Chronological Layers Research Articles

Metatony in monosyllables

There are two chronological layers of metatonical circumflex in monosyllables, viz. an early Balto-Slavic layer which is reflected e.g. in Lith. dė̃s , jõs , duõs and a recent Aukštaitian layer which is found e.g. in nom.pl. tiẽ , acc.pl. tuõs , inst.sg. tuõ . Leskien’s law was younger than the former but older than the latter. This analysis is not based on a comparison with Slavic or Indo-European but on the internal evidence of the East Baltic languages. The Baltic future represents two Indo-European paradigms, viz. an s‑ present with accentual mobility between the suffix and the ending and an s‑ aorist with fixed stress on the root and monosyllabic lengthening in the 2nd and 3rd sg. forms. Both of these formations have exact correspondences in the Old Irish subjunctive. They must have existed side by side in Proto-Baltic in view of Prussian teīks ‘make!’ beside postāsei ‘you will become’. The circumflex of Latvian sā̀ls and gùovs shows metatonical length as a result of monosyllabic lengthening. There is no evidence for a PIE phoneme *a in sā̀ls , zùoss and nãss , nor for the vowel *e in the PIE paradigm of gùovs , nor for a PIE paradigm with fixed stress in the case of gùovs , nãss and zvrs , nor for a generalization of the original nom.sg. instead of acc.sg. accentuation in sā̀ls and nãss .

The Origins of the Boris and Gleb Cycle in the Chronicle

Abstract The narrative cycle reporting the struggle for succession after Vladimir’s death in 1015 consists of two textual and chronological layers. The older layer is a set of tales told by three members of the retinue, two of whom can be identified by name; these tales were recorded in the first stage of chronicling in the late 1030s. The hagiographic layer which presents Boris and Gleb as martyrs is a separate, later layer that dates to the “Nachal’nyi svod” of the 1090s.

Sargon, Anitta, and the Hittite Kings against Purušḫanda

This article aims at showing how the juxtaposition of several manuscripts and oral stories that originated in different cultural and chronological layers formed the Hittite legend of Sargon’s expedition to Purušḫanda. Comparing the examples connected with the fall of Purušḫanda in the Hittite historical literature, it is possible to trace back the insertion of the city into the legend. In Hittite sources the conquest of Purušḫanda is evoked in the first lines of the proclamation of Telepinu (CTH 19) and in the historical fragments KBo 3.28 and KBo 3.46+ referring to the military campaigns of the first Hittite kings. The echo of this war is possibly reflected in the Hittite composition of the šar tamḫāri. In particular the choice of inserting the fall of Purušḫanda into the Sargon story could have been stimulated by the narration of the deeds of Anitta in the most ancient Hittite period.

Jewish Babylonia between Persia and Roman Palestine (review)

Hebrew Studies 48 (2007) 380 Reviews text and ancient audience? between text and modern reader? etc.). At times, she is not clear on why these motifs are unique to the texts in question (as, for instance, feminine imagery, which Boase even acknowledges on p. 54 was common to the Ancient Near East). Perhaps a shorter summary of the statistics and a stronger focus on theoretical application would have made her presentation more obvious. Overall, Boase’s study represents a starting point. It is helpful mostly in what it assumes but does not always consciously say, that the biblical texts, as products of their culture, share certain cultural meanings yet differ in their perspective and portrayal of those meanings. Therefore, because these texts were written at different times and for different reasons, modern readers must avoid imposing a monolithic meaning, or theology, upon them. Instead, one must first seek meaning from the text in question. Shared motifs must be analyzed for the unique perception that each text gives a particular motif. There is a significant complexity—theological certainly but also social—that any analysis of Lamentations, whether of its theology or other issue, must take into account. Jeremiah Cataldo Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ 07079 cataldje@shu.edu JEWISH BABYLONIA BETWEEN PERSIA AND ROMAN PALESTINE. By Richard Kalmin. Pp. xiv + 285. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Cloth, $65.00. About thirty years ago there were two important developments in the critical study of the Babylonian Talmud. First of all, Jacob Neusner began to demonstrate just how unreliable this and other rabbinic compositions are as sources of history. At the same time, Shamma Friedman and David Weiss Halivni began to separate the Bavli into different chronological layers, namely an amoraic level and an anonymous, redactorial level, dubbed “stammaitic” by Halivni and his students. In the past ten years, some textual scholars have begun to use the philological technique of separating the Babylonian Talmud into historical layers to reconstruct the history of the Babylonian rabbinic movement. The two scholars most intensely engaged in this endeavor are Jeffrey Rubenstein and Richard Kalmin, although others such as Daniel Boyarin, Christine Hayes, Alyssa Gray, and Michael Satlow have also been reconnecting texts with history. This new wave of scholars usually eschews writing about individual rabbis or particular events, preferring to focus on broader trends, frequently focusing on the difference be- Hebrew Studies 48 (2007) 381 Reviews tween Palestinian literature and Babylonian literature. The most important contribution is the notion that just because something is pseudepigraphic does not mean that it cannot be used as a source of history. Turning our attention specifically to Richard Kalmin and his latest book, his central thesis is that in the mid-fourth century Babylonian rabbis became more receptive to Palestinian literature and behavior. This is at least partly a result of the Persian conquest of Roman territory and the relocation to the east of Jews and Christians from the Roman empire. Kalmin hopes that his study of cultural contacts, influences, and overlaps between Palestine which was under Roman influence and Mesopotamia, largely under Persian influence , will shed light on larger trends occurring in the history of the period. While Kalmin’s theory is intriguing, most of the book is not directly addressed to proving it. The book, which consists mostly of individual articles, is largely a textual analysis concerning the difference between rabbinic behavior depicted in Palestinian texts and the rabbinic behavior depicted in Babylonian texts. In the first chapter, Kalmin demonstrates that in tales about the persecutions surrounding the Bar Kokhba revolt, Babylonian and Palestinian traditions are similar to each other with one significant difference. Babylonian sources more often portray the Romans as prohibiting Torah study than do Palestinian sources. This is evidence that Torah study was the obsession of the Babylonian rabbis, rabbis whose existence was inside the bet midrash. In contrast, Palestinian rabbis had more contact with non-rabbis and hence they portrayed the Romans as making general decrees against the commandments , an aspect of Judaism important to non-rabbis and rabbis alike. Put another way, Babylonian rabbis imagine the Hadrianic persecutions as directed against their rabbinic way of life while Palestinian rabbis imagine the persecutions...

The oldest part of the Lois des pers dou castel de Lille (1283–1308/1314) and the infancy of case law and law reporting on the continent

AbstractThe 'Lois des pers dou Castel de Lille' is a very interesting source of medieval law, which has been neglected by historians, as it is a very chaotic document. However, several chronological layers can be distinguished and the oldest part, the bulk of the 'Lois de Lille', dates from 1283–1308 and is very rich in information not found in other sources. It expressly mentions the spokesmen of the Lille castelleny court, the intellectual authors of its judgements. In fact, the very first version of the 'Lois de Lille' were the notes taken by these spokesmen, with originally two separate sets because of the gulf between the knights and the other judges of the court. Thus, the 'Lois de Lille' prove that occasional law reporting was not that much younger on the continent than in England and it is to be wondered how many other texts which look like mere collections of legal rules hide case law and embryonic law reports.

Blood for the Dead: Homeric Ghosts Speak up

But merely 'approaching' the blood is not enough. After Tiresias departs, Odysseus waits until his mother 'came forward and drank the dark blood' (152-3). Only upon imbibing does Anticleia recognize and speak to her son. So what, exactly, is the function of the sacrificial blood? Does the ghostly imbibing enable the Homeric dead to regain some form of consciousness, or does it allow the shades to speak intelligibly with the living? Or both? Does this rule always apply, or only in certain circumstances or with specific individuals? The Homeric picture of the dead is notoriously complex, ambiguous, and even contradictory. Indeed, the fate itself of the dead is variously depicted in the epics with several alternatives to the predominant shadowy world of the dead of Odyssey 11. In addition to the uncomfortable double post-mortem life of Heracles at Od. 11 .601-626, one learns of alternative afterlives provided or offered to Ganymede (II. 20.231-5), Menelaus (Od. 4.561-9; cf. Calypso's offer of immortality to Odysseus, 5.206-10, 23.336), Leucothea (Od. 5.333-5), Castor and Polydeuces (Od. 11.299-304), and Cleitus (Od. 15.250-1). Things are even more manifold once one considers other early Greek epics (see below on Achilles). A familiar critical approach to such contradictions surrounding the Homeric dead has been to try to separate out the various strands of thought into chronological layers, to attempt to tease out the development of Greek beliefs about death and dying from the Mycenaean through the Archaic Age.' Take the notorious issue of witless shades, for example. Circe tells Odysseus that Tiresias is the one

Translation for Reading Aloud

The article takes a look at the translation of children’s literature intended for reading aloud. The pragmatic (or theoretical) point of departure is a ‘narrative contract’ between the child (audience) and the reader as in the oral tradition of yesteryear. It is therefore argued that, at least initially, children’s literature for reading aloud was a continuation of the narrative tradition in the extended family adapted to the conditions and mores of the nuclear family. The nuclear family was a 19th century innovation promoted by the new middle classes, and they best carried on the narrative tradition by means of stories such as those of the brothers Grimm in Germany and Hans Christian Andersen in Denmark. Referring to an informal questionnaire among Translation Studies scholars covering eleven countries, it is concluded that the tradition of reading aloud for children is alive and well. This leads to a model for the translational situation for read-aloud literature that calls for guiding principles in the exploration of differences between ‘originals’ and ‘translations.’ Having introduced such layers, viz. the structural, the linguistic, the content and intentional ones, a paratextual and chronological layer are also called for, because of the ubiquity of modern co-prints and the need to introduce diachronic perspectives. The article discusses decision-makers in the process of translation, such as publishers and the like, and also briefly views questions of translational traditions before it discusses translations of the Grimm Tales into English and Danish, to conclude that there are two different schools of ‘respectable translators,’ one targeting stories for reading aloud and another for silent reading, even though the translators may not be aware of this. The final part takes up questions concerning the translation of names, rhymes, and a highly complex text which is discussed in depth. The conclusion is that translation for reading aloud is an art requiring great competence of translators. It also ought to attract more attention from Translation Studies scholars because it questions fundamentals in translation work that are also found in other types of translation. Readers should read aloud the passages cited in order to appreciate the commentary!

Approaching the Communion Melodies

This study attempts to expose three chronological layers of the communion repertory. I begin by compiling a set of analytical norms for the communions of Lent and the Sundays after Pentecost, which take their texts from the Psalter and are ordered numerically based on their source psalm. The majority of these chants are closely related in style, and their written tradition is quite stable. Those that form exceptions to the norm are assigned to feasts known to have been introduced or adjusted comparatively late in liturgical history, and it is argued here that their unusual musical traits might be taken as evidence for their addition or adaptation at a late stage of the cycle's evolution. A third set of communions is closely allied with these presumably younger psalmic chants. In addition to their curious use as both responsories for matins and communions at Mass, they are largely responsible for the well-known textual, modal, and stylistic heterogeneity of the communion repertory as a whole. The majority of these "responsory-communions" are assigned to the Paschaltide season, which also has recently been cited as the subject of late liturgical revision and expansion. These dual genre chants may well be among the last items added to the Roman plainchant repertory before its official export to the north in the mid-eighth century.

The dispersion of Indo-European dialects: clues from morphology

One of the techniques used by Gamkrelidze and Ivanov to trace the path of dispersion of the Indo-european dialects is to arrange the morphological data in chronological layers. A number of important if somewhat controversial conclusions are drawn from this stratification. Each of these assumptions: the homeland in Anatolia, the early binary division of dialects, and the elaborate pattern of migration, present some difficulty. This paper examines the assumptions in some detail, along with the supporting morphological evidence, and reaches a more traditional conclusion, proposing a more northerly homeland, late contact in the east and in the west, and more direct path of migration