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Plurilingualism in Traditional Eurasian Scholarship
Thinking in Many Tongues
Series: - Ancient Languages and Civilizations, Volume: 3
Was plurilingualism the exception or the norm in traditional Eurasian scholarship? This volume presents a selection of primary sourcesâin many cases translated into English for the first timeâwith introductions that provide fascinating historical materials for challenging notions of the ways in which traditional Eurasian scholars dealt with plurilingualism and monolingualism. Comparative in approach, global in scope, and historical in orientation, it engages with the growing discussion of plurilingualism and focuses on fundamental scholarly practices in various premodern and early modern societiesâChinese, Indian, Mesopotamian, Jewish, Islamic, Ancient Greek, and Romanâasking how these were conceived by the agents themselves. The volume will be an indispensable resource for courses on these subjects and on the history of scholarship and reflection on language throughout the world.
Glenn W. Most, PhD (Yale/Tübingen, 1980) is a classicist and comparatist. He retired in November 2020 as Professor of Greek Philology at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and remains a regular Visiting Professor on the Committee on Social Thought (University of Chicago) and External Scientific Member of the MPIGW, Berlin. He has published numerous articles and books on Classics, philosophy, the history of religion, and comparative literature, among other fields.
Dagmar Schäfer, PhD (University of Würzburg, 1996) is a sinologist and historian of science. She is Director of Department 3 (Artifacts, Action, Knowledge) at the MPIWG, Berlin, and Honorary Professor at Freie Universität Berlin. Author of The Crafting of the 10,000 Things (University of Chicago Press, 2011), she has published widely on the premodern history of China (SongâMing) and the changing role of artifacts in the creation, diffusion, and use of scientific and technological knowledge.
Mårten Söderblom Saarela, PhD (Princeton University, 2015) is a historian of the Qing empire and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taipei. He is the author of The Early Modern Travels of Manchu: A Script and Its Study in East Asia and Europe (Penn, 2020), and co-editor of Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies.
Dagmar Schäfer, PhD (University of Würzburg, 1996) is a sinologist and historian of science. She is Director of Department 3 (Artifacts, Action, Knowledge) at the MPIWG, Berlin, and Honorary Professor at Freie Universität Berlin. Author of The Crafting of the 10,000 Things (University of Chicago Press, 2011), she has published widely on the premodern history of China (SongâMing) and the changing role of artifacts in the creation, diffusion, and use of scientific and technological knowledge.
Mårten Söderblom Saarela, PhD (Princeton University, 2015) is a historian of the Qing empire and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, Taipei. He is the author of The Early Modern Travels of Manchu: A Script and Its Study in East Asia and Europe (Penn, 2020), and co-editor of Saksaha: A Journal of Manchu Studies.
List of Illustrations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âGlenn W. Most, Dagmar Schäfer and Michele Loporcaro
1.1 Introduction
âGlenn W. Most
1.2 The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1â9)
âJoel S. Baden
1.3 A 5th-Century BCE Greek Historian Discusses the Pelasgians and the Origins of the Greek Language
Herodotus, Histories
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.4 Language Arose from Spontaneous Feelings and Reactions to Nature
The Doctrine of Epicurus (4th Century BCE) and Lucretius (1st Century BCE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.5 Language Diversity Is a Result of Social Interaction
Xunziâs View on Plurilingualism in 3rd-Century BCE China
âDagmar Schäfer
1.6 Language Is a Collective Product of Mankind
Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History (1st Century BCE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.7 A 1st-Century BCE/CE Greek Geographer Discusses What a âBarbarianâ Language Is in Terms of Homer and the Carians
Strabo, Geography
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.8 Plurilingualism in China and Inner Asia in the 12th Century CE
âKhitan Reciting Poetryâ
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
2.1 Introduction
âGlenn W. Most, Dagmar Schäfer and Michele Loporcaro
2.2 An Early Post-Vedic Treatise on the Etymological Explanation of Words
YÄska, Etymology
âJohannes Bronkhorst
2.3 A 4th-Century BCE Greek Philosophical Analysis of the Methods and Limits of Etymology
Plato, Cratylus
âGlenn W. Most
2.4 A 1st-Century BCE Roman Polymathâs Explanation of the Mysteries of Latin
Varro, On the Latin Language
âGlenn W. Most and Michele Loporcaro
2.5 A 1st-Century CE Stoic Etymological and Allegorical Explanation of Greek Gods
Cornutus, Compendium of Greek Theology
âGlenn W. Most
2.6 Zheng Xuan and Commentarial Etymology (2nd Century CE)
âDagmar Schäfer
2.7 Etymology in the Most Important Reference Encyclopedia of Late Antiquity (ca. 600â¯CE)
Isidore of Seville, Etymologies
âMichele Loporcaro and Glenn W. Most
2.8 Buddhist Etymologies from First-Millennium India and China
Works by Vasubandhu, Sthiramati and ParamÄrtha
âRoy Tzohar
2.9 An Influential Latin Dictionary and Its Etymologies (12th Century CE) in the Linguistic Landscape of Medieval Europe
Hugutio of Pisaâs Derivationes
âMichele Loporcaro
3.1 Introduction
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
3.2 Lexicality and Lexicons from Mesopotamia
âMarkham J. Geller
3.3 Translating Oriental Words into Greek
A Papyrus Glossary from the 1st Century CE
âFilippomaria Pontani
3.4 The Making of Monolingual Dictionaries
The Prefaces to the Lexica of Hesychius (6th Century CE) and Photius (9th Century CE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
3.5 A 10th-Century CE Byzantine Encyclopedia and Lexicon
Suda, Letter Sigma
âGlenn W. Most
3.6 A Dictionary of the Imperial Capital
Shen Qiliangâs Da Qing quanshu (1683)
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
4.1 Introduction
âDagmar Schäfer and Markham J. Geller
4.2 Translators of Sumerian
The Unsung Heroes of Babylonian Scholarship
âMarkham J. Geller
4.3 The Earliest and Most Complete Story of the Translation of the Pentateuch into Greek (2nd Century BCE)
The Letter of Aristeas
âBenjamin G. Wright III
4.4 âFaithfulâ and âUnfaithfulâ Translations
The Greco-Latin Tradition in Jeromeâs Letter to Pammachius (395/396â¯CE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
4.5 A 4th-Century CE Buddhist Note on Sanskrit-Chinese Translation
Daoâanâs Preface to the Abridgement of the MahÄprajñÄpÄramitÄ SÅ«tra
âBill M. Mak
4.6 An 8th-Century CE Indian Astronomical Treatise in Chinese
The Nine Seizers Canon by Qutan Xida
âBill M. Mak
4.7 Two 8th-Century CE Recensions of Amoghavajraâs Buddhist Astral Compendium, Treatise on Lunar Mansions and Planets
âBill M. Mak
4.8 Arabic and Arabo-Latin Translations of Euclidâs Elements
âSonja Brentjes
5.1 Introduction
âDagmar Schäfer, Markham J. Geller and Glenn W. Most
5.2 A 4th-Century BCE Greek Philosophical Myth about the Egyptian Origins of Writing
Plato, Phaedrus
âGlenn W. Most
5.3 A Buddhist MahÄyÄna Account of the Coming into Being of Language
The Descent into Laá¹ kÄ Scripture (Laá¹ kÄvatÄrasÅ«tra)
âRoy Tzohar
5.4 Stories of Origin
Ibn al-NadÄ«m, KitÄb al-Fihrist
âSonja Brentjes
5.5 Inventing or Adapting Scripts in Inner Asia
The Jin and Yuan Histories and the Early Manchu Veritable Records Juxtaposed (1340sâ1630s)
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
5.6 An Essay on the Use of Chinese and Korean Language in Late 18th-Century CE ChosÅn
Yu TÅkkong, âHyangâÅ pan, HwaÅ panâ
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
Index
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
âGlenn W. Most, Dagmar Schäfer and Michele Loporcaro
Part 1 Language Diversity
1.1 Introduction
âGlenn W. Most
1.2 The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1â9)
âJoel S. Baden
1.3 A 5th-Century BCE Greek Historian Discusses the Pelasgians and the Origins of the Greek Language
Herodotus, Histories
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.4 Language Arose from Spontaneous Feelings and Reactions to Nature
The Doctrine of Epicurus (4th Century BCE) and Lucretius (1st Century BCE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.5 Language Diversity Is a Result of Social Interaction
Xunziâs View on Plurilingualism in 3rd-Century BCE China
âDagmar Schäfer
1.6 Language Is a Collective Product of Mankind
Diodorus of Sicily, Library of History (1st Century BCE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.7 A 1st-Century BCE/CE Greek Geographer Discusses What a âBarbarianâ Language Is in Terms of Homer and the Carians
Strabo, Geography
âFilippomaria Pontani
1.8 Plurilingualism in China and Inner Asia in the 12th Century CE
âKhitan Reciting Poetryâ
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
Part 2 Etymology
2.1 Introduction
âGlenn W. Most, Dagmar Schäfer and Michele Loporcaro
2.2 An Early Post-Vedic Treatise on the Etymological Explanation of Words
YÄska, Etymology
âJohannes Bronkhorst
2.3 A 4th-Century BCE Greek Philosophical Analysis of the Methods and Limits of Etymology
Plato, Cratylus
âGlenn W. Most
2.4 A 1st-Century BCE Roman Polymathâs Explanation of the Mysteries of Latin
Varro, On the Latin Language
âGlenn W. Most and Michele Loporcaro
2.5 A 1st-Century CE Stoic Etymological and Allegorical Explanation of Greek Gods
Cornutus, Compendium of Greek Theology
âGlenn W. Most
2.6 Zheng Xuan and Commentarial Etymology (2nd Century CE)
âDagmar Schäfer
2.7 Etymology in the Most Important Reference Encyclopedia of Late Antiquity (ca. 600â¯CE)
Isidore of Seville, Etymologies
âMichele Loporcaro and Glenn W. Most
2.8 Buddhist Etymologies from First-Millennium India and China
Works by Vasubandhu, Sthiramati and ParamÄrtha
âRoy Tzohar
2.9 An Influential Latin Dictionary and Its Etymologies (12th Century CE) in the Linguistic Landscape of Medieval Europe
Hugutio of Pisaâs Derivationes
âMichele Loporcaro
Part 3 Lexicography
3.1 Introduction
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
3.2 Lexicality and Lexicons from Mesopotamia
âMarkham J. Geller
3.3 Translating Oriental Words into Greek
A Papyrus Glossary from the 1st Century CE
âFilippomaria Pontani
3.4 The Making of Monolingual Dictionaries
The Prefaces to the Lexica of Hesychius (6th Century CE) and Photius (9th Century CE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
3.5 A 10th-Century CE Byzantine Encyclopedia and Lexicon
Suda, Letter Sigma
âGlenn W. Most
3.6 A Dictionary of the Imperial Capital
Shen Qiliangâs Da Qing quanshu (1683)
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
Part 4 Translation
4.1 Introduction
âDagmar Schäfer and Markham J. Geller
4.2 Translators of Sumerian
The Unsung Heroes of Babylonian Scholarship
âMarkham J. Geller
4.3 The Earliest and Most Complete Story of the Translation of the Pentateuch into Greek (2nd Century BCE)
The Letter of Aristeas
âBenjamin G. Wright III
4.4 âFaithfulâ and âUnfaithfulâ Translations
The Greco-Latin Tradition in Jeromeâs Letter to Pammachius (395/396â¯CE)
âFilippomaria Pontani
4.5 A 4th-Century CE Buddhist Note on Sanskrit-Chinese Translation
Daoâanâs Preface to the Abridgement of the MahÄprajñÄpÄramitÄ SÅ«tra
âBill M. Mak
4.6 An 8th-Century CE Indian Astronomical Treatise in Chinese
The Nine Seizers Canon by Qutan Xida
âBill M. Mak
4.7 Two 8th-Century CE Recensions of Amoghavajraâs Buddhist Astral Compendium, Treatise on Lunar Mansions and Planets
âBill M. Mak
4.8 Arabic and Arabo-Latin Translations of Euclidâs Elements
âSonja Brentjes
Part 5 Writing Systems
5.1 Introduction
âDagmar Schäfer, Markham J. Geller and Glenn W. Most
5.2 A 4th-Century BCE Greek Philosophical Myth about the Egyptian Origins of Writing
Plato, Phaedrus
âGlenn W. Most
5.3 A Buddhist MahÄyÄna Account of the Coming into Being of Language
The Descent into Laá¹ kÄ Scripture (Laá¹ kÄvatÄrasÅ«tra)
âRoy Tzohar
5.4 Stories of Origin
Ibn al-NadÄ«m, KitÄb al-Fihrist
âSonja Brentjes
5.5 Inventing or Adapting Scripts in Inner Asia
The Jin and Yuan Histories and the Early Manchu Veritable Records Juxtaposed (1340sâ1630s)
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
5.6 An Essay on the Use of Chinese and Korean Language in Late 18th-Century CE ChosÅn
Yu TÅkkong, âHyangâÅ pan, HwaÅ panâ
âMÃ¥rten Söderblom Saarela
Index
Anyone interested in the study of plurilingualism; translation studies; history of science, esp. scholarly practices; etymological practices; lexicography; writing systems; Greek and Roman classics, classical traditions; Sinology; Manchu studies; Buddhology; Korean studies; Islamic science; Religion Studies, Bible, Christianity, Judaism.