Judeo-Palestinian Greek Phonology and Orthography from Alexander to Islam
A pioneering, comprehensive study of the pronunciation of Judeo-Palestinian Koine Greek. How was New Testament Greek pronounced? Often students are taught Erasmian pronunciation, which does not even reproduce Erasmus's own pronunciation faithfully, let alone that of the New Testament authors. In his new book, Benjamin Kantor breaks a path ......
Language and Politics in the Toraja Highlands of Indonesia
The expression "one or two words" is used by the Toraja highlanders of Indonesia to refer euphemistically to their highly elaborate form of political speechmaking. Moving from this understatement, which denotes the meaningfulness of transient acts of speech, One or Two Words offers an analysis of the shifting power relations between centers and ......
The enigmatic attempt to reforge English into the language of heaven
Facing starvation and ruin on Utah’s nineteenth-century frontier, Latter-day Saint pioneers launched an audacious experiment to reshape the English language: the Deseret Alphabet. Ryan K. Shosted and N. E. Davis trace the alphabet’s ......
What did the apostles' Greek sound like? How should New Testament Greek be pronounced in our classrooms? Often students are taught Erasmian pronunciation, which does not even reproduce Erasmus's own pronunciation faithfully, let alone that of the New Testament authors. But if we want to process the language of the New Testament the same way its ......
Tradition, Identity, and Christianity's Mother Tongue
Aramaic, one of the great international languages of antiquity, left an indelible mark on the New Testament. Jesus and his first followers knew it because for centuries Aramaic had been a primary means of communication in the Middle East, and it remained current long after their time. Usage of Aramaic within Jesus' movement, initially with or ......
The Creole Language of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana
If I Could Turn My Tongue Like That, by Thomas Klingler, is an in-depth study of the Creole language spoken in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, a community situated on the west bank of the Mississippi River above Baton Rouge that dates back to the early eighteenth century. The first comprehensive grammatical description of this particular variety ......
The history and meaning of one of the most controversial words in American English Few words in English are as charged as "nigga" and "n*gger." While the slur "n*gger" is universally recognized as offensive, fierce debates continue over the use of "nigga"-who can say it, what it means, and whether it has been reclaimed as a term of endearment ......
