both excessive criticism and excessive praise. Erasmus was particularly critical of the work, criticizing it in his works De Ratione Studiorum and Colloquia. Leandro Alberti
wrote a defense of the Catholicon in response to these attacks.
Besides the "Catholicon", John also wrote Liber Theologiae qui vocatur Dialogus de Quaestionibus Animae ad Spiritum and Quoddam opus ad inveniendum festa mobilia. A Postilla super Joannem and a Tractatus de Omnipotentia Dei have also been attributed to him.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
grammarian and Dominican priest.
At an advanced age, John gave away his wealth to the poor of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and entered the Order of St Dominic. Nothing is known of him before this.
He is best known for his Latin grammar, Summa Grammaticalis, better known as the Catholicon
Catholicon (religious dictionary)
The Summa grammaticalis quae vocatur Catholicon, or Catholicon , was a Latin encyclopedia / dictionary which found wide use throughout Christendom...
, apparently the first lexicographical work "to achieve complete alphabetization (from the first to the last letter of each word)." This work is made up of treatises on orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
, etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
, grammar, prosody
Prosody (linguistics)
In linguistics, prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech. Prosody may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance ; the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of...
, rhetoric, and an etymological dictionary of the Latin language (primae, mediae et infimae Latinitatis). It was highly respected as a textbook for over a century after its publication, and received both excessive criticism and excessive praise. Erasmus was particularly critical of the work, criticizing it in his works De Ratione Studiorum and Colloquia. Leandro Alberti
Leandro Alberti
Leandro Alberti was an Italian Dominican historian.Alberti was born and died at Bologna. In his early youth he attracted the attention of the Bolognese rhetorician, Giovanni Garzo, who volunteered to act as his tutor...
wrote a defense of the Catholicon in response to these attacks.
Besides the "Catholicon", John also wrote Liber Theologiae qui vocatur Dialogus de Quaestionibus Animae ad Spiritum and Quoddam opus ad inveniendum festa mobilia. A Postilla super Joannem and a Tractatus de Omnipotentia Dei have also been attributed to him.