Edward Nye
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198160120
- eISBN:
- 9780191673788
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198160120.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature, Criticism/Theory
‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the ...
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‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the age-old question ‘What is beauty?’, but formulated, also, to respond to contemporary concerns. This book considers a wide range of authors from these two perspectives and draws the following conclusions: etymology is a theory of poetry; dictionaries of synonymy, prosody, and metaphor are theories of preciosity; and Sensualism is a theory of artistic representation. The background to these contentions is outlined in Chapter One, in which the book traces the rise of the term ‘nuances’ as an attempt by contemporary authors to understand representation in art as a rationalisation of chaotic reality. The demise of these contentions at the end of the century is described in the last chapter, in which the dominant language theory of the day is shown to be antagonistic to the study of art and literature. Theories of language are no longer an answer to the question ‘What is beauty?’Less
‘Linguistic’ theories in the 18th century are also theories of literature and art, and it is probably better, therefore, to think of them as ‘aesthetic’ theories. As such, they are answers to the age-old question ‘What is beauty?’, but formulated, also, to respond to contemporary concerns. This book considers a wide range of authors from these two perspectives and draws the following conclusions: etymology is a theory of poetry; dictionaries of synonymy, prosody, and metaphor are theories of preciosity; and Sensualism is a theory of artistic representation. The background to these contentions is outlined in Chapter One, in which the book traces the rise of the term ‘nuances’ as an attempt by contemporary authors to understand representation in art as a rationalisation of chaotic reality. The demise of these contentions at the end of the century is described in the last chapter, in which the dominant language theory of the day is shown to be antagonistic to the study of art and literature. Theories of language are no longer an answer to the question ‘What is beauty?’
RÜdiger Schmitt
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264126
- eISBN:
- 9780191734632
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264126.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter explores the interpretation of Iranian names in Greek by so-called folk etymology. It explains that folk etymology is the phenomenon by which a personal name is assimilated according to ...
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This chapter explores the interpretation of Iranian names in Greek by so-called folk etymology. It explains that folk etymology is the phenomenon by which a personal name is assimilated according to sound and morphology into the host language, often acquiring a pseudo-etymology as part of the process. The findings reveal that there are many instances of Iranian names represented in Greek sources but precise understanding of the process is often elusive because a prosopographical identity is often unavailable.Less
This chapter explores the interpretation of Iranian names in Greek by so-called folk etymology. It explains that folk etymology is the phenomenon by which a personal name is assimilated according to sound and morphology into the host language, often acquiring a pseudo-etymology as part of the process. The findings reveal that there are many instances of Iranian names represented in Greek sources but precise understanding of the process is often elusive because a prosopographical identity is often unavailable.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199549375
- eISBN:
- 9780191720772
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549375.003.0002
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people ...
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This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people for the people. It is still frequently used for reference, but its contents are often unreliable, particularly the etymologies.Less
This chapter examines John Camden Hotten's Slang Dictionary, which was published in five volumes between 1859-1874, and republished thereafter for many years. Hotten's was a dictionary of the people for the people. It is still frequently used for reference, but its contents are often unreliable, particularly the etymologies.
Janet Carsten and Simon Frith (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265864
- eISBN:
- 9780191772016
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265864.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Early Modern History
The content derives from the British Academy’s public lecture programme which presents specialist research in an accessible manner. The papers range in subject matter over music, psychology, history, ...
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The content derives from the British Academy’s public lecture programme which presents specialist research in an accessible manner. The papers range in subject matter over music, psychology, history, economics and linguistics, demonstrating the depth and breadth of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that the British Academy champions.Less
The content derives from the British Academy’s public lecture programme which presents specialist research in an accessible manner. The papers range in subject matter over music, psychology, history, economics and linguistics, demonstrating the depth and breadth of scholarship in the humanities and social sciences that the British Academy champions.
Pietro Bortone
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199556854
- eISBN:
- 9780191721571
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199556854.003.0003
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Historical Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
Chapter 3 considers the historical development of adpositions. It traces the origin of cases in postpositions, and of adpositions, from nouns, verbs, adjectives, or more complex phrases. The ...
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Chapter 3 considers the historical development of adpositions. It traces the origin of cases in postpositions, and of adpositions, from nouns, verbs, adjectives, or more complex phrases. The development of an abstract meaning from a spatial one is well‐attested but not on a systematic scale.Less
Chapter 3 considers the historical development of adpositions. It traces the origin of cases in postpositions, and of adpositions, from nouns, verbs, adjectives, or more complex phrases. The development of an abstract meaning from a spatial one is well‐attested but not on a systematic scale.
Jan Loop
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780197266601
- eISBN:
- 9780191896057
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266601.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This chapter discusses the discovery of Arabic poetry in Western Europe in the context of Protestant Arabic studies of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The piece centres on the work of ...
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This chapter discusses the discovery of Arabic poetry in Western Europe in the context of Protestant Arabic studies of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The piece centres on the work of the Dutch Orientalist Albert Schultens (1686–1750). His interest in Arabic poetry was driven by the idea that it preserves some of the characteristics of the primeval language and that it can help us understand the original meaning of the Hebrew texts of the Bible. The essay argues that in spite of its shortcomings, Schultens’ work is a significant moment in the history of oriental studies. It stimulated an entire generation of young scholars in Protestant Northern Europe; and his comparative study of Semitic languages, his concepts of the primeval language and its transmission as well as his great interest in the poetry of the East still resonate in early Romantic approaches to oriental poetry.Less
This chapter discusses the discovery of Arabic poetry in Western Europe in the context of Protestant Arabic studies of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The piece centres on the work of the Dutch Orientalist Albert Schultens (1686–1750). His interest in Arabic poetry was driven by the idea that it preserves some of the characteristics of the primeval language and that it can help us understand the original meaning of the Hebrew texts of the Bible. The essay argues that in spite of its shortcomings, Schultens’ work is a significant moment in the history of oriental studies. It stimulated an entire generation of young scholars in Protestant Northern Europe; and his comparative study of Semitic languages, his concepts of the primeval language and its transmission as well as his great interest in the poetry of the East still resonate in early Romantic approaches to oriental poetry.
David‐Antoine Williams
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199583546
- eISBN:
- 9780191595295
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199583546.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter investigates Geoffrey Hill's abiding concern with the equation of semantic and ethical recognition, his experience of language as an arena in which our ethical being is both menaced and ...
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This chapter investigates Geoffrey Hill's abiding concern with the equation of semantic and ethical recognition, his experience of language as an arena in which our ethical being is both menaced and succoured, though perhaps not secured. Hill's cogitations on this problem accompany a career‐long exploration of the question of intrinsic value, a concept which he admits has gone out of fashion but which he nonetheless attempts to rescue for his theory of language. Hill's ethics of responsibility requires that literature memorialize and memorize the dead, but his scepticism about the ability of language to do justice to its subjects forces him into a paradoxical contemplation of silence as the only responsible speech. Even so, the question of value has increasingly been posed by Hill in its public dimension, as embodying the union of civic (including political), theological (including metaphysical), and grammatical (including etymological) thought. One way Hill thinks the writer can realize intrinsic value is in the assiduous plying of words, the working in poetry of their etymology, grammar, and syntax into a high semantic pitch; this chapter pays special attention to the words that have meant the most to Hill: ‘value’, ‘atonement’, ‘endurance’, ‘patience’, ‘attention’, ‘justice’, ‘grace’, ‘pitch’, ‘common’, and ‘alienation’.Less
This chapter investigates Geoffrey Hill's abiding concern with the equation of semantic and ethical recognition, his experience of language as an arena in which our ethical being is both menaced and succoured, though perhaps not secured. Hill's cogitations on this problem accompany a career‐long exploration of the question of intrinsic value, a concept which he admits has gone out of fashion but which he nonetheless attempts to rescue for his theory of language. Hill's ethics of responsibility requires that literature memorialize and memorize the dead, but his scepticism about the ability of language to do justice to its subjects forces him into a paradoxical contemplation of silence as the only responsible speech. Even so, the question of value has increasingly been posed by Hill in its public dimension, as embodying the union of civic (including political), theological (including metaphysical), and grammatical (including etymological) thought. One way Hill thinks the writer can realize intrinsic value is in the assiduous plying of words, the working in poetry of their etymology, grammar, and syntax into a high semantic pitch; this chapter pays special attention to the words that have meant the most to Hill: ‘value’, ‘atonement’, ‘endurance’, ‘patience’, ‘attention’, ‘justice’, ‘grace’, ‘pitch’, ‘common’, and ‘alienation’.
Ann Jefferson
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691160658
- eISBN:
- 9781400852598
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691160658.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This introductory chapter considers the scope of the history of thinking about genius. It first traces the etymology and definitions of the word “genius.” Etymologically and culturally speaking, the ...
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This introductory chapter considers the scope of the history of thinking about genius. It first traces the etymology and definitions of the word “genius.” Etymologically and culturally speaking, the term is hugely overdetermined while remaining strangely underspecified in its actual applications. The chapter explores the ambiguities of the term, before outlining the history of such a discourse on genius in Europe. This history has been extensively documented and explored in ways that lend credence to the view that genius is the topic of a single, pan-European conversation to which the French, the English, and the Germans are the major contributors over the course of the eighteenth century.Less
This introductory chapter considers the scope of the history of thinking about genius. It first traces the etymology and definitions of the word “genius.” Etymologically and culturally speaking, the term is hugely overdetermined while remaining strangely underspecified in its actual applications. The chapter explores the ambiguities of the term, before outlining the history of such a discourse on genius in Europe. This history has been extensively documented and explored in ways that lend credence to the view that genius is the topic of a single, pan-European conversation to which the French, the English, and the Germans are the major contributors over the course of the eighteenth century.
John M. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199297412
- eISBN:
- 9780191711176
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199297412.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Theoretical Linguistics
The meaning of names, interpreted as their etymology, has been an object of fascination since antiquity. This interest underlies traditional onomastics, but systematic study of names has also brought ...
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The meaning of names, interpreted as their etymology, has been an object of fascination since antiquity. This interest underlies traditional onomastics, but systematic study of names has also brought clarification of differences among naming traditions and the social functions of names, as well as insight into the structure of names and the systems that govern selection, primarily in relation to the Indo-European languages. In many societies names are assigned meaningfully, but opacity commonly develops. More recently, onomasts have broadened their coverage of languages and name-types, and partly stimulated by work in philosophy, interest in the theory of names has intensified. Representatives of three recent tendencies are examined: the first concerned with matches between semantic hierarchies of names and their expression (Van Langendonck); the second denying the categoriality of names and associating them with ‘onymic reference’ (Coates); and the third presenting a phenomenological view (Willems). The categoriality of names is (re-)asserted in this chapter.Less
The meaning of names, interpreted as their etymology, has been an object of fascination since antiquity. This interest underlies traditional onomastics, but systematic study of names has also brought clarification of differences among naming traditions and the social functions of names, as well as insight into the structure of names and the systems that govern selection, primarily in relation to the Indo-European languages. In many societies names are assigned meaningfully, but opacity commonly develops. More recently, onomasts have broadened their coverage of languages and name-types, and partly stimulated by work in philosophy, interest in the theory of names has intensified. Representatives of three recent tendencies are examined: the first concerned with matches between semantic hierarchies of names and their expression (Van Langendonck); the second denying the categoriality of names and associating them with ‘onymic reference’ (Coates); and the third presenting a phenomenological view (Willems). The categoriality of names is (re-)asserted in this chapter.
Lowell Edmunds
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691165127
- eISBN:
- 9781400874224
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691165127.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Folk Literature
This chapter examines the divine twins, the “Dioscuri,” to which Helen is variously related in the mythology. After reviewing the evidence for the theft of Helen and her rescue by the Dioscuri, the ...
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This chapter examines the divine twins, the “Dioscuri,” to which Helen is variously related in the mythology. After reviewing the evidence for the theft of Helen and her rescue by the Dioscuri, the chapter studies the Indo-European background of the trio, and attempts to reconstruct an Indo-European prototype story. Turning back to the Greeks, the chapter asks if the evidence for the three characters suggests some more primordial trio lying behind the rescue story. However, the chapter abandons the search for Indo-European or primordial prototypes of the story for want of sufficient evidence, though it argues that, nevertheless, one does not have to deny every kind of Indo-European explanation.Less
This chapter examines the divine twins, the “Dioscuri,” to which Helen is variously related in the mythology. After reviewing the evidence for the theft of Helen and her rescue by the Dioscuri, the chapter studies the Indo-European background of the trio, and attempts to reconstruct an Indo-European prototype story. Turning back to the Greeks, the chapter asks if the evidence for the three characters suggests some more primordial trio lying behind the rescue story. However, the chapter abandons the search for Indo-European or primordial prototypes of the story for want of sufficient evidence, though it argues that, nevertheless, one does not have to deny every kind of Indo-European explanation.
Franco Cavazza
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199264827
- eISBN:
- 9780191718403
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199264827.003.0003
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Gellius often discusses questions of etymology, sometimes following other writers' work, sometimes apparently offering suggestions of his own. This chapter employs source-criticism to isolate ...
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Gellius often discusses questions of etymology, sometimes following other writers' work, sometimes apparently offering suggestions of his own. This chapter employs source-criticism to isolate etymologies that seem to be his own (while acknowledging the possibility that they may not be), compares them with the findings of modern linguistics, and relates them to the etymological principles current amongst ancient grammarians, in particular borrowing from Greek, suffixation, composition out of two words, or use by antiphrasis to mean the opposite of the expected sense. He makes intelligent and informed use of these principles, proving himself an expert in the ars grammatica. Most of his derivations by suffixation or composition are correct, as are most derivations from Greek if the category is extended to include the common Indo-European descent of which antiquity had no notion.Less
Gellius often discusses questions of etymology, sometimes following other writers' work, sometimes apparently offering suggestions of his own. This chapter employs source-criticism to isolate etymologies that seem to be his own (while acknowledging the possibility that they may not be), compares them with the findings of modern linguistics, and relates them to the etymological principles current amongst ancient grammarians, in particular borrowing from Greek, suffixation, composition out of two words, or use by antiphrasis to mean the opposite of the expected sense. He makes intelligent and informed use of these principles, proving himself an expert in the ars grammatica. Most of his derivations by suffixation or composition are correct, as are most derivations from Greek if the category is extended to include the common Indo-European descent of which antiquity had no notion.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0010
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
A surprising number of personal names of the exodus-wilderness generation bore Egyptian etymology, including Aaron (possibly), Ahira, Assir, Hur, Merari, Miriam, Moses, and Phineas. The prohibition ...
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A surprising number of personal names of the exodus-wilderness generation bore Egyptian etymology, including Aaron (possibly), Ahira, Assir, Hur, Merari, Miriam, Moses, and Phineas. The prohibition against eating pork in the law is examined in the light of ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian practices and taboos. An Egyptian analogy to the high priestly prayer of Numbers 6:23–26 is considered.Less
A surprising number of personal names of the exodus-wilderness generation bore Egyptian etymology, including Aaron (possibly), Ahira, Assir, Hur, Merari, Miriam, Moses, and Phineas. The prohibition against eating pork in the law is examined in the light of ancient Near Eastern and Egyptian practices and taboos. An Egyptian analogy to the high priestly prayer of Numbers 6:23–26 is considered.
Mario Regali
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199236343
- eISBN:
- 9780191717130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236343.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter looks at Timaeus 41a, where the demiurge addresses the gods, and shows how Hesiodic reminiscences enable Plato to combine the need for a memorable account with a claim to superior ...
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This chapter looks at Timaeus 41a, where the demiurge addresses the gods, and shows how Hesiodic reminiscences enable Plato to combine the need for a memorable account with a claim to superior sophistication. Hesiod's well-known etymology dia (‘through’) = Dia (Zeus) triggers an intellectual journey from Hesiodic poetry to a Platonic understanding of the world.Less
This chapter looks at Timaeus 41a, where the demiurge addresses the gods, and shows how Hesiodic reminiscences enable Plato to combine the need for a memorable account with a claim to superior sophistication. Hesiod's well-known etymology dia (‘through’) = Dia (Zeus) triggers an intellectual journey from Hesiodic poetry to a Platonic understanding of the world.
Hugo Koning
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199236343
- eISBN:
- 9780191717130
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199236343.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter shows that Plato's view of Hesiod is shaped not only by a critical tradition that pairs him with Homer, but also by sophistic appropriations of a more specific kind. Prodicus in ...
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This chapter shows that Plato's view of Hesiod is shaped not only by a critical tradition that pairs him with Homer, but also by sophistic appropriations of a more specific kind. Prodicus in particular, with his concern for the ‘correctness of names’, recognized Hesiod as an intellectual ancestor. More generally, Hesiod could be appropriated to represent particular philosophical interests, including etymology and epistemological atomism. As such, he became a convenient target for Plato's attacks on those approaches.Less
This chapter shows that Plato's view of Hesiod is shaped not only by a critical tradition that pairs him with Homer, but also by sophistic appropriations of a more specific kind. Prodicus in particular, with his concern for the ‘correctness of names’, recognized Hesiod as an intellectual ancestor. More generally, Hesiod could be appropriated to represent particular philosophical interests, including etymology and epistemological atomism. As such, he became a convenient target for Plato's attacks on those approaches.
James K. Hoffmeier
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195155464
- eISBN:
- 9780199835652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/0195155467.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Contrary to the 19th-century views of Wellhausen that Israel’s desert sanctuary, known as the tabernacle or tent of meeting, was an invention of the 5th-century B.C. Priestly writer, the comparative ...
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Contrary to the 19th-century views of Wellhausen that Israel’s desert sanctuary, known as the tabernacle or tent of meeting, was an invention of the 5th-century B.C. Priestly writer, the comparative material suggests otherwise. The closest analogy to the tabernacle is the tent encampment of Ramesses II (1279–1212 B.C.) depicted on several Egyptian temples. Furthermore, the Hebrew terms tabernacle and tent of meeting, used interchangeably in the Bible, are attested in Ugaritic texts from ca. 1200 B.C., and a number of the technical terms associated with the tent and related cultic utensils are of Egyptian etymology. These factors argue against the late portrayal of the tabernacle in the Torah and support the antiquity of this sanctuary.Less
Contrary to the 19th-century views of Wellhausen that Israel’s desert sanctuary, known as the tabernacle or tent of meeting, was an invention of the 5th-century B.C. Priestly writer, the comparative material suggests otherwise. The closest analogy to the tabernacle is the tent encampment of Ramesses II (1279–1212 B.C.) depicted on several Egyptian temples. Furthermore, the Hebrew terms tabernacle and tent of meeting, used interchangeably in the Bible, are attested in Ugaritic texts from ca. 1200 B.C., and a number of the technical terms associated with the tent and related cultic utensils are of Egyptian etymology. These factors argue against the late portrayal of the tabernacle in the Torah and support the antiquity of this sanctuary.
Adam J. Kosto
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199651702
- eISBN:
- 9780191741999
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199651702.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
This chapter begins with a brief history of hostageship, from biblical times to the present day. It then discusses the ways in which hostageship has been treated by earlier historiography: as a form ...
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This chapter begins with a brief history of hostageship, from biblical times to the present day. It then discusses the ways in which hostageship has been treated by earlier historiography: as a form of surety or an aspect of international law by legal historians, and as a variety of captivity or imprisonment by social historians. It defines the medieval hostage as a third-party guarantor of an agreement, notionally given rather than taken, and actually or potentially subject to loss of liberty, distinguishing it from captives and other forms of non-custodial guarantors. It then addresses the challenges of locating hostages in the sources, outlining a conservative approach, but maintaining that the hostage was for the authors of medieval texts a distinct category. The chapter closes with an outline of the rest of the book.Less
This chapter begins with a brief history of hostageship, from biblical times to the present day. It then discusses the ways in which hostageship has been treated by earlier historiography: as a form of surety or an aspect of international law by legal historians, and as a variety of captivity or imprisonment by social historians. It defines the medieval hostage as a third-party guarantor of an agreement, notionally given rather than taken, and actually or potentially subject to loss of liberty, distinguishing it from captives and other forms of non-custodial guarantors. It then addresses the challenges of locating hostages in the sources, outlining a conservative approach, but maintaining that the hostage was for the authors of medieval texts a distinct category. The chapter closes with an outline of the rest of the book.
Dirk Geeraerts
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198700302
- eISBN:
- 9780191706288
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198700302.003.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Semantics and Pragmatics
The first chapter describes historical‐philological semantics. Historical‐philological semantics is the diachronic approach to lexical semantics that dominated the discipline from 1850 to roughly ...
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The first chapter describes historical‐philological semantics. Historical‐philological semantics is the diachronic approach to lexical semantics that dominated the discipline from 1850 to roughly 1930. Its basic interest lies in change of meaning; the practical results of this type of research chiefly take the form of classifications of mechanisms of semantic change, like metaphor, metonymy, generalization, specialization.Less
The first chapter describes historical‐philological semantics. Historical‐philological semantics is the diachronic approach to lexical semantics that dominated the discipline from 1850 to roughly 1930. Its basic interest lies in change of meaning; the practical results of this type of research chiefly take the form of classifications of mechanisms of semantic change, like metaphor, metonymy, generalization, specialization.
Daniel Karlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199256891
- eISBN:
- 9780191698392
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256891.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
English is the ‘second language’ of A la recherche du temps perdu. Although much has been written about Proust’s debt to English literature especially Ruskin, this book is the first to focus on his ...
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English is the ‘second language’ of A la recherche du temps perdu. Although much has been written about Proust’s debt to English literature especially Ruskin, this book is the first to focus on his knowledge of the language itself — on vocabulary, idiom, and etymology. This book uncovers an ‘English world’ in Proust’s work, a world whose social comedy and artistic values reveal surprising connections to some of the novel’s central preoccupations with sexuality and art. Anglomanie — the fashion for all things English — has been as powerful a presence in French culture as hostility to perfide Albion; Proust was both subject to its influence, and a brilliant critic of its excesses. French resistance to imported English words remains fierce to this day; but Proust’s attitude to this most contentious aspect of Anglo–French relations was marked by his rejection of concepts of national and racial ‘purity’, and his profound understanding of the necessary ‘impurity’ of artistic creation.Less
English is the ‘second language’ of A la recherche du temps perdu. Although much has been written about Proust’s debt to English literature especially Ruskin, this book is the first to focus on his knowledge of the language itself — on vocabulary, idiom, and etymology. This book uncovers an ‘English world’ in Proust’s work, a world whose social comedy and artistic values reveal surprising connections to some of the novel’s central preoccupations with sexuality and art. Anglomanie — the fashion for all things English — has been as powerful a presence in French culture as hostility to perfide Albion; Proust was both subject to its influence, and a brilliant critic of its excesses. French resistance to imported English words remains fierce to this day; but Proust’s attitude to this most contentious aspect of Anglo–French relations was marked by his rejection of concepts of national and racial ‘purity’, and his profound understanding of the necessary ‘impurity’ of artistic creation.
Daniel Karlin
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199256891
- eISBN:
- 9780191698392
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256891.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter stages a kind of debate between writers and critics such as Remy de Gourmont, who protested against English and all its works, and others such as the poet (and teacher of English) ...
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This chapter stages a kind of debate between writers and critics such as Remy de Gourmont, who protested against English and all its works, and others such as the poet (and teacher of English) Stéphane Mallarmé, whose treatise Les Mots anglais (1877) has a powerful affinity with Proust’s aesthetic. Mallarmé makes the philologist’s, but also the poet’s, case for language as necessarily mixed and cross-bred. His analysis of English as an ‘idiome composite’ speaks directly to A la recherche; more important even than this, he suggests a potent reason for Marcel’s fascination with etymology, which occupies whole swathes of the novel’s later volumes and seems, at first sight, such an odd distraction from the business of social comedy or sexual tragedy. The connection between etymology and ‘involuntary’ memory, the mainspring of the novel’s creative impulse, forms the culminating point of the argument and the book.Less
This chapter stages a kind of debate between writers and critics such as Remy de Gourmont, who protested against English and all its works, and others such as the poet (and teacher of English) Stéphane Mallarmé, whose treatise Les Mots anglais (1877) has a powerful affinity with Proust’s aesthetic. Mallarmé makes the philologist’s, but also the poet’s, case for language as necessarily mixed and cross-bred. His analysis of English as an ‘idiome composite’ speaks directly to A la recherche; more important even than this, he suggests a potent reason for Marcel’s fascination with etymology, which occupies whole swathes of the novel’s later volumes and seems, at first sight, such an odd distraction from the business of social comedy or sexual tragedy. The connection between etymology and ‘involuntary’ memory, the mainspring of the novel’s creative impulse, forms the culminating point of the argument and the book.
Cave Terence
- Published in print:
- 1985
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198158356
- eISBN:
- 9780191673290
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198158356.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter examines the etymologies of copia in relation to the cornucopian text problems of writing during the French Renaissance period. Its etymologies touch on many central aspects of Latin ...
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This chapter examines the etymologies of copia in relation to the cornucopian text problems of writing during the French Renaissance period. Its etymologies touch on many central aspects of Latin culture and its European legacy because they originate from the successful outgrowth from the parent form, which embraces the domains of material riches and natural plenty and figurative abundance. Thus in many of its senses, copia can be taken to mean the notion of mastery, whether linguistic or social.Less
This chapter examines the etymologies of copia in relation to the cornucopian text problems of writing during the French Renaissance period. Its etymologies touch on many central aspects of Latin culture and its European legacy because they originate from the successful outgrowth from the parent form, which embraces the domains of material riches and natural plenty and figurative abundance. Thus in many of its senses, copia can be taken to mean the notion of mastery, whether linguistic or social.
