Pub Date : 2018-04-16DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1441955
C. Neis
Abstract In this paper, I present a brief overview of conceptions of ‘exotic’ writing systems in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with particular emphasis on ‘exotic’ forerunners of writing (such as the Peruvian quipus or the wampum belts of the Iroquois) and Egyptian hieroglyphs. The history of writing was often conceived of as a gradual development with a growing degree of complexity by authors like Antoine-Yves Goguet, Jean-Jacques Rousseau or William Warburton. Their description of ‘exotic’ writing systems generally reveals a euro-centric perspective as well as a sometimes inadequate knowledge of the true nature of different writing systems. After a description of several ‘exotic’ forerunners of writing, conceptions of Egyptian hieroglyphs are subjected to a more detailed examination. Given their enigmatic character, hieroglyphs seemed particularly well adapted for use in universal language schemes. In the last part of the paper, I will establish a link between non-alphabetical writing systems and ‘real characters’ to show how much the latter are indebted to the model of non-European scripts.
{"title":"European conceptions of ‘exotic’ writing systems in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries","authors":"C. Neis","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1441955","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441955","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In this paper, I present a brief overview of conceptions of ‘exotic’ writing systems in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with particular emphasis on ‘exotic’ forerunners of writing (such as the Peruvian quipus or the wampum belts of the Iroquois) and Egyptian hieroglyphs. The history of writing was often conceived of as a gradual development with a growing degree of complexity by authors like Antoine-Yves Goguet, Jean-Jacques Rousseau or William Warburton. Their description of ‘exotic’ writing systems generally reveals a euro-centric perspective as well as a sometimes inadequate knowledge of the true nature of different writing systems. After a description of several ‘exotic’ forerunners of writing, conceptions of Egyptian hieroglyphs are subjected to a more detailed examination. Given their enigmatic character, hieroglyphs seemed particularly well adapted for use in universal language schemes. In the last part of the paper, I will establish a link between non-alphabetical writing systems and ‘real characters’ to show how much the latter are indebted to the model of non-European scripts.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"39 - 51"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441955","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44481838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-16DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1441950
Gordon Whittaker
Abstract The system of writing employed by the Aztec Empire and its immediate neighbours in early 16th-century Mesoamerica has a number of characteristics that make it highly unusual in comparative perspective. Among them is the fact that it was almost entirely restricted to the recording of names or, more precisely, of personal and place names, titles and professions. All other areas of information were recorded by means of iconography and a numeral-based notation system. This article will discuss the nature of Aztec names and the manner in which they are recorded in Aztec writing.
{"title":"Aztec hieroglyphics: a name-based writing system","authors":"Gordon Whittaker","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1441950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441950","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The system of writing employed by the Aztec Empire and its immediate neighbours in early 16th-century Mesoamerica has a number of characteristics that make it highly unusual in comparative perspective. Among them is the fact that it was almost entirely restricted to the recording of names or, more precisely, of personal and place names, titles and professions. All other areas of information were recorded by means of iconography and a numeral-based notation system. This article will discuss the nature of Aztec names and the manner in which they are recorded in Aztec writing.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"60 - 76"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441950","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48573633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-08DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1441953
D. Cram
Abstract One of the notions crucial to understanding early methods of phonetic transcription is the ‘Proper Alphabet Principle’: the idea that each human language should have its own distinct writing system. Having a distinct orthography was taken to be a defining characteristic of the three holy languages (Hebrew, Greek and Latin), and this also applied in the case of ‘exotic’ languages ranging from Arabic to Chinese. The principle further assumes that the relation between alphabet and language is biunique: each language has one and only one proper alphabet, and vice versa. My purpose is to examine how this principle has permeated ideas about writing in the western tradition. I will start by examining the theory and practice of phonetic transcription in the seventeenth century, both in the context of philosophical language schemes and early comparative philology, and then position these developments within the larger historical context, leading to the establishment of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in the nineteenth century. The fundamental principle of the IPA—that it is independent of any specific language—is the precise complement of the Proper Alphabet Principle. The two principles turn out to interplay in complex ways in the development of ideas about phonetic transcription.
{"title":"The proper alphabet principle","authors":"D. Cram","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1441953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441953","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract One of the notions crucial to understanding early methods of phonetic transcription is the ‘Proper Alphabet Principle’: the idea that each human language should have its own distinct writing system. Having a distinct orthography was taken to be a defining characteristic of the three holy languages (Hebrew, Greek and Latin), and this also applied in the case of ‘exotic’ languages ranging from Arabic to Chinese. The principle further assumes that the relation between alphabet and language is biunique: each language has one and only one proper alphabet, and vice versa. My purpose is to examine how this principle has permeated ideas about writing in the western tradition. I will start by examining the theory and practice of phonetic transcription in the seventeenth century, both in the context of philosophical language schemes and early comparative philology, and then position these developments within the larger historical context, leading to the establishment of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in the nineteenth century. The fundamental principle of the IPA—that it is independent of any specific language—is the precise complement of the Proper Alphabet Principle. The two principles turn out to interplay in complex ways in the development of ideas about phonetic transcription.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"22 - 6"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441953","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45982848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-04-08DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1441952
A. Laird
Abstract This paper challenges Walter Mignolo’s influential view that the Renaissance grammarian Nebrija’s theory of writing had a role in justifying Spanish imperialism and that it contributed to the diminution or elimination of native language and memory in the Americas. It will be shown that Isidore of Seville’s comparatively versatile conception of writing, which accommodated pictograms, was far more pervasive in Spain and the New World, fostering parallel advances in written and pictorial communication by indigenous groups, while European letters provided a flexible means of notation for Amerindian languages.
{"title":"Colonial grammatology: the versatility and transformation of European letters in sixteenth-century Spanish America","authors":"A. Laird","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1441952","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441952","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper challenges Walter Mignolo’s influential view that the Renaissance grammarian Nebrija’s theory of writing had a role in justifying Spanish imperialism and that it contributed to the diminution or elimination of native language and memory in the Americas. It will be shown that Isidore of Seville’s comparatively versatile conception of writing, which accommodated pictograms, was far more pervasive in Spain and the New World, fostering parallel advances in written and pictorial communication by indigenous groups, while European letters provided a flexible means of notation for Amerindian languages.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"52 - 59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1441952","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44929630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-02-15DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1431499
J. Beal
{"title":"The first century of English monolingual lexicography","authors":"J. Beal","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1431499","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1431499","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"137 - 139"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1431499","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47066782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-02-12DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1431497
Doyle Calhoun
isation of Frisian, Pieter Duijff presents details of the problems that arise when deciding on preferred word forms in the standard word list for Frisian, whereby peripheral dialect terms are usually discounted and greater distance from dominant languages are encouraged. Miren Lourdes Oñederra discusses the currently unresolved matter of the standard pronunciation of Basque. Whilst encouraging a large degree of variation to be allowed in standard Basque pronunciation, Oñederra at the same time draws attention to speakers of Basque who learn the language as a second language and who have little experience of the dialects, hence showing that the task involves keeping a delicate balance between uniformity and variation. In her general discussion of standard languages and standards, Pam Peters neatly sums up in the epilogue the main themes covered in the preceding chapters and succinctly describes the common linkages in the contributions. Overall, the volume serves as a valuable resource for exploring language norms and standards from the angle of prescriptivism. The goals of the book to embrace a broad scope of linguistic contexts across four very different thematic sections are commendable. For the most part, the book succeeds in fulfilling these objectives. The chapters are generally well-researched, largely refer to relevant empirical data where appropriate and provide new insights from both contemporary and historical approaches, making the volume a respectable and worthy addition to the field.
{"title":"Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-Medieval Europe","authors":"Doyle Calhoun","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1431497","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1431497","url":null,"abstract":"isation of Frisian, Pieter Duijff presents details of the problems that arise when deciding on preferred word forms in the standard word list for Frisian, whereby peripheral dialect terms are usually discounted and greater distance from dominant languages are encouraged. Miren Lourdes Oñederra discusses the currently unresolved matter of the standard pronunciation of Basque. Whilst encouraging a large degree of variation to be allowed in standard Basque pronunciation, Oñederra at the same time draws attention to speakers of Basque who learn the language as a second language and who have little experience of the dialects, hence showing that the task involves keeping a delicate balance between uniformity and variation. In her general discussion of standard languages and standards, Pam Peters neatly sums up in the epilogue the main themes covered in the preceding chapters and succinctly describes the common linkages in the contributions. Overall, the volume serves as a valuable resource for exploring language norms and standards from the angle of prescriptivism. The goals of the book to embrace a broad scope of linguistic contexts across four very different thematic sections are commendable. For the most part, the book succeeds in fulfilling these objectives. The chapters are generally well-researched, largely refer to relevant empirical data where appropriate and provide new insights from both contemporary and historical approaches, making the volume a respectable and worthy addition to the field.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"134 - 137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2018-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1431497","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47933269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-09-26DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2017.1340231
J. Bellamy
{"title":"Prescription and tradition: establishing standards across time and space (multilingual matters 165)","authors":"J. Bellamy","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2017.1340231","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2017.1340231","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"61 1","pages":"132 - 134"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2017.1340231","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46223942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-09-02DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1493305
Simon Coffey
{"title":"Linguistic and cultural foreign policies of European states: 18th–20th centuries","authors":"Simon Coffey","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1493305","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1493305","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"60 1","pages":"195 - 197"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1493305","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48854763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-09-02DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1484017
J. Subbiondo
ABSTRACT Federico Garlanda (1857–1913) contributed towards the popularisation of linguistics in nineteenth-century Europe and the United States. Garlanda’s popular books on the science of language, The Philosophy of Words and The Fortunes of Words, are precursors of the university textbook in introductory linguistics. This article examines three recurring themes in Garlanda’s books on linguistics: history and science, history and linguistics, and language and consciousness. Forward-looking for his time, Garlanda argued that the present state of a language was an excellent starting point for studying its historical development. He contended that a study of child language acquisition could lead to discovering the origins of language. He held that the history of words of a language provided an insight into the evolution of consciousness. Garlanda was among the first linguists to present a brief critical and popular history of linguistics.
{"title":"Federico Garlanda’s The Philosophy of Words (1886) and The Fortunes of Language (1887): models in their class","authors":"J. Subbiondo","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1484017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1484017","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Federico Garlanda (1857–1913) contributed towards the popularisation of linguistics in nineteenth-century Europe and the United States. Garlanda’s popular books on the science of language, The Philosophy of Words and The Fortunes of Words, are precursors of the university textbook in introductory linguistics. This article examines three recurring themes in Garlanda’s books on linguistics: history and science, history and linguistics, and language and consciousness. Forward-looking for his time, Garlanda argued that the present state of a language was an excellent starting point for studying its historical development. He contended that a study of child language acquisition could lead to discovering the origins of language. He held that the history of words of a language provided an insight into the evolution of consciousness. Garlanda was among the first linguists to present a brief critical and popular history of linguistics.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"60 1","pages":"167 - 179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1484017","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44128870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2017-09-02DOI: 10.1080/17597536.2018.1484020
M. Konvička
ABSTRACT Our modern terminology and concepts are often based on much older linguistic discourses. A case in point is the alleged medieval roots of the modern term ars obligatoria that I discuss in this paper. The term appeared in a number of structuralist texts on the obligatoriness of grammatical categories, and it is repeatedly, albeit vaguely, ascribed to the Scholastics. In this paper, I review two hypotheses about the origins of this term. The only extant proposal argues that the term ars obligatoria does not refer to the obligatoriness of grammatical categories but alludes to the position of grammar as the first, fundamental and thus obligatory discipline within the system of the Seven Liberal Arts. Alternatively, I argue that the term refers to the medieval tradition of obligatory disputations, the so-called ars obligatoria. Just as a speaker must follow the grammatical rules of a language, so must a disputant follow the rules of the disputation.
{"title":"Ars obligatoria: searching for the medieval roots of obligatoriness","authors":"M. Konvička","doi":"10.1080/17597536.2018.1484020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/17597536.2018.1484020","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Our modern terminology and concepts are often based on much older linguistic discourses. A case in point is the alleged medieval roots of the modern term ars obligatoria that I discuss in this paper. The term appeared in a number of structuralist texts on the obligatoriness of grammatical categories, and it is repeatedly, albeit vaguely, ascribed to the Scholastics. In this paper, I review two hypotheses about the origins of this term. The only extant proposal argues that the term ars obligatoria does not refer to the obligatoriness of grammatical categories but alludes to the position of grammar as the first, fundamental and thus obligatory discipline within the system of the Seven Liberal Arts. Alternatively, I argue that the term refers to the medieval tradition of obligatory disputations, the so-called ars obligatoria. Just as a speaker must follow the grammatical rules of a language, so must a disputant follow the rules of the disputation.","PeriodicalId":41504,"journal":{"name":"Language & History","volume":"60 1","pages":"153 - 166"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/17597536.2018.1484020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42649151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：