Social and Cultural Encounters

The name of the founder of the Polish royal dynasty first appears in a Latin source as Past. There is no earlier polish evidence of its pronunciation. Over time it was read as Piast and considered to be derived from the continuant of Proto-Slavic *pěstъ ‘pestle’. However, Polish did not preserve this word, having stępor for ‘pestle’ and piasta for ‘axis’. H. Popowska-Taborska suggested that Piast derives from piastun ‘mentor’ pointing out the semantic grounds for such reconstruction. But absence of *piast meaning ‘mentor’ in Polish and an unusual word-building model prevented the scholar from accepting this model. Surprisingly, Russian dialectal data provide evidence for it. Old-rus. пестъ ‘a little child’ and rus. dial. пе́ста ‘an affectionate child’ demonstrate the objects of the action named in proto-slavic *pěstovati. The nomen agentis is *pěstunъ along with other non-object nouns: пест ‘bear’ and ‘ram’. Пест as ‘bear’ derives from пестун ‘a one-year-old bear cub’, semantics being close to ‘mentor’, as the eldest cub looks after the little ones. Пест ‘bear’ might be a product of semantic generalisation accompanied by truncation or simply a back formation from *pěstovati.This is crucial for etymologisation of пест ‘ram-leader in herd’, as it is said to lead the herd to pastures without a shepherd. Bearing in mind the possibility of back formation and the semantics of leadership, it is likely that пест derives from пестун.The polish name Piast is likely to have undergone similar processes, though evidence from polish dialects or scripts is still desirable to be found.

In this paper I am looking at the much discussed Proto-Slavic *pěstъ, which has a parallel form *pěsta. I investigate distribution of the forms and meanings across the slavic languages and suggest new hypotheses to account for some of the derivatives.

This paper looks at some cases of word families interference on the basis of form and semantics, as in Russian words ultimately related to Proto-Slavic verbs *mesti, *męsti and *męti. The observed interference process is believed to have started still in Proto-slavic  period. There also have been made some conclusions about direction and conditions of these word families interference in the history of the Russian language, proposing some amendments to the existing etymological versions of specific words.

This paper investigates cases of semantic shifts and proto-language polysemy in the Samoyed core lexicon. This research focuses on the shifts which have analogies in Turkic and Tungusic languages, identified with the help of semantic reconstruction. Special maps were created at LingvoDoc linguistic platform in order to demonstrate areas of similar polysemy and semantic shifts, possibly contact-induced. Using materials from archival and expeditionary dictionaries, the paper proposes a detailed account of the available lexicon of the Samoyed languages within the scope of core lexicon. Our results show 15 semantic shifts in the form of polysemy, semantic evolution and cognates: ‘sun, day’, ‘earth (place), soil’, ‘earth’ > ‘ashes’, ‘earth’ > ‘sand’, ‘earth’ > ‘clay’, ‘sand, pebbles’, ‘human skin, animal skin’, ‘skin’ > ‘bark’, ‘hair, fleece, feather’, ‘feather, wing’, ‘person, man’, ‘meat, body’, ‘neck, throat’, ‘good’ > ‘beautiful’, ‘soft’ > ‘warm’. The maps created at LingvoDoc provide evidence of intense language contacts in the past and present, or display an absence of such evidence. Judging by the shape and the size of the areas on the maps it can be seen that some cases of polysemy are local, while others are widespread on the territory of Western Siberia, whole Siberia or whole Eurasia. The highlight is that 7 Samoyed-Turkic-Tungusic parallels, 5 Samoyed-Turkic parallels and 3 Samoyed-Tungusic parallels have been found within the 100-item Swadesh wordlists of these languages. Also, some cases were identified in which extralinguistic factors might have influenced similar changes in genealogically non-related languages (‘bark’ in the Samoyed, Turkic and Tungusic) and suggested a Turkic influence on the Samoyed inherited lexicon (‘ashes’, ‘clay’).

This paper looks at the relationship between Khanty dialects from the perspective of the “language vs dialect” problem, applying the method of lexicostatistics to new archival and field data. Dialectal classification of Khanty is still a debatable issue with no reached consensus among researchers. The borders between dialectal groups within the Khanty language are mostly drawn by the phonetic and morphological criteria. Scholars traditionally separate Khanty dialect continuum into two dialectal groups: Northern (Western) and Eastern Khanty.
However, recently many Khanty sources have become available to researchers, ranging from the unpublished 18th century archives to the printed dictionaries and digital field corpora. Having applied the method of lexicostatistics to this new material, the article shows that the Eastern group is not homogenous. As a result, the study identifies three contemporary Khanty languages: Northern Khanty, Vakh Khanty, and Surgut Khanty. Also, the article observes the correlation between these three groups and traditional ones that are distinguished by phonological and grammatical criteria (Eastern, Northern and dead Southern Khanty). Also, 13 new basic vocabulary lists based on the sources from the 18th to 21st centuries are published, which makes it possible to trace evolution of the dialects. Etymological notes and references, as well as proto-form reconstructions, are provided along the lists, which makes the supplementary material a mini-version of an etymological dictionary of Khanty dialects.

This paper deals with diachronic classification of Mansi dialect groups based on the new resources published on the linguistic platform LingvoDoc. The dialect groups identified using lexicostatistics are compared with the classification by phonetic isoglosses. The previous research on this data was focused on highlighting the phonetic isoglosses between the discovered dialects, and in this article the classification based on phonetics is compared with the results gained from lexicostatistics.
Objective: to identify the dialect groups of the Mansi XVIII till XXI centuries based on the lists of basic vocabulary.
Research materials: the new expedition and archive dictionaries of the Mansi dialects published on the linguistic platform http://lingvodoc.ispras.ru/ and field materials gathered by the author.
Results and novelty of the research: for the first time the lists of basic vocabulary for seven archival and three contemporary Mansi dictionaries introduced into scientific circulation in the last few years. A survey of a native speaker of the contemporary Northern dialect was also conducted. Judging by the comparison with the XIX century data, the most distinctive dialect group is the North Mansi, as it has retained many features since the XVIII century. Other dialect groups have been not so stable in time. In the late XVIII century there were dialects of Perm province, not homogenous enough as a group. And out of them the Kungur and Solikamsk dialects were closer to the Tavda (Southern) dialect that is known from the XIX–XX centuries records. The Eastern dialects disappeared in the beginning of the XXI century. Judging by the data obtained from the last native speakers, the Yukonda (Eastern) dialect shared 93% of basic vocabulary with the Northern dialects. Key words: Mansi language, dialectology, lexicostatistics approach, basic vocabulary, lexical isoglosses, Perm Mansi language.
Acknowledgements: the paper was prepared with the aid of Russian Scientific Fund, grant № 20-18-00403 «Digital description of the dialects the Uralic languages based on the analysis of big data».
For citation: Fedotova I.V. Dialect separation of the Mansi language in diachrony according to the basic vocabulary // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2021; 11 (2): 338–346.

In this talk, I discuss the shared linguistic features in the Ob-Ugric and Samoyedic languages and will observe the general issues of areality in Western Siberia. Comprised by the easternmost groups of the Uralic, this territory from the Urals to River Yenisei is a contact zone of three more language families: Yeniseian (Ket), Tungusic (Evenki) and Turkic (Chulym). Several groupings have been proposed, from “Ostyak” sprachbund in the Upper Yenisei region, to Ob-Yenisei area comprising Tundra Nenets in the Arctic. 

While the relationship between eastern Uralic branches has been rigorously discussed in diachronic linguistics (whether similarities are genetic or areal), my focus is on the Uralic languages in the Siberian linguistic landscape. From a broader view, the typological profile of the Uralic language family is “eastern” and belongs to the Inner Asian Type. The core languages of this type include eastern Uralic, Tungusic, Turkic and Mongolic, and less strictly other as well. In the talk, I discuss in more detail the layers that interplay in the languages of Western Siberia, from syntax to colexification patterns.

This article discusses the missiological challenges related to Muslim Background Believers in general and especially in the context of Bangladesh. It gives a brief historical background to Bangladesh and to trends in missiology. It discusses post-colonial theology, the Emergent Church and the Insider Movement methodology. It further draws upon Jørgensen’s published qualitative survey research on Jesus Imanders in Bangladesh.  It draws upon the writer’s own experiences of working with MBBs in Bangladesh. Especially key doctrinal aspects to the MBB worldview are discussed. There had been for decades little written openly about the MBB phenomenon because of the fear of persecution of these new believers, but in recent years there has been an open discussion because it is part of modern trends affecting the global Church. This article further utilizes some of these recent articles, both those for Insider Movement methodology and those against it. The article concludes a cautious support for this trend in theology.

Ahmed Deedat has been one of the most prominent contemporary Muslim polemists that have focused on Jesus, the Bible & Christianity.  He is worthy of a systematic analysis, as even though he is not especially academic or deep in thought, his approach & materials feature around the globe.  This Master's thesis uses a systematic analysis to assess the key theological concepts: this comprises of researching the genealogy of his ideas, together with an analysis of his argumentation, in particular, how he conceives the 'Word of God'; how he reasons; his intended audience; & his expected goal.  This includes a textual analysis: analysing the text of his works, taking into account both the form & the content, for different meanings on different levels & exploring the internal logic in his arguments.
  Deedat has connections to the Islamist agenda.  He has formed his polemics for Muslims living in Dar al-Ahd or from his perspective Dar al-Harb.  He is concerned that Muslim immigrants would both maintain their Muslim identity & undertake da'wah.  His agenda is not just restricted to South Africa.  He considers dialogue/encounter, as an opportunity for proclamation.  He addresses his polemics to the whole of Christianity, from the marginal groups to Roman Catholics & Protestants.  His focus is predominantly on scriptural & doctrinal issues.  Therefore, there is a need to analyse his treatment of the 'Word of God.' 
  Deedat's materials partly originate from a long line of Muslim polemics from the scholarly debates in the Middle Ages.  He follows their same polemical methodology of taking controversial questions from among Jewish & Christian scholars & making them known to a Muslim audience, & using them to advance Islam.  He has become aware, through Muslim literature from the Indian subcontinent, of ideas from Western radical liberal scholarship & higher criticisms of the Bible.  He has failed to realise that this is a double-edged sword for Islam.  It invites the same methodology to be applied to the Qur'an.  He may unknowingly have weakened the reasonableness of Islam.  Nevertheless, he has used them to form his polemics against Christianity & the Bible.  Therefore, his works are similar in content to Protestant liberal theology & Catholic modernism.  However, his view of the Bible is ambiguous.  On one hand, he utilises these criticisms to prove that the authors of the Bible are human & so on the basis of the Qur'an, he designates the Bible as worthless.  On the other hand, he attempts to construct an Islamic Biblical context for the Qur'an.  He engages with rational speculative works from the quest for the historical Jesus & on this basis, he tries to create an Islamic speculated Jesus i.e. an Islamic prophet & a jihadist.  He develops a swoon theory account of the crucifixion.  This account makes Jesus a sinner, deceiver, conjurer & facilitator of a crucifixion conspiracy. Deedat's attempts at trying to form acceptable content in Judeo-Christian Scripture so that the Qur'an can be in continuity with it, has highlighted one of the dilemmas for Islam: its discontinuity.  The dilemma of continuity or discontinuity is especially apparent in his treatment of the Holy Spirit.  Furthermore, he evidently does not know biblical Hebrew & Greek, or even adequately Arabic.  He has picked & mixed ideas with no thorough treatment.  Essentially, he is unqualified to undertake the 'comparative' study' of scriptural texts.  Interestingly, his lenient copyright marketing strategy has aided his global brand name.  His use of video & audiocassettes has also aided his accessibility & his 'victorious' performances have inspired some of his Muslim audience to try to replicate him.  He also has an accessible tabloid style, with catchy slogans, that help him to communicate to the average person on the street.

This is a presentation following the ideas of Kenan Malik https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/mar/17/multiculturalism-diversity-political-policy that the way we are constructing multiculturalism into plural mono-culturalism, we are missing out on creative and diverse possibilities, indeed we are undermining democratic processes. Therefore, Religious Education should rather be about social constructive processes among the students, rather than about teaching to enforce borders and divisions in humanity. Some of my ideas are shaped of course from my data but also from restrictive practices in Finland. I made a verbal application to an international school in Greater Helsinki to teach Religious Education. The principle informed me, that she only wants a Lutheran to teach Religious Education. 'Lutheran' is an obscure term especially in globalization. The principle basically means that the teacher should be ethnically Finnish. So, she exercised prejudice because of her conception and expectations of religion. Therefore, in education for the future generations, we need to inform not only about the stereotypical expectations of religions for cross cultural skills, but also about the non-stereotypical possibilities. It is very possible in the processes of globalization that cliques will form and try new combinations of existing processes. It is also beneficial for democracy that humanity envisages themselves on a journey together, rather than restricted by historical divisions.

This was three different afternoon workshop seminars at a professional conference. The conference was encouraging as it brought together Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic and Messianic Jewish pastors/rabbis. Some of these Christian groups have been sectarian in the past but the purpose of this conference was to come together to enrich each other. I heard that is now happening on a national level with all churches.  The history of these conferences is one of dealing with Ukrainian cultural feature of Anti-Semitism and the wounds of the Holocaust. In recent years it has become more about coming together to envisage a 'One New Man'; that in Christ we do not remove the differences between us but rather we bring our differences together to enrich the collective. I discussed insights from my research on Messianic Jews and Isa'e: how the church changing from being an ethnic territorial faith, to a Scripture faith, and a spiritual faith has been part of reconnecting with the Jewish roots and a discourse within Judaism. The formation of Messianic Jews is part of global trends in the Church. Reconnecting with the Jewish roots, especially the first centuries, brings renewal into a spiritual life and cross-cultural desires and skills. I continued to hear stories of brokenness, drugs, sickness, turned around through faith in Christ, into life, family and discovering healthy self-identity: to be constructive and productive with this new direction.

I presented these ideas at 17th Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Religions (EASR) Tartu, Estonia in the session on New Religious Movements  chaired by Philippe Murillo. I am playing with the concept of NRM, because it comes out of a world view of stable religious identities. For example, the concept 'new' does that imply 'young', that they will grow up and mature and become like us, or that they have not been seen before? Is the concept 'Religious' sufficient for the task, especially when my participants do not like it? I am suggesting that in our postmodern era, that multiple processes are occurring, that make noun based identities insufficient to explain phenomena. Instead we should explain the process (verbs, actions) rather than trying to fit them into noun categories, labels. identities.  Nouns logically make divisions, whereas verbs, especially risky actions, bring people to process the risk together. Also these so called NRMs may not be destined to be a cult, sect or new religion, but instead to be the means for renewal and cultural transformation. They may relook at the foundations of traditional faiths and expose problematic trends - such as prejudice toward the 'other', which was based upon past divisions. If they in their processes make unities not thought possible, we have to reconsider why we thought they were not possible.

Galatians 3:28 states "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one." Does this mean we are all Jews (grafted into a people-so to subvert or merge our culture into Jewish culture), or that we all become gentile (the defacto of Europe in Christianity or secularism), or we lose the distinction and become mixed versions of trans-identities such as we all become united in a new religion e.g. Islam? Does the passage have religion in mind, as we understand the concept now? What is freedom, to be as we feel we should be, when we live in a world where slavery is increasing-to debt, to addictions, to work, to loneliness, to the phone, etc. and where different groups increasingly insist their ideas have the right to control and define others? What is it to be a man or a woman, a father or mother, or to lose or forsake the distinction? Research informs that sexual incidence is decreasing, toward self-stimulation. Brubaker (2016) proposes that trans-sexual discourses could apply to other trans identity discourses. Bekerman (2017) contests the mental substance of 'identity' as a noun, especially when abstract, and instead proposes it is more scientific and humane to focus on actions. So let's compare the identity discourses through the verbs.

vithet: Om den ryska femininitetens sinnliga och temporala villkor. PhD diss. Stockholm: Leopard. (315 pages) "WE ARE THE trashy sisters of Swedish women," laments "Valda," a Russian woman living in Stockholm. While having had experiences of racism through being called "white trash," overly sexual, and even being referred to as a "Russian prostitute," she had also been discriminated as a poshlost (a concept referring to someone who tastelessly imitates the modern, and thus is time-frozen in the past) object by the Swedish majority. This hierarchically constructed interplay of time and place in Russian femininity builds up the setting for Maria Lönn's ambitious PhD dissertation, Bruten vithet: Om den ryska femininitetens sinnliga och temporala villkor (translated by me to "Broken Whiteness: On the Sensual and Temporal Conditions of Russian Femininity"). Lönn's research employs the lenses of critical whiteness studies and theorizes the multi-sensuality and inter-corporeality of the body through the phenomenology of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Lönn makes fascinating use of this theoretical combination by looking at the subject's embodied experience in different settings. She depicts whiteness as lived and embodied identity, but also as constructed performativity (Butler 1990) and stylized femininity. Located and temporal constructions of whiteness realize themselves in the dissertation as learned