Book contents
- The Cambridge History of Linguistics
- The Cambridge History of Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations, Acronyms, Special Symbols, and Other Conventions
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Periods
- Introduction To Part I The Emergence of Linguistic Thinking within Premodern Cultural Practices
- 1 Ancient Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions: Mesopotamia, Egypt
- 2 East Asian Early Linguistic Traditions: China; Korea and Japan
- 3 History of Linguistic Analysis in the Sanskrit Tradition in Premodern India, with a Brief Discussion of Vernacular Grammars
- 4 Greek Linguistic Thought and its Roman Reception
- 5 Early to Late Medieval Europe
- 6 Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions
- 6A The Syriac Linguistic Tradition
- 6B The Hebrew Linguistic Tradition
- 6C The Arabic Linguistic Tradition
- Part II Renaissance to Late Nineteenth Century
- Part III Late Nineteenth-through Twentieth-Century Linguistics
- Part IIIA Late Nineteenth Century through the 1950s: Synchrony, Autonomy, and Structuralism
- Part IIIB 1960–2000: Formalism, Cognitivism, Language Use and Function, Interdisciplinarity
- References
- Index
1 - Ancient Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions: Mesopotamia, Egypt
from Part I - Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Periods
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2023
- The Cambridge History of Linguistics
- The Cambridge History of Linguistics
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations, Acronyms, Special Symbols, and Other Conventions
- Introduction
- Part I Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Periods
- Introduction To Part I The Emergence of Linguistic Thinking within Premodern Cultural Practices
- 1 Ancient Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions: Mesopotamia, Egypt
- 2 East Asian Early Linguistic Traditions: China; Korea and Japan
- 3 History of Linguistic Analysis in the Sanskrit Tradition in Premodern India, with a Brief Discussion of Vernacular Grammars
- 4 Greek Linguistic Thought and its Roman Reception
- 5 Early to Late Medieval Europe
- 6 Near Eastern Linguistic Traditions
- 6A The Syriac Linguistic Tradition
- 6B The Hebrew Linguistic Tradition
- 6C The Arabic Linguistic Tradition
- Part II Renaissance to Late Nineteenth Century
- Part III Late Nineteenth-through Twentieth-Century Linguistics
- Part IIIA Late Nineteenth Century through the 1950s: Synchrony, Autonomy, and Structuralism
- Part IIIB 1960–2000: Formalism, Cognitivism, Language Use and Function, Interdisciplinarity
- References
- Index
Summary
This two-part chapter deals with traditions linked to the two main languages of Ancient Mesopotamia, Sumerian and Akkadian (discussed by Woods), and the language of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian-Coptic (by Stauder). In both, the texts giving linguistic information are word lists, lexical and/or grammatical. The scripts (cuneiform in Mesopotamia and hieroglyph in Egypt) were mainly logo-syllabic and required scribal training. Plurilingualism was widespread in Mesopotamia. In Egypt there was written diglossia, the 'traditional Egyptian' being the variety associated with high culture and ritual. Though there is evidence of linguistic awareness, no general linguistic descriptions are present: interest in language was more practical than theoretical.
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- The Cambridge History of Linguistics , pp. 35 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023