Questions tagged [philology]

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Old English weak noun 'Sweora'

I've been reading about diphthongization and i umlaut of diphthongs and I came across the example of the OE word for 'neck'. I have been led to understand that: the original vowel is 'i'. -rh- ...
ThomMallam's user avatar
5 votes
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Do the "gibberish lines" in the Charition farce reflect a Dravidian language?

The Charition farce (P.Oxy. III, 413) is a Greek theatre play which tells the story of a girl, Χαριτίων Charitíōn, who is held captive in a coastal kingdom of India. The only manuscript of this ...
Tochtli's user avatar
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What is the technical term for glosses on a text that disagree with the text?

What is the technical term for glosses on a text that disagree with the text? For example, in Hebrew we tend to use the term השגות to describe Raabad's "objections" to Alfasi's and ...
Reb Chaim HaQoton's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
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Can someone explain to me the Zipf–Mandelbrot law?

I really can't understand. It's about linguistics and I can't understand anything because there are mathematical formulas in it that I can't understand at all. Can anyone explain this with ...
Sami Bülbül's user avatar
1 vote
5 answers
643 views

Is there a shared word for "word" and "thing" in any language other than Hebrew?

The Hebrew word דבר has a dual meaning because it can mean "word/speak" and also "thing." Contemporary Kabbalists use this dual meaning to argue for a metaphysical connection ...
Reb Chaim HaQoton's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
854 views

Who first said that no two words mean the exact same?

A friend of mine told me that German philologists (whom he did not name) in the 18th century were the first ones to argue that in any natural language no two words can mean exactly the same. Is this ...
Reb Chaim HaQoton's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
157 views

Attempts at distributed deciphering of Linear A

Possibly related: Current prospective efforts in the decipherment of ancient scripts Are there any active attempts at coding and indexing all available examples of Linear A in a manner that would ...
Paul Cauchon's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
252 views

The Correct Research Methodology To Substantiate If an Expression is an Idiom?

Related: - Does linguistics have a concept of "set phrase" with a meaning differing from "idiom"? - In the Gospels, Can “Day of:” the Passover - be Interpreted Idiomatically? 1. ...
elika kohen's user avatar