Papers by Delio Vania Proverbio
The “Etruscan Syncope”: a Case of Hyperphonemic Writing? In Miscellanea Bibliothecae Apostolicae Vaticanae XXIX, Città del Vaticano 2024, pp. 839-859.
The phenomenon of Etruscan syncope has consistently elicited a vibrant discussion among scholars:... more The phenomenon of Etruscan syncope has consistently elicited a vibrant discussion among scholars: should it be viewed as a phonetic process that resulted in the loss of some unstressed vowels, as some believe, or rather as a “graphic” evolution that led to new writing constraints, others suggest? Even the latter perspective is considered a chaotic (unpredictable) phenomenon, too complex to be limited to a finite set of writing constraints. In contrast, we believe that such a finite set of writing constraints is easily conceivable, and we can think of it as a set of instructions governing the behavior of a very simple automaton (like a Turing machine) designed to read a finite string of characters. Furthermore, we propose replacing the idea of "empty slot" (the loss of something a string of symbols) with the concept of "zero-grapheme".
An Italian text in Syro-Xenic clothes: the Italo-Garšūnī Pasquin Borg. Ar. 278, ff. 1r-2v, in Rivista degli Studi Orientali, 93/1 (2020), pp. 93-107.
The present contribution aims at presenting what turns out to be the only Italo-Garšūnī text ‒ an... more The present contribution aims at presenting what turns out to be the only Italo-Garšūnī text ‒ an Italian text written in Syriac script ‒ until now detected. This astonishing textual specimen ‒ embedded in a bundle of loose paper sheets filled with pages and pages of densely scribbled texts written in Arabic and Garšūnī script (datable to the very beginning of the eighteenth century) ‒ resulted from the emergence of an extremely rare kind of Syro-xenic transcoding process. For unknown reason, an anonymous author felt the compelling need of ‘encrypting’ an otherwise perfectly plane, literary Italian text into a Sertō-garšūnī transcription, with hiring a (possibly Maronite) copyist to whom he dictated his poetical barbs. Actually, such a composition in hendecasyllables ‒ organized in ABBA enclosed-rhyme quatrains ‒ targets a number of curial prelates of late seventeenth century Rome its author earnestly wished they would never become cardinals. A number of topics and issues addressing the underlying system of grapheme-to-phoneme relationships are here discussed.
On the phonetic unpredictability denoted by some Old Turkic texts written in Syriac script. Or the encoding ambiguity intrinsic to the Aramaic writing, in Turkic Languages, 21/1, 2017, pp. 115–151.
Starting from a close examination of an Old Turkic manuscript from the Tangut city of Xaraxoto (I... more Starting from a close examination of an Old Turkic manuscript from the Tangut city of Xaraxoto (Inner Mongolia) written in Syriac script—an offshoot of the Aramaic alphabet, which exhibits a peculiarly low complexity in its graphemic set—the present contribution consists of an empirical description of a number of graphotactic “regularities” which occur in the aforementioned text.
The original goal of this article was simply to provide a rigorous, formal account—a static, model-theoretic description—of what a number of assumptions imply in terms of graphotactic constraints. However, by manipulating our primary linguistic source as a finite linear string of symbols, we finally reached the conclusion that such a task is only achievable to a very limited extent. This is due to the intrinsic phonetic unpredictability that derives from the encoding ambiguity of the Aramaic writing.
An Old Turkic text in Tibetan script: a case of hyperphonetic transcription? Turkic Languages, 19/1, 2015 [2016], pp. 8-39.
The original aim of the present study was to provide further elements to the discussion on the ph... more The original aim of the present study was to provide further elements to the discussion on the phonological status of Tibetan grapheme a-chuṅ in non-Tibetan texts written in Tibetan script. As a result, the article argues that the sinologist Weldon S. Coblin was substantially right in stating that “neither ‘nasalization’ nor anything else can explain all the varied foreign elements represented in our data by ʿa-chung plus following consonants” (Coblin 2002: 181). Thus, according to Coblin’s statement, at least in some contexts, grapheme a-chuṅ seems to occur quite randomly. Some scholars have argued that this is the consequence of a careless and loosely employment of the Tibetan alphabet, a widespread habit among many copyists from Dunhuang.
This historical perspective will be challenged by applying a new approach to the allographic context exhibited by Ms. Paris, BnF, Pelliot tibétain 1292, an Old Turkic text written in Tibetan script. Far from being considered a poorly transliterated text, it will be regarded as the complex (and obviously not entirely consistent) product of a ‘hyperphonetic’ transcription process: a sort of phonetic pronunciation guide for Buddhist non-Turkic monks.
The journal Turkic Languages is devoted to linguistic Turcology. It addresses descriptive, compar... more The journal Turkic Languages is devoted to linguistic Turcology. It addresses descriptive, comparative, synchronic, diachronic, theoretical and methodological problems of the study of Turkic languages including questions of genealogical, typological and areal relations, linguistic variation and language acquisition. The journal aims at presenting work of current interest on a variety of subjects and thus welcomes con tributions on all aspects of
Regular disharmonies in an early 18th century Dačkerēn text (İstanbul, Armenian Patriarchate, Kayseri 24): a diachronic interpretation, Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 67/4 [December] 2014, pp. 407-424.
In the present paper we will examine a number of graphotactic rules which emerge from an analysis... more In the present paper we will examine a number of graphotactic rules which emerge from an analysis of several graphemic alternations, observed in a delimited Turkic text corpus in Brāhmī script. This analysis will lead us to propose a possible reconstruction of the phonemic dorsal system denoted by the linguistic domain here considered: such a system is intended to be effective exclusively within this specific domain. In particular, we will examine the graphophonemic status of the ak-aras usually transcribed as ‹qa› and ‹g 1 a› within the Northwestern Brāhmī script system, as they occur both in Tokharian and Turkic scribal practice. Though our primary goal is the consistency of the proposed reconstruction, rather than its historical soundness, we will eventually argue that, within the dorsal system here described, no 'voiced'-'voiceless' opposition is retrievable.
On subject of Transliterating Ottoman and other Turkic texts written in Arabic script for philological purposes. Turcica 44, 2012-2013, pp. 317-332.
The Arabian Nights through some Ancient-Osmanlı Translations. In: Arabic manuscripts of the Thousand and One Nights, edited by Aboubakr Chraïbi, Paris: Espaces & Signes, 2016 (Collection Recherche et documents): pp. 367-429.
I “Füyûzât-ı mıknâtısiyye” di İbrahim Müteferrika: per una revisione delle fonti [A revised examination of the European sources of İbrahim Müteferrika’s Füyûzât-ı Mıknâtısiyye], in Turcica Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2010 (Studi e testi, 461), pp. 161-196.
Books by Delio Vania Proverbio
Studies in historical Graphemics, Città del Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 2019 (Studi e testi, 532).
1. Hàn-Huí hé-bì (漢回合壁): a Modern Uyghur lexicon in Chinese transcription.
2. A neglected side-an... more 1. Hàn-Huí hé-bì (漢回合壁): a Modern Uyghur lexicon in Chinese transcription.
2. A neglected side-ancestor of modern, Latin-based Turkish alphabet: the Stambollit alphabet.
3. Again on phonemic writing systems: Modern Standard Turkish.
Turcica Vaticana, 2010
A cura di Delio V. Proverbio
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Papers by Delio Vania Proverbio
The original goal of this article was simply to provide a rigorous, formal account—a static, model-theoretic description—of what a number of assumptions imply in terms of graphotactic constraints. However, by manipulating our primary linguistic source as a finite linear string of symbols, we finally reached the conclusion that such a task is only achievable to a very limited extent. This is due to the intrinsic phonetic unpredictability that derives from the encoding ambiguity of the Aramaic writing.
This historical perspective will be challenged by applying a new approach to the allographic context exhibited by Ms. Paris, BnF, Pelliot tibétain 1292, an Old Turkic text written in Tibetan script. Far from being considered a poorly transliterated text, it will be regarded as the complex (and obviously not entirely consistent) product of a ‘hyperphonetic’ transcription process: a sort of phonetic pronunciation guide for Buddhist non-Turkic monks.
Books by Delio Vania Proverbio
2. A neglected side-ancestor of modern, Latin-based Turkish alphabet: the Stambollit alphabet.
3. Again on phonemic writing systems: Modern Standard Turkish.
The original goal of this article was simply to provide a rigorous, formal account—a static, model-theoretic description—of what a number of assumptions imply in terms of graphotactic constraints. However, by manipulating our primary linguistic source as a finite linear string of symbols, we finally reached the conclusion that such a task is only achievable to a very limited extent. This is due to the intrinsic phonetic unpredictability that derives from the encoding ambiguity of the Aramaic writing.
This historical perspective will be challenged by applying a new approach to the allographic context exhibited by Ms. Paris, BnF, Pelliot tibétain 1292, an Old Turkic text written in Tibetan script. Far from being considered a poorly transliterated text, it will be regarded as the complex (and obviously not entirely consistent) product of a ‘hyperphonetic’ transcription process: a sort of phonetic pronunciation guide for Buddhist non-Turkic monks.
2. A neglected side-ancestor of modern, Latin-based Turkish alphabet: the Stambollit alphabet.
3. Again on phonemic writing systems: Modern Standard Turkish.