Lexical History Research Articles

Scythian Σάγαρις: Word — Image — Archaeological Object

The term σάγαρις is analysed in the article. This word was used in Classical sources to designate a specific Scythian weapon — a battle-axe. The lexical history of the word, its meaning and translation, as well as the ways of representation of Scythian battle-axes in ancient art and their archaeological realities are discussed.

A lexicological response to Motschenbacher’s Linguistic Dimensions of Sexual Normativity (2022)

This article is a critical engagement with Heiko Motschenbacher’s Linguistic Dimensions of Sexual Normativity (2022), which examines the discursive construction of sexuality through the lens of normativity in the aim of empiricizing queer linguistic data via corpus methods. Underpinned by a lexicalist stance based on a novel Foucauldian argument and a readaptation of sociological “labeling theory”, the book argues for a lexically based construction of sexual normativity through the words used to describe sexual beings or practices. Critiques are proposed here concerning the work’s treatment of Foucauldian theory, labeling theory, and lexical history. By opposing normativity but also enacting it via guidelines for inclusive language use, the work under study raises political questions about linguistic authority. A sociolexicological approach, seeing the lexicon as the site of structured variation as for any other language feature, offers a way out of binary essentialist/constructivist thinking and opens alternate perspectives on interrogating the queer past and present.

‘Self‐confidence and Self‐Conceit Render Men Fools’: Seventeenth‐Century ‘Self‐’ Compounds, Puritan Discourse and Early Modern Subjectivity☆

AbstractThe unprecedented enlargement of the English lexicon in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries included a conspicuous group of new compounds with ‘self’ as the first element. After only a handful of such compounds in Middle English, nearly 150 were coined in the sixteenth century, and then an astonishing 600 or so in the seventeenth (approaching half of all such compounds recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary). This sudden obsession with one compounded element is unparalleled in English lexical history. It signals a very significant conceptual and ideological shift, one which we might expect to herald modernity's positive emphasis on subjectivity and individuality. However, these compounds came into being to express not the potentiality and value of individual experience but deep anxiety and wariness about ‐ even loathing and castigation of ‐ the self as the primary tool of Satan: Adam and Eve fell though becoming ‘selfists’. This paper explores this disquiet through discussion of a range of such compounds recorded in OED from Puritan texts, to conclude that they articulated not a growing confidence in the self and encouragement to self‐reliance and self‐realisation, but a drive towards self‐abnegation and subjection.

Lost in Translation: French Séparatisme and American Séparation of Church and State

France is grappling with séparatisme, which the government has targeted as incompatible with French republican principles and is now sanctioned under a new law. Crucially for scholars and teachers of French, debates about séparatisme reflect substantial cultural differences between France and the United States that can, without sufficient context, lead to errors in translation. This article proffers the meanings of séparatisme, its close cousin laïcité, and related terms based on cultural insights into French society. The lexical history and legacy of these terms are further considered in comparative context, namely regarding American separation of church and state.

On the Term Guominxing (National Character): Its Current Status, Etymology and Related Issues in the History of Modern Chinese and Japanese Thought

Abstract: The term Guominxing (, national character) is undoubtedly an important term in both the history of modern thought and the history of modern vocabulary. However, it seems that the term has never been specifically explored as an object of study in the field of lexical history whereas in the field of intellectual history, the emphasis has often been on the ideas represented by the term as opposed to the term itself, which is in fact marginalised. This article focuses on the Chinese word guominxing, examining both the process of its production and dissemination as well as its current usage, in order to reveal its significance for the history of modern intellectual exchanges between China and Japan and the history of modern Chinese thought.

A Study on the Lexical History Education Related to Culture –Focusing on the lexical hisotry of toilets

A Study on the Lexical History Education Related to Culture –Focusing on the lexical hisotry of toilets

Lexical history of ‘Tree’ Names-About ‘개암나무(Asian hazel), 곰솔(Black pine), 구기자나무(Chinese matrimony vine), 물푸레나무(East Asian ash)’-

Lexical history of ‘Tree’ Names-About ‘개암나무(Asian hazel), 곰솔(Black pine), 구기자나무(Chinese matrimony vine), 물푸레나무(East Asian ash)’-

Towards an Understanding of the Lexical History of the Yeniseic Languages

Towards an Understanding of the Lexical History of the Yeniseic Languages

Consciência e sentimento no 'Emílio' de Rousseau

Este artigo examina a ideia de consciência no Emílio de J.-J. Rousseau a partir de uma perspectiva que combina história da filosofia e história lexical. A análise é contextualizada tanto em relação a outros escritos do autor, sobretudo o Discurso sobre a origem da desigualdade, quanto no interior do quadro histórico das ciências nos séculos XVII e XVIII, com atenção para a teoria empirista de John Locke. Busca-se investigar o processo de constituição semântica de “conscience” e “sentiment intérieur” em língua francesa à luz de certos debates envolvendo o inatismo e o mecanicismo, destacando-se a contribuição do médico cartesiano Louis de la Forge. O objetivo do trabalho é mostrar as vias pelas quais a ideia de consciência no Emílio, combinada a uma interpretação do sentimento interior associada à fisiologia cartesiana, estabelece pilares significativos das estruturas mentais e institucionais que tornaram possível a emergência daquilo que passou a ser denominado subjetividade moderna.

Mechanism: A Visual, Lexical, and Conceptual History, written by Domenico Bertoloni Meli, 2019

Mechanism: A Visual, Lexical, and Conceptual History, written by Domenico Bertoloni Meli, 2019

Fonètica històrica versus història lèxica. El cas de "saloma" < kéleusma `cant dels mariners

Le mot grec kéleusma "chant des mariniers" est passé en ltalie sous plusieurs formes: celoma, scialoma etc. Elles sont attestées depuis le XIVe siècle, et toutes ont une consonne initiale palatale. Le catalan saloma et le verbe correspondant salomar (1436) ne sont vraisemblablement pas autochto­nes, mais pris de l'italien. La question se pose surtout pour l'espagnol çaloma (fin du XVIe siècle; plus tard zaloma): du point de vue phonetique il ne peut pas s'agir pour ce dernier d'un emprunt direct de l'italien, ni même du catalan. Cependant, l'histoire lexicale des termes hispaniques (cat. saloma, esp. et portg. zaloma) contredirait ce que les "lois phonetiques" exigent: pour ces mots nautiques, soumis aux avatars de la "lingua franca", on ne devrait pas faire jouer une stricte rigueur linguistique. A en juger par les attestations recueillies, le point de départ vers l'espagnol serait la Catalogne. Néanmoins l’exposition des données philologiques objectives tirées d'une abondante documentation écrite et dialectale permet d'étaler la complexité du problème.

Art, ethics, responsibility, crisis: literature and climate change

Abstract: Literature has an ethical obligation to respond to the climate change crisis, and scholars have a responsibility to understand how these responses work. Neither the humanities nor the sciences have a good record when it comes to encouraging people to limit their desires, their consumption, or their growth. While there may be genetic reasons for this failure, calls for humanity to limit itself need better responses. Literature can help us to respond better to climate change, but only if we reconceptualize narrative and accord to it the importance it once held as a source not only of entertainment but of knowledge necessary for our very survival

La Descripción geográfico-moral del arzobispo Cortés y Larraz (1770) y la historia léxica de Centroamérica: algunos datos salvadoreños

El presente trabajo se entiende como un intento de terminar en parte con la escasez actual de estudios acerca de la historia léxica del español centroamericano; con este propósito, se pretende llevar a cabo el análisis de los americanismos que se pueden descubrir en los capítulos que el arzobispo de Guatemala, el aragonés Pedro Cortés y Larraz, dedica a El Salvador en su Descripción geográfico-moral de la diócesis de Goathemala, redactada en 1770 tras una visita pastoral a su extensísima diócesis.De este modo, y después de facilitar una rápida visión general del vocabulario de la obra, se pasará a analizar aquellas unidades que se pueden considerar americanismos desde una perspectiva de uso y dinámica de este concepto (Company 2010; Ramírez Luengo 2015); en concreto, se tendrán en cuenta cuestiones como los subtipos de americanismos que se descubren y los campos semánticos en que se incorporan, y se prestará una especial atención al uso de los indigenismos como ejemplo del contacto con los pueblos autóctonos, todo ello con la intención final de detectar la presencia de elementos diatópicamente marcados y, por tanto, de subrayar el proceso de dialectalización de este nivel lingüístico que se puede descubrir ya en el español de la región en las postrimerías del siglo XVIII.

‘원숭이(猿)’의 어휘사

‘원숭이(猿)’의 어휘사

Euskal lexikoaren historiarako: ikerketak Euskara Arkaikoan / Towards a history of the Basque lexicon: studies on Archaic Basque

Lan honen helburu nagusia euskarari dagokionean oso gutxi landu izan den lexikologia historikoaren gaia jorratzeko metodologia entsegu bat egitea da. Horrela, euskal lexikoari buruzko etorkizuneko lan sinkroniko zein diakronikoetarako oinarriak sendotu eta ikerlerro berriak zabaltzea dugu jomuga. Bide horretan, Euskara Arkaikoaren lexikoaren analisi sinkroniko bat egin dugu. XV-XVI. mendeetako hamaika testutatik lagin esanguratsu bana hartuta, garai hartako euskal lexikoaren eraketarako bideak aztertu, zehaztu eta neurtu ditugu. Hau da, testuetan lekukotzen den lexiko hori ezaugarritzen saiatu gara. Batez ere, eratorpenean, konposaketan eta mailegutzan jarri da arreta. Lan hau egiteko lanabesa eta oinarria euskararen gaineko lan lexikologiko apurretatik (adib.: Sarasola 1997) eta, bereziki, inguruko hizkuntzetako lexikoaren historia lanetatik (adib.: Barber 1976, Nevalainen 1999) jaso dugu.Analisirako corpus nagusia Sarasolaren Euskal Hiztegia-n agertzen diren Euskara Arkaikoko hitzek osatu dute. Eta, bide honetatik eskuratutako datu orokorrek erakutsi dute XV-XVI. mendeetako lexikoan euskal ondare zaharreko hitzak (%58) direla nagusi. Aldiz, corpus nagusiko hitzei Euskal Hiztegi-tik kanpo geratutakoak gehituz gero, maileguen kopuruak (%44) gora egiten du ondare zaharrekoekiko (%55) aldea txikituz. Lexiko berrigintzarako bideei dagokienez, ostera, mailegaketa da erabiliena (%66); izan ere, maileguak eratorriak (%22) eta konposatuak (%13) batuta (%35) baino nabarmen gehiago dira. Guztiarekin ere, Leizarragak emaitza orokor hauetan duen eragina nabarmena da.

A Lexical History of ‘GwanGwang(觀光)’ and cultural change

A Lexical History of ‘GwanGwang(觀光)’ and cultural change

Internal constraints on the use of gaan versus zullen as future markers in spoken Dutch

Abstract This paper provides a quantitative variationist analysis of the future markers gaan and zullen in modern spoken Dutch in the light of current discussion on grammaticalisation. In order to determine to what extent gaan has been grammaticalised, internal constraints on the distribution of gaan and zullen such as verb type, animacy of subject, grammatical person, clause type, sentence type and proximity of future reference are investigated, using Netherlandic and Belgian data from the Corpus of Spoken Dutch. The purpose of investigating constraints such as animacy of subject and proximity of future reference is to establish to what extent the behaviour of gaan is still determined by its lexical history (i.e. as a verb denoting motion towards an immediate goal), and results demonstrate that these two constraints persist in modern Dutch. Moreover, research on grammaticalisation in other languages has shown that grammaticalised markers can become specialised to certain morphosyntactic environments such as particular grammatical persons or types of clause. Indeed, it will be shown here that the use of gaan is favoured in subordinate clauses and non-first person utterances, which it has in common with English be going to. By contrast, zullen is shown to occur in pragmatically more nuanced contexts, indicated by the presence of modal particles.

Nurturing a lexical legacy: reading experience is critical for the development of word reading skill

The scientific study of reading has taught us much about the beginnings of reading in childhood, with clear evidence that the gateway to reading opens when children are able to decode, or ‘sound out’ written words. Similarly, there is a large evidence base charting the cognitive processes that characterise skilled word recognition in adults. Less understood is how children develop word reading expertise. Once basic reading skills are in place, what factors are critical for children to move from novice to expert? This paper outlines the role of reading experience in this transition. Encountering individual words in text provides opportunities for children to refine their knowledge about how spelling represents spoken language. Alongside this, however, reading experience provides much more than repeated exposure to individual words in isolation. According to the lexical legacy perspective, outlined in this paper, experiencing words in diverse and meaningful language environments is critical for the development of word reading skill. At its heart is the idea that reading provides exposure to words in many different contexts, episodes and experiences which, over time, sum to a rich and nuanced database about their lexical history within an individual’s experience. These rich and diverse encounters bring about local variation at the word level: a lexical legacy that is measurable during word reading behaviour, even in skilled adults.

Words in War-Time Project

The Words in War-Time Project provides a detailed exploration of Andrew Clark’s collection of notebooks and folders on the subject of “English Words in War-Time,” assembled 1914–1919, and archived in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Clark’s wide-ranging documentation—with annotations, definitions, frequency statements, and citational evidence of lexical/semantic change during World War I, along with frequent comparisons to the Oxford English Dictionary—has, as part of the project, been transferred to a tagged and fully searchable database, enabling, as this essay examines, new insights into Clark’s interdisciplinary focus, his status as lexicographer, and the shifting patterns of language and lexical history in a period of critical change.

Grass-Bed: A Poetic Compound in the Alliterative Tradition

AbstractThe compound word grass-bed occurs four times in Old and Middle English texts. In each case, grass-bed occurs in an alliterative poem; in each case, the word is used as a kenning for a site of bodily death (a battlefield or a grave). The chronologically and metrically uneven distribution of poetic words like grass-bed in the corpus of medieval English texts raises questions about the reliability of the extant written record, the historical resources of individual writers, and the cultural meanings of poetic traditions. Meanwhile, research in alliterative metrics has begun to suggest that the division of medieval English literary history into Old and Middle subperiods masks fundamental continuities between pre- and post-Conquest alliterative verse. Progress in alliterative metrics refocuses the historical problems attendant upon rare poetic words like grass-bed. Conversely, against the backdrop of technical argumentation in the field of metrics, the study of words offers a second way of understanding the continuity of the alliterative tradition. This article explores connections between metrical history and lexical history via a case study of one especially long-lived and metrically marked poetic word.