What is a glossary? This unfamiliar foreign word came to us from the Latin language, where it has the form of glossarium - “collection of glosses”. It was formed from the ancient Greek γλῶσσα, meaning "language, speech." The dictionaries give two interpretations of this word, one of which relates to linguistic science, and the other to jurisprudence. More information on the fact that this is a glossary will be described below.
In linguistics
What does the word “glossary” mean in this science? This is a dictionary explaining the meaning of terms that have a narrow specialization in a certain field of knowledge, as well as outdated and obscure. Sometimes they are translated into other languages, comments and examples of use. The glossaries and the glossaries themselves were the forerunners of the dictionaries.
Example 1. The words are rare, as well as obscure to the general public, accompanied by glosses (explanations or translation). Marks were either directly entered into the text of the work (marginal and line-to-line glosses), or were reduced to separate dictionaries, called glossaries.
Example 2. A very difficult, informative and multi-layered analytical text with great knowledge of the business is presented by the authors in the encyclopedia genre and addressed to a wide circle of readers. To do this, the authors compiled a glossary of Talmudic and Hebrew terms, in which detailed comments are given in the course of the narration.
For a better understanding that this is a glossary, it is worth considering another meaning of the word.
In jurisprudence
Here it is the term by which a meeting is called containing interpretations of laws and other legal acts. In the Middle Ages, glossators (more about them will be discussed below) began to study for the most part the lost normative acts of Roman law and comment on them. Thus, in fact, the beginning of the profession of lawyer and legal science was laid.
Example. Starting from the 13th century, together with the church court and the barbarian Truths, reference is made to the canons of Roman law. In the legal culture of Europe penetrate his ideas, mostly taken from the Code of Justinian. Long commentaries to him appear, made by European legal scholars, the most famous among them is the Glossary of Accursion, with about one hundred thousand notes and explanations.
Continuing the study of the meaning of the word “glossary”, it will be advisable to consider the word “glossa”.
What is glossa?
As mentioned above, in ancient Greek γλῶσσα is “language”, “speech”. Originally so-called incomprehensible or foreign words in the text, which had interpretations, were called so. They were located either directly above the word, or under it, or next to it - in the fields. In the first two cases, the gloss is called interlinear, and in the last - marginal.
Glosses originally appeared among the ancient Greeks when they began to study Homer. Later, the need for them appeared in the interpretation of complex passages in the Bible, and then in explaining legal texts. Latin glosses are already found in the 6-8 centuries, followed by Celtic, Germanic and Romanesque interpretations. Then the glosses began to be combined into dictionaries called glossaries. In ancient Russia, they are known as ABCs.
To conclude the study of the fact that this is a glossary, it is worth talking about the people who composed them.
Who are the glossators?
This is the name of medieval lawyers - both doctors of law and students who studied Roman law in Europe in the 11–12 centuries. This tradition developed at the University of Bologna, and then glossary schools spread to Italy, Germany, and France. Glossators play a large role in the history of the science of Roman law, since they introduced Europe to it in its original form. Among the first glossators was Irnerius, who began to study the Justinian Codex.