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For centuries, investigations into the origins of words were entwined with investigations into the origins of humanity and the cosmos. With the development of modern etymological practice in the nineteenth century, however, many cherished etymologies were shown to be impossible, and the very idea of original 'true meaning' asserted in the etymology of 'etymology' declared a fallacy. Structural linguistics later held that the relationship between sound and meaning in language was 'arbitrary', or 'unmotivated', a truth that has survived with small modification until today. On the other hand, the relationship between sound and meaning has been a prime motivator of poems, at all times throughout...
Between the years 350 and 500 a large body of Latin artes grammaticae emerged, educational texts outlining the study of Latin grammar and attempting a systematic discussion of correct Latin usage. These texts—the most complete of which are attributed to Donatus, Charisius, Servius, Diomedes, Pompeius, and Priscian—have long been studied as documents in the history of linguistic theory and literary scholarship. In Grammar and Christianity in the Late Roman World, Catherine Chin instead finds within them an opportunity to probe the connections between religious ideology and literary culture in the later Roman Empire. To Chin, the production and use of these texts played a decisive role bot...
What does it mean to identify oneself as pagan or Christian in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages? How are religious identities constructed, negotiated, and represented in oral and written discourse? How is identity performed in rituals, how is it visible in material remains? Antiquity and the Middle Ages are usually regarded as two separate fields of scholarship. However, the period between the fourth and tenth centuries remains a time of transformations in which the process of religious change and identity building reached beyond the chronological boundary and the Roman, the Christian and ‘the barbarian’ traditions were merged in multiple ways. Being Pagan, Being Christian in Lat...
Focusing on forms of interaction and methods of negotiation in multicultural, multi-ethnic and multilingual contexts during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, this volume examines questions of social and cultural interaction within and between diverse ethnic communities. Toleration and coexistence were essential in all late antique and medieval societies and their communities. However, power struggles and prejudices could give rise to suspicion, conflict and violence. All of these had a central influence on social dynamics, negotiations of collective or individual identity, definitions of ethnicity and the shaping of legal rules. What was the function of multicultural and multilingual interaction: did it create and increase conflicts, or was it rather a prerequisite for survival and prosperity? The focus of this book is society and the history of everyday life, examining gender, status and ethnicity and the various forms of interaction and negotiation.
Places and spaces are key factors in how individuals and groups construct their identities. Identity theories have emphasised that the construction of an identity does not follow abstract and universal processes but is also deeply rooted in specific historical, cultural, social and material environments. The essays in this volume explore how various groups in Late Antiquity rooted their identity in special places that were imbued with meanings derived from history and tradition. In Part I, essays explore the tension between the Classical heritage in public, especially urban spaces, in the form of ancient artwork and civic celebrations and the Church's appropriation of that space through doct...
The literarisation of the early modern Baltic Sea region was a long and complex process with varying trajectories for different vernacular languages. This volume highlights the interaction of local social and cultural settings with wider political and confessional contexts. With rarely examined materials, such as prints, court protocols, letters and manuscripts in Latin and a range of vernacular languages, including Estonian, Finnish, German, Ingrian, Karelian, Latvian, Lenape, Sami languages and Swedish, the thirteen authors chart the social and literary developments of the area. Wide networks of learned men and officials but also the number of native speakers in the clergy defined the ways the poetic resources of transnational and local literary and oral cultures benefited the nascent literatures. Contributors include: Eeva-Liisa Bastman, Kati Kallio, Suvi-Päivi Koski, Ulla Koskinen, Miia Kuha, Anu Lahtinen, Tuija Laine, Tuomas M. S. Lehtonen, Ilkka Leskelä, Aivar Põldvee, Sanna Raninen, Kristiina Ross, Taarna Valtonen, Kristi Viiding
This collective volume contains studies in the field of ancient grammar, poetics and philosophy of language. The contributions, written by specialists in the field, focus on central themes in the historiography of ancient linguistics, such as the status of grammar as a discipline in Antiquity, the relationship between poetics and grammatical theory, the constitution and development of the word class system, the descriptive format of grammars, the nature and description of specific word classes, the development of grammatical argumentation. In addition, several methodological issues in the study of ancient grammar and philosophy of language are dealt with: the problem of continuity vs. discontinuity in the history of linguistic thought, the role of schoolroom activities in the development of grammatical description and theory-formation, and problems concerning "tradition", "influence" and "originality" in ancient linguistics. The volume is rounded off with extensive indices of proper names, concepts and technical terms.
A comprehensive study of friendship in ancient Rome attentive to gender and social status, language and the commemoration of the dead.
The papers in this volume present a colourful picture of the range of research currently being undertaken in the field of the history of linguistics, with contribution both from established scholars and from younger researchers. The volume is organised on a geographical basis, with sections devoted to a number of different traditions in linguistics world-wide. The opening section is concerned with a number of general and methodological topics ranging from the notion of 'revolution' in linguistic historiography to the history of the study of ape language. The second section is devoted to 'missionary linguistics', an umbrella category for the early contacts of Europeans with non-European languages. Subsequent sections address individual traditions in linguistics: III. The Celtic Tradition; IV. The Chinese Tradition; V. The Georgian Tradition; VI. The Hebrew Tradition; VII. The Japanese Tradition; VIII. The Persian Tradition; IX. The Russian Tradition; X. The Tamil Tradition.