Art. XII.—Studies on the Comparative Grammar of the Semitic Languages, with Special Reference to Assyrian

1878 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Haupt
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
European Languages

When we consider the progress made by comparative Indo-European philology, we can only wonder that even after the discovery of Assyrian, which undoubtedly represents the Sanskrit of the Semitic languages, no attempt has been made to form a comparative Semitic grammar. Assyrian has hitherto been regarded as at most useful for the explanation of certain questions of Hebrew lexicography; as for the morphology of the Semitic tongues, scholars have been content with simply stating the analogies which exist between Assyrian and the allied languages. The cause of this lies mainly in the fact that Assyrian is regarded as a corrupt branch of the Semitic family of speech; and much that is peculiar in its structure, the preservation of which really implies the highest antiquity, is treated as so many new formations, so that the possibility of properly utilizing Assyrian grammatical forms for the explanation of Semitic grammar is at the outset taken away. Hence, as long as such thoroughly perverse views are not given up, a scientific philology of the Semitic languages can never take its place by the side of that of the Indo-European languages.

scholarly journals A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages

1900 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 323
Author(s):  
Maurice Bloomfield ◽  
Monier Monier-Williams ◽  
E. Leumann ◽  
C. Cappeller
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
European Languages

The ‘swift of foot’ construction and the phrase structure of the adjectival construct in Hebrew

2016 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 380-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rivka Halevy
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Clear Distinction ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
And Gender

This article sheds new light on the puzzling phrase structure of complex adjectival phrases which are common in Semitic, specifically in Hebrew, and which are equivalent to Indo-European phrases such as ‘swift of foot.’ The article draws a clear distinction between these constructions and adjectival compounds such as ‘swift-footed’, which are prevalent in major Indo-European languages but are absent from Semitic languages. The Hebrew construction under discussion is a genitival construct consisting of an adjective followed by a modifying noun in genitive status. The adjective is the head of the construction, but agrees in number and gender with a noun outside the construction. This construction has invited controversial analyses by different scholars, most recently in the framework of generative grammar. The present study construction is anchored in the framework of Construction Grammar. It nevertheless advances a morphosyntactic and semantic analysis of its inner composition. Functional aspects and the speaker’s perspectival choice in construing such attributive phrases are taken into account as well.

scholarly journals Development of Aspect and Tense in Semitic Languages: Typological Considerations

2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vit Bubenik
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Pertinent Literature ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
Progressive Aspect ◽  
Middle Stage ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Event Time ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Morphosyntactic Development ◽  
Classical Arabic

Development of Aspect and Tense in Semitic Languages: Typological ConsiderationsA survey of pertinent literature reveals that many studies of aspect in Semitic languages do not pay a due attention to the crucial theoretical distinction of perfect and perfectivity. In this paper I will adopt the ‘chronogenetic' model of the morphosyntactic development of tense and aspect tested for the Indo-European languages (Hewson & Bubenik 1997) that allows five major aspectual categories to be distinguished (prospective, inceptive, imperfective, perfective, perfect) within ‘Event Time’. I will argue that the appearance in Arabic of the analytic double-finite perfect (of the typekun-tu katab-tu‘I had written’) was the most significant innovation during the New Stage not to be found in the other Central Semitic languages. During the Middle Stage in Mishnaic Hebrew and Middle Aramaic the canonical progressive aspect was paradigmatized while Classical Arabic created its double-finite counterpart (kān-a ya-ktub-u‘he was writing’). The significance of this approach to the study of the universals of tense and aspect will be evaluated.

Reflexes of extinct phonemes in Semitic

1978 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-452
Author(s):  
Haiim B. Rosén
Keyword(s):  
Considerable Degree ◽  
Good Knowledge ◽  
Real Difference ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
The Real ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Semitic Language ◽  
Degree Of Certainty ◽  
The Common

Phonological distinctions vanish in the course of the evolution of a language, but in diachronic phonology it is known that the distinctive oppositions involved do not necessarily disappear as a consequence thereof. Certain effects brought about by the ancient phonemes while they were still articulatorily different do survive after the originally distinct articulations have merged into one. The surviving effects are customarily called ‘reflexes’, that is, of the phonemes now extinct, and it is they that permit us to assume with a considerable degree of certainty that the distinctions now perceivable by virtue of the surviving effects were once vested in different phonemes in the same language. The doctrine of phoneme reflexes has contributed immensely to an ampler, more complete, and more refined knowledge of the sound system of the ancient Indo-European languages. In Semitics, however, this line of investigation has hitherto been much less exploited. While there can be no doubt that we have a fairly good knowledge of what might be termed ‘the common Semitic sound system’, such insights can only tell us what phonological distinctions exist in one historical Semitic language, while being absent from another, and how correspondences should be drawn up between them. The advantage, however, of the study of reflexes is that it affords insights into the mechanism of one and the same language and permits inferences on historically unattested distinctions as well as the reconstruction of a stage of a language prior to its earliest written documentation. We can grasp here the real difference between comparison and reconstruction: while comparison enlightens us as to how languages differ, it cannot make us see the true identity or physiognomy of any given language. This latter task is dependent upon the doctrine of reflexes. If certain otherwise common Semitic distinctions involving pharyngals are reflected in Early Akkadian as neatly regulated mechanisms of vocalic patterns, we must infer that it is not true to say that Akkadian is set apart from other Semitic languages by the absence in it of pharyngal articulations, because these articulations, since they left traces, could not have been absent in that language in its earliest stages. The identity of Akkadian will, therefore, have to be established on the ground of the presence, rather than the absence, of a certain statable number of pharynsal phonemes.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL INCLUSION IN INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO JAN DHAN YOJANA

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Divya U ◽  
Noor Firdoos Jahan
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Present Status ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Accident Insurance ◽  
Inclusive Growth ◽  
Not Given ◽  
Indian Economy ◽  
Cooperative Banks

Financial inclusion is a priority of any government to achieve inclusive growth of the country for sustainable economic development. Financial inclusion is nothing but inclusion of financially excluded segment of the society into formal financial system of the economy. The efforts for financial inclusion is not new in India the RBI and GOI had taken many initiatives like Nationalization of banks, expansion of banks and its branches, establishment of cooperative banks regional rural bank etc. various initiatives were taken up. Despite various measures for financial inclusion poverty and exclusion continues to dominate Indian economy even after six decades of its independence. But the GOI and RBI has not given up its efforts towards complete financial inclusion. One of the important initiatives taken by Modi Government towards comprehensive financial inclusion is Pradhan mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The scheme was launched with a target to provide universal access to banking facilities starting with basic banking account, with overdraft facility and Rupay debit card within built accident insurance. The study mainly concentrated towards global insights for financial inclusion, India’s present status of financial inclusion and PMJDY contribution towards reviving financial inclusion in India.

scholarly journals Expanding the area of classical philology: International words

Nordlit ◽  
2014 ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vibeke Roggen
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Not Given ◽  
New Words ◽  
Classical Philology ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Full Picture ◽  
Explosive Expansion ◽  
Rich Material

The classical languages, Greek and Latin, have a special kind of afterlife, namely through their explosive expansion into <em>other </em>languages, from antiquity until today. The aim of the present paper is to give a broad survey of this field of study – enough to show that there is a lot to find. As examples are chosen English, Spanish and Norwegian – three Indo-European languages, all of them with rich material for our purpose. In the national philologies, the treat­ment of the Greek and Latin elements are often not given special attention, but are studied alongside other aspects of the language in question. A cooperation with classical philology would be an advantage. Moreover, only classical philology can give the full picture, seen from the point of view of Greek and Latin, and explain <em>why </em>and <em>how </em>these languages have lended so many words and word elements to so many vernacular languages. Another aspect of the field, which I call ‘international words’, is the enormous potential that these words have, if disseminated in a good way to the general population. If taught systematically, the learner will be able to see the connections between words, learn new words faster, and develop a deeper understanding of the vocabularies in – for example – English, Spanish and Norwegian.

The Basis of Bantu Philology: Lecture Delivered at Capetown in January 1928

Africa ◽  
1929 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Meinhof
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Semitic Languages ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Comparative Philology ◽  
European Family ◽  
Vowel Change

The comparative philology of former times mainly occupied itself with the collection of such words in different languages as showed some similarity in sound, and even this phenomenon was not thought worthy of too much attention. It was not before the beginning of the nineteenth century that the scientific importance of the problems here involved were recognized, and it was seen that they called for thorough and exact investigation. First of all, the differences in structure that exist between the various European languages were examined more closely than had been done before, and those languages that were seen to possess a number of characteristics in common were then brought together into one group, which was called the Indo-European family of languages. Next, another group was found, namely that of the Semitic languages, the relationship to each other of which had been recognized long before on account of the greater uniformity in grammar and vocabulary. Indo-European and Semitic were then both classed together by virtue of their being ‘inflecting’ languages, that is to say, they change words not by means of endings only, but also through vowel change within the stem, and have grammatical gender.

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