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Doležalová, Lucie, “On mistake and meaning: scinderationes fonorum in medieval artes memoriae, mnemonic verses, and manuscripts”, Language and History 52:1 (2009): 26–40.

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Article
“On mistake and meaning: scinderationes fonorum in medieval artes memoriae, mnemonic verses, and manuscripts”
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Volume
52
Pages
26–40
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Abstract (cited)
The peculiar method of ‘breaking the words’ (scinderatio fonorum) as defined by an obscure grammarian Virgilius Maro Grammaticus probably already by the seventh century CE, perhaps in Ireland, has so far been discussed only either as a strategy of mystical concealment or as poetic ornamentation of speech. This study discusses its application in education for sharpening the students' minds, which is actually explicitly listed by Virgilius himself as the first of its possible uses. Thus, ‘breaking the words’ is presented as a widespread social and cultural phenomenon rather than a bizarre occupation of particular elites. Concentrating on its link to memory and sketching out the appearance of strategies in line with scinderatio fonorum in treatises on the art of memory, in practical mnemonics, and in medieval manuscripts, the author reflects on the omnipresence, purposes and consequences of ‘making things difficult’, showing that the tricky relationship between mistake and meaning requires justifying every act of interpretation.
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Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
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September 2018
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