Metalingvistički elementi i postupci u analizama starih indijskih gramatičara
Metalinguistic elements and procedures in the analyses of ancient Indian grammarians

Summary/Abstract: The article presents and analyzes some of the most prominent metalinguistic elements in the grammatical analyses of the ancient Indian grammarians starting with Pāṇini (4 BC), such as tehnical terms (saṃjñā) and especially metarules (paribhāṣā). It is quite apparent that Indian grammarians made an explicit distinction between an object (natural) language (Sanskrit) and a special language by means of which the analysis and description of the object language are performed, i.e. metalanguage. The latter, besides the metalinguistic elements mentioned above, also comprises special notational conventions which Indian grammarians used in order to achieve economy and brevity in formulating grammatical rules in the narrow sense. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the metarule A 1. 1. 68 that, as it seems, makes the nowadays common metalinguistic distinction between use (denotation) and mention (autoreference). Apart from deep insight into the language structures that are not apparent at the surface level of the mere grammatical description, Indian grammarians are also credited for developing rigorous rational methodology for analysis that was paradigmatic for all other scientific branches in India, including philosophy.

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