Sounding sacred: The adoption of biblical archaisms in the Book of Mormon and other 19th century texts

The Book of Mormon is a text published in 1830 and considered a sacred work of scripture by adherents of the Latter-day Saint movement. Although written 200 years later, it exhibits many linguistic features of the King James translation of the Bible. Such stylistic imitation has been little studied, though a notable exception is Sigelman & Jacoby (1996). Three hypotheses are considered: that this is a feature of 19th century religious texts, and the Book of Mormon adopts the style of its genre as a religious text; that this is a feature of translations of ancient texts, and the Book of Mormon adopts the style of its genre as a purported translation of ancient records; that Joseph Smith, who produced the Book of Mormon, absorbed the idiom of the King James Bible and used it in his writings generally. A selection of 19th century religious and translated texts are evaluated, along with personal letters of Joseph Smith, with consideration given to a wide range of archaic features, including lexemes, morpho-syntactic features, and idiomatic expressions. The rates are compared to those in the King James Bible and to the Corpus of Historical American English, which serves as a control for 19th century usage. Archaic features are indeed used extensively in a number of the investigated texts, at rates far in excess of contemporary usage. The most widely used features are address pronouns starting with T, such as thou, the verbal –th inflection, as in saith, the archaic preterite form spake, the preposition unto, and the expression “to come to pass.” Writers who used archaic features used a suite of such elements rather than one or two. 19th century use also indicated discomfort in the use of some such features, either mixing them with modern alternatives (hath alongside has) or extending them to unexpected contexts (hypercorrections such as –th with plural subjects or ye in object positions). Archaic features are characteristic of the translated texts, which make the most consistent and standard use of archaisms. They are not characteristic of 19th century religious texts generally, but are common to two texts, both of which claim to be new revelations of scripture: The Book of Mormon and the Holy Roll. These lack the consistency of the translations, and have more mixing and hypercorrection. In Joseph Smith\u27s letters, archaic features are concentrated in portions where he is relaying revelations, in contrast to other tasks, such as managing church business. Smith and the other prophetic writer lacked credentials as religious clergy, and lacked the education in historic English of the translators. Their use of archaisms shows the most reliance on the King James Bible in particular. This inexpert use by writers with a need to establish a sense of spiritual authority indicates that biblical imitation was an active choice used to project an identity as a prophet

Bilingual Notaries in Hellenistic Egypt. A Study of Greek as a Second Language

In the Upper Egyptian town Pathyris nearly twenty bilingual family archives have been found, dating to the second and first centuries BCE. They contain different types of documents, but contracts play an important role. Most of the Greek contracts were written by notaries (agoranomoi), whose native language was Egyptian. This study describes the language contact situation in Hellenistic Egypt in general and in Pathyris in particular. Notarial offices and scribal families in Upper Egypt are also discussed. The main focus of the study is a thorough phonological and morpho-syntactic analysis of the Greek language of the bilingual notaries. With the help of handwriting analysis, we get close to studying idiolects. Some of the notaries had more transfer features from their first language than others. Especially a notary called Hermias used creative strategies to avoid certain Greek structures and his Greek seems to present a learner’s interlanguage with first and second language structures intertwining.Peer reviewe

Ambiguous One-Move Nominative Signature Without Random Oracles

Nominative Signature is a useful tool in situations where a signature has to be created jointly by two parties, a nominator (signer) and a nominee (user), while only the user can verify and prove to a third party about the validity of the signature. In this paper, we study the existing security models of nominative signature and show that though the existing models have captured the essential security requirements of nominative signature in a strong sense, especially on the unforgeability against malicious signers/users and invisibility, they are yet to capture a requirement regarding the privacy of the signer and the user, and this requirement has been one of the original ones since the notion of nominative signature was first introduced. In particular, we show that it is possible to build a highly efficient nominative signature scheme which can be proven secure in the existing security models, while in practice it is obvious to find out from the component(s) of a nominative signature on whether a particular signer or user has involved in the signature generation, which may not be desirable in some actual applications. We therefore propose an enhanced security property, named Ambiguity , and also propose a new \emph{one-move} nominative scheme for fulfilling this new security requirement without random oracles, and among the various types of nominative signature, one-move is the most efficient type. Furthermore, this new scheme is at least 33% more efficient during signature generation and 17% shorter in signature size when compared with the existing one-move signature schemes without random oracles even that the existing ones in the literature may not satisfy this new Ambiguity requirement

Semantic and stylistic differences between Yahweh and Elohim in the Hebrew Bible

This thesis attempts to understand the authorial and editorial choice between the two most common designations for God in the Hebrew Bible: Yahweh and Elohim. The main body of the thesis divides into four sections, the first two parts containing the background and methodological material against which the second two are to be read.Part one deals with the major methodological issues relevant to the thesis. It examines previous academic debate relating to the divine names (=DNs), especially the works of Cassuto and Segal, the documentary hypothesis, the Rabbinic tradition, and Dahse's preference for the Septuagint. It outlines the approach taken here (synchronic, based on the MT), and justifies this as being the most appropriate for this particular taskPart two is also preliminary in character, giving a brief but comprehensive account of the meanings and uses of three designations (Elohim, Adonai Yahweh, Yahweh Elohim) throughout the Hebrew Bible, so that their significance (or lack of significance) will be recognized when they appear in parts three and four.Part three gives a quantitative account of DN usage in two corpora - Psalms and Wisdom Literature. This reveals a number of facets of DN choice: suitability to genre, arrangement of sections, poetic sequence, and in the case of the Elohistic Psalter, editorial change. A possible reason for this editorial change is offered in an appendixPart four consists of a series of qualitative analyses of texts which display a high degree of DN variability (including Exodus 1-6, Jonah). It is argued in each case that DN variation is a literary device intended to highlight certain aspects of the text. Examination of a prophetic text (Amos) reveals possible structural reasons for the placement of Yahweh and other designations. As the criteria for DN use are different in each text examined, it is suggested that the significance of each DN is dependent on, and limited to the text in which it is found.This thesis does not conclude with a single (or even several) satisfying answer(s) to the question of the interchange between Yahweh and Elohim, as Cassuto and Segal attempted to do. Instead, it points to the kind of answers which are relevant: from use in stock phrases and quotations, to bespoke commentaries on the text. Is also demonstrates the wide variety of DN patterns and predilections which we must recognize as 'normal'

Directional adposition use in English, Swedish and Finnish

Directional adpositions such as to the left of describe where a Figure is in relation to a Ground. English and Swedish directional adpositions refer to the location of a Figure in relation to a Ground, whether both are static or in motion. In contrast, the Finnish directional adpositions edellä (in front of) and jäljessä (behind) solely describe the location of a moving Figure in relation to a moving Ground (Nikanne, 2003). When using directional adpositions, a frame of reference must be assumed for interpreting the meaning of directional adpositions. For example, the meaning of to the left of in English can be based on a relative (speaker or listener based) reference frame or an intrinsic (object based) reference frame (Levinson, 1996). When a Figure and a Ground are both in motion, it is possible for a Figure to be described as being behind or in front of the Ground, even if neither have intrinsic features. As shown by Walker (in preparation), there are good reasons to assume that in the latter case a motion based reference frame is involved. This means that if Finnish speakers would use edellä (in front of) and jäljessä (behind) more frequently in situations where both the Figure and Ground are in motion, a difference in reference frame use between Finnish on one hand and English and Swedish on the other could be expected. We asked native English, Swedish and Finnish speakers’ to select adpositions from a language specific list to describe the location of a Figure relative to a Ground when both were shown to be moving on a computer screen. We were interested in any differences between Finnish, English and Swedish speakers. All languages showed a predominant use of directional spatial adpositions referring to the lexical concepts TO THE LEFT OF, TO THE RIGHT OF, ABOVE and BELOW. There were no differences between the languages in directional adpositions use or reference frame use, including reference frame use based on motion. We conclude that despite differences in the grammars of the languages involved, and potential differences in reference frame system use, the three languages investigated encode Figure location in relation to Ground location in a similar way when both are in motion. Levinson, S. C. (1996). Frames of reference and Molyneux’s question: Crosslingiuistic evidence. In P. Bloom, M.A. Peterson, L. Nadel & M.F. Garrett (Eds.) Language and Space (pp.109-170). Massachusetts: MIT Press. Nikanne, U. (2003). How Finnish postpositions see the axis system. In E. van der Zee & J. Slack (Eds.), Representing direction in language and space. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Walker, C. (in preparation). Motion encoding in language, the use of spatial locatives in a motion context. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Lincoln, Lincoln. United Kingdo

Engendering the future : divination and the construction of gender in the late Roman Republic

Ph. D. ThesisThis study brings together constructions of divination and gender in the Late Roman Republic, and argues how each influenced the performative nature of the other. Divination is usually understood as a standardised process of interpreting varying signs, through which a person can gain access to knowledge otherwise unattainable, often relating to the future. To construct divination as performative considers how the different elements of divinatory traditions, including, but not limited to, the identity of the divinatory actors, are the very factors that confirm the correctness of the interpretation and thus the reality of divination. This thesis argues how the performativity of gender informed, but was also informed by, the performativity of divination in the Roman world, in a reciprocal and inseparable relationship. The first chapter focuses on Cicero’s De Diuinatione, a mid-first century BC text that presents two sets of opposing views for and against divination. My reading shows how gender is axiomatic to – but never explicit in – these opposing viewpoints. Four chapters follow, each taking a specific divinatory tradition as a case study, and exploring constructions of gender across them: the Sibylline Books, as written prophetic guides for the State; the construction of the birth of an intersex child as a prodigy under the Republic, and the ritual response it garnered; the sacrificial specialism of individual diviners, specifically through the story of a woman named Martha; and, finally, the construction of prophetic dreaming in the Roman Republic. Although the chapters in this thesis advance different arguments, taken as a whole they enhance the understanding of the relationship between gender and divination in the Roman world. Roman women – and men – succeeded in being able to construct a performative identity within a diverse body of divinatory traditions, enabling them to communicate with the supernatural and assert a distinctive relationship with it.Max-Weber-Kolleg, Universität Erfurt

Numerals in early Greek New Testament manuscripts: text-critical, scribal and theological studies

This thesis examines the phenomenon of numerals as they were written by early New Testament scribes. Chapter 1 briefly introduces the two basic ways that early scribes wrote numerals, either as longhand words or in alphabetic shorthand (e.g., δύο or β̅), and summarizes the fundamental research question: how did early Christian scribes write numerals and why? The need for such a study is described in chapter 2, which reviews past discussions of the phenomenon of scribal number-writing in New Testament manuscripts. While scholars are aware of the feature and have been eager to draw it into a variety of important discussions, this has been done without any systematic or thorough study of the phenomenon itself. After these introductory chapters, the thesis proceeds in two basic parts: the first isolates the relevant data in question and the second aims to examine those data more fully and from several different angles. Part one is a systematic examination of all numerals, both cardinal and ordinal, that are extant in New Testament manuscripts dated up through the fifth century CE (II–V/VI). The principal concern is when and where numerical shorthand occurs in these manuscripts. Can we discern a Christian style of number-writing that can be distinguished from contemporary scribal customs, and, if so, what is the nature of that style? One aim is to discern the function of number-writing within individual codices, and so its relation to other codicological and scribal features is also considered. Chapter 3 examines numerals in papyrus witnesses and chapter 4 examines them in majuscules written on parchment. Part two then comprises a more thorough investigation of some important issues that arose in part one. Chapter 5 approaches the feature of number-writing from the angle of textual genealogy. Did scribes ever mimic the particular numberforms as they were written in their exemplars or did they choose between them at their own leisure? In either case, what implications does this have for our understanding of textual relationships? Chapter 6 takes a brief detour to evaluate a commonly repeated axiom: that, in Greek copies of the Old Testament scriptures, Jewish scribes consistently used longhand numerals and avoided numerical shorthand. I argue that this idea is invalid and has distorted our understanding of the provenance of some early manuscripts. Chapter 7 then considers whether theological reflection ever influenced a scribe’s decision to employ numerical shorthand. In the same way that devotional practice seems to lie at the origin of the nomina sacra, the group of scribal contractions for divine names and titles, can we detect similar patterns of number-writing that relate to theologically significant concepts and/or referents? I argue that, aside from a handful of isolated yet intriguing examples, no coherent system similar to the nomina sacra can be detected—a conclusion that nonetheless sheds a great deal of light on devotional practices among early Christians. In chapter 8, I describe a hypothesis that seeks to make sense of much of the data observed in part one. In our examination of the numerals in the early manuscripts, four curious features are identified that distinguish Christian scribal practice from that found in other corpora, all relating to numerals (or kinds of numerals) that Christian scribes, as a rule, wrote longhand rather than in shorthand. I argue that this unique adaptation of numerical abbreviation in New Testament manuscripts reflects an awareness and intentional policy to avoid forms that were potentially ambiguous in the reading of those texts, and especially in their public reading. The final portion, chapter 9, then summarizes the thesis, draws out some implications of the study, and suggests areas in which more research would be potentially fruitful

Word and confinement : subjectivity in "classical" discourse

Przedmiot tej pracy — choć słowo “przedmiot” (object, subject) jest także przedmiotem jej uwagi — stanowi głównie piśmiennictwo angielskiego klasycyzmu w metodologicznym kontekście dekonstrukcji Jacquesa Derridy i “genealogii” Michela Foucaulta; w kontekście, najogólniej, poststrukturalistycznym, w którego podstawową problematykę wprowadza czytelnika Wstęp. Część I pracy, także wstępna, jest próbą odczytania Williama Shakespeare’a poprzez “Williama Shakespeare’a,” poprzez książkę, w której Terry Eagleton usiłuje przekonać nas, dosyć zawile, iż obok Freuda, Marksa czy Wittgensteina jest on także jednym z mistrzów chętnie czytywanych przez Williama Shakespeare’a. Równocześnie, głównie na podstawie analizy poematu “Lukrecja,” zostaje ukazany w tej części pracy “przełom epistemologiczny,” pewne dążenie do zamkniętej w imieniu własnym podmiotowości klasycystycznej przy jednoczesnej konieczności zachowania tradycyjnego uporządkowania świata, “uratowania” świata monarchii. “Lukrecja” zostaje tu odczytana jako próba oskarżenia monarchy (Tarkwiniusza) bez konieczności stawiania go przed sądem. Postawienie króla przed sądem stanie się możliwe dopiero kilkadziesiąt lat później, a możliwość ta zostanie “ukoronowana” procesem i egzekucją Karola I. Część II pracy poświęcona jest rozprawie o cenzurze, czy też z cenzurą, dokonanej przez Johna Miltona w Areopagitice, gdzie dokonuje on zarazem symbolicznego “ścięcia głowy króla,” zastępując ograniczającą wolność druku, tyranię cenzury prewencyjnej, autocenzurą rozumu, który sam, dobrowolnie, spali wszelkie monstrualne i szalone księgi podszeptywane przez Szatana “nierozumu.” Część III stanowi pewien “tekstualny obraz klasycyzmu,” w którym poprzez fragmenty pism Swifta, Pope’a, Hume’a, Hobbesa, Berkeleya i kilku jeszcze innych pisarzy staramy się wyłonić główne wątki epistemologiczne stanowiące o tożsamości podmiotu, o sposobach kształtowania się tej tożsamości jako autora, edytora, autobiografa w bezpiecznych, zamkniętych sferach domu, ogrodu, klubu, imienia własnego. Część IV jest wyjściem z owych bezpiecznych sfer ku domenie szaleństwa na przykładzie “kariery” i twórczości Christophera Smarta, “szalonego” poety zapomnianego przez wiek osiemnasty za pragnienie otwarcia słowa, ukaranego za to wieloletnim zamknięciem w domu dla obłąkanych. Szaleństwo to omawiamy w kontekście rozumowania rodzącej się psychiatrii, w kontekście traktatów o szaleństwie Tryona i Battiego

YHWH of hosts rules on Mount Zion: literary cohesion in Isaiah 24-27

Isaiah 24–27, the so-called "Isaiah Apocalypse," is a striking section in the book of Isaiah––from its opening depiction of cosmic upheaval, to the death of Mot, to the summoning blast of the shofar. Its heightened, almost feverish, visions of "that day" are interspersed with lyrical sections ranging from jubilant praise to anguished lament. This distinctive alternation in genre, tone, and content, often without conjunctive discourse markers, contributes to a sense of disorientation that has long plagued interpreters. This synchronic study of Isa 24–27 addresses the related problems of the text's structure and coherence. It asks how Hebrew poetry, in particular Isa 24–27, indicates literary connectedness and what effect attending to these connections has for understanding Isa 24–27. To answer these questions, the study adapts tools from text linguistics and the work of Michael Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan to examine cohesive ties in Isa 24–27. The thesis argues that Isa 24– 27 is best understood as a series of announcements about the rule of YHWH, each followed by a different response(s). Although there is a wide variety of cohesive relations within the text, they all contribute to the dominant theme of the kingship of YHWH. Part I establishes the context for the study, beginning with a survey of existing research (Chapter 1). The survey finds that, despite growing appreciation for the literary (e.g. poetic, metaphorical, and intertextual) features of Isa 24–27, there remains considerable disagreement about the "unity" or coherence of this passage as a text in its own right. Chapter 2 introduces the project's aims, then defines and illustrates literary cohesion in a variety of prose and poetic texts. Chapter 3 proposes a macrostructure for Isa 24–27, which unfolds in three non-chronological movements. Part II analyses Isa 24–27 along literary cohesive lines, taking each of the three movements in turn. Chapter 4 deals with Movement 1 (24:1–25:5) and considers the relationship between the eschatological prophecy and responsive hymn. Chapters 5– 6 discuss Movement 2 (25:6–26:21), which similarly describes the nature of YHWH's rule. However, the response within this movement incorporates lament concerning an apparent disparity between the prophetic word and the community's experience. Chapter 7 traces cohesion across the final movement (27:1–13) and argues that, despite its use of several different metaphors, it unfolds similarly to the previous movements (announcement–response). This final response is neither song nor lament, but a theological argument for the community's difficulties. Part III synthesises the findings of the study and examines more closely the major themes of Isa 24–27 and their relationship with the book of Isaiah. Although each movement contains unique elements and distinct imagery (e.g. dimmed luminaries in Movement 1, birth imagery in Movement 2, and slain Leviathan in Movement 3), the composition is nonetheless united by a number of cohesive ties that span the whole passage. Chapter 8 explores the significance of the major cohesive ties of Isa 24–27: temporal perspective; the unnamed cities; death, life, and new creation; and the rule of YHWH. The thesis concludes with implications of the study (Chapter 9). Although the structure and unifying principles of Isa 24–27 are not consistent with modern literary ideals (e.g. chronology or syllogism), this discourse nonetheless expresses a coherent structure and semantic unity in its claim that YHWH rules the cosmos from Mount Zion and will one day create the world anew