Abstract

According to the grammar of Port-Royal it is possible to convert the noun ‘homme’ into the adjective 'humain' by adding a confused signification or connotation. Strangely enough it is stipulated that by the reversal of this process the adjective 'human' is converted into the substantive ‘humanité’ rather than the original noun ‘homme’. In this article I argue that the treatment of adjectives and substantives in the Port-Royal grammar depends strongly on the traditional Aristotelian ontology as summarized in the so-called ontological square and the theory of the predicables. In connection with this it is shown that according to the Port-Royalists corresponding concrete and abstract nouns like ‘homme’ and ‘humanité’, should be in some sense equivalent