scholarly journals Atlas of the Baltic languages: from idea to pilot project

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Anna Stafecka

Atlas of the Baltic languages: from idea to pilot projectDialectologists from Latvian Language Institute of the University of Latvia and the Department of Language History and Dialectology of the Institute of the Lithuanian Language, have developed a proposal for a joint project entitled, The Atlas of the Baltic Languages, which is intended to demonstrate the close kinship of these two Baltic languages. A pilot project, supported by a grant from the University of Latvia and Directorate for the Millenium of Lithuania has been carried out between 2006 and 2008 to determine what the form and eventual content of such an atlas might be.In 2009 a summary of work carried out on the pilot project on Atlas of the Baltic Languages, Prospect has been published which includes 12 geolinguistic maps, with commentary in Latvian, Lithuanian and English. The publication also contains in the introduction homage paid to the living and extinct Baltic languages, as well as an overview of the history of the study of dialects in both countries and the characteristics and regional distribution of the dialects of Latvian and Lithuanian. The publication also describes the principles followed in creating these geolinguistic maps and associated commentary.This article describes recent progress made in research on the regional distribution of dialects of both Baltic languages. For more than a century research on the dialects of the Latvian and Lithuanian languages has taken place in parallel, separately gathering data on the various dialects of each respective language. It is, therefore, necessary first to examine, briefly, the histories of the respective geolinguistic research endeavours.The first records of differences between the territorial extents and diversity of Latvian and Lithuanian are to be found in surviving grammars and dictionaries of these languages compiled in the 17th century.The first map showing the geographical reach of the Lithuanian language is to be found in the grammar compiled in 1876 by Friedrich Kurschat. The first geolinguistic map of the Latvian language was published in 1892 by August Bielenstein.The systematic efforts at gathering Latvian and Lithuanian non-material cultural assets date from the second half of the 19th century. A new chapter in the study of Lithuanian and Latvian dialects began in the 1950s after a decision was taken to produce atlases of the two languages. At the end of the 20th century the atlases of the Lithuanian and Latvian language were published. This was the main basis for joint project – The Atlas of the Baltic LanguagesThe maps created in the framework of the pilot project, The Atlas of the Baltic Languages, show the principal grouping of most terms used by the speakers of these two living Baltic languages. An in-depth geolinguistic study of the Latvian and Lithuanian languages could produce important findings in the field of the history of the Baltic peoples.  Атлас балтийских языков: проект разработкиВ 2009 году был издан сигнальный проект Baltu valodu atlants (Атлас балтийских языков), в котором кроме 12 геолингвистических карт с комментариями на латышском, литовском и аглийском языках, дана обширная вступительная часть, посвященная живым и мертвым балтийским языкам, краткая история диалектологических исследований обеих стран, характеристика и распространение диалектов латышского и литовского языков, а также принцип составления карт и комментариев. В основу Атласа балтийских языков легли предыдущие геолингвистические исследования и собранные по вопроснику диалектные материалы обоих балтийских языков.В течение более столетия исследования диалектов литовского и латышского языков развивались параллельно. Языковые в диалектные данные были собраны и обработаны в отдельности для каждого языка. Необходимо затем проследить историю геолингвистических исследований диалектов обоих языков.Первые сведения о территориальных различиях латышского и литовского языков были отнесены уже в грамматиках и словарях XVII века.Первую карту распространения литовского языка предложил Фридрих Куршат (Friedrich Kurschat) в изданной в 1876 году грамматике литовского языка.В 1892 году была издана первая геолингвистическиая карта латышского языка, ее автором был священник немецкой национальности Август Биленштайн (August Bielenstein).Во второй половине XIX века в Европе собирались этнографические материалы и исследовались местные языковые особенности. В это же время появляются первые программы собирания латышской и литовской нематериальной культуры. Новый период в исследовании латышских и литовских диалектов начался в 50-ые годы XX века, когда было решено издать атласы литовского и латышского языков. В основу Атласа балтийских языков легли изданные в конце XX века диалектологические атласы литовского и латышского языков, составленные в нем карты показывают их общие лексические ареалы.

Author(s):  
Anna Stafecka

Both Baltic languages, which are still alive, have preserved their historical territorial dialects. The article gives a brief insight into the research of Latvian and Lithuanian dialects, which are the continuation of ancient languages of Baltic tribes, perhaps with many changes and mutual influence. Only the Livonian dialect of Northern Kurzeme has to be mentioned as an exception because of the Livonian language and the Couronian tribe language as the basis of it. Subdialects, as the smallest territorial units of language in Latvia and Lithuania (points) had formed themselves during feudalism, when peasants did not have the right to change their place of residence. The first recordings of the peculiarities of Latvian and Lithuanian dialects have been known since the 17th-century dictionaries and grammars. The systematic classification of both Latvian and Lithuanian dialects began in the second half of the 19th century. In Latvia, the first who described all three Latvian dialects in his Lettische Grammatik was Gotthard Friedrich Stender. In Lithuania, both Lithuanian dialects were distinguished by August Schleicher. The first research in Latvian and Lithuanian dialectology and geolinguistics dates back to the second half of the 19th century. The first map of Lithuanian dialects was published by Friedrich Kurschat in 1876. The first geolinguistic maps of the Latvian language were developed by August Bielenstein. They were published in 1881 and 1892. The early programmes of collecting the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Lithuanian and Latvian folklore and language were published at the end of the 19th century. They are very different. The boundaries of the territorial dialects of Latvian, unlike the Lithuanian, are not determined by one or two dialectal features, but by a set of isoglosses, reflecting phonetic and morphological features. In Lithuanian dialectology, the system of settlements (points) was chosen – language material was collected within approx. 10–12 km radius around them. In the 1950s, geolinguistic research in Lithuania and Latvia are connected with the creation of national dialectal atlases. In 1977, for the first time in the history of Baltic geolinguistics, the material of Lithuanian and Latvian dialects was collected according to a united program for the Atlas linguarum Europae. In it, Latvian was represented with 36 subdialects and Lithuanian with 42 subdialects. At the beginning of the 21st century, Latvian and Lithuanian linguists have launched a joint project, the Atlas of the Baltic Languages. We can draw the conclusion that the research of dialects in Latvia and Lithuania for more than a century have been parallel but different, dialectal material was collected according to different programmes.


HNO ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (5) ◽  
pp. 338-365
Author(s):  
Albert Mudry ◽  
Robert Mlynski ◽  
Burkhard Kramp

AbstractIn 2021, the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its foundation. The aim of this article is to present the main inventions and progress made in Germany before 1921, the date the society was founded. Three chronological periods are discernible: the history of otorhinolaryngology (ORL) in Germany until the beginning of the 19th century, focusing mainly on the development of scattered knowledge; the birth of the sub-specialties otology, laryngology (pharyngo-laryngology and endoscopy), and rhinology in the 19th century, combining advances in knowledge and implementation of academic structures; and the creation of the ORL specialty at the turn of the 20th century, mainly concentrating on academic organization and expansion. This period was crucial and allowed for the foundation of the German Society of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery on solid ground. Germany played an important role in the development and progress of ORL internationally in the 19th century with such great contributors as Anton von Tröltsch, Hermann Schwartze, Otto Körner, Rudolf Voltolini, and Gustav Killian to mention a few.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Nasir

This article discusses the history of Minangkabau in the 19th century AD. One of the themes of 19th century Minangkabau history is the Islamic reform movement promoted by religious groups commonly called the Padri movement. One of the central issues of the Padri movement was eradicating the habit of drinking alcoholism that occurred in Minangkabau society. The habit of smoking the drug that comes from boiling opium certainly indicates the existence of the drug on a large scale. Therefore, this article will present a picture of the opium trade in Minangkabau in the 19th century from upstream (providers) to downstream (dealers). It is hoped that this article will be useful as an explanation for the habit of smoking made in the Minangkabau community at that time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Sarali Gintsburg ◽  
Luis Galván Moreno ◽  
Ruth Finnegan

Abstract Ruth Finnegan FBA OBE (1933, Derry, Northern Ireland) took a DPhil in Anthropology at Oxford, then joined the Open University of which she is now an Emeritus Professor. Her publications include Oral Literature in Africa (1970), Oral Poetry (1977), The Hidden Musicians: Music-Making in an English Town (1989), and Why Do We Quote? The Culture and History of Quotation (2011). Ruth Finnegan was interviewed by Sarali Gintsburg (ICS, University of Navarra) and Luis Galván Moreno (University of Navarra) on the occasion of an online lecture delivered at the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Navarra. In this trialogue-like interview, Ruth tells about the childhood experiences that were decisive for her interest in orality and storytelling, about her education and training as a Classicist in Oxford, the beginnings of her fieldwork in Africa among the Limba of Sierra Leone, and her recent activity as a novelist. She stresses the importance of voice, of its physical, bodily dimensions, its pitch and cadence; and then affirms the essential role of audience in communication. The discussion then touches upon several features of African languages, classical Arabic and Greek, and authoritative texts of Western culture, from Homer and the Bible to the 19th century novel. Through discussing her childhood memories, her assessment of the development and challenges of anthropology, and her views on the digital transformation of the world, Ruth concludes that the notion of narrative, communication, and multimodality are inseparably linked.


1990 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-160
Author(s):  
Leon B. Litvack

This article forms the sequel to "The Balliol that Might Have Been: Pugin's Crushing Oxford Defeat" (JSAH, XLV, 1986, 358-373). That study showed that Augustus W. N. Pugin (1812-1852) was prevented from carrying out his plans for renovating Balliol College, Oxford, because of his somewhat singular views and oppressive nature, combined with the prevailing sentiments against Roman Catholics in the University. The present study surveys the history of the two small commissions that Pugin was granted: the Magdalen College gateway and the Church of St. Lawrence, Tubney (the only Anglican church Pugin ever built). In both cases Pugin was appointed as architect through the benevolence of Dr. John Rouse Bloxam, in appeasement for the failures at Balliol. Pugin executed the designs in secrecy and with extraordinary speed, thereby hoping to avoid criticism or scandal, in an effort to erect a small monument to himself in Oxford, his "city of spires," which he hoped could serve as the model for the 19th-century Gothic revival in England.


1873 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 54-76
Author(s):  
De Vericour

The word Bohemia, it is well known, is a conventional appellation devoid of truth; a name derived from the Boij, a Gallic tribe which settled in that country, 587 B.C. In the seventh century, the Czechs, a Slavonian people, conquered it, and that branch of the great Slavonian race has ever possessed a distinct and original life, as well as a vernacular culture, that has not met with the attention it deserves at the hands of historical students. The Germans of the hereditary house of Habsburg, proclaim that the Czechs owe everything to them— arts, science, civilisation; they have often done so in a somewhat insulting language, despite several glorious epochs in the history of Bohemia, namely, the reign of Ottokar, the competitor of Rodolf of Habsburg to the imperial crown, in 1272; the greatness of the University of Prag, in the fourteenth century, and the glorious episode of George of Podiebrad. As to the Bohemian kingdom of Ottokar, by its importance and extent, it alone deserves a special history. It comprised, besides Bohemia proper, great part of modern Prussia, Carinthia, Croatia, Illyria; it extended from the Baltic to the Adriatic sea, with the harbour of Nao on the latter, thus justifying, as it were, Shakespeare, in whose “ Winter's Tale ” a Sicilian fleet sails into Bohemia, a statement that was eagerly ridiculed by Ben Jonson and others.


Nuncius ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Paolo de Ceglia

AbstractThis article reconstructs the 19th century history of events regarding a few female wax anatomical models made in Florence. More or less faithful copies of those housed in Florence's Museum of Physics and Natural History, these models were destined for display in temporary exhibitions. In their travels through Europe and the United States, they transformed the expression "Florentine Venus" into a sort of brand name used to label and offer respectability to pieces of widely varying quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6.) ◽  
pp. 8-43
Author(s):  
Takehiko Ochiai

This article aims to examine how Matacong Island, a small island just off the coast of the Republic of Guinea, West Africa, was claimed its possession by local chiefs, how it was leased to and was used by European and Sierra Leonean merchants, and how it was colonized by Britain and France in the 19th century. In 1825 the paramount chief of Moriah chiefdom agreed to lease the island to two Sierra Leonean merchants, and in 1826 it was ceded to Britain by a treaty with chiefs of the Sumbuyah and Moriah chiefdoms. Since the island was considered as a territory exempted from duty, British and Sierra Leonean merchants used it as an important trading station throughout the 19th century. Major exports of Matacong Island included palm kernels, palm oil, hides, ivory, pepper and groundnuts, originally brought by local traders from the neighboring rivers, and major imports were tobacco, beads, guns, gunpowder, rum, cotton manufactures, iron bars and hardware of various kinds. In 1853 alone, some 80 vessels, under British, American, and French flags, anchored at Matacong Island. By the convention of 1882, Britain recognized the island as belonging to France. Although the convention was never ratified, it was treated by both countries as accepted terms of agreement. The article considers various dynamics of usage, property, and territorial possession as relates to the island during the 19th century, and reveals how complex they were, widely making use of the documents of The Matacong Island (West Africa) Papers at the University of Birmingham Library in Britain. The collection purchased by the library in 1969 is composed of 265 historical documents relating to Matacong Island, such as letters, agreements, newspaper-cuttings, maps and water-color picture


Magyar Nyelv ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-362
Author(s):  
Klára Korompay

Géza Bárczi is a prominent figure of Hungarian linguistics; he had an influential role in the history of that discipline both as a professor and as a researcher. The present commemoration was written by one of his former students, someone who knew him closely and finds it important to pass on the memory of her mentor. The paper enumerates the main events of Géza Bárczi’s professional life (from being a secondary school teacher to leading the department of Hungarian linguistics at the University of Debrecen and then at ELTE) and gives a broad picture of the various areas of his work, which covers almost all of the subfields of Hungarian language history (such as phoneme history, historical morphology, lexicology etc.). Géza Bárczi is also considered to be a great synthesis maker, something which particularly shows up in two of his works: he is the author of the first thorough etymological dictionary of the Hungarian language (1941) and of an extensive monograph called A magyar nyelv életrajza (A Biography of the Hungarian Language). He also had an important role in the Society of Hungarian Linguistics, of which he was the president for 17 years. His lectures were unforgettable experiences for his students: he was always seeking for the truth in his research and his way of presentation was always known for its crystal clear logic and elegant style.


Author(s):  
Eric Schnakenbourg

In the Early Modern era, the Baltic Sea was called the Nordic Mediterranean because of its unique outlet on the high seas and its narrowness. Like its southern counterpart, the Baltic is at the crossroads of several peoples and cultures. Also like the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic had different populations on each of its shores, yet in another way facilitated relations and became a space for interconnections. Throughout its history, peoples from Scandinavia, Poland, Germany, Russia, and the Baltic lands developed not only all sorts of peaceful relations and exchanges, but also competed with each other in long-lasting rivalries or military confrontations. Between the 16th century and the first half of the 19th century, the Baltic region experienced dramatic internal and external changes resulting from its ever-growing connections with the rest of Europe. Baltic issues, however, did not have the same importance for all the surrounding countries: it was the only horizon for Sweden, which enjoyed sovereignty over Finland until 1809, and the main horizon for Denmark, which ruled Norway until 1814. For Scandinavians, the Baltic Sea was a necessary interface for various kinds of exchanges with the external world, whether regional neighbors or continental Europe. In one way or another, the history of the Swedish and Danish kingdoms is interwoven with the history of the Baltic. Scandinavians devoted great attention to this neighboring sea for their shipping and trade, as well as for their security and political influence. The situation is somewhat similar for the Baltic provinces (Estonia, Livonia, and Ingria), which were always under foreign rule, first Swedish then Russian, in the Early Modern period. On the other side of the sea, for the German states, the Polish Republic, and the Russian Empire, the Baltic was simply one theater of foreign policy among others, even though its importance changed over time according to the political or economic context. As for commerce, while during the Middle Ages the Baltic region traded with the rest of Europe, starting in the 16th century, the situation changed as the continental economy shifted from the Mediterranean to the northwest. European population growth and the development of long-distance shipping and commerce meant increasing needs for grain and naval stores. This created new demand for Baltic economic resources and products and for transporting those exports. Consequently, new international rivalries and struggles occurred in the Baltic. At first, these conflicts were among the regional countries, but increasingly the main European powers as well. The Baltic Sea then became an important theater for European international politics, and almost every continental war had a Baltic component. The history of the Baltic Sea from the 16th century to the middle of the 19th century must be considered from two perspectives: first, relations among the regional countries and peoples; and second, relations with the world outside the Baltic, whether foreign powers and regions or even other seas, for political, military, and trade matters.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document