 he says time and again. This means, for instance, that a grammarian qua grammarian must abstract from whatever knowledge he may have about the meaning of particular words. Knowing that “donkey” means donkey, and what a donkey is, is none of the grammarian’s business. “Donkey” is a primitive term in zoology, and if the grammarian happens to be also a zoologist, he should be careful not to mix the two sciences he masters. Boethius even reprimands the great authority in grammar, Priscian, for introducing non-grammatical considerations into his work (Modi sign., 47).