On Oc and Oyl. 331 on which he does not decide : His division is : northern Europeans : southern Europeans : et tertii quos nunc Grcecos vocarniis partem EiiropcE partem Asice occuparimt, a) He draws the line of northern Europe from the mouth of the Danube or the Palus Maeotis, above the boundaries of Italy and France, to the ocean which washes the western coast of England. Here, he says, there was formerly but one lan- guage, which affirmed with jo : this was afterwards split into several vidgaria^ by means of Sclavonians, Hungarians, Ger- mans, Saxons, and English : but as a proof of their common origin almost all the nations of these northern countries still use the affirmative particle jo, b) He touches but briefly on the people dwelling to the east of Hungary, and extending into Asia, whom he calls Greeks (meaning as is evident the subjects of the Byzantine empire), and does not give their affirmative particle, c) Southern Europe, that included within the line traced as above, has also, he says, in substance only one language, derived from the Latin, as is proved by the words there used for Deus^ ccelum^ amor^ Mare^ terra^ vivitj moritur^ and almost all the rest. For the word amor^ by way of proof and at the same time to illustrate his subdi- vision, he quotes three passages from as many poets, one Provencal, one French, one Spanish. For, he proceeds in the same chapter, the southern language is again divided into three dialects ; some affirm with oc, others with oyl^ others with si ; utputa Yspanii^ Franci^ Latini. Why he here terms the Provencals Spaniards, we shall consider hereafter. His Franci are the French. Latini is the name by which he describes the Italians, both here and in the Divina Co- media, as is also the practice of his contemporary country- men. He now proceeds to determine the seats of these nations : those who use oc dwell westward of Genoa, and down to- ward the south ; those who affirm with si, eastward to the Adriatic, and southward as far as Sicily, that island in- cluded; those who say oyl are seated to the north of the first, are bounded on the north by the English sea, and Germany, that is, by those who affirm with jo, and on the south Provi7icialibns et Apennini deveaiione clauduntur. Here therefore he himself names the Provencals (Frovin-
