14454
Practice seminar
SoSe 13: Introduction to Christian Sogdian
Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst
Comments
This course will introduce Christian Sogdian texts in the Turfan Collection. The Christian community in Turfan used Syriac as the liturgical language but had Sogdian (and Old Turkish) translations of various Syriac texts. This is an invaluable source of Sogdian because the script and its conventions are quite clear and vowel signs are sometimes used. The translations are very accurate, reproducing the Syriac position of the verb and other features though they also try to produce good Sogdian where possible. After an overview of the grammar we will look at the Sogdian version of the Life of Saint George and at some tales from the large manuscript C2. We will look at the use of vowel signs and make observations on the spelling conventions in these texts.
There will also be occasion to look at the relationship of the Sogdian translations with the Syriac originals.
No previous knowledge of Sogdian will be assumed.
The course will be given in English, explanations will be provided in German where necessary.
Literature:
O. Hansen, Berliner soghdische Texte. I. Bruchstücke einer soghdischen
Version der Georgspassion (C 1), Abhandlungen der Preußischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften 1941/10, 1941.
N. Sims-Williams, The Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2, Berlin 1985
(Berliner Turfantexte 12).
S. Telegdi, Notes sur la grammaire du sogdien chrèien, Journal Asiatique
230, 1938, 205-233 = S. Telegdi, Opera Minora I, ed. É. Jeremiás.
Budapest 2006, 100-120.
Y. Yoshida, Sogdian, in G. Windfuhr (ed.): The Iranian Languages. London
2009, 279-335.
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13 Class schedule
Regular appointments
Thu, 2013-04-11 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-04-18 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-04-25 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-05-02 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-05-16 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-05-23 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-05-30 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-06-06 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-06-13 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-06-20 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-06-27 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-07-04 16:00 - 18:00
Thu, 2013-07-11 16:00 - 18:00