Universal and particular: A classical instance reworked in the linguistic speculation of the Society of Jesus.

In the dynamics based on the Renaissance ferments, a plurality of attitudes can be perceived in the cultural set-up of the Society of Jesus. The projects for universal languages that circulated in the 17th century were based on the assumption of a shared underlying order that distinguished all languages. The members of the Society of Jesus dedicated themselves to the pursuit of universal languages. Fr. Cristoforo Borri emphasises the distinctive function of the tones that in Vietnamese are articulated audibly, akin to vocalising a melody, which fosters the development of a refined ability to select the appropriate accent for each word. He then proceeds to point out the stylistic distinctions between written and spoken language, further noting that the lexicon is comprised exclusively of monosyllabic words, which are articulated with disparate tones and accents. From his writings, Tommaso Campanella deduced the accidental nature of attributes that are basic in the European languages, thereby documenting historical contingency in relation to invariable properties. The Chinese script offers Leibniz a paradigm with which to investigate the notion of a philosophical language characterised by universality, whereby words are capable of referring to things and can be reduced to a fundamental alphabet. In the same way that one works out mathematics or proves theorems, this language employs universal concepts that are comprehensible to all. The "reductio ad unum" is a proposal on the level of universality in which the methodological procedure is implemented by tracing the plurality of entities patent in nature back to very simple genres which encompasses individual specificities. The procedure in the direction of universal unity is also interpreted in the direction of systemic harmonisation. The didactic texts elaborated by Fr. William Bathe and Fr. Amaro de Roboredo are grounded on the implicit premise of linguistic universalism, rendering them particularly well-suited for the acquisition of languages that share a common grammatical framework. The reduction to unity lies in the historically established contrast with plurality. In the Far-East, as well as in America, a two-way encounter occurs on the basis of human comprehension that is mediated by the cognitive appropriation of the indigenous languages, traditions, and cultures. This engendered the prospect of an encounter with the foreigner and provided the rhetorical base for intercultural communication aimed at conveying religious teaching in foreign languages and to support the education of converted people. Fr. João Rodriguez, known as the 'Interpreter', composed two grammars of Japanese, which were modelled on the celebrated Institutio grammatica written by Fr. Manuel Álvares. The text experienced a rapid diffusion in Japan, so much so that the first language book produced by the Jesuit press in Amakusa, in 1594, was its abridged version adapted to a didactic profile for use by Japanese students. Missionary linguistics contributed to the development of a substantial grammaticalisation, whereby any language acquires its distinct status as a result of the description. The grammaticalisation of European languages was almost contemporary with that of languages from other continents that became part of the pastoral care of the missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]