This article presents the editio princeps of a Mandaean amulet inscribed on a lead lamella (MLSC 4). The amulet contains two formula. The first describes how the children of Ptahil, who are described as “the guardians of the ruins”, wreak havoc in the world. The formula draws heavily on Mandaean lore. The second formula is mostly lost, and only the end survives. The article discusses material aspects of the artefact and provides a full transliteration and translation of its contents, a reconstruction of some broken sections based upon unpublished parallels, and notes that relate to linguistic and literary aspects of the text.

The Sistani dialect, though a dialect of Persian, displays its own manifestations of morpho-syntactic categorieson the verb form. The purpose of this article is to investigate the verb system of the Sistani dialectas spoken in Sistan based on linguistic fieldwork carried out in the village Sekuhe (locally known as Sakvâ)and provide a synchronic description of its verb structure and the realization of verbal morpho-syntacticcategories including agreement, tense, aspect, mood, and voice. The oral texts used as linguistic data,which compose the corpus for describing and analysing the given morpho-syntactic categories for verbsin the Sistani dialect, were extracted from the free speech of 10 males and 10 females between the ages of7 and 85 with different social backgrounds living in Sekuhe. The findings of the present study show thatthe Sistani dialect employs what are basically its own morpho-syntactic elements to manifest agreement,tense, aspect, and voice in its verb system.

In this paper I discuss the translation and commentary on the Song of Songs by the Karaite Japheth ben Eli (died ca 1005). The point of departure is the manuscript Uppsala O Nova 791, which was used by Paul Achilles Jung, the father of Carl Gustav Jung, as the basis for his dissertation in 1867 and later acquired by Uppsala University Library in 1982.

Two Old Babylonian contracts from a Swedish private collection are published. The known modern history of the contracts is described. The texts are given a historical and geographical context in the Ancient Near East of the Old Babylonian period (ca 2000-1595 BCE). The type of text, the people appearing in them, some administrative procedures and the times in which the contracts were written are discussed.

The present paper offers a cognitive and typological approximation to the problem of the gnomic qatal. It demonstrates that the gnomic sense of the qatal can be chained to the remaining semantic potential of the gram by making use of certain typological templates or universals, i.e. by so-called gnomic branches of the anterior path. Given that, from a cross-linguistic perfective, certain subtypes of a present perfect (inclusive,frequentative, and experiential perfects, as well as an anti-perfect) naturally generate gnomic extensions (following a development referred to as “gnomic branches”), that the dominant portion of the semantic potential of the qatal covers the domain of a perfect, and finally that all the examples of the BH gnomic qatal (if derived from active roots) may be viewed as generated in prototypical perfect contexts (the gnomic use of the qatal stems from its use as an inclusive, frequentative, experiential, and anti-perfect),the gnomic value of the gram may be cognitively (both conceptually and diachronically) chained to the remaining sphere of its semantic network by employing the “gnomic branch” linkage. In this manner,the gnomic value ceases to be aberrant and, on the contrary, becomes a fully rational component of the semantic potential of the gram. As a result, we propose a model (a map) that in a more consistent and more holistic manner represents the semantics of the entire qatal category; it accounts for all the senses, the gnomic values included.

This paper presents the morphophonological effects of four suffixes on noun stem vowels in Kumzari: thesimple plural suffix -an, the existential plural clitic -in, the definite suffix -ō, and the indefinite suffix -ē.Two of the suffixes (-an and -ō) have an effect on the stress placement of their host stem. This results inan array of alternations which may be generalized as lengthening of the stem’s final vowel and, in the caseof -ō, harmonization of the stem’s final vowel to that of the suffix. The remaining two suffixes (the clitic-in and the suffix -ē) are included in this study to emphasize the role of stress placement in vowel alternationsin Kumzari: although -in and -ē are segmentally and semantically analogous to the first two suffixes– and, in the case of -ē, morphosyntactically equivalent – they have no effect on stress placement and consequentlydo not precipitate vowel lengthening or harmonization.

The article presents two love songs in Afghan Balochi recorded in March 2001 and July 2003 respectively (in Iranian Sistan). The singer is a Baloch man from Afghani Sistan. The poems are typical love songs from a pastoral nomadic society describing the beauty of the beloved in terms of his natural environment. Dialect: Afghan Rakhshani.

This study examines the themes and distinctive features of the grotesque as manifested in the literary works of Algerian author Waciny Laredj (Wasīnī al-Aʿraj), who depicts the Algerian reality through an experimental form of novelistic writing. Laredj makes use of the features of the grotesque—sarcasm, irony, amplification, exaggeration and the nightmarish—as a way of silhouetting Algeria’s situation and highlighting the struggle against both Islamic and state terrorism. Major similarities are noted between the style of the grotesque and elements central to novelistic narrative, such as polyphony and parallel plots. The grotesque reveals itself linguistically and stylistically in Laredj’s novels through their plots, the fantastical atmosphere that prevails throughout, and the use of analepsis, foreshadowing, omission, close-up shots and exaggeration. Specific examples of these phenomena are found in his Ḍamīr al-Ghā’ib (Third Person Pronoun) (1990) and Ḥārisat al-Ẓilāl (Guardian of the Shadows) (1997), in which human beings take on other forms by means of bizarre devices, and in which state terrorism mingles with Islamic terrorism in an atmosphere of comedic horror.

Using a corpus of contemporary Yazdi Zoroastrian oral literature, this article demonstrates that the Persian dialect found in many Zoroastrian songs is different from both Standard Persian and local (Yazdi) Persian. It is argued that Zoroastrian oral literature in New Persian preserves the features of a Persian dialect previously spoken or used by Zoroastrians. On the basis of phonological and morphosyntactic comparison, this article shows that it is likely that this variety of Persian was influenced by Gavruni, the traditional language of the Zoroastrians of Iran.

This paper investigates the second language acquisition of Persian object marking by 237 nativeBalochi-speaking children from age eight to eleven. The combination of Balochi and Persian has not beenstudied from an acquisitional perspective, although it widely occurs in southeastern Iran. This paperstudies the second language (L2) development of direct and indirect object marking after two and threeyears of exposure to Persian at school, vs. a control group of 133 monolingual native Persian children ofsimilar age and socio-economic background. Beginning learners predominantly use non-targetlike objectmarking constructions reminiscent of Balochi, whilst there is a clear trend towards Persian-style objectmarking in the more advanced learners. These findings suggest that L2 learners initially transfer core aspectsof their native grammar to their interlanguage Persian. The picture is complicated by the existenceof differential object marking in Balochi and Persian and the somewhat different writing patterns of nativeand non-native learners.

This article discusses Daśaratha’s horse sacrifice at 1.8–16 in Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa. Daśaratha’s rite seems to be a horse sacrifice, then a son-producing rite, then a porridge-eating rite. The text has been seen as composite, but it works as a unit, using poetic registers and narrative symbols alive in the textual world of its historical location – that is, in the Rāmāyaṇa alongside the Mahābhārata, Harivaṃśa, and earlier texts such as the Upaniṣads. The brahmin Ṛśyaśṛṅga, key officiant at Daśaratha’s rite, is predisposed, by the narration, to inseminate Daśaratha’s wives. This article discusses Daśaratha’s rite gradually, with digressions and examples. Topics include Draupadī’s conception, the putrikā or ‘appointed daughter’, the horse sacrifice and the human sacrifice, the niyoga or ‘appointment’ (of a man to inseminate a woman), the ways in which the texts present sex, semen, and the masculinity of the inseminator, and the ways in which they present gods taking human form.

This paper investigates the question of authenticity developed in the contemporary Adivasi literary discourse in light of some short stories of Alice Ekka, an until recently unknown Adivasi author active in the 1960s. The discovery of this author moves further back in time the beginning of Hindi Adivasi literature, previously believed to have emerged between the 1980s and 1990s following the rise of Dalit literature. As a forerunner, Alice Ekka manifests in her narrative some elements that are peculiar when analyzed in relation to the assumptions made in contemporary literary discourse on Adivasi writing. From her short stories, it becomes clear that besides her Adivasi background, she was also informed by the viewpoint of the educated, middle-class city dweller and drew inspiration without constraint from mainstream literary traditions such as the Hindi Chayavad and English Romanticism. The paper discusses how the presence of such elements contrasts with the assumption of Adivasi “authentic” literature based on Adivasi consciousness and tradition.

This paper reads Uday Prakāś’s Mohan Dās as a multi-layered story of resistance. From the thematic point of view, it is a story of marginality, featuring a young Dalit resisting the oppression of the hegemonic society. It is also a story of multiple identities – or of a total loss of identity. The text resists gender categorisation. There is continuous meta-textual play: Mohan Dās reminds us of the historical Mahatma Gandhi not only through his name (the Mahatma’s given name is ‘Mohandas Karamchand’), but also concerning his ideas and actions (persisting in his search for truth, never resorting to violence). Other fictional characters in Mohan Dās obviously refer to the Hindi literary field, like Gajānan Mādhav Muktibodh and Śamśer Bahādur Siṃh. As Mohan Dās was first published in the literary magazine Haṃs in the Premcand anniversary issue (August 2005), and Uday Prakāś often refers to Hindi authors of the past in his works, it is possible to analyse the text as calling for an alternative canon in Hindi literature, one that resists the mainstream. Mohan Dās can be seen as an example of postmodern Hindi literature in which the focus is not on the urban middle class, but on the rural and subaltern India.

The aim of this article is to examine the image of the ancient Iranian prophet Zoroaster in the Shāhnāma based on a closed reading of the story about the Kayānian king Goshtāsp written by Daqiqi (and continued by Ferdousi). There has so far been no comprehensive treatment of Daqiqi’s rendering of Zoroaster and the founding of the first Zoroastrian community. This lack of scholarly research is surprising given the importance of Daqiqi in the transmission of the ancient Iranian cultural and religious heritage (illustrated in his pioneering role in the creation of the Shāhnāma of Ferdousi) and the uniqueness of his work, which constitutes the only long poem that has been preserved from the Sāmānid and pre-Sāmānid period (even though extant verses of some early poets suggest the existence of several other epic works). As Daqiqi relates, it was in Goshtāsp’s reign that Zoroaster introduced his religion in the Iranian cultural sphere, with the support of the king’s son Esfandiār. Goshtāsp was forced to go to war to defend the faith against king Arjāsp of Turān and suffered the loss of his brother Zarēr in battle. These are celebrated events in the early history of Zoroastrianism that have been expounded upon throughout the centuries in different versions.

With its rich semantic texture and evocative imagery Sunny Singh’s short story A Cup Full of Jasmine Oil invites various readings. The story tells how a young girl is both attracted and confused when her grandmother’s neighbor, who lives in a lesbian relationship, massages her skull and oils her curly hair. When the grandmother at one point forbids the oiling sessions, the girl suddenly becomes aware of hidden meanings and intuitions associated with this practice.

The essay juxtaposes a reading of the story from a more conventional western perspective with an interpretation from the point of the Indian system of aesthetics based on rasa. From this double perspective, it discusses various stylistic and thematic aspects of the story. Diverging interpretations are presented of the role of the characters, the functionality of their characterization, and the use of description and suggestion to evoke the semantic framework of the story.

The juxtaposition of two readings was prompted by a discussion with the author during a conference panel on rebellion in modern Indian literature and film. To prevent the impression of imposing a “scholarly” reading on a more “intuitive” reading, the essay continues the dialogue with the author and invites her to react to the reading and discuss the notion of an “Indian” aesthetic model, its relevance for her writing, and current critical approaches to modern Indian fiction. In her response, Sunny Singh explains how the theme of the story was prompted by her perception of the sharing of knowledge of sexuality and intimacy in a tightly-knit Indian social context. The discussion with the author extends beyond the specific story, and she presents her views on how her scholarly knowledge of modern Indian culture stimulates her in her creative work. Thereby, it aptly frames the exploration of a reading of A Cup Full of Jasmine Oil from the perspective of Indian literary aesthetics.

This article presents an inquiry into the identification of the stylistic features characterizing genres in the Qurʾān. It explores how discourse organization and the articulation of marking foreground and background information convey the intended meaning and topics of Qurʾānic genres and impact their style in terms of lexicon and syntactic structure. Three types of information are shown to emerge in Qurʾānic genres that are captured in the relationship between syntactic form and discourse function: main foreground information, complementary foreground information and background information. Whereas the main foreground information in all genres has its own identifiable syntax, the complementary information is diverse. The background information in all types of genres shares some common thematic, pragmatic and linguistic features which can easily be identified.

Just as political and cultural discourse in general, modern Middle Eastern discourse is at times characterized by a great deal of hostility, not only between different states or religious denominations, but also state-internally among various ethnic, political, or religious groups. This short article focuses on the use of the attributes "Semitic" and "Zionist," as well as their negative counterparts "anti-Semitic" and "anti-Zionist," respectively, in examples of both Arabic and Israeli critical to hostile discourse. The focus of the discussion will lie on how the original meanings of these terms, especially in their negated forms, tend to be distorted in engaged political and cultural discourse.

Persian writings on theory of music has passed through phases of change during its evolution. One of these phases began at the beginning of the 16^th century with the abandonment of scientific Greek-Arabic influenced writing on music theory and the emergence of a new approach to the subject. This phase, which can be labelled the post-scholastic period, was one of the most productive phases of the genre and many tracts and treatises were written during that period. One of the works from this era which come down to us is a concise tract by Neẓām-al-din Aḥmad Gilāni. In this article, the author and the opus are first introduced, then a critical edition of the text and an English translation of the text are provided.

The relationship between the two components of the construction known in Arabic as الاضافة غير الحقيقية, e.g., الحَسَنُ ٱلْوَجْهِ‎, Hebrewיְפֵה עֵינַיִם, and Akkadian damqam īnim ‘beautiful-faced/eyed’, is commonly held to be one of nexus: ‘His/her eyes/face are/is beautiful’. The author of the article argues that the relationship is rather that of a verb/(verbal) root with its complement – similar to Arabic تمييز, e.g., حَسَنٌ وَجْهًا ‘He is beautiful, as for his face’. A 1996 article by the author used analytical arguments to prove this; the present article, which is a continuation, does not repeat the analytical arguments, but presents examples contradicting the “Nexus Theory” along with examples unequivocally supporting the “Complement Theory”.

This study reviews characteristics of biblical personal names of the ‘United Monarchy’, and compares them with those of the ‘Divided Monarchy’. The comparison reveals that, while ‘Divided Monarchy’ names have similar characteristics in both Kings and Chronicles, the characteristics of ‘United Monarchy’ names differ, suggesting different sources for much of the ‘United Monarchy’ onomastica. Both sources, however, show the same remarkable onomastic evolution from the ‘United Monarchy’ to the ‘Divided Monarchy’, which may reflect the spread of Yahwism in the biblical narratives. This evolution is similar to that attested in the epigraphic evidence from a later period – from the 9th and 8th centuries to the 7th and early 6th centuries BCE.

Some scholars of Indology in the 2010s came across one since long hidden manuscript, with a title page in Devanāgarī script dated to 1703, in the Historical Archive of Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in Rome. The manuscript, despite being entitled as Thesaurus Linguæ Indianæ, does not contain a dictionary, but its main part is a complete grammar of the Hindustani language, dated 1704 and written by a Capuchin friar and missionary to India, François Marie de Tours. The finding later led to a rediscovery in Paris of two manuscripts, dated 1703, of the Thesaurus missing in the Rome manuscript by the same author. One of them is supposedly the original and the other one a later copy, produced in 1784. These three manuscripts in Rome and Paris have a common but by scholars in the field forgotten history. Their relation and history will in this article be revealed in detail and contextualized, firstly in a section in which the manuscripts are closely described, secondly in a section about the author as much as is known. A third section will follow the history of the Thesaurus manuscripts in Paris up to the present day.

Artikkelen er en kortfattet gjennomgang gjennom historien til skjønnlitterær arabisk prosa i perioden fra 1800-tallet inntil i dag med fokus på utviklingene i Egypt og Levanten. Historien er delt i sju perioder. Et siste kapittel tar foran seg den islamske religionens plass blant emnene, moderne arabiske prosalitteratur er mest opptatt av.

This article describes a novel approach for combining the teaching of Standard Arabic (SA) and Vernacular Arabic (VA) developed at the University of Gothenburg. This approach (Parallel Text-based Approach, or PTA) is characterized by two features: a) VA and SA are taught in separate parallel courses, and b) instruction in VA is based on transcribed dialogues. These features go against common recommendations in the literature, in particular those of the influential so-called integrated approach. Drawing on the concept of communicative competence, it is argued that both of these practices have significant pedagogical benefits that have been neglected in the literature. For example, the teaching SA and VA in separate courses provides for a structured way of exploiting the linguistic overlap between the two varieties and makes possible the allocation of specialized teacher resources. Basing the instruction of VA on transcribed dialogues facilitates classroom discussion of sociolinguistic and pragmatic features and makes linguistic features in VA more discoverable to students than is the case when they are only presented aurally. This approach may be an attractive alternative to the integrated approach for program developers seeking to add instruction in VA to an existing Arabic program.