The Place of Classifiers in the History of Linguistics

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Kilarski
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Classifier Languages ◽  
History Of Linguistics ◽  
History Of

Summary This article examines the approaches to classifiers within the Western tradition, ranging from the earliest accounts of the languages of Mesoamerica and East Asia from the 16th-17th centuries to ongoing discussions regarding their semantic motivation and functionality. I show that in spite of the limited attention they attracted before the 1970s, classifiers have played an important role in discussions concerning such notions as the functions of grammatical categories, the distinction between grammar and lexicon as well as the cognitive and cultural correlates of linguistic structure. In addition, I attribute common assumptions about classifiers to projections of typical properties of grammatical gender and, more generally, semantic and morphosyntactic properties of non-classifier languages.

scholarly journals Indian Contribution to Language Sciences in Non-Western Tradition: With Reference to Arabic

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Rahmadsyah Rangkuti ◽  
S. Imtiaz Hasnain
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Western Tradition ◽  
The West ◽  
European Tradition ◽  
History Of Linguistics ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Indian Contribution

Language study relates itself to both ontology and epistemology. Both ontological and epistemological investigations have been the subject of debate and discussion in different civilizations producing a number of grammatical traditions other than the West. Arab, China, India and the ancient Near East can also boast of language traditions of greater antiquity. In terms of richness of insight and comprehensiveness of scope, both India and the Arab compete on equal terms with the West, where each grew independently of the others and for the most part developed separately, drawing on the resources of the culture within which it grew. Hence, there is strong need to have a study of comparative grammatical theory to which Indian, Arabs and Chinese also belong, centring on the questions of: What has been the importance of these theories explanatory categories appear in historically unrelated linguistic theory, and if they do, why? This perspective would bring new dimension to the study of linguistic theory and would not remain at the level of redressing the overwhelming emphasis on the European tradition in the study of history of linguistics.

A History of East Asia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Holcombe
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
History Of

Indexicality of Grammar: The Case of Japanese Transgender Speakers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideko Abe
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Gender Identity Disorder ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Core Structure ◽  
Subject Positions ◽  
Transgender Identity ◽  
The Core ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Scholarship ◽  
Grammatical Structures

This article discusses how the intersection of grammatical gender and social gender, entwined in the core structure of language, can be analyzed to understand the dynamic status of selfhood. After reviewing a history of scholarship that demonstrates this claim, the discussion analyzes the language practices of transgender individuals in Japan, where transgender identity is currently understood in terms of sei-dōitsusei-shōgai (gender identity disorder). Based on fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2017, the analysis reveals how individuals identifying with sei-dōitsusei-shōgai negotiate subject positions by manipulating the specific indexical meanings attached to grammatical structures.

Humanism in East Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-chieh Huang
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Social Ethics ◽  
Zhu Xi ◽  
Value Judgment ◽  
Political Career ◽  
History Of ◽  
Core Value

This chapter discusses types of Confucian humanism in East Asia, their manifestations, functions, and shared core value. First of all, it differentiates two types of Confucian humanism: (a) ethno-historical humanism, and (b) culturo-philosophical humanism. The former was baptized in the spirit of temporality while the latter stressed a return to the spontaneity of one’s mind-heart, which was considered to be supra-temporal and supra-spatial. Both types of Confucian humanism took humanity or ren (仁) as their core value. Throughout the history of Confucian humanism, the meaning of ren fell into four categories, namely: (a) ren as the locale of physical and mental relief; (b) ren as the inner awareness of value judgment: (c) ren as social ethics; and (d) ren as political career. Confucius and Zhu Xi were the two major architects of Confucian humanistic thinking. The spirit of Confucian humanism manifested itself in beliefs in a (a) mind-body continuum, (b) self-other harmony, (c) homo-cosmic resonation, and (d) past-present fusion. Moreover, Confucian humanism functioned as (a) socio-cultural nostalgia, (b) political counter-factuality, and (c) day-to-day “practical learning.”

The Earliest Christian Communities in Southeast and Northeast Asia: An Outline of the Evidence Available in Seven Countries before A.D. 1500

1991 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
John C. England
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
History Of ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Central South

The history of Eastern Christianity in central, south, and east Asia prior to A.D. 1500 is rich and extensive, yet has been largely ignored. Material evidence now available from southeast and northeast Asia shows that Christian communities were present in seven countries for different periods between the sixth and fifteenth centuries. Often termed “Nestorian,” or “Jacobite,” these communities have left a diversity of remains—epigraphical, architectural, sculptural, documentary—which testify to their presence, as far northeast as Japan and southeast as far as Indonesia. The glimpses of Christian churches in medieval Asia afforded by the evidence from these and other regions of Asia offer alternatives to Westernized patterns of mission, and question many assumptions concerning the history and character of Christian presence in the region.

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