History Of Linguistics

Banjalung* - Transcript for a Language Course

by Thorold (Thor) May

* Banjalang, aka Bundjalung, Bunjalung, Badjalang, Banjalung & Bandjalang, is a middle Clarence dialect of a NSW, Australia Aboriginal language

This is a rudimentary phrase book for the Australian Aboriginal language Banjalung, constructed in co-operation with a... more This is a rudimentary phrase book for the Australian Aboriginal language Banjalung, constructed in co-operation with a surviving speaker and designed to encourage Banjalung language revival. It was undertaken in 1983 at the request of Southern Cross University (then Northern Rivers CAE) and local community members.

El corpus de los lingüistas musulmanes y la noción de autoridad

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Miscelánea de estudios árabes y hebraicos' 37, 1 (1988), pp. 195-207.

How the corpus Arab grammarians relied on was enlarged. How the corpus Arab grammarians relied on was enlarged.

Sobre la llamada lexicografía árabe: 'ilm al-luga

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Miscelánea de estudios árabes y hebraicos' 38 (1989-90), pp.213-233.

Medieval Arabic dictionaries were not conceived as reference works but to be read in full (and even learned by heart)... more Medieval Arabic dictionaries were not conceived as reference works but to be read in full (and even learned by heart) as cosmologies and/or reflections of the two realms of both things and words.

El tratado de la frase por Ibn al-Sîd al-Batalyawsî

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Miscelánea de estudios árabes y hebraicos' 42-43, 1 (1993-94), pp. 203-217.

The analysis of the fragments concerning the theory and description of the sentence in the Andalusian Ibn al-Sîd's... more The analysis of the fragments concerning the theory and description of the sentence in the Andalusian Ibn al-Sîd's works provides us with an insight into the general treatrise of sentence developed by Muslim mediaeval scholars: its foundations, limits and results both in the fields of expression and content.

I'râb as syntax

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Zeitschrift für arabische Linguistik' 33 (1997), pp. 100-104.

The notion of i'râb covered far more than the mere case-endings, at least for some Arab grammarians. The notion of i'râb covered far more than the mere case-endings, at least for some Arab grammarians.

Recepcija dela Emila Petrovica u jugoslovenskoj lingvistici

by biljana sikimic

Biljana Sikimić: Recepcija dela Emila Petrovića u jugoslovenskoj lingvistici, Radovi simpozijuma Akademik Emil Petrović – život i delo –, Beograd 1996, 137–146.

Work notes on the Lemnos Stele

by Mel Copeland

The Lemnos Stele was found on the island of Lemnos, containing a writing style that is similar to the Etruscan texts found in Italy. It differs somewhat in the use of the punctuation marks. Etruscan texts tend to separate words and phrases using a dot or a colon. This text, like Phrygian texts on the mainland adjacent to Lemnos, uses two-dot and three-dot colons. Also, like the Phrygian texts (See our Phrygian.html) it uses the omega “o”  rather than the “V” = “O.”
Lemnos is an island in the northern Aegean Sea. When Hephaestus was thrown out of heaven, he fell on Lemnos, where the Sintians (an ancient people of whom nothing else is known) cared for him. One version of the story says his mother Hera was disgusted at him, because he was lame, and threw him out of heaven, where he landed in the sea and was saved by Thetis. Another story says Zeus threw him out of heaven, to land on Lemnos, because he had come to the rescue of Hera who at the time was being punished by Zeus.  He was later reinstated on Mount Olympus, but never forgot Lemnos, which became his chief cult center. Hephaestus was a blacksmith and became the master artisan of the gods. Among his chief works were the armor of Achilles (son of Thetis) and the creation of Pandora. In the Iliad Hephaestus was pitted against the river god Scamander, which he temporarily dried up in order to save Achilles from drowning. 

The Lemnians also claimed close connections with Dionysus, saying that he brought Ariadne there after their marriage. One of the four sons that she bore him was Thoas, who became king of the island. During his reign a series of events initiated by Aphrodite led the Lemnian women to kill all the males on the island. (Aphrodite was married to Hephaistus.) Only Thoas escaped, thanks to his daughter’s loyalty. Realizing that a life without men did not promise well for the island’s future, the women welcomed Jason and the Argonauts when they stopped at Lemnos on their outward voyage. Among the new generation that resulted from this timely visit was Euneüs, who was king at the time of the Trojan War.

During much of that war Philoctetes remained stranded alone in a cave on Lemnos, but the assumption in this myth that the island was unpeopled at the time is not supported by the other myths. Lemnos, together with several other islands of the northern Aegean, was a center of the obscure but important cult of the Cabeiri. The Cabeiri are believed to have originated on the mainland in Phrygia and were prominently worshiped on Samothrace, Lemnos and Imbros — and also had a cult in Thebes.  They were honored in the Samothracian mysteries, which were second in importance only to the Eleusinian mysteries. It is generally believed that the Cabeiri were originally fertility-spirits who had a reputation for bringing safety and good fortune, as well as good crops. They were attendants of the “Great Gods” variously believed to be Demeter or Rhea, Hermes and other Olympian divinities.
This translation, “Work Notes on the Lemnos Stele,” follows other “Etruscan Phrases” Work Notes posted in Academia.edu and linked on http://www.maravot.com/Etruscan_Phrases_a.html.

All of the Work notes are based on Etruscan GlossaryA.xls/pdf and our Indo-European Table.    Etruscan GlossaryA.xls/pdf. is an index to about 2,500 Etruscan words that are similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. Declension patterns follow those in Latin. The 2,500 words = the repeated words in 6,000 words of the major extant texts. The texts have been frozen in time, covering ~700-400 B.C., representing a lens to understanding the early formation of Indo-European languages, particularly the early Italic-Latin-Celtic languages, such as Italian, French & Romanian / Dacian. (By 45 BC. the language was a dead language - no one understood or could write Etruscan)

This GlossaryA works together with Indo-European Table 1 which refutes theories by the Pallottino school of thought that the Etruscan language is not Indo-European and an isolate, unlike any other language. It is very close to Latin and, curiously, Romanian, Italian and French. The Latin suffix, "us" shifts to "o" as in Italian (Titus vs Tito); first person conjugation patterns are similar to French and Romanian. This GlossaryA provides a quick look at the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language, how closely it coincides with Latin. A more detailed Declension Table can be seen on the Etruscan Phrases website. These PDF documents facilitate independent confirmation of the words in GlossaryA.xls , the Grammar and Declension Table. All words can be examined from actual images of texts on the Etruscan Phrases website. Over 150 texts, with about 6,000 words can be examined at Etruscan Phrases.

The Etruscans surfaced in Italy about 1,000 B.C., reputed to have arrived from Lydia / Phrygia. The Phrygians originated near Macedonia in Thrace, according to Herodotus. One may therefore inquire whether the ancient Thracians (Dacians, Gettae, modern Romanians), spoke a language common to the Phrygians, at the time of the Trojan War and after (~1180 B.C.). The Thracians, Phrygians and Lydians (also dead languages) were allies of the Trojans, according to the Iliad. Etruscan Phrases finds a common vocabulary among Latin, Italian, French, Romanian, Etruscan and Phrygian. While French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian are considered Romance languages, showing a similar Latin heritage, Etruscan is not, of course, a Romance language, as it preceded Latin, at least in the written form (giving Rome its alphabet).

Resolution of the Etruscan Mystery may be likened to Michael Ventris' decipherment of Linear B and Jean-François Champollion's decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone - written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic and Greek. The decipherment of Etruscan is a bit more challenging; since we have no multilingual Rosetta stone, but we do have enough vocabulary and grammar to establish that Etruscan is similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. (Certainly far more vocabulary and a more extensive grammar are provided in Etruscan Phrases than that used by Ventris to claim translation of Linear B as an old form of Greek.)

We look forward to the time when a peer review of these Work Notes will warrant corrections to the prevailing record, showing that the Etruscan language was similar to Latin and decry the theory that the "Etruscan language is unlike any other and not an Indo-European language." The theory of a non-Indo-European Etruscan language is absolutely false.

Work Notes on the Tavola Eugubine, Tavola IV, Script Q543-Q915

by Mel Copeland

The Tavola Eugubine is a series of bronze tablets found near the city of Gubbio. There are seven tablets, some of which are written on both sides. The tablets are said to be written in the Umbrian language and in Latin. There are seven tablets, some of which are written on both sides. The tablets are said to be written in the Umbrian language and in Latin. The texts of the group tend to follow a common theme, that of an oration. This text is a highly repetitive, hierophantic oration dealing with a funeral and perhaps a secret Bacchanalian rite. The archeological context of the tables is of interest, whether the seven bronze tablets were found in situ as one collection. This text is probably by that of an augur (haruspex) who is sacrificing sheep at a funeral, referring to Bacchus in the end of the text. The Bacchanalian rite was highly secret, held usually at night, and attended with the noise of revelry and the clashing of cymbals.

This is an update of our work on the Tavola Eugubine, IIB , III and IV (http://www.maravot.com/Translation_EugubineQ.html). Changes produced on this page will be added to our Etruscan GlossaryA.pdf. All of the words in the glossary follow a grammar similar to Latin. One can easily discover that the several hundred texts on Etruscan Phrases all share a common language and grammar. This controverts the prevailing theory that the Etruscan language is not an Indo-European language. It also warrants further examination of the prevailing conclusion that the Tavola Eugubine is written in the Umbrian language.

Etruscan GlossaryA.xls/pdf. is an index to about 2,300 Etruscan words that are similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. Declension patterns follow those in Latin. The 2,500 words = the repeated words in 6,000 words of the major extant texts. The texts have been frozen in time, covering ~700-400 B.C., representing a lens to understanding the early formation of Indo-European languages, particularly the early Italic-Latin-Celtic languages, such as Italian, French & Romanian / Dacian. (By 45 BC. the language was a dead language - no one understood or could write Etruscan.)

This GlossaryA works together with Indo-European Table 1 which refutes theories by the Pallottino school of thought that the Etruscan language is not Indo-European and an isolate, unlike any other language. It is very close to Latin and, curiously, Romanian, Italian and French. The Latin suffix, "us" shifts to "o" as in Italian (Titus vs Tito); first person conjugation patterns are similar to French and Romanian. This GlossaryA provides a quick look at the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language, how closely it coincides with Latin. A more detailed Declension Table can be seen on the Etruscan Phrases website. These PDF documents facilitate independent confirmation of the words in GlossaryA.xls , the Grammar and Declension Table. All words can be examined from actual images of texts on the Etruscan Phrases website. Over 150 texts, with about 6,000 words can be examined at Etruscan Phrases.

The Etruscans surfaced in Italy about 1,000 B.C., reputed to have arrived from Lydia / Phrygia. The Phrygians originated near Macedonia in Thrace, according to Herodotus. One may therefore inquire whether the ancient Thracians (Dacians, Gettae, modern Romanians), spoke a language common to the Phrygians, at the time of the Trojan War and after (~1180 B.C.). The Thracians, Phrygians and Lydians (also dead languages) were allies of the Trojans, according to the Iliad. Etruscan Phrases finds a common vocabulary among Latin, Italian, French, Romanian, Etruscan and Phrygian. While French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian are considered Romance languages, showing a similar Latin heritage, Etruscan is not, of course, a Romance language, as it preceded Latin, at least in the written form (giving Rome its alphabet).
Resolution of the Etruscan Mystery may be likened to Michael Ventris' decipherment of Linear B and Jean-François Champollion's decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone - written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic and Greek.

The decipherment of Etruscan is a bit more challenging; since we have no multilingual Rosetta stone, but we do have enough vocabulary and grammar to establish that Etruscan is similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. (Certainly far more vocabulary and a more extensive grammar are provided in Etruscan Phrases than that used by Ventris to claim translation of Linear B as an old form of Greek.)

We look forward to the time when a peer review of these Work Notes will warrant corrections to the prevailing record, showing that the Etruscan language was similar to Latin and decry the theory that the "Etruscan language is unlike any other and not an Indo-European language." The theory of a non-Indo-European Etruscan language is absolutely false.

There is a far richer record to be written of an Indo-European branch, dead as of ~400 B.C., that can shed light on the movements of the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age Italic peoples, perhaps out of southeastern Europe to Anatolia and then to Italy by sea. Herodotus, who recorded the Etruscan tradition, that they came from Lydia as a result of a long drought after the Trojan War, may be right. We mention this because there is more to be gained in sorting out the grammar at Etruscan Phrases - and possible confirmation of Herodotus - than can ever be hoped for in the bogus theory that "the Etruscan language is unlike any other language known to man." Wikipedia et al. should be corrected.

This text may be of interest to those interested how the liturgy of a Bacchanalian priest may compare to that of a modern liturgy.

Hermenéutica y gramática bajo los almohades: Ibn Jarûf y los testimonios tardíos

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Al-Qantara' 26 (2005), pp. 371-380.

Gramática y verdad: tiempo y tiempo verbal según Ibn al-Sîd

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Anaquel de Estudios Árabes' (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) 17 (2006), pp. 203-220.

The Andalusi savant Ibn al-Sîd al-Batalyawsî (d. 521 H/1127 AD) was the author of a number of books conceived as a... more The Andalusi savant Ibn al-Sîd al-Batalyawsî (d. 521 H/1127 AD) was the author of a number of books conceived as a contribution to the study of language, text and interpretation, which provide us with the necessary elements to reconstruct his notional approach to verbal tenses, as well as his ideas about time in the broader context of Andalusi thinkers. Ibn al-Sîd is close to the rationalist grammarians from Baghdad in his description of Arabic tenses, grounded on the existence of present time in nature. Nevertheless, traces of other conceptions of time are to be found in Ibn al-Sîd’s books. We conclude that there were four different ways of viewing time, depending on the actual level of hermeneutical approach to truth.

El signo en la lingüística árabe medieval

by Salvador Peña

Published in 'Al-Andalus-Magreb: estudios árabes e islámicos' (Universidad de Cádiz) 11 (2004), pp. 131-181.

The linguistic and hermeneutic works of the Andalusi scholar Ibn al-Sîd al-Batalyawsî provide us with the main lines... more The linguistic and hermeneutic works of the Andalusi scholar Ibn al-Sîd al-Batalyawsî provide us with the main lines of the complete frame within which the systems of Islamic ideas on linguistic signs were developed. We examine what he and other Muslim scholars thought about a range of semiotic topics - (1) the origin of language and (2) its significance for human nature, (3) language as a means of knowledge, (4) the relationship between words and things, (5) semantic motivation, and (6) etymology. We conclude by arguing that Islamic ideas on signs must be considered as part of what we call 'holy semiotics' i.e. both a religious science and a religious logic within the matter of things, based on Qur'anic grounds.

Über jakutische Etymologien im Werk von W. Sieroszewski

by Marek Stachowski

ARTICOLUL ÎN PRINCIPALELE GRAMATICI DE SECOL XIX // THE ARTICLE IN THE MAIN 19th CENTURY GRAMMARS

by Alexandru Nicolae

published in Limba română, LVIII, nr. 2, 2009, p. 254–261

In the present contribution, I discuss the description and interpretation of “articles” in the main Romanian grammars... more In the present contribution, I discuss the description and interpretation of “articles” in the main Romanian grammars of the nineteen century. Both the inventory and the description of articles were – as they still are – controversial at the time being. The different opinions of the nineteen century scholars are closely examined, and correspondences with the current stage of research are established.

Generative approaches to language learning.

by Sonja Eisenbeiss

Linguistics 47(2): 273–310

All proponents of generative approaches to language learning argue that the syntactic knowledge which language... more All proponents of generative approaches to language learning argue that the syntactic knowledge which language learners acquire is underdetermined by the input. Therefore, they assume an innate language acquisition device which constrains the hypothesis space of children when they acquire their native language. However, it is still a matter of debate how general or domain-specific this acquisition mechanism is and whether it is fully available from the onset of language acquisition. This article provides an overview of the different answers that have been provided for these questions within generative linguistics. Moreover, it shows how the generative concept of “learning” has been applied to the acquisition of syntax, morphology, phonology and vocabulary, language processing, L2-acquisition, non-typical language development, creoles and language change. Finally, current developments, merits and problems of the generative approach to learning are discussed. The focus of this discussion will be on efforts to reduce assumptions about domain-specific innate predispositions for language learning.

Rhetoric and Ideology in Abü Hayyân's Kitâb Al-Idrâk

by Giuliano Lancioni

Über den Wert der osmanisch-türkischen Materialien von Bernardino Pianzola

by Marek Stachowski

Review: Rocchi L.: Il lessico turco nell’opera di Bernardino Pianzola. Materiali per la conoscenza del turco parlato di fine Settecento, Trieste 2009.

A current bibliography of Turkic etymologies 3 (1998-1999 et addenda)

by Marek Stachowski

Liberman and Levickij: Towards comparative etymological lexicography of English and Germanic

by Marek Stachowski

A comparative review of: (1) Liberman A.: An analytic dictionary of English etymology. An introduction, 2008; (2) Liberman A.: A bibliography of English etymology, 2010; (3) Levickij V. V. : Ètimologičeskij slovar' germanskix jazykov, 2010.

Il metodo di Ascoli indoeuropeista nelle Lezioni di fonologia comparata

by Paolo Milizia

published in 'Convegno nel centenario della morte di Graziadio Isaia Ascoli. Roma, 7-8 marzo 2007', Roma: Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, 2010, pp. 19-39.

Work Notes on the Magliano Disk

by Mel Copeland

The Magliano Disk is perhaps the oldest Etruscan text.and many of the words contained in this disk are replicated in other texts, shown in Etruscan Phrases GlossaryA.xls.

The British Museum, University of Bologna and other "Pallottino School" documents on Etruscan texts have not produced a vocabulary or grammar that can be audited, since their theory is that the Etruscan language is unlike any other known to man, not Indo-European. (One cannot audit guesswork.) Etruscan Phrases claims that the Etruscan Language is similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian, an Indo-European language. It offers a grammar, declension patterns and regular, measurable shifts between Etruscan and these languages; ergo the work can be easily audited.

We should hope, therefore, that there will be many linguists / scholars who will jump at the chance to clear up the Etruscan Mystery and rewrite the histories so clearly overshadowed by the Pallottino School theories, to help even the museums containing Etruscan artifacts explain a bit more about the items in their displays,  such as the mysterious Magliano lead disk.

Etruscan GlossaryA.xls an index to about 2,300 Etruscan words that are similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. Declension patterns follow those in Latin. The 2,300 words = the repeated words in 6,000 words of the major extant texts. The texts have been frozen in time, covering ~700-400 B.C., representing a lens to understanding the early formation of Indo-European languages, particularly the early Italic-Latin-Celtic languages, such as Italian, French & Romanian / Dacian. (By 45 BC. the language was a dead language - no one understood or could write Etruscan)

This GlossaryA works together with Indo-European Table 1 which refutes theories by the Pallottino school of thought that the Etruscan language is not Indo-European and an isolate, unlike any other language. It is very close to Latin and, curiously, Romanian, Italian and French. The Latin suffix, "us" shifts to "o" as in Italian (Titus vs Tito); first person conjugation patterns are similar to French and Romanian. This GlossaryA provides a quick look at the grammatical structure of the Etruscan language, how closely it coincides with Latin. A more detailed Declension Table can be seen on the Etruscan Phrases website. These PDF documents facilitate independent confirmation of the words in GlossaryA.xls , the Grammar and Declension Table. All words can be examined from actual images of texts on the Etruscan Phrases website. Over 150 texts, with about 6,000 words can be examined at Etruscan Phrases.

The Etruscans surfaced in Italy about 1,000 B.C., reputed to have arrived from Lydia / Phrygia. The Phrygians originated near Macedonia in Thrace, according to Herodotus. One may therefore inquire whether the ancient Thracians (Dacians, Gettae, modern Romanians), spoke a language common to the Phrygians, at the time of the Trojan War and after (~1180 B.C.). The Thracians, Phrygians and Lydians (also dead languages) were allies of the Trojans, according to the Iliad. Etruscan Phrases finds a common vocabulary among Latin, Italian, French, Romanian, Etruscan and Phrygian. While French, Spanish, Italian and Romanian are considered Romance languages, showing a similar Latin heritage, Etruscan is not, of course, a Romance language, as it preceded Latin, at least in the written form (giving Rome its alphabet).

Resolution of the Etruscan Mystery may be likened to Michael Ventris' decipherment of Linear B and Jean-François Champollion's decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone - written in Egyptian hieroglypics, Demotic and Greek. The decipherment of Etruscan is a bit more challenging, since we have no multilingual Rosetta Stone, but we do have enough vocabulary and grammar to establish that Etruscan is similar to Latin, French, Italian and Romanian. (Certainly far more vocabulary and a more extensive grammar is provided in Etruscan Phrases than that used by Ventris to claim translation of Linear B as an old form of Greek.)

The Magliano Disk appears to reflect  an expression of love. It occurred to me since the message is an expression of love,  the shape and context of the tablet is as a sublime valentine of sorts.