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36-583: Latvian ethnographer Pēteris Šmits noted that the Mahtes seem to be a phenomenon exclusive to Latvian mythology, with no equivalent either in its Baltic neighbours (Prussian and Lithuanian), nor in other Indo-European mythologies. Scholars (e.g., Miriam Robbins Dexter, Lotte Motz. David Adams Leeming , Martin Litchfield West ) note that these deities were invoked with the epithet "mate" 'mother' and individually oversaw several aspects of nature, including features of

72-497: A nit-picking classicist" and only the "technical research into languages and families". In The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis , the main character, Elwin Ransom, is a philologist – as was Lewis' close friend J. R. R. Tolkien . Dr. Edward Morbius, one of the main characters in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet , is a philologist. Philip, the main character of Christopher Hampton 's 'bourgeois comedy' The Philanthropist ,

108-473: A reconstructed text accompanied by a " critical apparatus ", i.e., footnotes that listed the various manuscript variants available, enabling scholars to gain insight into the entire manuscript tradition and argue about the variants. A related study method known as higher criticism studies the authorship, date, and provenance of text to place such text in a historical context. As these philological issues are often inseparable from issues of interpretation, there

144-522: A script used in the ancient Aegean, was deciphered in 1952 by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick , who demonstrated that it recorded an early form of Greek, now known as Mycenaean Greek . Linear A , the writing system that records the still-unknown language of the Minoans , resists deciphering, despite many attempts. Work continues on scripts such as the Maya , with great progress since the initial breakthroughs of

180-569: Is a professor of philology in an English university town . Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld , the main character in Alexander McCall Smith 's 1997 comic novel Portuguese Irregular Verbs is a philologist, educated at Cambridge. The main character in the Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012, Footnote , is a Hebrew philologist, and a significant part of the film deals with his work. The main character of

216-458: Is contrasted with linguistics due to Ferdinand de Saussure 's insistence on the importance of synchronic analysis . While the contrast continued with the emergence of structuralism and the emphasis of Noam Chomsky on syntax , research in historical linguistics often relies on philological materials and findings. The term philology is derived from the Greek φιλολογία ( philología ), from

252-515: Is known as a philologist . In older usage, especially British, philology is more general, covering comparative and historical linguistics . Classical philology studies classical languages . Classical philology principally originated from the Library of Pergamum and the Library of Alexandria around the fourth century BC, continued by Greeks and Romans throughout the Roman and Byzantine Empire . It

288-516: Is no clear-cut boundary between philology and hermeneutics . When text has a significant political or religious influence (such as the reconstruction of Biblical texts), scholars have difficulty reaching objective conclusions. Some scholars avoid all critical methods of textual philology, especially in historical linguistics, where it is important to study the actual recorded materials. The movement known as new philology has rejected textual criticism because it injects editorial interpretations into

324-611: Is said to rule the seas as a goddess. Deity Bangu mate is considered to be a recent and more poetical appellation of the Mother of the Water and Mother of the Sea. Lithuanian scholar Marija Gimbutas pointed out that Latvian traditions contain a Uguns mate ('Mother of the Fire') as a counterpart to Lithuanian Gabija , a deity of the hearth and protectress of house and family. Other deities associated with

360-440: Is the study of language in oral and written historical sources . It is the intersection of textual criticism , literary criticism , history , and linguistics with strong ties to etymology . Philology is also defined as the study of literary texts and oral and written records, the establishment of their authenticity and their original form, and the determination of their meaning. A person who pursues this kind of study

396-417: Is treated amongst other scholars, as noted by both the philologists R.D Fulk and Leonard Neidorf who have been quoted saying "This field "philology's commitment to falsification renders it "at odds with what many literary scholars believe because the purpose of philology is to narrow the range of possible interpretations rather than to treat all reasonable ones as equal". This use of falsification can be seen in

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432-673: The Mahte characters comprise a complex of deities related to that phenomenon. It is also remarked that, out of this mother cult, "the main Latvian mother deities are those of the dead, the sea, the forest, and the wind". For instance, goddess Zemes Mate ('earth mother') was associated with receiving the dead and acting as their ruler and guardian. In Latvian dainas , Zemes Mate is associated with fellow Mahte ("Mothers") Velu Mate ('Mother of Dead Souls') and Kapu Mate ('Mother of Graves'). According to researcher Elza Kokare, Zemes Mate and Kapu Mate act as

468-775: The Middle French philologie , in the sense of 'love of literature'. The adjective φιλόλογος ( philólogos ) meant 'fond of discussion or argument, talkative', in Hellenistic Greek , also implying an excessive (" sophistic ") preference of argument over the love of true wisdom, φιλόσοφος ( philósophos ). As an allegory of literary erudition, philologia appears in fifth-century postclassical literature ( Martianus Capella , De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ), an idea revived in Late Medieval literature ( Chaucer , Lydgate ). The meaning of "love of learning and literature"

504-591: The University of Connecticut , and a specialist in comparative literature of mythology. David Adams Leeming was born on February 26, 1937, in Peekskill, New York , the son of Frank Clifford Leeming, an Episcopal priest, and Margaret Adams Reeder. Leeming received his B.A. from Princeton University in 1958. In 1959, he did a summer course graduate study at the University of Caen . From New York University he received his M.A. in 1964, and his Ph.D. in 1970. Leeming

540-529: The Fog") and Lietus mate ("Mother of Rain"). Veju Mate (or Veja mate) is said to be the goddess of winds and ruler of the weather. Another group is composed of several water divinities: Juras Mate ("Mother Ocean", "Mother of the Seas" or "Sea-Mother"), a goddess of waters; Udens Mate ("Mother of Waters"); Upes Mahte ("Mother of Rivers"), Bangu Mate ("Mother of Waves"; counterpart to Lithuanian Bangputys ). Juras Mate

576-579: The ancient languages of the Near East progressed rapidly. In the mid-19th century, Henry Rawlinson and others deciphered the Behistun Inscription , which records the same text in Old Persian , Elamite , and Akkadian , using a variation of cuneiform for each language. The elucidation of cuneiform led to the decipherment of Sumerian . Hittite was deciphered in 1915 by Bedřich Hrozný . Linear B ,

612-477: The debate surrounding the etymology of the Old English character Unferth from the heroic epic poem Beowulf . James Turner further disagrees with how the use of the term is dismissed in the academic world, stating that due to its branding as a "simpleminded approach to their subject" the term has become unknown to college-educated students, furthering the stereotypes of "scrutiny of ancient Greek or Roman texts of

648-527: The environment (forests, fields, mushrooms, sea, the wind, etc.), animals (for instance, elks), as well as cultural aspects, such as death and interrement, or milk and cattle. According to scholar Elza Kokare, the authenticity of some Mahte deities is dubious, but some are firmly established due to a great number of mentions in the dainas (Latvian folksongs). Following are some of the Mate characters: Scholarship on Baltic and Latvian folklore remarks that some of

684-520: The famous decipherment and translation of the Rosetta Stone by Jean-François Champollion in 1822, some individuals attempted to decipher the writing systems of the Ancient Near East and Aegean . In the case of Old Persian and Mycenaean Greek , decipherment yielded older records of languages already known from slightly more recent traditions ( Middle Persian and Alphabetic Greek ). Work on

720-602: The household and domestic affairs are Mãjas gars ("Spirits of the House") and Pirts mate ("Mother of the Bathhouse"). Mahte deities related to fields and agriculture include Lauka mate ("Mother of the Plough-Land"), a deity said to be worshipped at ploughing time. David Adams Leeming David Adams Leeming (born February 26, 1937) is an American philologist who is Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at

756-507: The original principles of textual criticism have been improved and applied to other widely distributed texts such as the Bible . Scholars have tried to reconstruct the original readings of the Bible from the manuscript variants. This method was applied to classical studies and medieval texts as a way to reconstruct the author's original work. The method produced so-called "critical editions", which provided

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792-517: The origins of older texts. Philology also includes the study of texts and their history. It includes elements of textual criticism , trying to reconstruct an author's original text based on variant copies of manuscripts. This branch of research arose among ancient scholars in the Greek-speaking world of the 4th century BC, who desired to establish a standard text of popular authors for both sound interpretation and secure transmission. Since that time,

828-601: The phonetic approach championed by Yuri Knorozov and others in the 1950s. Since the late 20th century, the Maya code has been almost completely deciphered, and the Mayan languages are among the most documented and studied in Mesoamerica . The code is described as a logosyllabic style of writing. In English-speaking countries, usage of the term "philology" to describe work on languages and works of literature, which had become synonymous with

864-626: The practices of German scholars, was abandoned as a consequence of anti-German feelings following World War I . Most continental European countries still maintain the term to designate departments, colleges, position titles, and journals. J. R. R. Tolkien opposed the nationalist reaction against philological practices, claiming that "the philological instinct" was "universal as is the use of language". In British English usage, and British academia, philology remains largely synonymous with "historical linguistics", while in US English , and US academia,

900-449: The relationship between languages. Similarities between Sanskrit and European languages were first noted in the early 16th century and led to speculation of a common ancestor language from which all these descended. It is now named Proto-Indo-European . Philology's interest in ancient languages led to the study of what was, in the 18th century, "exotic" languages, for the light they could cast on problems in understanding and deciphering

936-523: The resting places of the dead, guarding its body and holding the key to their graves. As an individual character, Zemes mate is invoked as a person's final resting place. A second personage is named Veļu māte or Vélių motę (Mother of the souls/spirits of the deceased), etymologically connected to Lithuanian veles 'shades of the dead', velionis 'dead person' and Latvian Vels 'god of the underworld' (as mentioned by scholar Marija Gimbutas ) and, by extension, with some relation to Slavic Veles , deity of

972-503: The results of human mental processes. This science compares the results of textual science with the results of experimental research of both psychology and artificial intelligence production systems. In the case of Bronze Age literature , philology includes the prior decipherment of the language under study. This has notably been the case with the Egyptian , Sumerian , Assyrian , Hittite , Ugaritic , and Luwian languages. Beginning with

1008-584: The subject. He has also written biographies on Beauford Delaney , James Baldwin , and Stephen Spender . Leeming is a member of the Modern Language Association of America and the Federation of University Teachers. On July 2, 1967, Leeming married Pamela Elaine Fraser, with whom he has the daughters Margaret Adams and Juliet Ann. Philology Philology (from Ancient Greek φιλολογία ( philología )  'love of word')

1044-506: The terms φίλος ( phílos ) 'love, affection, loved, beloved, dear, friend' and λόγος ( lógos ) 'word, articulation, reason', describing a love of learning, of literature, as well as of argument and reasoning, reflecting the range of activities included under the notion of λόγος . The term changed little with the Latin philologia , and later entered the English language in the 16th century, from

1080-404: The text and destroys the integrity of the individual manuscript, hence damaging the reliability of the data. Supporters of new philology insist on a strict "diplomatic" approach: a faithful rendering of the text exactly as found in the manuscript, without emendations. Another branch of philology, cognitive philology, studies written and oral texts. Cognitive philology considers these oral texts as

1116-622: The underworld. She is considered to be a chthonic goddess and "queen of the dead", who welcomes them at the cemetery. Another figure named Nāves māte ("Mother Death") was presumed by scholar Nikolai Mikhailov to be connected to Slovenian word navje , an etymon related to the Nav of Slavic folklore , a designation for the dead. He also cited the possibility that Naves mate is another name for Latvian Velu mate and Lithuanian Veliona. The word nāve also means 'death' in Latvian . Other deities connected with

Mahte - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-401: The wider meaning of "study of a language's grammar, history and literary tradition" remains more widespread. Based on the harsh critique of Friedrich Nietzsche, some US scholars since the 1980s have viewed philology as responsible for a narrowly scientistic study of language and literature. Disagreements in the modern day of this branch of study are followed with the likes of how the method

1188-562: The worship of the dead were Kapu māte ('Mother of Graves', 'Mother of the Grave' or 'Graveyard-Mother') and Smilšu māte ('Mother of Sand' or 'Mother of the Sand Hillock'). Another set of Mahte figures relate to the natural world, such as Veju Mate ("The Mother of Winds"); Meža mate ("Mother of the Forest"; counterpart to Lithuanian Medeina ), protectress of wild life; Miglas mate ("Mother of

1224-719: Was Head of the English Department at Robert College in Istanbul , Turkey, from 1958 to 1963. From 1964 to 1967, he was the secretary-assistant of author James Baldwin . Since 1969, Leeming was Assistant Professor of English at the University of Connecticut . He eventually became Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Connecticut, where he in later years has served as Professor Emeritus. Leeming has written variously in comparative literature of mythology and edited numerous encyclopedias and dictionaries on

1260-519: Was eventually resumed by European scholars of the Renaissance , where it was soon joined by philologies of other European ( Romance , Germanic , Celtic ), Eurasian ( Slavic , etc.), Asian ( Arabic , Persian , Sanskrit , Chinese , etc.), and African ( Egyptian , Nubian , etc.) languages. Indo-European studies involve the comparative philology of all Indo-European languages . Philology, with its focus on historical development ( diachronic analysis),

1296-413: Was narrowed to "the study of the historical development of languages" ( historical linguistics ) in 19th-century usage of the term. Due to the rapid progress made in understanding sound laws and language change , the "golden age of philology" lasted throughout the 19th century, or "from Giacomo Leopardi and Friedrich Schlegel to Nietzsche ". The comparative linguistics branch of philology studies

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