Browse our Arts and Humanities Journals
Discover the Latest Journals in the Field of Arts and Humanities
Arts and Humanities journals’ primary focus is on presenting theoretical and empirical research in these respective fields. The main goal is to encourage educational research and connect academia to the scientific community. Researchers and scholars need to share their research findings with others to help better understand and act on the ongoing social changes in the field. The Arts and Humanities journals aim to provide a platform for everyone who shares a common interest in these fields and to group all the latest field findings in one place.
Arts and Humanities
This study examines the influence of Mongolian language on spoken Chinese, with a focus on the Sino-Mongolian, or Chinese language translated using the literal translation style (zhiyi-ti 直譯體) from Mongolian. Sino-Mongolian was a type of contact language, based on the Chinese vocabulary and Mongolian syntactic structure. Common linguistic elements are observed between Sino-Mongolian and the Chinese textbook No Gŏltae edited in the Koryŏ Kingdom under Mongol rule. The analysis confirms that No Gŏltae was not translated from Mongolian language but a type of spoken Chinese that was influenced and shaped by Sino-Mongolian through oral dissemination. Although Sino-Mongolian was an artificially translated language, the literal translation style may have been based on Altaic Pidgin Chinese. Hence, it was readily accepted in Northern China and naturally influenced and shaped the spoken Chinese there. It is concluded that the colloquial Chinese influenced by Sino-Mongolian, as observed in No Gŏltae, would be defined as Mongolo-Chinese, a type of Creole language.
Abstract
The paper provides a close reading of Plotinus' obscure chapter Ennead IV.6.2. I try to make clear, beyond the central thesis that sense-perception is an active power, how it contributes to the argument of the whole treatise, how its seemingly disconnected comments make up a coherent line of thought, and how it remains consistent with Plotinus' positions expressed elsewhere.
From passion to knowledge
Plotinus' grades of virtues as stages in the development of practical moral agency
Abstract
In this paper, I aim to situate the practical agency of the sage in an overall picture of the development of the Plotinian moral agent. This development can be seen as a gradual transition from external to internal principles of action guidance which endow the agent with autonomy and coherence in her practical actions. The transition from external to internal principles corresponds to a changing relationship between the agent's telos and particular actions. Non-virtuous agents aim at the attainment of an object of desire, while the civically virtuous person aims to perform virtuous actions irrespectively of the achievement of particular objects of desire. Finally, the telos of the sage is the contemplation of forms and she acts practically as a consequence and external activity of having achieved her goal. The analysis of Plotinus' theory of moral development shows that the sage's inward turn and detachment from external circumstances do not involve inactivity in the practical sphere but figure as a necessary condition of her making an active contribution to the order of the sensible world through her actions as opposed to passively responding to external circumstances.
Across the Borders of Music Eras and Forms
Ritornello and Concerto-Sonata Forms in C. P. E. Bach's Concertos
Abstract
It is well known that the 52 concertos for keyboard(s) or other solo instruments of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach constitute a repertoire that crosses the borderline of Baroque and Classic eras from both a chronological and a stylistic point of view. However, their analogous position concerning the Baroque ritornello form and the various Classic concerto-sonata types is not yet as clear as it should be, since most scholars tend to examine and classify these works in a rather one-sided way, basing their views either on the earlier ritornello form or on both theory and practice of (only) the late eighteenth-century concerto, thus ignoring many important aspects of formal design in Bach's concerto movements in particular. The present paper submits the findings of a comprehensive research on Bach's whole concerto output, clearly distinguishing between movements in ritornello and concerto-sonata forms; furthermore, it highlights the impressive variety of concerto-sonata structural types that Bach uses in his works: ternary but also binary sonata forms with five, four, or three ritornellos, the specific role and function of which (and especially of the intermediate ones) cannot be always restricted to the specifications of even the most recent (and seemingly all-embracing) related typologies.
Abstract
The sizeable music collection from the Osek monastery has previously been interpreted in light of a catalog that was updated 1754–c1802. The completion of a modern catalog allows for a reappraisal of the history of the institution. Previous research has explained the lack of updates in the catalog during the years 1778–1802 with a decline in musical activity following the reforms of Joseph II. The collection, however, suggests that Jan Jakob Trautzl, regens chori since 1783, began his tenure by acquiring sacred works by Johann Baptist Waṅhal which rank among the largest and most ambitious from the era. There is also evidence of local adaptations of masses into polychoral and polyorchestral arrangements. Except for a possible low point during the years 1787–1789, the reforms thus seem to have had limited effect. The failure to accurately represent the collection in the catalog suggests the necessity for a new paradigm for reading such documents. One may preliminarily consider catalogs' limited potential for additions and emendations and understand them as tools for music professionals rather than librarians. In this view there is nothing surprising about lacunae, but the inclusion of a work becomes a sign of intent from the cataloger.
Abstract
In 2023, a major European musical ensemble, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, celebrates its centennial. In the course of 100 years, this institution faced numerous obstacles, but thanks to the enthusiasm of great musicians, especially conductors, it has survived and laid the foundation for further musical and cultural development in Serbia. This article discusses the activity of the most important orchestral leaders (Stevan Hristić, Lovro von Matačić, Krešimir Baranović, Živojin Zdravković, Horst Förster, Vassily Sinaisky, Emil Tabakov, Uroš Lajovic, Dorian Wilson, Muhai Tang, Gabriel Feltz, Daniel Raiskin and Zubin Mehta), who have vastly contributed to or changed the course of the orchestra's development and left a big mark in its hundred-year-long history. In its centenary year, we will look back into the past, review the present, but also take a glimpse into the future the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra has already started to write for itself.
Abstract
Von heute auf morgen and Lulu, the twelve-tone operas of Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg, respectively, can be interpreted as works that sought to uphold a traditional formalism of Germanic opera construction amidst the post-Expressionistic aesthetics that the newer Zeitoper style strove to abolish. This new style aimed to popularize opera by embracing a new simplicity of contemporary values that discouraged the perpetuation of prior operatic dispositions. This dichotomy of old vs. new is presented in an analysis of the Von heute and Lulu libretti that traces their symbolic representation of womanhood and marriage from the male gaze, whereby an overlapping depiction emerges in both operas in their similar but varying treatment of these themes as parodies of their composers' time and the ongoing cultural conflict between moralities rooted in the past and non-conforming values that embrace modernized change.
“An Era More than Bleak”
György Ligeti and Ferenc Farkas in the 1940s
Abstract
Ferenc Farkas, a remarkable twentieth-century Hungarian composer, was one of the most influential professors of composition throughout the history of the Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. A less known chapter of his life is his involvement in the ethnicist and anti-Semitic political movements of Hungary, during the late 1930s and early 1940s. In 1940, he was among three musicians who elaborated a proposal to establish, in line with the rise of corporatism, a Hungarian Music Chamber. One of the main aims of the new organization would have been a total exclusion of Jewish musicians from all branches of Hungarian musical culture. The Chamber was never actually founded. In 1941, Farkas left Budapest for the Transylvanian city Kolozsvár (Cluj), where he was appointed professor of composition at the Conservatory. One of his first students was György Ligeti, a native Transylvanian, born into a Hungarian family suffering under the anti-Semitic legislation of the Hungarian state. As Ligeti recollected, Farkas “wanted to teach me everything he had learned from his teacher Ottorino Respighi.” Based on archival sources, this study offers new insights into the personal and professional connection between Ligeti and Farkas during the 1940s, and also follows Farkas's post-war path from relative isolation and marginalization to the elite of state socialist music culture.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to analyze the beginning of different dance tunes in connection with variously performed dance tunes. The purpose of this paper is also to draw attention to the need for micro-analysis, which has been neglected for a long time in instrumental folk music research, in order to better understand instrumental musical melody creation. The selected musical examples come from different (partly historical) eras and different geographical areas of Western Transdanubian and Transylvanian Hungarian folk music collections. Typical starting elements (fifth-forth changes, direction of moving of scales, etc.) are related to dance music with different names. The analysis ignores the evolution of tempo and variation throughout the piece, as well as the ensemble's “Primas” ornamentation, timbre, harmonies and unique solutions of the accompaniment. At the same time, the author paid attention to the form and structure of the entire piece in addition to the beginnings of the melody. The study was written in honor of the 100th birthday of Walter Deutsch, the creator of modern Austrian ethnomusicology.
Abstract
From 1847, the head of the Budapest ballet was Federico Campilli (1820–1889), an individual of Italian origin. He regarded Viennese taste as authoritative in designing the program, thereby building on the international ballet repertoire. This repertoire included romantic pieces from Western Europe, along with Campilli's own choreographies. Campilli concluded his forty-year tenure in Budapest in 1887, and Cesare Smeraldi (1845–1924) assumed his position. The imperial city served as the model for shaping the ballet program, commencing its operations with the staging of Manzotti's spectacular Excelsior, which had premiered in Vienna two years earlier. This sensational performance, focused on the rise of human civilization and the development of technology, involved hundreds of actors and was destined for success throughout Europe. It ran for 29 years in Vienna and nine years in Budapest. In this study, an exploration of the driving forces behind this ballet success story with unconventional themes is undertaken. Various aspects are examined, such as the discourse of dance and the articulation of otherness in local and global spaces. The study delves into what technophile ballet entails, how cultural history, abstract concepts, discoveries, and inventions can be narrated through ballet. The thesis also highlights the debatable aspects of the ballet's music, utilizing music reviews from Budapest and Viennese newspapers. Through these reviews, an attempt is made to map the reception history of the ballet in Vienna and Budapest. The significance of Excelsior in the political power field within Hungarian conditions is also emphasized.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Safavid and Mughal empires forged a remarkable history of dynastic interaction through the frequent exchange of correspondence and gifts. The ‘regifting’ of luxury objects and exotic goods across physical and cultural boundaries was a common practice in the early modern period. Safavid and Mughal rulers mainly regifted precious items of a rare nature to impress their counterparts. The paper examines the intermediary role of the Safavids in the circulation of objects between India, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire.
Abstract
Industrial heritage is not just the industrial landscape, buildings, and material objects, but also the highly complex cultural heritage created by industrial society, with many unique features. The former industrial towns of East-Central European countries have little memory of their early capitalist industrial past, and their socialist legacy is mostly seen as an unwanted and unwelcome burden. Industrial heritage preservation in Hungary was also adversely affected by the ideology of de-industrialization in the late 1980s, and this was compounded by struggles over the politics of memory. Salgótarján, as the seat of Nógrád County, is a city with county rights that has one of the worst social and economic indicators in the country, with dozens of slums, many of them on former industrial sites. The number of sites suitable for greenfield investment in the valley town is low, while the proportion of under-utilized brownfields is high. The real turning point in the development of the settlement was the opening of the mines and the mining boom in the second half of the 19th century. The opening of the mines was soon followed by the construction of larger industrial plants: the steel mill, the hollow-glass and later flat-glass factory, and the ironworks (stove factory). Initially, skilled workers were recruited from abroad, which laid the foundations for a unique society, as much of the population had no ties to the settlement, or even to Hungary—only to the work and their employer. The industrial society of Salgótarján formed a well-defined local community with a sense of identity. The management of the companies and factories, the network of workers' welfare institutions, the managed leisure programs and facilities, and of course the built environment of the colonies played a major role in all this. Under state socialism, the factories continued to operate with an artificially inflated workforce, and after the political regime change in 1989, the privatized plants closed down with dramatic abruptness, leading to social trauma and high unemployment in the settlement. The preservation and presentation of industrial heritage is also important for the city's identity while the built environment is undergoing a radical transformation, which is why buildings that are deemed worthy of preservation should be given a new function as soon as possible so that they may remain an integral part of the settlement.
Abstract
Bei der Erforschung des deutschsprachigen Pressewesens im historischen Ungarn in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts stößt man bei fast jedem Organ auf den Namen Adolf Silberstein. Er bereicherte mehrere deutschsprachige Zeitungen der Hauptstadt mit zahlreichen qualitätsvollen Feuilletons, in erster Linie mit Bezug zur Literatur und zum Theater. Eine Darstellung seiner journalistischen Tätigkeit bzw. eine Bestandsaufnahme seiner Feuilletons ist allerdings bislang nicht erfolgt. Ersterem Desiderat soll nun durch die Durchsicht der zeitgenössischen Medien Abhilfe geschaffen werden.
Abstract
This paper explores linguistic change and cultural integration (esp. Romanization and De-Romanization) as reflected in the non-standard Latin inscriptions from Mogontiacum (modern Mainz) (first cent. BC to eighth cent. AD). Since Mainz was pivotal for defence and operations against Germanic people east of the Rhine, Roman military and the Germanic element play a greater role than in Cologne and Trier. In the Early Empire, the military was the biggest factor of integration and mobility, for people and cults from both local, Celtic and Germanic, and remote, esp. eastern origin. The Early Empire inscriptions yield more archaic features than those from Cologne and Trier (ai) whereas curse tablets, found in the Isis and Mater Magna sanctuary, offer a copious corpus of substandard language, unique on the west bank of the Rhine (first attestation of aphaeresis, semivocalization of i). Christian funerary inscriptions document a more advanced phonetic stage (nearby merger, raisings ē > ī and ō > ū, first firm evidence for palatalization and semivocalization of u in the area) and a new pronominal paradigm (unisex nominative [qui] vs. oblique [hunc]) as well as the take-over, Christian conversion and entry into the clerical hierarchy by a Frankish warrior elite, reflected in Germanic spellings of appellatives and OHG devoicing of stops in names.
Sixth International Workshop on Computational Latin Dialectology
July 6–7, 2023, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Ferenc Rákóczi II is known primarily as the leader of the anti-Habsburg Hungarian War of Independence between 1703 and 1711, but in recent years there has been a growing interest in his literary work, too. Research has shed light on several aspects of moral problems represented in his Confessions, written in the early 18th century in Latin. The defining element of the self-understanding in the Confessions is the anthropological concept that classifies human actions according to whether they are motivated by self-love or the love of God. The condemnation of sins of self-love is therefore a recurring theme in Rákóczi's spiritual autobiography. However, the fact that the opposite of self-love, the concept of pure love also appears in the Confessions has not been noticed so far. The analysis of the description of earthly loves and the sometimes ambivalent reflections on them can contribute to a more nuanced understanding of the moral discourse of the Confessions.
Abstract
The object of this presentation is Júlia Hajdu (1925–1987), the first and only female Hungarian operetta composer. Although there is no abundance of female composers in either international or Hungarian music literature, most of the few were canonically mistreated, despite their creations being worthy of research. The author of choice, Júlia Hajdu, had a rather rich artistic career during which she excelled in various musical genres, such as the composition of dance songs, operettas, revues, dance suites, and incidental music. Besides composing, she was also an outstanding pianist. At the Zeneakadémia (Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music), her master teachers were Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) and György Ránki (1907–1992) – the latter, too, being a composer of operettas. Hajdu studied folk music from Kodály and jazz orchestration from Ránki. Hajdu's name was soon mentioned next to the best-known creators of popular genres by both her contemporaries and the critics of the age. Among others, she worked on the popular music shows of Magyar Televízió (Hungarian Television) and was employed as Hanna Honthy's piano accompanist. Hajdu recorded hundreds of dance songs, revues, and dance suites, as well as fourteen operettas, including those for radio and television broadcasts. Her career is to be explored within the cultural, political, and civilizational contexts of state socialism, thus understanding her work as not only another oeuvre of an operetta composer, but also as a representation of the artistic sentiment of a whole era. During her active years, she had to make compromises which she later interpreted as assertions of herself as a female artist in a male-dominated cultural milieu. After recognizing various narrative patterns in her creations, I aim to discuss Hajdu's career along two of the most prevalent and recurring issues: the “female composer as a sensation” narrative, and the “significance of the master teacher” narrative.
A rare Sarmatian coin imitation in lead from a grave at Hódmezővásárhely
Ritka szarmata éremutánzat ólom medalionja egy hódmezővásárhelyi sírból
Abstract
The paper discusses a very rare type of Sarmatian coin imitation cast of lead of which only two other specimens are known. The one from Martfű is best preserved, which is very helpful for the interpretation. This piece was found in the grave of a Sarmatian woman in one of the biggest Sarmatian-period cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin, Hódmezővásárhely-Aranyági-halom. The crouched position of the deceased only adds to the peculiarities of the find, since it is very rare for the Sarmatians.
Abstract
In this paper I focus my attention on the debate between three renowned Germanists of the interwar period: Elemér Moór, Elemér Schwartz and Walter Steinhauser. Their discussion of the population history of Burgenland can serve as a case study of knowledge production. This was a discourse in which the relationship between science and politics or the boundary between scholarship and dilettantism were often tested. Relying on both published material (their books and papers) and unpublished sources (correspondence, commission reports) I analyse the different standpoints of the three scholars and show the development of their rivalry. At the end of my paper, I will draw some lessons concerning the history of historical writing.
„Wer um alles in der Welt ist Pom-Pom?”
Platzhalter und recycelte Erinnerung im öffentlichen Raum
Abstract
The article deals with the stories of Pom-Pom, which appeared in Hungary from the beginning of the 1980s, initially in the media network of picture books and animated films. Since the 2010s, the characters have increasingly appeared in the public space of Budapest: first in the context of thematic playgrounds, then in the form of mini-sculptures, and finally street art murals. In terms of time, these events coincide on the one hand with the so-called critical threshold, that transition between communicative and cultural memory, and on the other hand they set in at a point in time initiated by the operational end as well as the incipient building decay of the renowned Pannónia film studios. The examples chosen solely according to the criterion of visibility in public space prove to be representations planned, supported and tolerated by the public authorities.
Abstract
On March 24, 2020, the international flower trade association Union Fleurs issued a statement on the situation of the ornamental plants sector hit by the Covid-19 crisis. In a study published in April 2020, Copa-Cogeca (European Farmers and European Agri-Cooperatives) echoed the findings of the above-mentioned international flower trade association, stating that the flower and ornamental plants sector was the agricultural sector most impacted by the coronavirus in the EU, as in most Member States, including Hungary and Romania, there was a historical drop in demand and consumption of almost 80%, and unfortunately the virus hit at the worst possible time, as the spring season would have been the peak period for ornamental horticulturalists. In my case study, I examine the flower growers of Curteni, a settlement in the Mureș region of Transylvania (Romania). How has this global phenomenon caused by the coronavirus manifested itself locally in a settlement where nearly 60 families make their living from growing and selling ornamental plants? Has this community been able to maintain its territorial/regional competitiveness? Have the people of Curteni joined the group of producers known in economic anthropology as farmers who chose to halt and wait, or did they find a quick and resilient response to the obstacles they encountered? How did this crisis become an identity-shaping factor in their lives? The pandemic has also exacerbated the situation in Curteni, made it more difficult to act and make decisions, and has brought new perspectives and values into play. The example of the florist community of Curteni shows that a new situation, and indeed any crisis, can bring about positive changes in the lives of communities. In any crisis, emergency, or exigency, members of a community may almost instinctively, but mostly also consciously, seek innovative responses to their problems. One way is to discover and exploit the opportunities inherent in a crisis, communally re-assessing and utilizing the available values, opportunities, and resources, and finding truly resilient responses.
Abstract
Food culture has played, and continues to play, an important role in the definition of identity and community cohesion. Food is not just a matter of sustenance but is also a cultural element with myriad links to the material world and to festive and everyday customs. Meals and individual dishes also function as mediators, providing a means and a channel of communication. Local communities select, reconstruct, or construct their common food heritage through their social discourse on the past, belonging, and locality. This paper presents the institutional framework for the management, preservation, and transmission of food-related traditions at the national and local levels in Hungary and looks at the practice of heritagization through one specific local example.
Abstract
In his paper the author deals with the contributions of a new volume on the history of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century and added several additional notes to each paper. As several papers studied the relationship of Ravenna and Attila the Hun the author examined the written sources concerning the Huns in detail and came to the conclusion that there was only one foedus concluded with Attila after 433 and Pannonia was ceded to the Huns in this treaty. Attila was formally the magister militum of the Western Roman Empire.
Abstract
Vessels decorated with domed metal discs were extraordinarily rare and valuable commodities of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery adorned with bronze discs and tin first appeared in Hungary during the earlier Urnfield period (14th/13th century BC). A vessel adorned with three ring motifs inlaid with a high-tin alloy on its belly is known from Nagykanizsa-Bilkei-dűlő and a cup decorated with bronze domed discs was recovered from Grave 222 of the Vörs-Battyáni-Disznólegelő cemetery, both in southern Transdanubia. The decorative bronze discs similarly had a high tin content. The metal composition was analysed with particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectroscopy. Pendant ornaments of “white bronze”, an alloy with a high tin content, are principally known from southern Transdanubia: the elemental composition of two pendants with bird protomes from Grave 51 of the Vörs-Battyáni-Disznólegelő cemetery and of a funnel-shaped pendant from the Pamuk hoard were examined by PIXE for compositional make-up, which indicated a high tin content for all three. These pendants had been worn as adornments. Tin was an important raw material in the production of bronze. Most of the vessels decorated with bronze discs were brought to light in the late Urnfield cemetery uncovered at Budapest-Békásmegyer (boot- and amphora-shaped vessels, a feeding vessel, resin balls). It seems likely that these vessels had once served ritual purposes. Regrettably, they have not yet been submitted to PIXE analyses.
Abstract
The curious shape of the so-called early Christian mausoleum of Iovia, Pannonia has attracted much attention since its discovery in the 1980s. The main part of the building, a hexagon flanked by alternating semi-circular and rectangular rooms was complemented by a bi-apsidal vestibule and a rectangular peristyle courtyard. The hexagon was a relatively rarely used form in late antique architecture compared to the octagon, however, hexagons can still be detected in all parts of the Roman Empire in all kinds of architectural contexts: they appeared in late Roman villae, baths, funerary buildings, early Christian mausolea and baptisteries.
The architectural parallels of the mausoleum of Iovia are traced among the thin-walled hexagons that were flanked by protruding semi-circular and rectangular rooms. The buildings closest in shape were the pagan mausoleum of Louin in France and the trefoil hall of the Villa of Aiano in Italy. Other related structures include the so-called Stibadium A of the Villa with Peristyle in Mediana in Serbia, the reception rooms of the Keynsham villa in England, the hexagonal hall of the Palace of Antiochus in Constantinople, the Domus delle Sette Sale in Rome, the baptistery of Limoges in France, and the cella quinquichora of Aquincum in Hungary. Although similar in general layout, they had different functions: early Christian mausoleum, baptistery, pagan mausoleum, and foremost dining halls or reception rooms. This warns us that it is essential to study early Christian buildings in the context of late antique architecture in its complexity and not only in the limited context of other early Christian buildings. Late antique architects seem to have been fascinated by the opportunities offered by the different polygonal or central-plan halls and buildings and used them for different purposes.
The gallows in Holíč (Skalica district, Slovakia) archaeological research and virtual reconstruction
Šibenica v Holíči (okres Skalica, Slovensko). Archeologický výskum a pokus o virtuálnu rekonštrukciu
Akasztófa Holicsban (Skalicai járás, Szlovákia). Régészeti kutatás és kísérlet a virtuális rekonstrukcióra
Abstract
The archaeological research of the gallows in Holíč is one of the first purposefully surveyed sites of this kind in Slovakia. The issue of research on execution sites is only marginally dealt with in our territory. The research confirmed the presence of a simple brick gallows with two supporting posts. Skeletal remains of human bodies discovered in the excavated area are no less important in this context. The information and the finds can contribute to the study of capital execution and types of gallows not only in the territory of today's Slovakia, but also in the wider area of the historical Kingdom of Hungary. The features datable to the Second World War are also worth mentioning and provide an ideal opportunity to compare archaeological finds of modern military history with the available written sources.
The investigation of ninth–eleventh century burials from Himod (NW Hungary)
Physical anthropology data in the light of artifact typology
Abstract
This study presents the results of a classic physical anthropological and paleopathological study of the early medieval human bone material from the Himod-Káposztáskertek site. A smaller part of the graves can be dated to the ninth century but the majority of graves dates to the tenth–eleventh century. Since the possibility of population continuity was raised, the archaeological data related to the question were also reviewed (with special emphasis on the typology of a knife found in Grave 68), with the intent of seeing whether the anthropological data supported this hypothesis. Both samples represent only a small number of cases and the remains are poorly preserved. The ninth century series especially provided very little data, ultimately making comparison impossible. The remains of 25 individuals were found in the Carolingian cemetery section: childburials number 15, the juvenile age group is not represented by any skeletons, there are ten adult burials (4 males, 5 females, 1 of undeterminable sex). The skeletons from 87 individuals were excavated from the tenth–eleventh century section of the cemetery, of which 25 were children, 5 were juveniles, and 57 were adults (29 males, 28 females). For both men and women, people of tall stature form the majority; male skulls are characterized by large absolute dimensions, mainly a broad forehead and a broad face. Fractures, degenerative changes of the spine and extravertebral joints (especially the elbow joint) were common. Tuberculosis infection was suspected in the case of one individual. Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease with bilateral involvement and a rare developmental disorder, congenital scoliosis, occurred in the material as well.
Abstract
The main goal of this paper is to study a specific element of women's depicted costumes. Pictures on stone monuments present local, so-called native women wearing complex attire of cloth, headwear, brooches, jewels, and other dress accessories. Thirteen stone monuments from Hungary depict local women with headwear-related accessories. The main questions are: what kind of accessories are they, and how can we evaluate their presence on depicted attires? I collected analogous depictions from other Provinces and studied archaeological material. Finally, I concluded that these headwear-related accessories connect to new cultural effects and the complex phenomenon of acculturation.
Abstract
In his paper the author summarizes the research of Roman Pannonia in the recent decades, mainly after 1986 when Pavel Oliva edited his volume of the series Tabula Imperii Romani, He examined the most important historical and administrative events of the province. Kovács also delt with the new historical monographs that studied the entire history or administration of Pannonia and the most important towns. The author separately examined the new epigraphic works, corpora and the new inscribed finds. In the last part of his paper he delt with the new archaeological discoveries from Brigetio to Sirmium.
Abstract
This paper covers the glass bowl fragments brought to light at Intercisa (Dunaújváros, Hungary). Bowls occur in relatively high number among the finds from the vicus and the military fort of Intercisa. The open vessels assigned to this category have a rim diameter exceeding the vessel height or exceeding the vessel height by at least 60%. Of the roughly 700 glass fragments known from the site, no more than 72 represent bowls, accounting for about 10% of the vessel glass, a relatively high proportion. Facet-cut bowls are the most frequent type among bowls: 40 pieces can be assigned to this category. Mosaic and ribbed bowls, as well as some cast and mould-pressed bowls are typical of the early Roman period. The vast majority of the bowls are blown vessels and date to the later second and the third centuries, with a few exemplars dating to the fourth century. Two bowl types stand out from among the finds, namely the facet-cut bowls and the scallop bowls of the late Roman period, which, judging from their regional distribution, had probably both been produced in a glass workshop active on the Intercisa settlement. One remarkable fragment from a hemispherical bowl bears a male head with a hedgehog hairstyle; it is paralleled by several vessels not only from the Cologne area, but also from Pannonia.
Abstract
The aim of this article is to better define how changes in the Latin vowel system evolved over time in the stressed vs. the unstressed syllables in the Latin of Rome. To this end, the cases of <e> for /i/ and <o> for /u/ in an epigraphic corpus of 6,599 inscriptions from this city have been analysed by comparing the number of epigraphic errors occurring under and out of stress in five different periods. Our results indicate that, until about the 4th cent. CE, cases of <e> for /i/ and <o> for /u/ occur mostly in the unstressed syllables in our inscriptions, which is consistent with the view that the reorganisation of the vocalic qualities in the Latin vowel system affected the unstressed vowels before it affected the stressed ones. However, the same results also indicate that the number of epigraphic deviations concerning the stressed vowels /i/ and /u/ in our corpus increases from about the 4th–5th cent. CE onwards, and that this fact should be linked to the dephonologisation of contrastive vowel quantity (in the stressed syllables).
Abstract
The main scope of the present study is the semantic and syntactic analysis of the use of the Latin demonstratives based on quantitative and qualitative data from the volumes I, II, CXVIII of the Chartae Latinae Antiquiores (ChLA). These volumes contain original parchment charters between the 7th century and 801, written in St. Gall or in its vicinity. For the current analysis, 133 private legal documents were selected. The underlying principle of the examination is concerned with the ‘genre’ of the legal documents, namely the formulas, i.e. the strict set of words embedded in the tradition of charter composition that can only be changed when difficulties in understanding emerge and prevail. Therefore, anomalies presented 3–4 times in the corpus are evaluated, if they differ in the identity of the scribe, in the place and time of the composition, although, statistically, they could be excluded from the examination as outliers. Thus, the analysis focuses on the following anomalies: determiner multiplication, substitution, additional metalinguistic participles and articuloїde cases.
Abstract
The present paper deals with a marginal divergent spelling consisting in the geminatio of a consonant littera in pre- or post-consonantal position. The phenomenon is found in both Latin and Greek non-literary texts. The analysis is conducted on two levels, one grapho-phonological and one historical. In fact, the phenomenon results to be particularly relevant as for the relation between spelling and syllabic representation of heterosyllabic clusters and as for the dimension of contact between Latin and Greek scripts. First, a synchronic cut of Latin non-literary texts is examined to evaluate the occurrence of this geminatio and its ratio of distribution along the different types of clusters. It can be stated that the geminatio at hand represents a metagraphic signal of syllab(ific)ation indeterminacy, as is further corroborated by the examination of metalinguistic sources. Secondly, the historical perspective is then addressed. This spelling can be interpreted as a feature, albeit marginal and stemming from ephemeral slips, of writing koine, as is further evidenced by the examination of two sample clusters of texts.
Abstract
The present study analyzes the transformation of the vowel system and especially the process of vowel mergers based on the Latin inscriptions of the Danubian provinces. With the help of the Computerized Historical Linguistic Database of the Latin Inscriptions of the Imperial Age (http://lldb.elte.hu/), it tries to draw and then compare the phonological profiles of the selected provinces and to describe the dialectal position of the Danubian provinces regarding vocalism in the first four centuries AD. The analysis, which also covers comparisons with certain provinces of Italy and Dalmatia, is carried out considering four aspects: the ratio of vocalic versus consonantal changes, the ratio of vowel mergers compared to vocalic changes, the ratio of e-i and o-u mergers compared to each other, and the ratio of vowel mergers by stressed and unstressed syllable. As a result of the present study, it was revealed that Danubian provinces cannot be treated as a unit or as clearly separate from the other areas studied according to either aspect of the study. The Dacian development, which can only be observed in the 2nd–3rd century, can easily be placed among the Danubian provinces, so it is not necessary to connect it with the developmental trends in southern Italy. The present study, which continued József Herman's research, managed to explore the hitherto little-known linguistic and dialectological features of Latin in the Danubian provinces.
Abstract
This paper looks at the alternations introduced by the Old Hungarian regressive labialization of front vowels through the example of a lexical set, the derivational family based on the stem dics- ‘glory, praise’. This alternation was highly variable, but in a patterned way. All the data found in the Old Hungarian codices have been investigated with the help of the online Old Hungarian Corpus, and the distribution of the relevant forms has been mapped, along with a discussion of a highly interesting exceptional form recurring in several of the source texts.
Abstract
In order to provide for a linguistically and cognitively sound theory of negation, we argue for the introduction of a dyadic negation predicate lack and a force dynamic account of affirmation and negation in general.
Abstract
Our point of departure is László Kálmán's system of radical anti-mainstream argumentations about such central but dubious, or at least debated, constituents and concepts of dynamic semantics as discourse representation, information state, compositionality between semantics and syntax, bridging, deferred information, and ambiguity/vagueness. We strive for pointing out that Kálmán's observations and stances concerning these fundamental, ultimate problems of pragmasemantics are worth relying upon the formal theory that is to realize the desirable purpose of creating a version of formal pragmasemantics simultaneously capable of meeting the criteria and requirements appearing in different non-logics-based/informal areas of the description of human communication and – what is behind it – thinking.
Abstract
This paper highlights theoretical issues in construction grammar and presents a simple computational language model as a preliminary solution to these issues. The specific issues dealt with are the lack of explicit definition of syntactic categories and the lack of explicit proposals regarding how constructions can be learned from linguistic experience. The proposed language model, called the “analogical path model”, learns two-word syntactic patterns from sentences by finding distributional analogies between word pairs. The theoretical relevance and implications of the analogical path model are discussed at the end of the paper.
Abstract
This paper analyzes the Janus Pannonius collections in Seville, Biblioteca Capitular y Colombina, Ms T (7-1-15) and Ms S (56-4-57), which have enriched our knowledge of Janus Pannonius' literary heritage. The study argues that Ms T and Ms S belong to the π tradition, which could explain the collections curated nearly or almost exclusively by Janus Pannonius in Hungary during the last years of his life. The paper contributes to a deeper understanding of Janus Pannonius and, thanks to the legacy of Seville, provides insights into the broader dynamics of humanist networks, manuscript transmission and book collecting during the Renaissance.
Abstract
Ferenc Rákóczi II, Prince of Transylvania, the leader of the Hungarian war of independence against the Habsburgs between 1703 and 1711, was the first legend of Hungarian national independence at the turn of the century. In the early years of the 20th century, after decades of social and political struggle, the transportation of the prince's body from his original burial place in Constantinople to Hungary came within reach. Until that happened, his tomb was visited several times and for various purposes by Hungarian historians, politicians, religious leaders, and public figures – visits known as the Rákóczi pilgrimage. The most significant was the Rákóczi pilgrimage of 1903. It involved important rituals of cultic attitudes: visiting the tomb of a saint, participating in cultic ceremonies, and collecting relics. The event was one of the most important modern pilgrimages of the early 20th century, with historical roots dating back to the early modern period.
Abstract
This paper aims at presenting the Wiki database of a current project and has a distinctly computational signature. It is a fitting complement to years of work in the study of linguistic variation, of non-classical forms of Latin, but also the infinite possibilities offered by this field of study in terms of historical linguistics and database implementation. In the specific case, we will use the metalinguistic term constructio as an example of the analytical potential offered by the WikiMedia of the SiRe project Parts of speech meet Rhetorics: Searching for syntax in the continuity between the Middle Ages and the Modern Age.
Abstract
The present study aims to determine the role of the Hungarian language in European polyglot dictionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries and thus to establish its position within the group of European languages. The study is based on earlier findings by Gabriele Stein (1989) concerning the role of English in 16th-century multilingual wordlists, and it addresses two questions: 1) How often was the Hungarian language included in polyglots compared to other European languages? 2) Did Hungarian hold a similar position to other vernaculars in the dictionaries considered?
It was examined which languages were included in the polyglots published during the period under discussion and how many times each vernacular appeared in a dictionary. Moreover, the contents of selected dictionaries were analysed. Results indicate that Hungarian played an important, though not key role in European polyglot dictionaries of the 16th and 17th centuries and that its position among other European languages was not marginal at the time.
The altarpiece of the Passion of Christ preserved in the Evangelical church in Sibiu, created in 1519 by a skilful artist, Simon Pictor, using extensively the prints of Dürer and Altdorfer, represents one of the most spectacular surviving artworks of the Renaissance in Transylvania. Its subsequent transformation in 1545 and 1701 certainly enhanced its historical significance. The restoration of the artwork in the 1980s brought back to light very significant details: the dating of the original artwork (1519), two coats of arms hinting to the patronage, and a part of the genuine style of master simon. The identification of the sinister coat of arms, thus the one in the inferior heraldic position, as belonging to Johannes Lulay (royal judge and administrator of the royal mint of Sibiu) constituted the basis of extensive incursions in the patronage of this remarkable altarpiece. However, an important question remained unsolved: who could have been the other patron or commissioner of the altarpiece? As the preeminent position of the coat of arms (on the heraldic dextra) clearly indicates, this was an individual even higher in the hierarchy as Johannes Lulay himself.
The assumption of the study is that this prominent patron was Paulus de Tomor/Tomori Pál. He remained in the Hungarian national consciousness as the heroical leader of the army in the „Mohácsi csata” of 29 August 1526, a critical turning point in the history of the state. This study contributes to the reveal of parts of his “Transylvanian biography,” his allegiances and political network in situ before he left the region, his patronal endeavours, and last, but not least, it discloses his real (and tinctured) coat of arms. At the same time, the great altarpiece of the Passion in Sibiu recovered another piece of its complex content, by the identification of the main patron (or, rather, the more honourable patron) in the person of Paulus de Tomor. Last, but not least, this study asserts that three of the characters depicted in the scene of the Lamentation over the dead Christ on the predella are in fact crypto-portraits of Johannes Lulay, his wife Clara Thabiassy, and his partner and superior Paulus Tomori.
After the abolition in 1782 several works of art owned by the Clarisses were lost. Some of them were identified in recent years; I would like to write about an other one that was found in the cloister of the Order of the Sisters of Saint Elisabeth in Bratislava. It is fairly unique because of its theme: it commemorates the escaping of the Clarisses from Stephen Bocskai’s attack on Graz and Vienna in 1605, also the taking over of the reformed and stricted Regula. It was painted together with another, recently hidden picture that has since been lost almost twenty years later in 1623, most likely in the Austrian capital, when Clarisses escaped secondly to Vienna.
In the bas-de-page decoration by Jörg Breu the Elder of a leaf in the Prayer Book of Emperor Maximilian I (fol. 78r), a cheerful winged putto is gracefully propelling a walking frame. Both the rolling structure aiding its first steps and the presence of wings cry out for an explanation, especially as the two are shown together.
Unlike most other depictions of a child with a walker, this putto is neither a personification of an age of man, nor a reference to a specific infant. Among its precedents, it is worth mentioning the marginal decorations of prayers of intercession, especially the relevant depiction in the Hours of Mary of Burgundy.
The structure of the walker in Maximilian’s prayer book is counterfunctional: its wooden slats together form a capital A and capital D. By modelling the walker on Dürer’s monogram, Jörg Breu was, on the one hand, thanking his mentor for his inspiration, and on the other, fulfilling the wish of Konrad Peutinger – and indirectly of the emperor – that the decoration of the prayer book be completed in the manner commenced by Dürer.
While there are also classical precedents for the motif of the walker as a device aiding the acquisition of knowledge, later examples are particularly relevant to the sustentaculum modelled on Dürer’s monogram. In the seventeenth century, the metaphor of the “first step” and the concept of “giving and receiving support” frequently conjured up the theme of master and pupil; at this time, the child learning to walk with the aid of a walker was repeatedly alluded to in the context of the study and practice of art. This notion also comes across in the etching by Rembrandt known as ‘Het Rolwagentje’: here too, learning to walk independently refers to the process of mastering art, with the obligatory first steps being to practise drawing nudes and to copy the works of the master.
In the depiction of the putto, its hesitant steps imply slowness, while its wings suggest speed. This ambivalence is also the essence of the adage festina lente, which was of particular relevance to Emperor Maximilian; the theme was probably suggested by Peutinger. Other references to the emperor are the figure of Hercules stepping on a snail, in the lower right margin of the same sheet, and the crane depicted on its verso.
