scholarly journals Code-Switching in the Letters of Vilnius University Professors at the End of the 18th century

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-163
Author(s):  
Veronika Girininkaitė

In order to show how research on historical epistolary language can contribute to sociolinguistics and applied linguistics, the present article examines some examples of late 18th-century letters. The research sample includes letters written to Vilnius University professors in that period (now archived in the Vilnius University Library), where the authors of the letters use code-switching or write in a language other than what we would nowadays think of as default. The cases under investigation have revealed that the use of an unusual language could be motivated by pedagogical goals, whereas code-switching could be caused, among other factors, by the need to refer to new realities or to clarify meaning; it could also be used for rhetorical expression (poetic function of language). The article is also important in that it presents accidentally detected instances of code-switching that are generally hard to identify in historically distant letters, e.g. Polish elements in French, Lithuanian and Russian elements in Polish texts. The article is intended to stimulate interest in the research on archaic manuscripts and to enrich the existing knowledge about the linguistic environment of the old Vilnius University.

Knygotyra ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 35-95
Author(s):  
Sondra Rankelienė

In this article, the latest data about the personal book collection items of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus in Vilnius University (VU) Library are presented. The authors that have been doing research on these books have not ascertained all of the embossed images that were used for cover decoration and have not identified the locations of where these books were bound and have not disclosed all of the provenances. In order to amend the lack of knowledge about the books of Sigismund II Augustus in VU library, the book covers of the King’s personal library were reviewed de visu and decorative ornaments were described. The ownership signs of the books were registered once again. While describing and comparing these books with the copies in various libraries of the world, the number of physical books (14) and publications in composite volumes (21) kept in VU library was assessed. The name of one book and a publisher’s imprint of two books were specified, eight provenances that were not mentioned by previous authors were registered. While describing book covers, the embossed images were given provisory names. Connections between the supralibros, dates of binding, decorative wheels, single embossed images, and other decorative elements were detected and lead to a reasonable conclusion that eight out of fourteen books from the Sigismund II Augustus collection were bound in Kraków, five were bound by bookbinders in Vilnius, while one was rebound in the 18th century. The identification of tools used by craftsmen that worked in Kraków and Vilnius will allow to ascertain the manufacturing location of similar book covers made in the middle of the 16th century.


2020 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 104-123
Author(s):  
Вероника [Veronika] Гирининкайте [Girininkaitė]

Linguistic Features of the Diary of Witold CywińskiThe diary written by student Witold Cywiński (1887–1910) (or Vytautas Civinskis, as he later signed his work with the Lithuanian version of his name) is a unique multilingual egodocument, now held at the Vilnius University Library and the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Written in Polish, Lithuanian and Russian (with additions in other languages) over the period of six years, it shows the evolution of his linguistic repertoire. Along with the attached letters received by the author and drafts of his own letters, it also reflects his sociolinguistic milieu. Borderland Polish used in the diary represents the sociolect of Polish nobility living on the territory of contemporary Lithuania in the early twentieth century, with cases of local lexis and loanwords from Lithuanian and Russian. The passages written in Lithuanian display features of a local variation of the Aukštaitian (High Lithuanian) dialect, and at the same time are a chronicle of the author’s self-study of the new language. Examples of code-switching observed in his diary lead to some interesting psycholinguistic conclusions, including the possibility that the author intentionally used a “montage” of different languages in pursuit of the expressive and poetic functions of the text. Osobliwości językowe Dziennika Witolda Cywińskiego Pisany przez studenta Witolda Cywińskiego (1887–1910) Dziennik (podpisywany w późniejszym okresie litewską formą imienia i nazwiska diarysty Vytautas Civinskis) jest unikatowym, wielojęzycznym egodokumentem, zachowanym w zbiorach Biblioteki Uniwersytetu Wileńskiego i Biblioteki Wróblewskich Litewskiej Akademii Nauk. Prowadzony przez sześć lat w językach polskim, litewskim i rosyjskim, także z wykorzystaniem leksyki z innych języków, Dziennik razem z dołączonymi do niego listami, innymi drobnymi dokumentami oraz zdjęciami odzwierciedla rozwój i zmiany językowego repertuaru autora oraz cechy jego lingwistycznego otoczenia. Polszczyzna Dziennika to polszczyzna kresowa, reprezentująca socjolekt szlachty litewskiej początku XX stulecia. Badane źródło dostarcza przykładów leksyki regionalnej, rusycyzmów i lituanizmów. Litewski materiał Dziennika może być również interesującym obiektem badań nad auksztajckim dialektem autora, a także kroniką kształcenia się diarysty w nowym dla niego języku. Obserwowane w Dzienniku przełączenia kodów prowadzą do ciekawych wniosków psycholingwistycznych na temat osoby bilingwalnej, jak i ewentualnej celowości używania kilku języków do budowania poetyckiej i ekspresywnej funkcji tekstu. Przykłady łączenia przez autora różnych języków w badanym źródle zaproponowano nazwać „montażem” językowym.


Knygotyra ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Arvydas Maciulevičius

On the basis of the specimens which include the super ex-libris of the House of Vasa stored at the Rare Book Department of Vilnius University Library, the article attempts to answer the question whether the books might be attributed to the House of Vasa. The question is solved with reference to the analogues of the collection of books belonging to the House of Vasa stored in the libraries in Poland, Sweden and Germany. In addition to the major question, the article recreates the representation of the cultural life in the palace, analyses the relationship between the monarchs and a book, discusses the ways a book would reach the palatial library, highlights the topic of the collection of the books and shows their fate. The comparative analysis of the books stored in Vilnius and their analogues in Poland, Sweden and Germany enables the conclusion that they might be attributed to the House of Vasa. Al-though the provenances pertain to different per-sons, they do not deny that the aforementioned books most likely belonged to the library of Wladysław Vasa. Of course, a more substantial attribution requires more comprehensive research, the present article is expected to encourage


1999 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loren T. Stuckenbruck

It has now been over 160 years since Johann philipp Gabler (1753–1826) was first credited with having ‘founded’ biblical theology as a discipline in its own right. Some ten years ago, as his 1787 inaugural address at Altdorf was being remembered, several scholars wrote articles which attempted to explore ways in which Gabler's proposals for biblical theology may be retained or, at least, may be interpreted as still relevant for current reflection. As these publications demonstrate, Gabler's methodological proposals have been capable of being interpreted with differing shades of emphasis. Behind such variance may well lie the likelihood that in coming to terms with the significance of forebearers out of the past, contemporaries in the biblical disciplines have found themselves articulating their own nuanced understandings concerning what ‘biblical theology’, if it denotes a task at all, should involve. The present article is no exception, as here I would like to propose a particular way of understanding Gabler. I shall thus (1) rehearse briefly some of the more basic antecedents to Gabler's formulations; (2) describe the contours of his proposals, beginning with his Altdorf address (Antrittsrede); (3) attempt to situate him within the context of late 18th-century German theology; and (4) comment briefly on the significance of his ideas in relation to the task of biblical theology.


Author(s):  
M. McNEIL

Erasmus Darwin was the focus and embodiment of provincial England in his day. Renowned as a physician, he spent much of his life at Lichfield. He instigated the founding of the Lichfield Botanic Society, which provided the first English translation of the works of Linnaeus, and established a botanic garden; the Lunar Society of Birmingham; the Derby Philosophical Society; and two provincial libraries. A list of Darwin's correspondents and associates reads like a "who's who" of eighteenth century science, industry, medicine and philosophy. His poetry was also well received by his contemporaries and he expounded the evolutionary principles of life. Darwin can be seen as an English equivalent of Lamarck, being a philosopher of nature and human society. His ideas have been linked to a multitude of movements, including the nosological movement in Western medicine, nineteenth century utilitarianism, Romanticism in both Britain and Germany, and associationist psychology. The relationships between various aspects of Darwin's interests and the organizational principles of his writings were examined. His poetical form and medical theory were not peripheral to his study of nature but intrinsically linked in providing his contemporaries with a panorama of nature. A richer, more integrated comprehension of Erasmus Darwin as one of the most significant and representative personalities of his era was presented.


2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-185
Author(s):  
Edyta Sokalska

The reception of common law in the United States was stimulated by a very popular and influential treatise Commentaries on the Laws of England by Sir William Blackstone, published in the late 18th century. The work of Blackstone strengthened the continued reception of the common law from the American colonies into the constituent states. Because of the large measure of sovereignty of the states, common law had not exactly developed in the same way in every state. Despite the fact that a single common law was originally exported from England to America, a great variety of factors had led to the development of different common law rules in different states. Albert W. Alschuler from University of Chicago Law School is one of the contemporary American professors of law. The part of his works can be assumed as academic historical-legal narrations, especially those concerning Blackstone: Rediscovering Blackstone and Sir William Blackstone and the Shaping of American Law. Alschuler argues that Blackstone’s Commentaries inspired the evolution of American and British law. He introduces not only the profile of William Blackstone, but also examines to which extent the concepts of Blackstone have become the basis for the development of the American legal thought.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-204
Author(s):  
Carolin Rocks

"Praktiken zur Autonomie Zu Moritz’ Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen Karl Philipp Moritz’ Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen (1788) gilt als der autonomieästhetischeProgrammtext in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts. DerAufsatz stellt diese ästhetikgeschichtliche Klassifikation nicht in Frage, zeigt aber,dass die im Kern unbestreitbar kunstmetaphysische Argumentation über ethischePraktiken begründet wird. Diese Praktiken nehmen in der Arbeit an der Autonomieeinen so entscheidenden Stellenwert ein, dass sich eine heteronomieästhetischeGrundierung der Moritz’schen Kunsttheorie aufweisen lässt. Diese tritt hervor,wenn man den Fokus darauf richtet, wie Ethik und Ästhetik zueinander insVerhältnis gesetzt werden: Moritz verpflichtet die autonome Kunst nicht einfachauf moralische Normen oder soziale Funktionen, modelliert aber den genialenKünstler als Praktiker, als ›Hand-Werker‹, dessen künstlerische Produktivität immerschon einem ›guten Leben‹ zuarbeitet. Der Aufsatz demonstriert, wie Moritz ineinem eigenwilligen Begriffsspiel mit dem Schönen und dem Guten ›Nachahmung‹neu entwirft als auf Moralität zusteuernde ästhetische Praxis. Diese praxeologischeGrundlage der Argumentation wirft zusätzlich ein neues Licht auf Moritz’ Rezeptionneuplatonistischer Philosopheme. Karl Philipp Moritz’s »Über die bildende Nachahmung des Schönen« (1788) is regarded asone of the key texts of autonomous aesthetics from the late 18th century. This article doesnot challenge this classification. Instead, it argues that Moritz’s metaphysics of art is foundedupon ethical practices. These practices are so essential to his conception, that one can show thatit is also based on heteronomous aesthetics. This aspect of his argument emerges from how herelates ethics to aesthetics. Moritz does not simply reduce autonomous art to moral norms orsocial functions. Instead he portrays the ingenious artist as an artisan (›Hand-Werker‹) whoseaesthetic productivity serves a ›good life‹. This article therefore demonstrates how Moritz playswith the concepts of the beauty and the good in order to remodel mimesis as an aesthetic practicethat significantly contributes to morality. Finally, by emphasising this praxeological foundationof Moritz’s argument, one can also reconsider his reception of Neo-Platonism "


1989 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-328
Author(s):  
Salahudeen Yusuf

The history of Islam in part of what is known today as Nigeria datesto about the loth Century. Christianity dates to the late 18th Century. Bythe middle of the 19th Century, when Nigerian newspapers began to appearon the streets of Nigeria, both religions had won so many followers and extendedto so many places in Nigeria that very few areas were untouched bytheir influence. The impact of both religions on their adherents not only determinedtheir spiritual life, but influenced their social and political lives aswell. It therefore became inevitable that both religions receive coverage frommost of the newspapers of the time. How the newspapers as media of informationand communication reported issues about the two religions is thetheme of this paper.Rationale for the StudyThe purpose of this study is to highlight the context in which such earlynewspapers operated and the factors that dictated their performance. Thisis because it is assumed that when a society faces external threat to its territory,culture, and independence, all hands (the press inclusive) ought tobe on deck to resist the threat with all might. Were newspapers used as verbalartillery and how did they present each religion? It is also assumed thatin a multireligious society a true press should be objective and serve as avanguard in the promotion of the interest of the people in general and notcreate or foster an atmosphere of religious conflict. The study also aims atfinding out whether the papers promoted intellectual honesty and fosteredthe spirit of unity particularly when the society was faced with the encroachmentof the British who posed a threat to their freedom, culture, economy ...


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