The Languages of the Soviet Union
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Grammatical Gender in Hindukush Languages
Grammatical gender in Hindukush languages An areal-typological study Julia Lautin Department of Linguistics Independent Project for the Degree of Bachelor 15 HEC General linguistics Bachelor's programme in Linguistics Spring term 2016 Supervisor: Henrik Liljegren Examinator: Bernhard Wälchli Expert reviewer: Emil Perder Project affiliation: “Language contact and relatedness in the Hindukush Region,” a research project supported by the Swedish Research Council (421-2014-631) Grammatical gender in Hindukush languages An areal-typological study Julia Lautin Abstract In the mountainous area of the Greater Hindukush in northern Pakistan, north-western Afghanistan and Kashmir, some fifty languages from six different genera are spoken. The languages are at the same time innovative and archaic, and are of great interest for areal-typological research. This study investigates grammatical gender in a 12-language sample in the area from an areal-typological perspective. The results show some intriguing features, including unexpected loss of gender, languages that have developed a gender system based on the semantic category of animacy, and languages where this animacy distinction is present parallel to the inherited gender system based on a masculine/feminine distinction found in many Indo-Aryan languages. Keywords Grammatical gender, areal-typology, Hindukush, animacy, nominal categories Grammatiskt genus i Hindukush-språk En areal-typologisk studie Julia Lautin Sammanfattning I den här studien undersöks grammatiskt genus i ett antal språk som talas i ett bergsområde beläget i norra Pakistan, nordvästra Afghanistan och Kashmir. I området, här kallat Greater Hindukush, talas omkring 50 olika språk från sex olika språkfamiljer. Det stora antalet språk tillsammans med den otillgängliga terrängen har gjort att språken är arkaiska i vissa hänseenden och innovativa i andra, vilket gör det till ett intressant område för arealtypologisk forskning. -
Late Aramaic: the Literary and Linguistic Context of the Zohar’, Was Conducted in the Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London
As per the self-archiving policy of Brill Academic Publishers: the article below is the submitted version. The final version is published as ‘The Aramaic of the Zohar: The Status Quaestionis’, in L.O. Kahn (ed.), Jewish Languages in Historical Perspective (IJS Studies in Judaica; Leiden: Brill, 2018), pp. 9–38. The Aramaic of the Zohar: The Status Quaestionis1 Alinda Damsma Toward the end of the thirteenth century the Kabbalah in Spain reached its creative peak with the emergence of Sefer ha-Zohar, Judaism’s most important corpus of mystical texts.2 It is a 1 This is an extended version of the paper I presented at the ‘Jewish Languages’ conference at University College London (26–27 July 2016). I would like to thank the conference organisers, Dr Lily Kahn and Prof. Mark Geller, for their kind invitation as well as for the acceptance of my paper in this volume. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the conference ‘Zohar — East and West’ at Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, in conjunction with the Ben-Zvi Institute in Jerusalem (28–30 December 2015). It is a pleasure to thank my respective hosts and audiences. I am particularly indebted to Prof. Theodore Kwasman, Prof. Ronit Meroz, and Prof. Willem Smelik, for reading the draft of this paper and kindly offering their expertise. I bear sole responsibility, however, for any errors that this paper may contain. The Aramaic dialects referred to in this article are abbreviated as follows: JBA = Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. This dialect was used in Babylonia from about 200 CE until 900 CE (one of its sub-dialects is BTA= Babylonian Talmudic Aramaic, the main dialect employed in the Babylonian Talmud). -
Khevsur and Tush and the Status of Unusual Phenomena in Corpora Author(S): Thomas R
Khevsur and Tush and the status of unusual phenomena in corpora Author(s): Thomas R. Wier Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: Special Session on Languages of the Caucasus (2013), pp. 96-110 Editors: Chundra Cathcart, Shinae Kang, and Clare S. Sandy Please contact BLS regarding any further use of this work. BLS retains copyright for both print and screen forms of the publication. BLS may be contacted via http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/. The Annual Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society is published online via eLanguage, the Linguistic Society of America's digital publishing platform. Khevsur and Tush and the Status of Unusual Phenomena in Corpora THOMAS R. WIER University of Chicago Introduction Recent years have seen an increasing realization of the threat posed by language loss where, according to some estimates, upwards of ninety percent of all lan- guages may go extinct within the next century (Nettle & Romaine 2002). What is less often realized, much less discussed, is the extent to which linguistic diversity that falls within the threshold of mutual intelligibility is also diminishing. This is especially true of regions where one particular language variety is both widely spoken and holds especially high prestige across many different social classes and communities. In this paper, we will examine two such dialects of Georgian: Khevsur and Tush, and investigate what corpora-based dialectology can tell us about phylogenetic and typological rarities found in such language varieties. 1 Ethnolinguistic Background Spoken high in the eastern Caucasus mountains along the border with Chechnya and Ingushetia inside the Russian Federation, for many centuries, Khevsur and Tush have been highly divergent dialects of Georgian, perhaps separate lan- guages, bearing a relationship to literary Georgian not unlike that of Swiss German and Hochdeutsch (see map, from Hewitt 1995:vi). -
The Language Situation Among the Circassians of Jordan
Educational Research (ISSN: 2141-5161) Vol. 4(8) pp. 612-617, August, 2013 DOI: http:/dx.doi.org/10.14303/er.2013.113 Available online@ http://www.interesjournals.org/ER Copyright © 2013 International Research Journals Full Length Research Paper The Language situation among the Circassians of Jordan Doa ʾa F. Al-Momani*1 and Siham M. Al-Momani *1Al Balqa' Applied University (Jordan) 2Department of Allied Medical Sciences, Al Balqa' Applied University (Jordan) *Corresponding Author`s E-mail: [email protected] Abstract In this paper, we examine the language situation among the Circassians of Jordan within the framework of previous theories on language maintenance and shift as proposed by Fishman. The study investigates factors influencing the sample responses toward importance and usefulness of the Arabic and Circassian languages. Convenience sample include 100 subject selected by five in group persons. Data collected by means of a questionnaire developed and used by previous investigators. Results indicate that Arabic is used by the respondents for various functions and Circasssian is used in very restricted social domains. Evidence is represented that the overwhelming majority of the Circassians agree that it is important for them to speak in both Arabic as a means of communication, and Circassian as an important symbol of their identity. These results indicate that the Circassians of Jordan are experiencing a process of language shift which appears to be in its initial position, as most of them appear to be less proficient in their language. They also indicate that the younger generation (forty years or below) of Circassians show a stronger tendency toward shifting their speech than the older generation (forty years or above). -
Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies
Arabic and its Alternatives Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies Editorial Board Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA) Bernard Heyberger (EHESS, Paris, France) VOLUME 5 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/cjms Arabic and its Alternatives Religious Minorities and Their Languages in the Emerging Nation States of the Middle East (1920–1950) Edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg Karène Sanchez Summerer Tijmen C. Baarda LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Assyrian School of Mosul, 1920s–1930s; courtesy Dr. Robin Beth Shamuel, Iraq. This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Murre-van den Berg, H. L. (Hendrika Lena), 1964– illustrator. | Sanchez-Summerer, Karene, editor. | Baarda, Tijmen C., editor. Title: Arabic and its alternatives : religious minorities and their languages in the emerging nation states of the Middle East (1920–1950) / edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg, Karène Sanchez, Tijmen C. Baarda. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: Christians and Jews in Muslim societies, 2212–5523 ; vol. -
A Comparative Phonetic Study of the Circassian Languages Author(S
A comparative phonetic study of the Circassian languages Author(s): Ayla Applebaum and Matthew Gordon Proceedings of the 37th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: Special Session on Languages of the Caucasus (2013), pp. 3-17 Editors: Chundra Cathcart, Shinae Kang, and Clare S. Sandy Please contact BLS regarding any further use of this work. BLS retains copyright for both print and screen forms of the publication. BLS may be contacted via http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/bls/. The Annual Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society is published online via eLanguage, the Linguistic Society of America's digital publishing platform. A Comparative Phonetic Study of the Circassian Languages1 AYLA APPLEBAUM and MATTHEW GORDON University of California, Santa Barbara Introduction This paper presents results of a phonetic study of Circassian languages. Three phonetic properties were targeted for investigation: voice-onset time for stop consonants, spectral properties of the coronal fricatives, and formant values for vowels. Circassian is a branch of the Northwest Caucasian language family, which also includes Abhaz-Abaza and Ubykh. Circassian is divided into two dialectal subgroups: West Circassian (commonly known as Adyghe), and East Circassian (also known as Kabardian). The West Circassian subgroup includes Temirgoy, Abzekh, Hatkoy, Shapsugh, and Bzhedugh. East Circassian comprises Kabardian and Besleney. The Circassian languages are indigenous to the area between the Caspian and Black Seas but, since the Russian invasion of the Caucasus region in the middle of the 19th century, the majority of Circassians now live in diaspora communities, most prevalently in Turkey but also in smaller outposts throughout the Middle East and the United States. -
THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY — the LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE by Brian D
THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY — THE LINGUISTIC EVIDENCE by Brian D. Joseph, The Ohio State University 0. Introduction A stunning result of linguistic research in the 19th century was the recognition that some languages show correspondences of form that cannot be due to chance convergences, to borrowing among the languages involved, or to universal characteristics of human language, and that such correspondences therefore can only be the result of the languages in question having sprung from a common source language in the past. Such languages are said to be “related” (more specifically, “genetically related”, though “genetic” here does not have any connection to the term referring to a biological genetic relationship) and to belong to a “language family”. It can therefore be convenient to model such linguistic genetic relationships via a “family tree”, showing the genealogy of the languages claimed to be related. For example, in the model below, all the languages B through I in the tree are related as members of the same family; if they were not related, they would not all descend from the same original language A. In such a schema, A is the “proto-language”, the starting point for the family, and B, C, and D are “offspring” (often referred to as “daughter languages”); B, C, and D are thus “siblings” (often referred to as “sister languages”), and each represents a separate “branch” of the family tree. B and C, in turn, are starting points for other offspring languages, E, F, and G, and H and I, respectively. Thus B stands in the same relationship to E, F, and G as A does to B, C, and D. -
The Dravidian Languages
THE DRAVIDIAN LANGUAGES BHADRIRAJU KRISHNAMURTI The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011–4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia Ruiz de Alarc´on 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa http://www.cambridge.org C Bhadriraju Krishnamurti 2003 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2003 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge Typeface Times New Roman 9/13 pt System LATEX2ε [TB] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0521 77111 0hardback CONTENTS List of illustrations page xi List of tables xii Preface xv Acknowledgements xviii Note on transliteration and symbols xx List of abbreviations xxiii 1 Introduction 1.1 The name Dravidian 1 1.2 Dravidians: prehistory and culture 2 1.3 The Dravidian languages as a family 16 1.4 Names of languages, geographical distribution and demographic details 19 1.5 Typological features of the Dravidian languages 27 1.6 Dravidian studies, past and present 30 1.7 Dravidian and Indo-Aryan 35 1.8 Affinity between Dravidian and languages outside India 43 2 Phonology: descriptive 2.1 Introduction 48 2.2 Vowels 49 2.3 Consonants 52 2.4 Suprasegmental features 58 2.5 Sandhi or morphophonemics 60 Appendix. Phonemic inventories of individual languages 61 3 The writing systems of the major literary languages 3.1 Origins 78 3.2 Telugu–Kannada. -
The Security of the Caspian Sea Region
16. The Georgian–Abkhazian conflict Alexander Krylov I. Introduction The Abkhaz have long populated the western Caucasus. They currently number about 100 000 people, speak one of the languages of the Abkhazo-Adygeyan (west Caucasian) language group, and live in the coastal areas on the southern slopes of the Caucasian ridge and along the Black Sea coast. Together with closely related peoples of the western Caucasus (for example, the Abazins, Adygeyans and Kabardians (or Circassians)) they play an important role in the Caucasian ethno-cultural community and consider themselves an integral part of its future. At the same time, the people living in coastal areas on the southern slopes of the Caucasian ridge have achieved broader communication with Asia Minor and the Mediterranean civilizations than any other people of the Caucasus. The geographical position of Abkhazia on the Black Sea coast has made its people a major factor in the historical process of the western Caucasus, acting as an economic and cultural bridge with the outside world. Georgians and Abkhaz have been neighbours from time immemorial. The Georgians currently number about 4 million people. The process of national consolidation of the Georgian nation is still far from complete: it includes some 20 subgroups, and the Megrelians (sometimes called Mingrelians) and Svans who live in western Georgia are so different in language and culture from other Georgians that it would be more correct to consider them as separate peoples. Some scholars, Hewitt, for example,1 suggest calling the Georgian nation not ‘Georgians’ but by their own name, Kartvelians, which includes the Georgians, Megrelians and Svans.2 To call all the different Kartvelian groups ‘Georgians’ obscures the true ethnic situation. -
Integrating Dialects Into the Modern Standard Arabic
INTEGRATING DIALECTS INTO THE MODERN STANDARD ARABIC HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM BY BRIDGET J. HIRSCH B.A., The George Washington University, 2003 THESIS Presented to the Faculty of Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION IN WORLD LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION CONCORDIA COLLEGE MAY 2009 This thesis submitted by Bridget J. Hirsch in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Education: World Language Instruction from Concordia College has been read by the Examining Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved. As the Committee Chairperson, I hereby certify that this thesis is complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the final examining committee have been made. This thesis meets the standards for appearance, conforms to the style and format requirements of the Office of Graduate Programs and Continuing Studies of Concordia College, and is hereby approved. COPYRIGHT PAGE It is the policy of Concordia College to allow students to retain ownership of the copyright to the thesis after deposit. However, as a condition of accepting the degree, the student grants the College the non-exclusive right to retain, use and distribute a limited number of copies of the thesis, together with the right to require its publication for archival use. Signature Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, thank you to all high school Arabic teachers that filled out my survey. You have an incredible task at hand, and your time and feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you to those that assisted in the development and distribution of the survey, specifically Donna Clementi, Karin Ryding, Salah Ayari, the American Association of Teachers of Arabic, the National Capitol Language Research Center, Brigham Young’s Arabic Listserv, and Dora Johnson at the Center for Advanced Linguistics. -
Programa Saboloo
October 27 14 00 Symposium Opening (The Georgian National Academy of Sciences, 52 Rustaveli Ave., 5th floor, a conference hall) Opening address – President of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Acad. T. Gamkrelidze D. Shashkin – Minister of Education and Science of Georgia A. Kvitashvili – Rector of Iv.Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University L. Ezugbaia – Director of Arn. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics G. Gambashidze – President of Fund of Caucasus S. Pasov – Pro-rector of Karachay-Cherkessian State University Kh. Taov – Pro-rector of Kabardo-Balkarian State University A. Abregov – Head of the Chair of the Generel Linguistics of the Adyghe State University Ts. Baramidze – Full Professor at Iv. Javakhishvili State University I. Abdullaev – A senior research-worker of H.Tsadasa Institute of Language, Literature and Art A. Timaev – Head of the Chair of the Chechen language at Chechen State University S. Patiev – Docent of the Chair of the Ingush language at Ingush State Iniversity 15 00 Plenary Report G. Kvaratskhelia (Tbilisi) _ Like-Mindedness and Hereditariness in Science N. Machavariani (Tbilisi) _ Ketevan Lomtatidze's life and activity A. Arabuli, V. Shengelia (Tbilisi) _ Academician Ketevan Lomtatidze's contribution to studying the Abkhaz-Circassian and Kartvelian languages Address Speeches and Memories: M. Lordkipanidze, I. Asatiani, B. Outtier, R. Janashia, N. Andguladze, A. Chincharauli, T. Berozashvili, A. Arabuli, T. Ujukhu... 24 October 28 Sectional Meetings I Section 10 00 _ 11 30 Chairs : I. Abdullaev, G. Kvaratskhelia T. Uturgaidze (Tbilisi) _ On the Subject of the Mix of Models in Lingual Systems A. Khalidov (Grozny) _ About Ascertainment of Affinity of Ibero-Caucasian Languages (in support of M.E. -
How the Autofictional Blog Transforms Arabic Literature*
When Writers Activate Readers How the autofictional blog transforms Arabic literature* TERESA PEPE (University of Oslo) Abstract The adoption of Internet technology in Egypt has led to the emergence a new literary genre, the ‘autofic- tional blog’. This paper explores how this genre relates to the Arabic understanding of literature, using as examples a number of Egyptian autofictional blogs written between 2005 and 2011. The article shows that the autofictional blog transforms ʾadab into an interactive game to be played among authors and readers, away from the gatekeepers of the literary institutions, such as literary critics and publishers. In this game the author adopts a hybrid genre and mixed styles of Arabic and challenges the readers to take an active role in discovering the identity hidden behind the screen and making their way into the text. The readers, in return, feel entitled to change and contribute to the text in a variety of ways. Key words: autofictional blog; ʾadab; modern Arabic literature; Egypt The adoption of the Internet has favoured the proliferation of new forms of autobiographi- cal writing and literary creativity all over the world. Blogs1 in particular are used by Inter- net users worldwide to record and share their writing. The popularity of the blogging phenomenon and the original features of blog texts have also attracted the interest of international scholars. More specifically, a particular kind of blog defined as the “personal blog”, which consists of “a blog written by an individual and focusing on his or her personal life” (WALKER 2005), has spurred a significant debate. Most academics agree that the personal blog should be considered a form of diary (LEJEUNE 2000, MCNEILL 2003), thus inserting it in the category of (auto-)biographical writing.