Abstract

The title traditionally ascribed to Pietro Bembo's work and which founds the Italian grammatical tradition - "Prose della volgar lingua", or "Le prose della volgar lingua" - was not given by the author but by Benedetto Varchi. The only title ascribable to Bembo with a degree of certainty is the extended one which was included in the 1525 edition and was reproduced on the verso of the frontispieces of the 1539 and 1548 editions: "Prose di Messer Pietro Bembo nelle quali si ragiona della volgar lingua scritte al cardinale de' Medici che poi è stato creato a sommo pontefice et detto papa Clemente VII divise in tre libri". This paper argues for three short abridged titles as an alternative to Prose della volgar lingua, in order of preference: 1) "Prose nelle quali si ragiona della volgar lingua"; 2) "Prose"; 3) "Della volgar lingua". history of Italian language; history of Italian grammars.