CSASG · Comparative Study on Ancient Syriac Grammars
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-06-15 → 2018-06-14
- EU contribution
- €173,076
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Comparative Study on Ancient Syriac Grammars
The project aims at providing a new look on Syriac linguistic thinking, examining its correlation with its Greek and Arabic models and sources, but also re-evaluating its originality. Living as a minority for the largest part of their history, Syriac people always experienced intense multilingualism and multiculturalism. Thus, throughout the Middle Eastern states, they represented a “transversal” minority, transferring eastwards the Classical heritage to the Arabs and the Persians. In spite of its historical and cultural relevance, Syriac grammatical corpus is understudied and needs to be investigated with modern instruments and approach. The research will be carried on following an inductive text-based methodology, by translating new inedited materials and by studying them according to modern linguistic and epistemological categories. The project has two main areas of intervention: 1. Creation of an online open-source database of grammatical manuscripts 2. Translation and comparative study of the Syriac grammars by three authors of the 12th-13th century: Bar Zu'bi, Bar Shakko and Barhebraeus. The final goal of the research is to produce a monograph illustrating the linguistic content of ancient Syriac grammars, both from the point of view of the description of language structure and of the history of scientific thinking. At present, Syriac cultural heritage is severely endangered by the dramatic events that are affecting a vast part of the territories where they historically lived: Syria and upper Mesopotamia. Studying the development of Syriac thinking can cast some light on the intercultural mediation that Syriac Christians have been operating for centuries.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The present project regards the development of ancient Syriac grammar, in its connection with the Greek model diffused in the Middle East during the Late Antiquity and with the Arabic linguistic theories developed in the Middle Ages. The aim of the project is to promote a new unprejudiced approach to the study of Syriac grammatical texts, developing a text-based methodology that could in principle be applied to the ancient grammars of any linguistic tradition. The action proposed is a comparative study of the grammatical works by three prominent Syriac grammarians of the 12th-13th (Bar Zu‘bi, Bar Shakko and Barhebraeus) in their mutual correlations and in their relationship with the Greek and Arabic grammatical models. The research will be conducted with a text-based approach, following an inductive method, beginning from the reading and translation of the grammatical works of the three authors involved. The grammars will be hence analysed according to the following main criteria: inter-textual connections (concerning terminology, literary examples and quotations), theoretical framing of the linguistic phenomena described. The project includes the creation of an open source on-line database of Syriac grammatical manuscripts. This is an indispensable research tool in the field of Syriac grammars, due to the scarcity of complete and up-to-date editions and translations of the original texts. The final goal of the research is to produce a monograph illustrating the linguistic content of ancient Syriac grammars, both from the point of view of the description of language structure and of the history of scientific thinking.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisCoordinatorFrance
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union