From clausula to clause, 2000 years of metalinguistic history

My contribution aims at sketching the terminological development of the con- temporary term clause from its antecedent lat. clausa, clausula investigated in the different uses and meanings according to the semantic field of its employment as terminus technicus through time and grammarians. The word clause, originally used either as a rhetorical term to close a sentence or as a legal term to close a legal argument, over time in both cases lost the semantic component of ‘closing’, and assumed the meaning of ‘short sentence’ and of a ‘legal document’. Furthermore, the Latin metalinguistic adaptation of other Greek terms like komma and kolon provides insight into the not always clearly defined boundaries of clausula within the terminological employment in the field of syntax in the Ancient and Medieval grammars. I devote this paper to Maria Patrizia Bolo- gna, who in the course of her research has shown great interest in various aspects of the history of linguistics.