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First edition of Beattie's best prose work, notable for his 'Theory of Language' (pp. 231-502), by far the longest and most important dissertation in the volume. Five years later the same publishers reprinted it separately. 'A constant concern in Beattie s philosophy is the fitness of language as the expression of human thought. "The Theory of Language" (1783) falls into two parts. Part one deals with the origins and the nature of human speech considered as man s privilege and a gift of God. Following in Locke s footsteps, Beattie explains that language is a system of artificial signs determined by conventions (phonetic, semantic and alphabetic). The Epicurean theory of the origins of language is refuted in favour of the traditional Christian approach. Part two of the treatise is devoted to the principles of universal grammar. Beattie distinguishes two categories of words, nouns and attributives, to which two other subclasses are added: interjections; and connectives and articles. Beattie s classification of words is borrowed from James Harris's Hermes (1751). To a large extent, The Theory of Language also echoes the preoccupations of the Grammaire générale et raisonnée of Port-Royal in the seventeenth century. In either case, grammar is studied from a twofold point of view: first the linguistic sign is presented as a system of phonetic sounds translated into the visible signs of the alphabet. The second aspect is that of signification' (Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century British Philosophers, Thoemmes Press, 1999). Chuo III, 28. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 4to, half title, vii, viii, 655 pp., contemporary gilt-panelled tree calf, rubbed and with a couple of small blemishes, rebacked preserving the original red label, corners repaired, engraved armorial bookplate, marbled endpapers, no stamps or inscriptions, scattered light foxing, a very nice copy. Seller Inventory # ABE-1695054042784
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