Romance Languages Research Articles

Una breve storia del ‘cadavere’: caduti latini, corpi morti romanzi e una postilla dantesca

The designations of death, dying, and the dead have been extensively studied, especially since they are often subject to linguistic taboo and are therefore named through euphemisms and dysphemisms. This contribution will reconstruct the history of the lexical type cadaver, in parallel with corpus (mortuum), from ancient Latin to modern Romance languages: the ‘X-phemic’ model will be discussed, but the study will adopt a semasiological perspective.

1918-2018. La literature nationale comme projet unificateur

"1918-2018. National Literature as a Unifying Project ● Abstract (original): This paper offers a new approach on the topic of the identity of Romanian Literature as National Literature. I will discuss the case of the referential History of the Romanian Literature from its Origins until Present Day (1941) written by the most important Romanian literary critic and historian G Călinescu. This holistic historical narrative sends to a particular strategy of legitimizing the national literature as a history of literary values. I will argue that his focus on Romanian language as a trademark of Romanian literary identity proves insufficient as there are too many examples which invalidate Călinescu’s theory. I will propose in exchange an alternative, rather relative, but dynamic and integrative perspective: national literature as a concept with a variable geometry. That means, among others, the outcome of a historical metamorphosis, with its multiple borders and changing statutes, also with its modern and pre-modern avatars. We know that the challenges and new conflict between national and supranational brought by globalisation radically reformulate literary national identities and particularly peripheral and semi-peripheral identities, which need to update their roles and strategies of affirmation and preservation. This approach regarding National Literature will open a new dialogue with concepts like Regional Literature and even World Literature (in terms of world system analysis)"

Address pronouns in a diasystematic perspective

Our paper concerns different strategies of communication with respect to formality and politeness, and how these differences relate to the diasystematic dimensions. Our contrastive approach involves forms of address in French and Italian compared to Danish, German, and English norms and usage. Both Romance and Germanic languages have two systems of address pronouns with different levels of formality. There are, however, significant differences in usages in the respective languages, both typological and interlinguistic. Different language areas have different conventions for communication and politeness, and we believe that address forms reflect such socio-cultural differences. Our analyses of these differences are anchored in the diasystematic dimensions as proposed by Eugenio Coseriu, with special focus on the diaphasic variation and its intertwinement with diastratically conditioned factors.

Otto Jespersen (1860-1943) romanista: La rilevanza della sua analisi dei Passive tenses in italiano ed altre lingue

Otto Jespersen (1860-1943) was a Danish linguist, best known for his studies of English, of phonetics and ofgeneral linguistics. In my paper, I introduce a lesser-known side of Jespersen, i.e. as an Italianist and aRomanist. A special focus is on how he deals with the passive tenses in Romance languages, in particular Italianand French. Drawing on the theory developed by the German Romanist Friedrich Diez (1794-1876), whonotably differentiated between perfective and imperfective verbs, and subsequently connecting thisdifferentiation to the general discussion of aspect and Aktionsart around 1900, Jespersen in a few pageselaborates a rather advanced analysis of the passive tenses in the Romance (and some other) languages. Isuggest that Jespersen's statement forestalls an important part of the description of the passive tenses in Italianelaborated by the Danish Italianist (and Romanist) Jørgen Schmitt Jensen (1931-2004) and published in acomprehensive Italian grammar (1990). I further propose that even though Jespersen’s text probably is not adirect source for Schmitt Jensen, it helps understanding the general frame of the latter's presentation of thesubject. Finally, I claim that the relevant pages in Jespersen (1924) are interesting concerning the historiographyof the concept of Aktionsart.

Appunti per una teoria unificata dell'ausiliarizzazione

This article aims at discussing the premises for a unified account of auxiliarisation, here understood as aspecific subcase of grammaticalisation. The passage of Latin HABEO from a lexical verb to a tense-formingauxiliary is certainly one of the most well-studied innovations of Romance languages. Equally familiar are thecases of auxiliarisation of Latin TENEO, Germanic *habhen and *getan, as well as Scandinavian derivativesof Old Norse fà. Such processes follow a similar path, in the sense that they originally select a secondarypredication in the passive voice, which over time is reanalysed as active. At the same time, the governing verbis void of lexical content and turns into an auxiliary, while the implicit agent of the secondary predicate isreinterpreted as the surface subject of the construction. If a unified theory is to be attempted, such an approachshould capture why such a path of change is consistently observed and, moreover, why it seems to be a definingproperty of such auxiliarisation that the verbs involved originally describe possession, reception, or control.Furthermore, ideally the unified theory should account for why the semantic output of these processes variesover time: the earliest cases of auxiliarisation are precisely those involving HABEO/habhen, which give riseto the compound tenses in modern languages. Subsequent cases, however, such as the auxiliarisation ofTENEO/getan etc. do not lead to the formation of compound tenses, but rather to what could be defined ascompound aspects or, sometimes, compound causative constructions. This circumstance, too, requires aprincipled account.

Romantic Lyrics of Dr. Jodha Chandra Sanasam

Dr. Jodha Chandra Sanasam (1944-2021) was an eminent Professor and surgeon of the Regional Institute of Medical Science (RIMS: 1972), Imphal. He was very popular in Manipuri literature both Poetry and Novel. He got the Sahitya Akademi Award, New Delhi in 2012. Some Manipuri scholars remarked him as ‘the second literary incarnation of the first Manipuri poet and novelist, Dr. Kamal (1900-1934).’ ​First of all, I compared with the literary art of Dr. Jodha Chandra Sanasam and Dr. Kamal. Then I critically analysis on his lyrical verse, Ngaseedi Ashengba Haydoklage (Today, I shall tell the truth: 2009) with reference to Dr. Kamal’s novel, MADHABI (1931) and anthology of verses, LEIPARENG (Garland: 1931), English romantic poet, Thomas Moore (1779-1851)’s poem, ‘ The Light of the Other Days’ , Sanskrit epic poet, Kalidasa's MEGHADOOT and Manipuri romantic poet, Khumanthem Ibohal (1924-1988)’s NUNGSI KEINA KADA (To the beloved KEINA: Ballad: 1964), etc. At last, I concluded to give his literary beauties and art forms of Dr. Jodha Chandra Sanasam with some suitable quotations from his above-mentioned book.

The issue of the postpositional article in Balkan sprachbund and the case of Istro-Romanian

This paper aims to investigate the origin, development, and usage of the postpositional articles in Istro-Romanian, one of the Romanian historical dialects, a likewise dislocated member of the Balkan sprachbund. First, based on the available literature, the evolution of the postpositional articles in the Romance languages will be demonstrated, followed by the evolution of the articles in Romanian and Istro-Romanian, and the languages of the Balkan sprachbund. Afterwards will follow a corpus-based analysis of the similarities and dissimilarities regarding the usage of the postpositional articles in Romanian and Istro-Romanian. It will be based on the parallel texts in Romanian and Istro-Romanian from the Densusianu’s and Pușcariu’s collections. To distinguish as accurately as possible the stages of Istro-Romanian articles, Greenberg’s methodology will be used. That is, his cycle of the grammaticalization of the articles will be applied. It is expected that the analysis will show that despite many centuries of foreign influence, the usage of the postpositional articles in Istro-Romanian is congruent to the usage of the postpositional articles in Romanian and other languages of the Balkan sprachbund.

VETERINARY CARE NEEDS IN KENNELS OF BRACHYCEPHALIC AND NON-BRACHYCEPHALIC DOGS - PILOT STUDY

This is a descriptive, observational pilot study, based on the results obtained by applying an original questionnaire addressed to purebred dog breeders, speakers of the French and Romanian languages, regarding the perceived need for medical-veterinary assistance in canine reproduction. 44 answers were obtained (24 in French, 20 in Romanian) about 167 (100%) bitches from 33 brachycephalic and non-brachycephalic dog breeds, aged between 2 and 7 years, of which 75 (44.91 %) declared pregnant. The need for estrus monitoring by a veterinarian varied by group and breed type (68.62% of non-brachycephalic females, 41.66% brachycephalic), "small non-brachycephalic" breeds were monitored more intensively (90.90 %), https://www.uaiasi.ro/revmvis/index_htm_files/Artificial insemination was necessary in 49.33% of the gestation obtained (50.98% in non-brachycephalic breeds; 45.83% in brachycephalic breeds). All the breeders declared ultrasound confirmation of pregnancy, in brachycephalic breeds caesarean section was necessary in 45.8% of cases, post-phttps://www.uaiasi.ro/revmvis/index_htm_files/Artum veterinary control was requested only in 22.7% of cases, more frequently (37.5% of cases) to "large and medium brachycephalic" breeds (76.9% of answers). The puppies from the "giant brachycephalic" breeds were tested by a veterinarian, an aspect declared by 43.8% of the Romanian breeders and only 38.1% of the French respondents. Conclusion: Due to the type of research chosen, the results obtained in the present study cannot be extrapolated to the entire population of dog breeders, but it is a potential means of evaluating the needs felt and expressed by veterinary medical assistance in dog breeding.

O privire asupra maghiarismelor din graiul ardelean al românei băieșilor din Croația

An Overview of the Hungarianisms in the Transylvanian Dialect of Boyash Romanian in Croatia The aim of this paper is to research, based on our own linguistic material, as well as accessible publications, the influence of the Hungarian language on the Transylvanian dialect of Boyash Romanian in Croatia or, more precisely, to identify Hungarianisms that appear in the lexicon. In this regard, it is necessary to distinguish between at least two main categories of Hungarianisms – those that are present also in the Romanian language from Romania and those that are specific only to the Transylvanian dialect of Boyash Romanian spoken in Croatia.

Terminologia religioasă românească și diviziunile confesionale – versiunea ortodoxă și cea greco-catolică a Dumnezeieștii Liturghii

Religious Terminology in Romanian and Confessional Divisions – the Orthodox and Greek Catholic Versions of the Divine Liturgy The articles presents some differences regarding the terminology used by the Romanian Orthodox Church, on the one hand, and the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic, on the other. The analysis is based on the text of the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. The differences concern not only strictly religious terms, but also neutral words. This seems to be the result of a deliberate linguistic policy of the Greek Catholic Church, which often uses different terms than the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Orthodox terms in question were borrowed from Slavonic or Greek, while the Greek Catholic terms are Romanian words inherited from Latin or recent loanwords from Latin and modern Romance languages.

Rarităţi lexicale în Hronograf den începutul lumii (ms. 3517 cca 1658–1661) – analiză în vederea lucrului la Dicţionarul limbii române şi la Dicţionarul etimologic al limbii române, redactate sub egida Academiei Române (Litera C, capăt–chizăşie)

Our list of lexemes that start with C which we extracted from the Chronicle from the Beginning of the World, manuscript no. 3517, comprises around 300 items in total, more than those with A (130 lexemes) and B (108 lexemes) that we have previously analysed. Due to the large volume of our research, we decided to divide the list into two parts. Thus, in the first part of this paper, we are analysing 104 lexemes. Some of these lexemes have been described in our book on the lexis of the Chronicle (Dragomir 2017), in the chapters on words of different origins, on derivation or in connection with other issues related to the lexis, but with no reference to the lexicographical situation in DA and DELR, as we make here, resuming the information presented in the book. These lexemes were selected from the text of The Chronograph on the same grounds we specified in the analysis of the words that begin with the letters A and B and the first part of the letter C and can be used in the compiling of the two academic dictionaries, especially since the second edition of The Romanian Language Dictionary is in progress. Currently, the letters A and B are being edited at the Department of Lexicography of the “Iorgu Iordan – Alexandru Rosetti” Institute of Linguistics from Bucharest, and the letter C is being edited at the Department of Lexicology and Lexicography of the “Alexandru Philippide” Institute of Romanian Philology from Iași.

Some remarks on the lexicographical entry for ierodiacon

In the present study, we aim to provide a critical analysis of the treatment of the word ierodiacon (hierodeacon) in several Romanian dictionaries. Following the investigation of a substantial number of documents, we also intend to show that there was a period in the history of the Romanian language in which a neutralization of the semantic opposition “married deacon (diacon de mir)” / ”monk deacon (diacon călugăr)” took place in some contexts, the term ierodiacon being used for both meanings. This phenomenon was not recorded in the historical dictionary of the Romanian language (relevant for the example under discussion being the old series, DA, coordinated by S. Pușcariu) nor in any other Romanian dictionary that we are aware of. At the end of the study we intend to add some theoretical reflections on the semantic evolution of ierodiacon, also referring to the way in which the entry for this term could be structured in the historical dictionary of the Romanian language.

Reusing the structure of the PORTLEX dictionary to create a contrastive dictionary of Romance languages: a proposal.

This paper proposes the development of a multilingual online dictionary for the Romance languages, called DiCoRom, using an integrative, cross-lingual and pedagogical approach. The dictionary would be based on the database structure and user interface of the existing lexicographic project PORTLEX. The objectives of DiCoRom, its target users and the necessary adaptations to the database and interface are discussed. The paper shows how the structure of PORTLEX can serve as a basis for another lexicographic project, but emphasises the need to redesign the interface to take account of the pedagogical and social orientation of DiCoRom, including the organisation of data and the inclusion of accessible examples for beginners.

Le nom du bourreau en latin et dans les langues romanes

Le présent article revient sur l’étymologie des noms du bourreau en latin et dans les langues romanes et s’interroge sur les moyens lexicaux mis en œuvre dans ces langues pour contourner le tabou qui condamnait au silence les mots le désignant originellement. On y explique ainsi que les langues romanes ont eu recours aux euphémismes créés par des tours périphrastiques, métonymiques ou métaphoriques et par des emprunts à des langues étrangères. On y propose en outre une étymologie nouvelle du latin crux ; l’étymologie de ce mot, obscure jusqu’alors, se révèle être un dérivé inverse du verbe lat. cruciō « mettre en croix, supplicier, torturer, tourmenter ».

Juan Valverde de Amusco: Pioneering the Transfer of Post-Vesalian Anatomy

This article delves into the life and accomplishments of Juan Valverde de Amusco (c. 1525–c. 1587), a Spanish anatomist. Specifically, it focuses on his book titled HISTORIA de la composición del cuerpo humano. The book was the first anatomy opus published after Andreas Vesalius’ De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, written in a Romance language, the Castilian Spanish language, making it the most renowned post-Vesalian anatomy book in Europe and beyond during the 16th and 17th centuries. Compiling complete editions and reproductions of figures, it had 19 editions and several translations. One of its principal contributions was the initial graphical representation of the stapes ossicle. It provided the first accurate description of the pulmonary circulation, vomer bone, and four extraocular rectus muscles. Throughout the book, Valverde corrected numerous of Vesalius’ anatomical observations. HISTORIA de la composición del cuerpo humano was the first anatomy book to use chalcographic illustrations, which are of superior anatomical quality than those printed from engraved wood in Andreas Vesalius’ book. Next, many anatomy textbooks of that time incorporated Valverde’s book illustrations. Valverde’s book was practical, timely, and well referenced, making it a valuable resource for scholars and non-scholars. The conclusion is that Juan Valverde de Amusco merits a place as a pioneer in scientific knowledge transfer.

The Influence of N+N English Loanwords on Romanian Morphosyntax Facilitated by Cognates

This study examines the morphosyntactic influences of English on Romanian, through English compound loanwords of the type noun/adjective-modifier + noun-head (N/AMOD + NHEAD). Some of these loanwords undergo a transformation process in the Romanian language, which involves changing the English head with a Romanian cognate (e.g. stand-up comedy becomes stand-up comedie), but especially changing the order of the elements of the compound so that two variants coexist: NMOD + NHEAD (e.g. stand-up comedie) and NHEAD + NMOD (e.g. comedie stand-up). These variants, if interpreted as having free order, can create a new syntactic pattern with English characteristics. In order to assess the degree of expansion of this phenomenon, the evolution of 241 compound loanwords (listed in the Annex) is followed quantitatively and qualitatively.

Using Morphological and Etymological Approaches In Teaching Foreign Language

Etymology is the study of the history of the form of words and, by extension, the origin and evolution of their semantic meaning across time. It is a subfield of historical linguistics, and draws upon comparative semantics, morphology, semiotics, and phonetics. Etymology refers to the origin or derivation of a word.(also known as a lexical change) Etymology is important in teaching because it gives both the teacher and the learner the ability to understand the interconnectedness of history with language. Understanding the interconnectedness of words with each other and the way that words have brought people together and divided them over the centuries has distinctive effects on a pedagogical process. Etymology is the key that unlocks both knowledge and a love of knowledge. Many English learners have their first language as one that is a Latin-based Romance language as Spanish. Many others have a language that is commonly spoken in that is also a Latin-based language. When we teach vocabulary, including the etymology of the word makes it much more likely that our students who are learning English will understand the word better and more quickly. Even students who are not native speakers of a Latin-based language can still benefit from etymology because etymology is the ultimate two-for-one special. When you know one prefix, you probably get access to dozens or even hundreds of applications of that prefix. In this way, etymology becomes somewhat like a master key where, by teaching a single definition we unlock that word, but by teaching the etymology, we unlock many. With etymology, learners start to understand the interconnectedness of language and culture, as well as the interconnectedness of history with language. They had better understand the interconnectedness of words with each other and the way that words have brought people together and divided them over the centuries. Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words and forms a core part of linguistic study today. The term (morphology ) is Greek and is a make-up of morph-meaning “shape, form’”, and –ology which means “ the study of something”. For English teachers, etymology is a threshold concept, alongside its linguistic brother morphology (morphology being the study of forms of words, including prefixes, root words and suffixes, etc.), Many methodologists and teachers do believe that knowledge of etymology facilitates the guessing, recognizing, understanding, and remembering the meanings of words and that this approach is the very heart of word study. The paper presented the use of morphological and etymological approach in teaching foreign language.

Stable Autochthonous Polylexical Units with Extralinguistic Motivation in the Motivational Phraseological Dictionary

The problem of the motivation of the linguistic sign is more and more in sight of European linguistics, in the direction of even creating a new discipline, motivational linguistics. In the Motivational Phraseological Dictionary, Chisinau, 2023, whose author is the undersigned, it is proposed to conceive the genesis of stable polylexical units by indicating the type of motivation - the extralinguistic one, as well as by the aspect of their origin, they being indigenous and general. Indigenous polylexical units refer to the realities of the surrounding world: what describe daily life; what concerns professions and trades; with reference to man's exterior world; related to fauna; having military lexis; related to natural phenomena; taboo expressions. In the given communication, we will focus on some components of the given polylexical units that express some indigenous Romanian symbols and motifs, they being part of the language culture of our people. The motivation behind the origin of some stable polylexical units (SPU) is explained by the fact that they appeared on their own land, being indigenous, having their origin in the Romanian language, even if they have counterparts in other languages. When they appeared, SPU were initially denominative language units, motivated, when they named certain concrete facts from the surrounding world, or connotative units, motivated, in the case that the speaker expresses his/her attitude towards a certain fact in life. With the time, along with the evolution of language and society, some motivated SPU have remained motivated, their components or one of them keeping the meaning. The explanation lies in the fact that only these language units can name certain lexical and grammatical values, contribute to the elimination of equivocation, etc.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of patients diagnosed with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Understanding the profound impact of a viral pandemic on the mental health of patients with autoimmune diseases undergoing biological treatment is crucial for future insights. This cross-sectional case-control study aimed to assess the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Romania, spanning from November 2022 to March 2023. A specialized self-report questionnaire in the Romanian language was developed to measure the multifaceted effects of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of these patients. The findings revealed a significant decline in the mental health of patients with IBD during the pandemic compared to the control group. Patients with IBD exhibited elevated levels of anxiety and concern regarding the virus. Intriguingly, despite the challenges, the vaccination rate was notably higher among patients with IBD, indicating a proactive approach to safeguarding their health. The study also shed light on various coping mechanisms employed by patients with IBD to navigate the pandemic-related restrictions. Engaging in activities such as social media and computer games emerged as effective strategies for managing heightened stress and limitations. In conclusion, the emergence of a novel viral pathogen represents a significant distress factor for patients with autoimmune diseases. Recognizing and comprehending these consequences enhances our understanding of the intricate interplay between physical and mental health and equips authorities with valuable insights to better manage future epidemics or viral outbreaks. This study underscores the importance of tailored support systems and strategies for patients with autoimmune diseases during global health crises.

Supplementing e-learning systems with adaptive content generation elements

The paper describes automatic summarization as one of the topic that helps elearning system to be more adaptable on content generation. This article treat automatic summarization with approaches that provide the ability to summarize texts for different languages. In the case of this article, it is about the English, Romanian and Russian languages. The paper contains both the description of the problem and different approaches already used by other researchers. Next, the data with which the automatic summarization experiments were carried out were described. The metrics with which we can evaluate the quality of the summarization result were presented. Finally, some thoughts were formulated regarding the results obtained in the experiment.