The poetics of grammar and the metaphysics of sound and sign /
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This book examines the seemingly universal notion of a grammatical cosmos. Individual essays discuss how many of the great civilizations provide cognitive maps that emerge from a metaphysical linguistics in which sounds, syllables and other signs form the constructive elements of reality. The essays address cross-cultural issues such as: Why does grammar serve as a template in these cultures? How are such templates culturally contoured? To what end are they applied - id est, what can one do with grammar - , and how does it work upon the world? The book is divided into three sections that deal with the metaphysics of linguistic creation; practices of encoding and decoding as a means of deciphering reality; and language in the widest sense as a medium for self- and cultural transformation. Contributors include: Jan Assman, Sara Sviri, Michael Stone, M. Finkelberg, Yigal Bronner, Martin Kern, Brouria Bitton-Ashkelony, Dan Martin, Jonathan Garb, Tom Hunter, David Shulman, and Sergio La Porta.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047421658 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The neo-Aramaic dialect of Barwar /
:
The Aramaic language has continued to be spoken in various dialects down to modern times. Many of these dialects, however, are now endangered due to political events in the Middle East over the last hundred years. This work, in three volumes, presents a description of one such endangered neo-Aramaic dialect, that of the Assyrian Christian community of the Barwar region in northern Iraq. It is a unique record of the dialect based on interviews with the surviving older generation of the community. Volume one contains a detailed grammatical description of the dialect, including sections on phonology, morphology and syntax. Volume two contains an extensive glossary of the lexicon of the dialect with illustrations of various aspects of the material culture. Volume three contains transcriptions of numerous recorded texts, including folktales, ethnographic texts, songs, and proverbs.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789047443490 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The buried foundation of the Gilgamesh epic : the Akkadian Huwawa narrative /
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The Akkadian Gilgamesh Epic, perhaps the most famous of Mesopotamian literature, has been considered the artistry of one author inspired by Sumerian tales. Specialists have assumed that all the earliest evidence (ca. 1800-1700 BCE) reflects this creative unity. Deep contrasts in characterization and narrative logic, however, distinguish the central adventure to defeat the monster Huwawa from what precedes and follows it. The Huwawa narrative stands on its own, so that the epic must have been composed from this prior Akkadian composition. Recognition of the tale embedded in the epic allows each block of material to be understood on its own terms. Such literary-historical investigation from contemporary texts is new to Assyriology and may produce important results when applied to other Mesopotamian writing. \'The book is well written and tightly argued...This makes it a first point of reference for anyone interested in the OB evidence for the Gilgamesh Epic.\' Scott C. Jones, Covenant College
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047440833 :
0929-0052 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Primeval histor y Babylonian, biblical, and Enochic : an intertextual reading /
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Most cultures have myths of origin. The Babylonians were the first to combine blocks of traditions about primeval time into primeval histories where humans had a central role. In the first millennium there were different versions that influenced the concepts of primeval history within Jewish religion, both in the Bible and in the parallel Enochic tradition. Atrahasis and the traditions of primeval dynasties had crucial impact on Genesis; the traditions of the primeval apkallus as cosmic guardians were lying behind the Enochic Watcher Story. The book offers a comprehensive analytic comparison between the images of primeval time in these three traditions. It presents new interpretations of each of these traditions and how they relate to each other.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789004196124 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Etymological dictionary of Egyptian /
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This is the third and final volume of the Etymological Dictionary of Egyptian . It comprises the Egyptian words with initial m-. The amount of material offered, the extensive treatment of scholarly discussions on each item, and the insights into the connections of Egyptian and the related Afro-Asiatic (Semito-Hamitic) languages, including many new lexical parallels, will make it an indispensable tool for comparative purposes and an unchallenged starting point for every linguist in the field. The reader will find the etymological entries even more detailed than those of the introductory volume, due to the full retrospective presentation of all etymologies proposed since A. Erman's time, and thanks to an extremely detailed discussion of all possible relevant data even on the less known Afro-Asiatic cognates to the Egyptian roots.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (v. 3, pages [887]-1010). :
9789047423799 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Metaphor and ideology : liber antiquitatum biblicarum and literary methods through a cognitive lens /
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Contemporary scholars have sharply disagreed over the importance of the loquacious women of Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum . Using the methods of contemporary Cognitive Linguistics, Ideology and Metaphor develops a systematic, replicable reading of the text and its characters, showing how Pseudo-Philo uses these women's stories to articulate the text's theology and ideology. The analysis also explores how the author redefines the term «mother» in order to sanction the female authority to interpret and instruct. The conceptual blends that compose the text's distinctive and sometimes dissonant metaphors are analyzed in detail. This monograph also explores how a re-written Bible establishes its authority and awards authority to specific characters and how rhetorical and narrative methodologies fit within cognitive linguistics.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [349]-356) and indexes. :
9789047421863 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The challenge of the silver screen : an analysis of the cinematic portraits of Jesus, Rama, Buddha and Muhammad /
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In 1897 - only two years after the invention of film - the first feature film about Jesus appeared. This and other films about Jesus became examples for and an inspiration for films on other important religious figures like Rama, Buddha and Muhammad. Although religious leaders did not always approve of these films, they did find a ready audience among believers. This book explores these films and looks at how these films dealt with the fundamental question of portraying an individual thought to have either divine status or a very special and unique status among human beings. This book will thus benefit not only students of religious film but also those studying the portrayal of central religious figures in the contemporary world.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes filmography and videography. :
9789004194045 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Conservatism and innovation in the Hebrew language of the Hellenistic period : proceedings of a fourth International Symposium on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ben Sira /
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This volume contains 15 contributions presented at a symposium on the Hebrew of the Dead Sea Scrolls andamp; Ben Sira, held in Strasbourg on May 29 and 30, 2006. The papers address linguistic and philological issues. They seek to relate the Hebrew texts of the Hellenistic period to earlier and later traditions. Among the authors are some of the most eminent Hebraists of our period as well as some younger scholars. The papers throw new light on the interpretation of the Qumran Scrolls, of the Apocrypha and of the Hebrew Bible.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. :
9789047423973 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The modal system of earlier Egyptian complement clauses : a study in pragmatics in a dead language /
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The present work proposes a novel analysis of Complement Clauses in Earlier Egyptian language. Contrary to previous assumptions, the grammatical organisation of these constructions is shown to be based on differentiation between Realis and Irrealis modality. The different types of complement clauses attested in Earlier Egyptian are surveyed utilising recent linguistic research on modality and pragmatics. The discussion is based on numerous examples from the ancient texts and on comparisons with many other languages. Emerging from this investigation is a coherent and principled system for expressing Realis and Irrealis meaning in this most ancient of written languages. This book is of notable value to Egyptologists working with texts and to all those interested in modality, grammar, and cognition.
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Revision of author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Liverpool, 2005. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p.[363]-378) and indexes. :
9789047420484 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Divine epithets in the Ugaritic alphabetic texts /
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This volume comprises an analysis of 112 divine epithets occurring in the alphabetic cuneiform texts from Ras Shamra and Ras Ibn Hani. It is intended to encompass all the epithets of the individual Ugaritic deities, semi-divine, and demonic beings, both good and evil, attested in the published texts. The epithets are profound expressions of the religious views of the ancient Ugaritians and their comprehension is essential for understanding the role, character, and status of the various deities in the Ugaritic pantheon. Particular attention has been paid to parallel divine epithets in Akkadian, biblical Hebrew, and classical Arabic.
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Rev. and edited translation of the author's dissertation. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [393]-422) and indexes. :
9789047423003 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Divine epithets in the Ugaritic alphabetic texts /
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This volume comprises an analysis of 112 divine epithets occurring in the alphabetic cuneiform texts from Ras Shamra and Ras Ibn Hani. It is intended to encompass all the epithets of the individual Ugaritic deities, semi-divine, and demonic beings, both good and evil, attested in the published texts. The epithets are profound expressions of the religious views of the ancient Ugaritians and their comprehension is essential for understanding the role, character, and status of the various deities in the Ugaritic pantheon. Particular attention has been paid to parallel divine epithets in Akkadian, biblical Hebrew, and classical Arabic.
:
Rev. and edited translation of the author's dissertation. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [393]-422) and indexes. :
9789047423003 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The grammar of perspective : the Sumerian conjugation prefixes as a system of voice /
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The so-called Sumerian conjugation prefixes are the most poorly understood and perplexing elements of Sumerian verbal morphology. Approaching the problem from a functional-typological perspective and basing the analysis upon semantics, Professor Woods argues that these elements, in their primary function, constitute a system of grammatical voice, in which the active voice is set against the middle voice. The latter is represented by heavy and light markers that differ with respect to focus and emphasis. As a system of grammatical voice, the conjugation prefixes provided Sumerian speakers with a linguistic means of altering the perspective from which events may be viewed, giving speakers a series of options for better approximating in language the infinitely graded spectrum of human conceptualization and experience. "Woods is to be commended for establishing a new precedent for analyzing Sumerian grammar which will hopefully become a model for future studies of the language." Paul Delnero, Johns Hopkins University
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Partly based on the author's dissertation (doctoral--Harvard University). :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [313]-330) and indexes. :
9789047442080 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Challa /
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Aramaic has been spoken uninterruptedly for more than 3000 years, yet a generation from now most Aramaic dialects will be extinct. The study of the Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) dialects has increased dramatically in the past decade as linguists seek to record these dialects before the disappearance of their last speakers. This work is a unique documentation of the now extinct Jewish Neo-Aramaic dialect of Challa (modern-day Çukurca, Turkey). It is based on recordings of the last native speaker of the dialect, who passed away in 2007. In addition to a grammatical description, it contains sample texts and a glossary of the dialect. Jewish Challa belongs to the cluster of NENA dialects known as 'lishana deni' and reference is made throughout to other dialects within this group.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [307]-314). :
9789047430261 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Gospel "according to Homer and Virgil " cento and canon /
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In the fourth century C.E. some Christians paraphrased the stories about Jesus' life in the style of classical epics. Imitating the genre of centos, they stitched together lines taken either from Homer (Greek) or Virgil (Latin). They thus created new texts out of the classical epics, while they still remained fully within the confines of their style and vocabulary. It is the aim of this study to put these attempts into a historical and rhetorical context. Why did some Christians rewrite the Gospel stories in this way, and what came out of this? On the basis of these Christian centos, it is natural to address the view held by some scholars, namely that New Testaments narratives are imitations of the epics.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [245]-259) and indexes. :
9789004194427 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The neo-Aramaic dialect of Barwar /
:
The Aramaic language has continued to be spoken in various dialects down to modern times. Many of these dialects, however, are now endangered due to political events in the Middle East over the last hundred years. This work, in three volumes, presents a description of one such endangered neo-Aramaic dialect, that of the Assyrian Christian community of the Barwar region in northern Iraq. It is a unique record of the dialect based on interviews with the surviving older generation of the community. Volume one contains a detailed grammatical description of the dialect, including sections on phonology, morphology and syntax. Volume two contains an extensive glossary of the lexicon of the dialect with illustrations of various aspects of the material culture. Volume three contains transcriptions of numerous recorded texts, including folktales, ethnographic texts, songs, and proverbs.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references. :
9789047443490 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Aristotle's Rhetoric in the East : the Syriac and Arabic translation and commentary tradition /
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The two centuries following the rise of the Abbasid caliphate in 750 witnessed a wave of translations from Greek into Syriac and Arabic. The translation and reception of Aristotle's Rhetoric is a prime example for the resulting transformation of antique learning in the Islamic world and beyond. On the basis of a close textual analysis of the Rhetoric, this study develops elements of a comparative "translation grammar" of Greek-Arabic translations. Contextualizing the analysis with an account of the textual history and the Syriac and Arabic philosophical tradition drawing on the Rhetoric , it throws new light on the inner workings of the "translation movement" and its impact on Islamic culture.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [328]-341) and index. :
9789047433422 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Arabic dialectology : in honour of Clive Holes on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday /
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Much of the insight in the field of Arabic linguistics has for a long time remained unknown to linguists outside the field. Regrettably, Arabic data rarely feature in the formulation of theories and analytical tools in modern linguistics. This situation is unfavourable to both sides. The Arabist, once an outrider, has almost become a non-member of the mainstream linguistics community. Consequently, linguistics itself has been deprived of a wealth of data from one of the world's major languages. However, it is reassuring to witness advances being made to integrate into mainstream linguistics the visions and debates of specialists in Arabic. Building on this fruitful endeavour, this book presents thought-provoking, new articles, especially written for this collection by leading scholars from both sides. The authors discuss topics in historical, social and spatial dialectology focusing on Arabic data investigated within modern analytical frameworks.
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1 online resource. :
"Bibliography of Clive Holes": pages [xiii]-xviii.
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047425595 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The Carian language /
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This handbook provides a complete and updated view of our current knowledge about Carian, one of the Indo-European languages spoken in ancient Anatolia. The decipherment of the Carian alphabet has only recently made it possible to analyze Carian inscriptions and to classify the Carian language linguistically. The book covers all major topics of research on Carian: the direct and indirect sources with an edition of the Carian inscriptions following a new classification system, the history of the decipherment, the Carian alphabet, and the phonological, morphological, lexical, and syntactic features of the language. It includes an annotated Carian glossary. The volume concludes with a special appendix on Carian coins and legends by Koray Konuk that will be of particular interest to specialists in ancient numismatics.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 495-507) and indexes. :
9789047410492 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Classical Arabic humanities in their own terms : festschrift for Wolfhart Heinrichs on his 65th birthday /
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The volume brings together approaches to different elements of Arabic-Islamic civilization, mainly in the areas of linguistics, literature, literary theory, and prosody, but also including religion, ritual, economics, and zoology. Contributions also touch upon the adjacent areas of the Old Iranian, Persian, Greek and Byzantine written traditions. Some take as their points of departure specific Arabic words (cat, giraffe) or morphemes; others explore literary genres, subgenres (oration, ode, macaronic poem, travel narrative) or figures within them (the trickster, the devil). Cultural concepts such as wishing, gift-giving or discourse are treated, as are aspects of broader phenomena, such as the role of gender in dream interpretation or the relative merits of luxury goods and mass-produced commodities.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047423812 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Les manuscrits araméens du Wadi Daliyeh et la Samarie vers 450-332 av. J.-C. /
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This book deals with the manuscripts from the Wadi Daliyeh (Samaria Papyri) written in Aramaic in the fourth century B.C.E. in the city of Samaria, in the last decades of the Persian period. The book contains a complete edition of the Wadi Daliyeh manuscripts, their new historical interpretation, and an analysis of their legal aspects. The historical interpretation sheds new light on the history of Samaria and its institutions in the Persian period, as well as on the history of the Persian province of Judaea. This book is particulary useful for historians of Palestine in the Second Temple period, for biblical scholars, and for scholars dealing with Near Eastern legal texts.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [623]-638) and indexes. :
9789047421498 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.