FROM UOX TO UERBUM IN CORDE

NOTES ABOUT THE MENTAL LANGUAGE IN AUGUSTINE’S SERMON 288

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing Augustine’s Sermon 288 and extracting from there some characteristic notes of the so-called uerbum in corde or uerbum cordis, which is part of the mental language. Mental language or inner speech is a part of philosophy which explains the mental activities that precede spoken and written language or, more generally, signs, sounds and gestures. Although not systematically, this theme appears in several of Augustine’s works. In Sermon 288, the uerbum can be twofold: one that is uttered through sound and one that is conceived within the heart. Writing is a signum of sound. In Augustine, the uerbum in corde or uerbum cordis has the property to mean, to be conceived in the heart, to be kept in memory, to live in understanding, to not belong to any language, to remain whole in the heart, to use sound aid to make itself known to a specific listener and to be prior to all languages, since it precedes them all. The Augustinian uerbum in corde exemplifies mental language in its Latin aspect, originated by theological questions about the Incarnation.