Reconstruction of the Ancient Numeral System in Basque Language

In this work a new insight into the reconstruction of the original forms of the first Basque cardinal numbers is presented and the identified original meaning of the names given to the numbers is shown. The method used is the internal reconstruction, using for the etymologies words that existed and still exist in Basque and other words reconstructed from the proto-Basque. As a result of this work it has been discovered that initially the numbers received their name according to a specific and logic procedure. According to this ancient method of designation, each cardinal number received its name based on the hand sign used to represent it, thus describing the position adopted by the fingers of the hand to represent each number. Finally, the different stages of numerical formation are shown, which demonstrate a long and diachronic development of the whole counting system.

Considerations about Semitic Etyma in de Vaan’s Latin Etymological Dictionary: Terms for Plants, Domestic Animals, Tools or Vessels

In this long study, our point of departure is particular entries in Michiel de Vaan’s Latin Etymological Dictionary (2008). We are interested in possibly Semitic etyma. Among the other things, we consider controversies not just concerning individual etymologies, but also concerning approaches. We provide a detailed discussion of names for plants, but we also consider names for domestic animals.

Analysing Nostalgia in Cross-Linguistic Perspective

This paper presents a contrastive semantic analysis of the English nostalgia, the Italian nostalgìa and the Japanese natsukashii adopting the methodology of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage. It is argued that: (i) emotion terms of different languages reflect different and culture-specific conceptualisations of human feelings; (ii) the Anglo conceptualisation of feelings is not valid for all cultures; (iii) linguistic analysis is central to the analysis of human feelings. The paper challenges the claim made by some psychologists that the English word nostalgia expresses a feeling which is “pancultural” and criticizes the use of English emotion terms as the basis for discussions on human feelings.

Did the Ancient Greeks Develop a “Happy Mythology” for Pastoral Gods? Exercises in Comparative Approaches to Divine Genealogies

This essay aims at integrating the study of Greek mythology – with a special focus on Pan, Hermes and Apollo as pastoral gods – through the hermeneutical resources offered by Indo-European (IE) linguistics and comparative approaches. The goal is to ascertain the existence of a special discourse underlying specific Ancient Greek narratives concerning these pastoral gods and the processes through which they came to be associated with the pastoral sphere - when that was not their originary domain. Going from the specifics of the Greek mythological universe to the broader themes which constitute Indo-European thought patterns and back to the Greek context again, this essay suggests that the Ancient Greeks assumed a special, humorous tone when dealing with mythical matter concerning the pastoral sphere, reflecting many aspects of the reality of their daily lives.

Materials for a Korean Etymological Dictionary

Korean is a head-final, left-branching agglutinative language, with basic SOV order and modifiers preceding the modified. It displays many typological similarities to Japanese, at various levels. In its vocabulary, again like Japanese and other languages in East Asia, it has been deeply influenced by Chinese. The present work is intended as a preliminary collection of lexical and etymological notes, illustrated with various literary examples.

Nostalgia for Chivalry and the Myth of the Knight: The Post-Medieval Reception of Arthurian Tales

The role of Renaissance writers in discovering Medieval Arthurian texts has been a crucial one, and somehow precedes the cultural process of Romantic authors. In this article a few narrative strategies and attitudes are analysed, with reference to authors like Pierre Sala, Mossen Gras, Alain Bouchart, Jorge Ferreira de Vasconcelos, Niccolò degli Agostini, Luigi Alamanni, and with comparative considerations about Malory, Ariosto and Boiardo.