The concept of root between logic and grammar: from metaphoricity to metalanguage.

Abstract

The inquiry, from a metalinguistic perspective, of grammatical terminology in the works investigated has allowed us to collect a certain amount of data, significant for the purposes of formalizing certain concepts that, as in the case of root, have undergone an evolution along a path from metaphor to metalanguage, ultimately identifying a specifically grammatical element. This preliminary work aims to trace the various evolutionary stages of the multifaceted concept of root, in order to reconstruct the genesis of its terminological institution, with particular reference to the logical and grammatical instances identified in Port-Royal before its official formalization within Indo-European studies.