Tense and aspect in Xhosa

This dissertation investigates the semantics of each tense and aspect in Xhosa. Since tense and aspect perform important pragmatic functions, the analysis takes into account the correlation between the verb and the wider discourse in which it is embedded. Tense reflects the temporal relation between the time of the utterance (speech time) and an interval the speaker makes the assertion about (reference time). The Remote Past and the Remote Future tenses differ from their Recent/Immediate counterparts in that they denote events which occurred in a significantly different situation than the speech time and/or events in the surrounding discourse. Aspect does not only indicate the relation between the time occupied by the real world event and the reference time chosen by the speaker. The Perfective aspect represents an event as a unique change-of-state that pertains to a single point on the timeline which at the same time functions as the reference time. By contrast, for the Imperfective aspect temporally links the event to a contextually provided reference time, e.g. the utterance time, a time adverbial, a period of time previously introduced in the preceding discourse, or the interlocutors’ shared experience. At the pragmatic level, the Perfective aspect tends to introduce an event’s resulting state into the discourse, whereas the Imperfective aspect tends to rule it out. Like the Imperfective aspect, the Anterior and the Prospective aspects assert an event’s occurrence from a contextually defined reference time. They refer to the consequent and the preparatory states of an event, respectively. On the pragmatic level, the Anterior aspect may also indicate that the truth-conditionality of the event’s resulting state is contradicted in the immediate discourse. This study shows that tense and aspect temporally represent different means of temporally assigning an event to a particular portion of the timeline. I further argue that aspect indicates whether the reference time is provided in the context (Imperfective, Anterior, Prospective) or whether it is introduced by the verb itself (Perfective). Furthermore, this study shows that aspect exhibits a pragmatic function by laying focus on different parts of the event that are relevant in the upcoming discourse.

Enculturation and the historical origins of number words and concepts

In the literature on enculturation—the thesis according to which higher cognitive capacities result from transformations in the brain driven by culture—numerical cognition is often cited as an example. A consequence of the enculturation account for numerical cognition is that individuals cannot acquire numerical competence if a symbolic system for numbers is not available in their cultural environment. This poses a problem for the explanation of the historical origins of numerical concepts and symbols. When a numeral system had not been created yet, people did not have the opportunity to acquire number concepts. But, if people did not have number concepts, how could they ever create a symbolic system for numbers? Here I propose an account of the invention of symbolic systems for numbers by anumeric people in the remote past that is compatible with the enculturation thesis. I suggest that symbols for numbers and number concepts may have emerged at the same time through the re-semantification of words whose meanings were originally non-numerical.

Imbrication Patterns of Lunda

This paper examines the imbrication process in Lunda. It is widely acknowledged in the literature that imbrication in Bantu languages is mainly triggered by the perfective or past tense suffix (Bastin 1983). In Lunda, however, this morphophonological process is not only conditioned by the remote past tense inflectional suffix but also caused by derivational extensions that include the applicative, the causative, and to a lesser extent the reciprocal affix when they are attached to a large number of verb bases. Imbrication typically occurs with verb bases containing what is known as an extension, whether productive or frozen. Unlike many Bantu languages, this phenomenon always results in the deletion of the base final consonant and the consonant of the suffix survives. This segmental loss leads to either vowel coalescence between the two adjacent vowels or gliding

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. A MIRACLE IN THE BUDDHIST PILGRIM’S WORLD OUTLOOK (5TH - 7TH CENTURIES)

Miracle tales are often found in the texts of Chinese pilgrims who visited India in the 5th – 7th centuries. The role of “miracle” in the world outlook and the text of Buddhist pilgrim looks also structurally determined. One can trace a certain consistency in “embedding” stories of miracles into the overall structure of the text. Being associated with various sacred objects these stories form stable relationships with them and each category of shrines (stupa, statue, cave, etc.) has its own stories about the miracles. The obvious function of “miracles” marking the places of events of the sacred past is to “overcome” the length of time which separates past and present, what looks typical for mythological way of thinking. Miraculous phenomena connect the devotee with the sacred time of the tradition, include him in the attraction zone of deeds of the remote past, make it possible to tangibly feel an impact of the past. In that impact, the degree of holiness of the doer of ancient deeds recognized by the adept as well as the degree of his approach to a world of the true, are of decisive importance in this influence. The possession of “supernatural powers” (ṛddhi) is one of the topics on which attention is also focused in the narratives of the pilgrim.

INEQUALITY AND RIGHT-WING POPULISM

According to Cambridge dictionary, in 2017 the most popular word was Populism. What is Populism? – Is it achievement of our era, or its roots comes from our remote past? According to scientific research, populism existed in ancient Roman period as an ideological political movement known as the Populist Party. It expressed the interests of ordinary people. Today populism is a natural phenomenon of Democratic political regimes. Populist perception is a special democratic component of political culture, that is realized by the population who are involved in political movements. The amplitude of its usage is so diverse that it’s difficult to find an exact scientific definition. Today populism is a main political phenomenon and is mainly used during pre-election periods, political debates and with the purpose of convincing or manipulating consciousness of society. In addition, political leaders often use aggressive national-populist rhetoric.

Introduction

In 1856, George Eliot (1819–80) lamented the proliferation of ‘the least readable [variety] of silly women’s novels, […] the modern-antique species’, specifically criticising authors’ lack of ‘accurate and minute knowledge’.1 She favoured instead the writer of the rare, well-researched novel, a work that rested upon a foundation of scholarly archaeological information and whose ‘genius […] familiarized itself with all the relics of an ancient period’; this type of novel, she claimed, ‘can sometimes, by the force of its sympathetic divination, restore the missing notes in the “music of humanity,” and reconstruct the fragments into a whole which will really bring the remote past nearer to us’....

The history of tense and aspect in the Sogeram family

This paper presents an overview of the tens-aspect system in the Sogeram languages of Papua New Guinea. Taking the Proto-Sogeram reconstruction in Daniels (2015, 2020) as a starting point, I outline the innovations that have taken place in daughter languages and discuss the patterns of change that emerge. The study confirms a variety of known cross-linguistic tendencies, such as the common occurrence of the analytic-to-synthetic and aspect-to-tense pathways of change. More notable trends include the diachronic stability of the present and most remote past tenses; the instability of the middle pasts and future; the stability of the relative semantic ordering of tenses; the absence of a pathway leading from relative-tense to absolute-tense marking; and the ability of innovative tenses to be inserted anywhere into the five-way tense system of Proto-Sogeram. The study also illustrates how featural systems can interact over time, at first by introducing a new feature value in one system which can combine with values from another (as with the Manat habitual), and then, if the featural distinction is lost, creating a pattern of distributed exponence (as in Mum).

El mito y las entidades sobrenaturales entre los nahuas de Xolotla, Sierra Norte de Puebla / Myth and supernatural entities among Nahuas of Xolotla, Sierra Norte of Puebla

Entre los nahuas de Xolotla, en el municipio de Pahuatlán de Valle, ubicado en la Sierra Norte de Puebla, existe una antigua tradición oral que nos remite a un conjunto de seres sobrenaturales agrupados bajo el concepto de chichipahuatzitzi o ‘espíritus puros’. Estas entidades están encarnadas en distintos fenómenos naturales como los rayos (tlapetancame), las nubes (mexhuacante) y el agua (ahuacante); la Sirena (Zoliman) también está incluida en ellos. Otro personaje que forma parte del repertorio de la sobrenaturaleza es el Coixehuatl (el Dueño del Monte). A este conjunto igualmente debemos agregar a la tlahuepoche (la bruja), que es uno de los seres más característicos de la tradición oral indígena. A partir del mito y de lo que los xolotecos han escuchado de los más viejos, se puede conocer su apariencia física, el procedimiento para transformarse en guajolote, la manera en que ataca a sus víctimas y las formas de contrarrestar sus acciones nocivas; incluso, un mito referente a la tlahuepoche la ubica como la esposa de uno de los tlapetancame. Este artículo tiene dos objetivos: 1) esbozar una reconstrucción del antiguo panteón nahua xoloteco; y 2) interpretar los mitos de la tlahuepoche con base en el sistema indígena de eras, por medio de los cuales los contenidos culturales autóctonos han sido desplazados a un pasado remoto, que resultan inoperantes en el contexto actual.Abstract: Among the Nahuas of Xolotla, in the municipality of Pahuatlán de Valle, in the Sierra Norte de Puebla, there is an ancient oral tradition that refers us to an ensemble of supernatural beings grouped under the concept of chichipahuatzitzi, the ‘pure spirits’. These entities are embodied in different natural phenomena such as lightning bolts (tlapetancame), clouds (mexhuacante) and water (ahuacante). The Sirena (Zoliman) is included as well. Another character that is part of the repertoire of the supernature is the Coixehuatl (the Owner of the Mountain). This repertoire comprises also the tlahuepoche (the witch), who is one of the most characteristic beings of indigenous oral tradition. From the myth and what the Xolotecos have heard from the older ones, one can know the physical appearance of the tlahuepoche, the procedure to become a turkey, the way in which it attacks its victims and the ways to counteract its harmful actions; even, a myth referring to the tlahuepoche places her as the wife of one of the tlapetancame. This article has two objectives: In the first place, to outline a reconstruction of the ancient Nahua Xoloteco pantheon. Secondly, to interpret the myths of the tlahuepoche based on the indigenous system of eras, in so doing the native cultural contents have been displaced to a remote past, because they have become inoperative in the current context.Keywords: myth; supernatural entities; tlahuepoche; Nahuas; Pahuatlán.Résumé : Chez les Nahuas de Xolotla, dans la municipalité de Pahuatlán de Valle, dans la Sierra Nord de Puebla, il existe une ancienne tradition orale qui fait référence à un ensemble d’êtres surnaturels regroupés dans le concept de chichipahuatzitzi, les ‘esprits purs’. Ces entités sont incarnées dans plusieurs phénomènes naturels comme les foudres (tlapetancame), les nuages (mexhuacante) et l’eau (ahuacante) ; la Sirena (Zoliman) est aussi incluse dans ce groupe. Un autre personnage qui fait partie du répertoire du monde surnaturel est le Coixehuatl (le Maître de la Montagne). À cette liste il faut également ajouter la tlahuepoche (la sorcière), qui est l’un des êtres les plus caractéristiques de la tradition orale autochtone. A partir du mythe et de ce que les Nahuas de Xolotla ont écouté des personnes les plus âgées, on peut connaître l’apparence physique de la tlahuepoche, la procédure pour se transformer en dindon, la manière d’attaquer ses victimes et les façons de contre ses actions nocives; un mythe qui fait référence à la tlahuepoche la situe même comme l’épouse d’un des tlapetancame. Cet article a deux objectifs : en premier lieu esquisser une reconstruction de l’ancien panthéon Nahua de Xolotla ; et en deuxiòme lieu interpréter les mythes de la tlahuepoche sur la base du système indigène des époques, grâce aux quelles les contenus culturels autochtones ont été déplacés vers un passé distant, qui devient inopérant dans le contexte actuel.Mots-clés : mythe ; entités surnaturelles ; tlahuepoche ; Nahuas ; Pahuatlán.

Augustan aetia

Livy, in his ab urbe condita, makes it clear that origins are subject to change: to growth and development, or to decay and decline. This temporal framework is closely connected with the circularity of exemplarity, of deeds that can be re-enacted again and again. This draws attention to the fact that Livy himself, by writing this aetiological account, also acts in an exemplary way, exhorting his readers to do something similar for the city they see preserved ‘even now’. In Vergil’s Aeneid, the aetion of the Game of Troy in Book 5 brings home the message that what had been spoken as fatum in the remote past is now being fulfilled in the Augustan present. Yet with the so-called reconciliation of Juno, the aetion of the lusus Troiae appears in a new light: it becomes an act of naming that is not to be repeated—a thing of the past. The aetion, ultimately, signals both a strong sense of arrival, while also pointing to the fact that, eventually, time will have to move on. In Ovid’s Fasti, time becomes even more dynamic. In the constant sequence of the days of the Roman calendar, each new ‘now’ constructed by the poet is soon supplanted by a new day and a new ‘now’. However, another axis of time comes into play here as well: the eternity of the city of Rome, which is guaranteed by its closeness to the gods. Aetia form the points at which the passage of days, the time of history, and the eternal power of the gods are brought into contact.