1,720,961 research outputs found
‘Minds’ in ‘Homer’: A quantitative psycholinguistic comparison of the Iliad and Odyssey
No full text“My child, why do you weep? What grief has come upon your phrenes (φρένες)? Speak—conceal not in noos (νόος) in order that we both may know,” so speaks Achilles’ mother Thetis as the fierce warrior weeps tears of wrath on the beaches of Troy (Il. 1.362-363). To be sure, noos likely translates as mind in English in the above passage. However, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey include a total of eight such words that may be rendered as mind, heart, or spirit: noos (νόος), thymos (θυμός), psykhe (ψυχή), phrenes (φρένες), prapides (πρᾰπῐ́δες), kardia (κᾰρδῐ́ᾱ), kradie (κρᾰδῐ́η), ker (κῆρ), and etor (ἦτορ). This complicated situation with Greek translations of mind is at the heart of this study’s empirical investigation. To wit, what is mind in the Il. compared to the Od.? The present investigation sought to quantify and compare the use of mental language in the Homeric epics by means of computational linguistics. Prior scholarly investigations have been mostly qualitative; the few quantitative studies conducted utilized miniscule sample sizes of English translations. Two studies were conducted. 17 translators who translated both the Il. and Od. into English were selected (within-subjects design). The texts were sanitized and compiled for lexical frequency analyses in Voyant, a digital linguistic analysis tool. Study 1 compared how often mental language terms appeared in both works. Results showed that total word density of mental language increased significantly from the Il. to the Od. in both English translations as well as in the original Greek version. Study 2 compiled an English glossary of mental language terms and counted the frequencies for the 34 total works. A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare the mean mental language densities of the Il. and Od. across 17 translators. There was a significant difference in the mean densities for the Il. (M = 68.2, SD = 8.9) and Od. (M = 91.9, SD = 11.6) conditions; t(16) = -17.798, N = 17, p < .001, d = -4.317. Further correlational tests as well as ANCOVA were conducted in order to determine if various factors could explain the large effect size. No significant results were observed or relevant. All hypotheses were supported. These data suggest that the Od. contains much more mental language than the Il. Implications and limitations are discussed
When Art Betrays Mythology: Acquitting Cronus (Κρόνος) in Goya's Saturn
Get PDFFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a famous Spanish painter who is credited with painting a work known as Saturn Devouring One of His Sons. This work was one of over ten others known as the ‘Black Paintings,’ which were painted on the walls of his Quinta home in Spain. The painting’s contents have been widely accepted as depicting a deity named Saturn, whose Greek equivalent is Cronus (Κρόνος). The concomitant mythological story is the Greek cosmogonic myth known as the Theogony, attributed to Hesiod (ca. 700 BCE). The title and attribution stated above were assigned posthumously, not by Goya himself. No other authorship sources seem to be available. Prior investigations have relied on psychological inferences about Goya. The present investigation adopted a mythological mode of analysis, wherein the contents of Hesiod’s Theogony in the original Greek and English translation were compared with the Saturn painting’s depiction. All three posited hypotheses were supported: (1) prior investigators seemed to rely on psychological analyses concerned with Goya’s mental state, despite a lack of objective evidence from the time period in question; (2) textual evidence from Hesiod’s Theogony did not provide support for Cronus being the figure depicted in the Saturn painting, and; (3) Grendel’s depiction in Beowulf did align with the Saturn painting’s contents, textually and graphically. Further probing was conducted with regard to whether Goya could have profited from the materials and concepts found in the manuscript during his lifetime. The Beowulf manuscript was available to an artist between 1820-1823 and the plot of Beowulf was written about in European publications. Finally, the Beowulf manuscript’s contents included the Biblical story of Judith and Beowulf in the same spine, which corresponds to the adjacent location of the Judith and Saturn paintings in Goya’s Quinta home. Implications and limitations are discussed
"Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld": A centennial survey of scholarship, artifacts, and translations
No full textAbstractAn ancient Sumerian proverb may be read as “good fortune [is embedded in] organisation and wisdom.” 1 The present centennial survey is solely about organizing the last one hundred years of scholarship for a Sumerian afterlife myth named “Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld.” The initial discovery of artifacts with snippets of the myth can be dated to as early as 1889. English translations of the myth emerged around 1920 and were followed by numerous archaeological expeditions and subsequent translation efforts. Such efforts, by many scholars and institutions, resulted in an authoritative 2001 version of the myth published by the University of Oxford via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). The 2001 version, titled “Inana’s descent to the nether world” is 412 lines long and utilizes over fifty cuneiform artifacts (sources). The impact of this work has been mainstream and interdisciplinary interest in Inanna, the myth, and her role in antiquity. However, the technical nature of studying ancient Sumer may alienate a broader audience. The survey contained herein attempts to organize and explain the key people, concepts, events, and institutions involved with the discovery of “Inanna’s Descent.” Non-technical readers can expect to learn how and why we arrived at the likely complete translation we have today. Light background information and a chronology of scholarly work are followed by a brief discussion on promising areas of further research. The appendix contains a comprehensive catalog of referenced artifact data.[1] Jeremy A. Black and Graham E. Cunningham, “Proverbs: Collection 1,” The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), University of Oxford (1998-2003), last modified June 13, 2002, http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/proverbs/t.6.1.01.html. [Segment A, No. 25]DedicationFor HueyContentsFiguresTablesIntroductionBackgroundScholarship Chronology Discovery and Initial Publication (1889-1919) More Artifacts and Assignments (1920-1934) Kramer’s First Wave (1935-1951) New Artifacts and Commentary (1952-1973) The First Semi-Complete Translation (1974-1996) The Digital Age (1997-2006) Current Scholarship (2007-2019)The Future of ID (2020 and Beyond)ConclusionAppendix A: Artifacts Table and VisualizationsAppendix B: All Artifact DataAppendix C: Translations of “Inanna’s Descent”BibliographyFiguresFigure 1.1. Sumer in MesopotamiaFigure 1.2. Cylinder Seal VA 243Figure 1.3. Mask of WarkaFigure 1.4. Warka VaseFigure 1.5. Inanna’s Family TreeFigure 1.6. Table illustrating the simplification of cuneiform signsFigure 1.7. Artifact terminology tableFigure 1.8. Three of the ‘big five’ scholars of IDFigure 2.1. Artifact CBS 9800Figure 2.2. Artifact YPM BC 018686 (formerly YBC 4621)Figure 2.3. Artifact UET VI 9 (6/1 9)Figure 2.4. Sladek’s published artifactsTablesTable 1.1. Artifact waterfall view of cuneiform sources for “Inanna’s Descent” (abridged)Table 2.1. Detail artifact table for “Inanna’s Descent”Table 2.2. Artifact waterfall view of cuneiform sources for “Inanna’s Descent” (full)Table 3.1. Top translation publications of “Inanna’s Descent” (1900-2019)*UpdatesFeb. 2020: Per inquiries, I uploaded a compressed (reduced size) version of the PDF file.--Boban DedovićUniversity of Maryland, College ParkReleased on May 22, 2019</div
Allo: A Modern Digital Dictionary Platform for Ancient Languages
No full textAncient languages matter. They connect us to our ancestors and draw attention from many fields
of study. Despite overwhelming interest, the practical study of ancient languages is usually
limited to persons with access to training and resources. For introductory students, the dictionary
is usually located in the appendix of the assigned grammar book. For advanced study, many
ancient languages have one or more physically large, expensive, inaccessible, and difficult to use
dictionaries. A systematic review of both print and digital dictionaries for eight ancient
languages yielded three recurring challenges: accessibility, usability, and scope. To illustrate: the
Oxford Latin Dictionary contains 2,400 pages with tiny font and weighs 9.1 pounds. The Brill
Dictionary of Ancient Greek is similar; and, digital access to both requires institutional
affiliation. The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, although digitized, is comprised of over twenty
volumes. In languages like Ancient Egyptian, Akkadian, and Sumerian, yet another difficulty is
added. Vital dictionaries for these languages require a separate publication of sign lists to
understand the script. In many cases, these resources are hand-written in French or German.
While the Internet has helped with respect to distribution of some of these materials, the
challenges noted above—particularly usability—remain. This is not to say that these resources
are inadequate or their creators inferior; rather, there exist hitherto unexplored opportunities to
leverage the Internet in order that trade-offs are mitigated. It is therefore necessary to reconsider
the goals and priorities of digital dictionaries.
Enter Allo–a modern dictionary platform for ancient languages. Each dictionary contains 1,000
high-frequency words. It is designed to be accessible, user-friendly, and suitable for advanced
users. To accessibility: we offer it online, charge nothing, and do not require registration. To
usability: the interface is optimized for tablet and mobile devices via our design-oriented
approach. Because we regarded speed and search as the most critical goals, features like
autocomplete, caching, and a recommendation engine are fully integrated. These features may
reduce the time it takes to find a given entry by orders of magnitude; based on a small user study,
up to 50 times faster than a print book and 5 times faster than a PDF file. To content scope: all
entries are aggregated such that they include both a beginner and advanced resource. The
federated, or aggregated, model we chose allows us to make updates when new resources are
released. Each entry contains between 30–50 individual data fields. Full page images of original
source materials and cursor-zooming are built in. Advanced users can find grammatical details,
tables of forms, usage frequency statistics, example sentences, and a comprehensive but compact
grammar from authoritative sources. We demonstrate the benefits of this approach in our first
complete language: Allo Latin, a digital Classical Latin–to–English dictionary kindly provided
on https://allo.conscious.ai/latin.
Our experience suggests that digital dictionaries must be aggregations of information about a
given entry and packaged in a clean user interface. Future innovation likely requires intense
cooperation among three concerned parties: a technologist, lexicographer, and language expert.</p
Dynamic Camouflage in Sepia officinalis: Reproductive Versus Foraging Trade-Offs
No full text1.1 Research Purpose.The European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is a marine mollusk widely recognized for its ability to quickly change both the color and texture of its skin. Unlike other organisms that can disguise themselves partially, S. officinalis has the capacity to camouflage itself completely to almost any marine environment. Its bodily plasticity is also superb because it can change its shape. This ability is easily understood with respect to its evolutionary value in foraging and self-defense. However, the role that this trait plays with respect to mating and reproduction is less understood. Insofar as may be observed, S. officinalis’ dynamic camouflage (DC) likely requires trade-offs between foraging and reproductive utility, such that benefits for one come at the expense of another.1.2. Nature of Inquiry and Ecological Scope.The present paper is an inquiry into the nature of DC used by S. officinalis, in order to understand its trade-offs with respect to reproductive versus foraging utility. The scope of this inquiry is well suited for parsing into two distinct ecological topics, each taken up in turn. First, it is beneficial to understand the extent to which DC is used in mating versus foraging activities—that is, its relevance with respect to natural versus sexual selection.1 Second, it must be determined if DC plays a primary, secondary, or tertiary role in each activity. Knowledge of these two areas provides a vantage point whereby the life history trait trade-offs may be seen more clearly.1.3. Research Structure.First, I will provide an overview of S. officinalis and its dynamic camouflage. Next, I will discuss how this trait is used in both reproductive and foraging contexts. Finally, I will provide a discussion which compares and contrasts these use cases by offering several observed trade-offs. No original data is being provided; instead, all findings will be based on prior empirical studies, which were conducted by respected investigators.</div
When Art Betrays Mythology: Acquitting Cronus (Κρόνος) in Goya’s Saturn
No full textFrancisco José de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828) was a famous Spanish painter who is credited with painting a work titled Saturn Devouring One of His Sons. This work was one of over ten others known as the “Black Paintings,” which were painted on the walls of his Quinta home in Spain. The painting’s contents have been widely accepted as depicting a deity named Saturn, whose Greek equivalent is Cronus (Κρόνος). It is widely believed that the painting depicts a passage from the Greek mythological story known as the Theogony, attributed to Hesiod (ca. 700 BCE). The title and attribution stated above were assigned posthumously, not by Goya himself. No other authorship sources seem to be available. Prior investigations have relied on psychological inferences about Goya. The present investigation conducted an exhaustive literature review and then compared the painting's contents to Greek and English versions of Hesiod's Theogony. All three posited hypotheses were supported: (a) prior investigators seemed to rely on psychological analyses concerned with Goya’s mental state, despite a lack of objective evidence from the time period in question; (b) textual evidence from Hesiod’s Theogony did not provide support for Cronus being the figure depicted in the Saturn painting, and; (c) Grendel’s depiction in Beowulf aligned with the Saturn painting’s contents, textually and graphically. Further probing was conducted with regard to whether Goya could have profited from the materials and concepts found in the manuscript during his lifetime. The Beowulf manuscript was available to an artist between 1820-1823, and the plot of Beowulf was written about in European publications. Finally, the Beowulf manuscript’s contents included the Biblical story of Judith and Beowulf in the same spine, which corresponds to the adjacent location of the Judith and Saturn paintings in Goya’s Quinta home. Implications and limitations are discussed. </p
‘Minds’ in ‘Homer’: A quantitative psycholinguistic comparison of the <em>Iliad</em> and <em>Odyssey</em>
No full text“My child, why do you weep? What grief has come upon your phrenes (φρένες)? Speak— conceal not in noos (νόος) in order that we both may know,” so speaks Achilles’ mother Thetis as the fierce warrior weeps tears of wrath on the beaches of Troy (Il. 1.362-363). To be sure, noos likely translates as mind in English in the above passage. However, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey include a total of eight such words that may be rendered as mind, heart, or spirit: noos (νόος), thymos (θυμός), psykhe (ψυχή), phrenes (φρένες), prapides (πρᾰπῐ́δες), kardia (κᾰρδῐ́ᾱ), kradie (κρᾰδῐ́η), ker (κῆρ), and etor (ἦτορ). This complicated situation with Greek translations of mind is at the heart of this study’s empirical investigation. To wit, what is mind in the Il. compared to the Od.? The present investigation sought to quantify and compare the use of mental language in the Homeric epics by means of computational linguistics. Prior scholarly investigations have been mostly qualitative; the few quantitative studies conducted utilized miniscule sample sizes of English translations. Two studies were conducted. 17 translators who translated both the Il. and Od. into English were selected (within-subjects design). The texts were sanitized and compiled for lexical frequency analyses in Voyant, a digital linguistic analysis tool. Study 1 compared how often mental language terms appeared in both works. Results showed that total word density of mental language increased significantly from the Il. to the Od. in both English translations as well as in the original Greek version. Study 2 compiled an English glossary of mental language terms and counted the frequencies for the 34 total works. A paired samples t-test was conducted to compare the mean mental language densities of the Il. and Od. across 17 translators. There was a significant difference in the mean densities for the Il. (M = 68.2, SD = 8.9) and Od. (M = 91.9, SD = 11.6) conditions; t(16) = -17.798, N = 17, p d = -4.317. Further correlational tests as well as ANCOVA were conducted in order to determine if various factors could explain the large effect size. No significant results were observed or relevant. All hypotheses were supported. These data suggest that the Od. contains much more mental language than the Il. Implications and limitations are discussed.</p
"Inanna's Descent to the Netherworld": A centennial survey of scholarship, artifacts, and translations
Get PDFAn ancient Sumerian proverb may be read as “good fortune [is embedded in] organisation and wisdom.” The present centennial survey is solely about organizing the last one hundred years of scholarship for a Sumerian afterlife myth named “Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld.” The initial discovery of artifacts with snippets of the myth can be dated to as early as 1889. English translations of the myth emerged around 1920 and were followed by numerous archaeological expeditions and subsequent translation efforts. Such efforts, by many scholars and institutions, resulted in an authoritative 2001 version of the myth published by the University of Oxford via the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL). The 2001 version, titled “Inana’s descent to the nether world” is 412 lines long and utilizes over fifty cuneiform artifacts (sources). The impact of this work has been mainstream and interdisciplinary interest in Inanna, the myth, and her role in antiquity. However, the technical nature of studying ancient Sumer may alienate a broader audience. The survey contained herein attempts to organize and explain the key people, concepts, events, and institutions involved with the discovery of “Inanna’s Descent.” Non-technical readers can expect to learn how and why we arrived at the likely complete translation we have today. Light background information and a chronology of scholarly work are followed by a brief discussion on promising areas of further research. The appendix contains a comprehensive catalog of referenced artifact data
eHammurabi.com: A case study on developing user-friendly digital tools for complex ancient languages like Akkadian
No full text "If a man has destroyed the eye[sight] of another man, they shall destroy his eye[sight]," so reads provision §196 of the Law Code of Hammurabi, dated c. 1750 BCE, one of the oldest and most important legal texts in recorded human history. Many probably recognize this provision as the principle of "an eye for an eye." However, the original source materials from which it is derived from are less known. To unpack the inscription's linguistic contents, one must negotiate the complexities of the Akkadian language alongside other challenges unique to the study of ancient languages in general. Existing digital humanities projects have assisted researchers via the distribution of relevant scholarly materials. Notwithstanding, there is no authoritative, widely-available resource that consolidates multiple publications into a single resource. The eHammurabi.com project sought to remedy this state of affairs by means of building a simple-to-use digital tool. The present case study outlines how this new tool was built by describing its development from start to finish. A systematic review of existing digital tools was conducted before development began. Three arguments were posited: (1) digital tools like eHammurabi.com must be both an aggregator and redactor of data from authoritative publications; (2) the user interface is most important; and (3) the user interface must be designed in accordance with a singular, pre-determined user goal that can be measured objectively. The goal of eHammurabi.com was to enable users to find relevant linguistic contents for a given statute as quickly as possible. Certain features of the user interface seemed to satisfy this goal: a single-page website for all 282 statutes; a vertical multi-panel display that contains all required contents for each statute; and a persistent left-side navigation menu. Following the website's launch, a user study was conducted. Our data suggest that eHammurabi.com enables users to find a statute's contents roughly ten times faster in comparison to print books and PDF files. These results support our arguments. Website traffic data suggest that external reception has been positive. Further research is likely required. Implications for practitioners of digital humanities are discussed. Interdisciplinary cooperation amongst language experts and computer scientists is recommended. </p
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