The principal aims of this book are to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the urban systems of the Iberian Peninsula during the High Empire and to explain why these systems looked the... Show moreThe principal aims of this book are to provide a comprehensive reconstruction of the urban systems of the Iberian Peninsula during the High Empire and to explain why these systems looked the way they did. While some chapters focus on settlements that were cities or towns from a juridical point of view, the implications of using a purely functional definition of towns are also explored. Key themes include continuities and discontinuities between pre-Roman and Roman settlement patterns, the geographical distribution of cities belonging to various size brackets, economic relationships between self-governing cities and their territories, and the role of cities as nodes in road systems and maritime networks. In addition, it is argued that a considerable number of self-governing communities in Roman Spain and Portugal were polycentric rather based on a single urban centre. Show less
This thesis explores the influence of prescriptivism on language use in American English. It does so by studying the relationship between language advice literature, patterns of language use,... Show moreThis thesis explores the influence of prescriptivism on language use in American English. It does so by studying the relationship between language advice literature, patterns of language use, and speakers’ attitudes. The thesis shows that the genre of usage guides, routinely associated with prescriptivism, is undergoing change to reflect processes of change in progress in American English. Furthermore, prescriptivism and language use are shown to mutually influence each other. Show less
Whenever someone makes a statement, they take stance on what they are talking about. Their utterance presents the propositional content of their message and at the same time shares their position... Show moreWhenever someone makes a statement, they take stance on what they are talking about. Their utterance presents the propositional content of their message and at the same time shares their position regarding the subject of talk. They convey their support or opposition, affiliation or disaffiliation, their like or dislike of the topic of talk. Subsequent, related, contributions similarly do not only react to the content of the earlier message, but to the associated stance taken by the other participant as well. Every interaction thus requires careful management of both the content discussed and the interpersonal relations between those involved. This dissertation investigates how people manage their informal interactions by means of phatic communicative structures. It explores to what extent the choices made by speakers are cross-linguistically stable or language specific, as differences in conversational style could affect intercultural communication and understanding. Three types of linguistic behavior are addressed: offering support and agreement, reproducing meaning (and form), and collaboratively constructing a single message. The preferences across and within these three types are contrasted for Dutch and Indonesian speakers. Show less
This dissertation provides new insights into language variation and change in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Dutch. More specifically, it investigates whether and to what extent... Show moreThis dissertation provides new insights into language variation and change in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Dutch. More specifically, it investigates whether and to what extent official language policy measures exerted influence on actual language practice.During the nation-building period around 1800, the Northern Netherlands witnessed the introduction of a national language policy, which aimed at the spread of a homogeneous written standard variety of Dutch, symbolising 'the' nation. In concrete terms, these top-down endeavours resulted in the first official codification of the Dutch orthography (Siegenbeek 1804) and grammar (Weiland 1805). Despite marking a decisive turning point in the standardisation history of Dutch, the effectiveness of the so-called schrijftaalregeling 'written language regulation' has never been investigated empirically.Taking a historical-sociolinguistic approach, this dissertation aims to fill this research gap by examining the impact of language policy on patterns of variation and change. How successful was the schrijftaalregeling in disseminating the officialised norms across the population at large, as envisaged by the government? Making use of the newly compiled Going Dutch Corpus, a diachronic multi-genre corpus comprising more than 420,000 words of authentic usage data (private letters, diaries and travelogues, newspapers), a wide range of orthographic and morphosyntactic features is analysed. Show less
The research is dedicated to Gilbert Blin’s work in staging operas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nourished by a decade of productions for the Boston Early Music Festival, the first... Show moreThe research is dedicated to Gilbert Blin’s work in staging operas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Nourished by a decade of productions for the Boston Early Music Festival, the first objective of his dissertation is to enable a better understanding of both his creative and interpretive processes in the operatic field. The main research question he attempts to answer in his dissertation can be phrased as follows: how can a post-modern stage director use historical research for creative purposes? The title of this dissertation, The Reflections of Memory, is the appellation Gilbert Blin has been giving to his current approach as an artist and constitutes a conceptual answer to this question Show less
This dissertation deals with the development of seventeenth-century overseas business through the perspective of individuals. The way individuals acted in the overseas business, especially in... Show moreThis dissertation deals with the development of seventeenth-century overseas business through the perspective of individuals. The way individuals acted in the overseas business, especially in connection to the Nordic trading companies, allows for an in-depth study of how they projected, established, coordinated and developed business through entrepreneurial mechanisms. The dissertation closely follows the careers of two businessmen and simultaneously studies their careers through a conceptual framework of overseas entrepreneurship in two oceanic spaces. Show less
The ability to learn rules is at the heart of the ability to learn language. This thesis is a collection of papers tackling rule learning from various perspectives and domains – including... Show moreThe ability to learn rules is at the heart of the ability to learn language. This thesis is a collection of papers tackling rule learning from various perspectives and domains – including visual, auditory, and speech domains – in both infants and adults. Using both simple XYX-, XXY-, or XYY-type rules, and more complex Lindenmayer grammars, we were able to gain insights into the rule learning processes of young infants and of adults. While we were unsuccessful in attempted replications and extensions of previous studies, it was precisely these failures that helped to provide a more nuanced picture of rule learning: even the simplest type of rule learning is far from straightforward. For infants, we find evidence for a repetition bias in both the visual and speech domain that is difficult to overcome, while for adults we show that the learning environment – the task used, the instructions, types of testing stimuli – are all highly influential in determining whether a simple rule can be learned or not. Furthermore, by studying patterns found in babbling we were able to hypothesize for the first time about the parallels between production and perceptual abilities with respect to rule learning. Show less
This thesis deals with Dutch language education in primary schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It focuses on the role of education in the development of Dutch as a standard... Show moreThis thesis deals with Dutch language education in primary schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It focuses on the role of education in the development of Dutch as a standard language, with attention for educational practices, pedagogical discourse and passive exposure to language norms in school books. The transition from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century was marked by rapid societal and ideological changes. Part of these changes were reforms of the Dutch language and school system. Language was increasingly seen as a marker of national identity. Education in the national language became an important prerequisite for the development of a modern and national civil society. To facilitate national unity and language education, the norms for the Dutch language were officially codified. At the same time, new pedagogical ideals led to changes in the organization, means and methods of primary school education. Based on reports from the school inspection, pedagogical literature and school books, this thesis draws an image of theory and practice of Dutch language education in primary schools between 1750 and 1850. Show less
Research into the phrasing, structure, and nature from the point of view of legal history, as well as the social and religious background of temple oaths from the Ptolemaic period, supplemented... Show moreResearch into the phrasing, structure, and nature from the point of view of legal history, as well as the social and religious background of temple oaths from the Ptolemaic period, supplemented with 21 unpublished texts written in demotic and Greek. Chapter 1. Introduction: Meaning and terminology of the oath in Ancient Egypt; Chapter 2. Juridical oaths from the Old Kingdom through the Ptolemaic period: an overview (ca. 2600-30 B.C.); Chapter 3. The format of temple oaths: a study of their clauses, components and legal contents; Chapter 4. Swearing a temple oath: the procedure; Chapter 5. Unpublished texts. A selection of demotic temple oaths in the Turin Egyptian Museum and Greek temple oaths from various collections. Show less
The emergence of Ottoman Turkish popular erotic narratives coincided with the proclamation of the Second Constitution in 1908. Thereafter, the publication of these narratives continued for... Show moreThe emergence of Ottoman Turkish popular erotic narratives coincided with the proclamation of the Second Constitution in 1908. Thereafter, the publication of these narratives continued for around two decades until they were prohibited in the early years of the Turkish Republic on the grounds that they would damage public morality. This dissertation comprehensively reads examples of Ottoman Turkish popular erotic narratives. It provides insight into newly emerging discourses on gender and sexuality in the twentieth-century Ottoman Empire. In addition to investigating the emergence of new discourses on gender and sexuality through which the transition from sexual practices to construction of sexual identities unfolded, this dissertation is intended to demonstrate the Ottoman Empire’s political transition to modernity as well as to the nation state in relation to those newly emerged discourses. Show less
Investigating prehistoric, intercontinental relationships between Mesoamerica and South America by means of linguistic evidence, the Chibchan language family is of major interest, given its... Show moreInvestigating prehistoric, intercontinental relationships between Mesoamerica and South America by means of linguistic evidence, the Chibchan language family is of major interest, given its geographic position at the heart of the double-continent: this family dominates an area extending some 1,500 kilometres on an east-west axis, from eastern Honduras to western Venezuela.One of the major unresolved and controversial issues discussed for over a hundred years is the original homeland of the Chibchan language family, and whether it must be localized in Central America or South America. The present thesis aims to answer this question. Accordingly, it is divided into two parts.Part one provides a thorough reconstruction of Proto-Chibchan, based on data from all known 23 Chibchan languages. The reconstructed data have been compared with data from nearly 130 other Native American languages and language groups.The second part of the thesis offers linguistic evidence suggesting the possibility of a genealogical connection between Chibchan and the Macro-Jê languages of eastern South America, and an original homeland for Chibchan in Lowland South America.Chibchan is thus among the few language groups to demonstrably reflect migratory movements from the South American continent into Central America. Show less
This thesis examines gender differences in recorded criminality in early modern Frankfurt and the way that these differences were shaped by the local context. For a long time it was considered that... Show moreThis thesis examines gender differences in recorded criminality in early modern Frankfurt and the way that these differences were shaped by the local context. For a long time it was considered that the criminality of women is a marginal phenomenon and that this was invariable over time and place. Historical studies, however, have demonstrated that women played a much more prominent role in recorded crime in the early modern period, and could even make up half of all defendants in specific locations. At the same time, there were also large regional differences. Until now, historians focused only little on the differences, and instead looked for general explanations for female deviance in this period. This thesis studies the structural impact of the local context on women’s offending and their prosecution. It shows that the pattern in Frankfurt was both similar and different to that of other European cities. Strong informal control within the household, which is normally associated with close-knit communities in the countryside, played an important role in the urban community of Frankfurt and influenced prosecution patterns. Owing to the reliance on household control, cities like Frankfurt am Main knew a distinct type of urban female offender. Show less
The purpose of this study was to examine and understand the beliefs and practices of Dutch-Turkish Muslims from the perspective of elite and popular religiosity, exploring the characteristics... Show moreThe purpose of this study was to examine and understand the beliefs and practices of Dutch-Turkish Muslims from the perspective of elite and popular religiosity, exploring the characteristics of both kinds of religiosity and the various sociological consequences, thereby considering the demographic and socio-economic factors in relation to both in the context of the plural society of the Netherlands. The design of the present study has been shaped by a ‘mixed-methods’ approach, in which quantitative and qualitative methods are merged into one research project. This theoretical and empirical study yielded the result that the forms and motivations of high religiosity vary across different groups. Based on the findings of this study, out of the total group of participants who experienced high religiosity, six out of ten participants experienced popular religiosity, while only two out of ten experienced elite religiosity. I also found that respondents who experienced popular religiosity were less open and friendly towards other religions. Moreover, men who experienced popular religiosity had reduced views on the equality and rights of women compared to men who experienced elite religiosity. It also turned out that participants who experienced popular religiosity expressed more (racial/ethnic) prejudice, and showed more conservative in-group attitudes than participants who experienced elite religiosity. Show less
Until the beginning of this century, with few notable exceptions, prescriptivism has received little serious attention among the academic linguistic community as a factor in language variation... Show moreUntil the beginning of this century, with few notable exceptions, prescriptivism has received little serious attention among the academic linguistic community as a factor in language variation and change. The five studies included in this book are embedded in the growing research initiative that is attempting to paint a fine-grained picture of linguistic prescriptivism in the English language. In contrast to institutional prescriptivism, or the so-called prescriptivism from above, which is enforced by bodies such as language planning boards, governmental committees, and agencies, this book focuses on grassroots prescriptivism – the attempts of lay people to promote the standard language ideology. Grassroots prescriptivism investigates the metalinguistic comments of language users expressed on traditional (letters to newspaper editors and radio phone-ins) and new media platforms (forum and blog discussions). This book demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, language users are not passive recipients of language rules, but active participants in matters of linguistic prescriptivism. The diachronic exploration of grassroots prescriptivism reveals a complex picture. While in many respects, twenty-first-century prescriptivism represents a continuation of the 250-year-old prescriptive tradition, the author argues that prescriptivism, like language itself, undergoes change over time. Show less
This book provides a synchronic description of the phonology, word classes, morphology, and syntax of the Cheke Holo language. Cheke Holo is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic subgroup, spoken... Show moreThis book provides a synchronic description of the phonology, word classes, morphology, and syntax of the Cheke Holo language. Cheke Holo is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic subgroup, spoken by 11,000 speakers on Santa Isabel island in the Solomon Islands. This is the first published grammar of Cheke Holo. It is based on the author’s 30 years of linguistic work carried out among Cheke Holo speakers. Like many other Oceanic languages, Cheke Holo has SVO word order, serial verbs, distinguishes alienable and inalianable possession of nouns, and reduplicates verbs to intensify or prolong the action they denote. Four types of demonstratives are attested in Cheke Holo. Basic distinctions of the demonstratives occur between specificity and number, and whether or not the noun modified is proximal or distal. The two-way distinction of past and non-past is the most useful descriptor for the Cheke Holo tense system. Several features of Cheke Holo phonology and grammar are less typical for an Oceanic language. These include its consonant clusters, the voiceless continuants, the verb nominalizations in four different phonemic environments, and the gender distinction in the third person singular pronouns. The encoding of pragmatic emphasis is a common feature of Cheke Holo grammar. Show less
In Luganda, the widest spoken minority language in Uganda, the word for photographs is 'ebifananyi'. However, 'ebifananyi' does not, contrary to the etymology of the word photographs, relate to... Show moreIn Luganda, the widest spoken minority language in Uganda, the word for photographs is 'ebifananyi'. However, 'ebifananyi' does not, contrary to the etymology of the word photographs, relate to light writings. 'Ebifananyi' instead means things that look like something else. 'Ebifananyi' are likenesses. My research project explores the historical context of this particular conceptualisation of photographs and its consequences for present day visual culture in Uganda. It also discusses my artistic practice as research method, which led to the digitisation of numerous historical collections of photographs. This resulted in eight books and in exhibitions that took place in Uganda and in Europe. The research was conducted in collaboration with both human and non-human actors. These actors included photographs, their owners, Ugandan picture makers and visitors to the exhibitions that were organised in Uganda and Western Europe. This methodology led to insights into differences in the production and uses of, and into meanings given to, photographs in both Ugandan and Dutch contexts. Understanding differences between ebifananyi and photographs shapes the communication about photographs between Luganda and English speakers. Reflection on the conceptualisations languages offer for objects and for sensible aspects of the surrounding world helps prevent misunderstandings in communication in general. Show less
Our view of the body as passive biological matter has been tested in the face of gene editing, stem cell research and tissue engineering. Now biotechnological research tells us that bodies may... Show moreOur view of the body as passive biological matter has been tested in the face of gene editing, stem cell research and tissue engineering. Now biotechnological research tells us that bodies may be dead and alive; they may be human and non-human; multiple and yet one. The way we think about bodies, and the way we practice them, marks a particular tension in the way biotechnology treats our bodies. This book explores the conditions of thinking and practicing bodies within affect. In order to grasp the continuity of thought and practice of bodies, I focus on the concept of affect at work in Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy, in particular, in his reading of Baruch Spinoza and Jakob von Uexküll. The notion of affect is used to understand the relational, contaminating materialities of our bodies, and the term “affect” confronts us with the actual implications of its practicing. I argue that affect, as a transformative relationality, is induced by bioartists and biodesigners who work with living bodies as an artistic medium. Therefore, looking closely at how artists use the relational capacities of bodies in their work, I search for the conditions for practicing bodies within affect. Show less
The English Presbyterian minister, medical practioner, and later deist, Thomas Morgan, lived from 1671/2 till 1743. He participated in the pamphlet war around the Salters' Hall conference, was... Show moreThe English Presbyterian minister, medical practioner, and later deist, Thomas Morgan, lived from 1671/2 till 1743. He participated in the pamphlet war around the Salters' Hall conference, was dismissed by his congregation in Marlborough in 1724, and turned fully to medicine in Bristol from 1727. He published two medical works, which had a ready national and international sale. In London he published in 1737 his principal work: The Moral Philosopher, in which he called himself a Christian Deist, critizising the Bible and especially the Old Testament. He received many criticisms for this work. Morgan stands in a line of Christian theology, which disparages the Jewish part of Scripture, and which is of present interest until to-day. Show less
This study is about the reconstruction of the urban geography of the Balkan and the Danube provinces at the time of the Severan dynasty (AD 193-235). Four basic parameters were in the focus of... Show moreThis study is about the reconstruction of the urban geography of the Balkan and the Danube provinces at the time of the Severan dynasty (AD 193-235). Four basic parameters were in the focus of research: the origin and socio-economic character of the settlements, their size, micro-location and the size of their administrative territories. The principal goal of this exercise was to map the variable developments of the urban network, both between and within the sub-regions that constitute this part of the Roman Empire. This line of inquiry helped to bridge the gap between the regional and the general. In the process of explaining the apparent gaps in the urban map of the study-region or the differential growth of the individual towns and settlements, we were inevitably faced with the question of the role of the town in Roman provincial society and economy or the basic prerequisites for the emergence and prosperity of towns. This study also brought to light the intimate connection between towns and imperialism. Show less
De positie van kunst en kunstenaars in de westerse samenleving is de afgelopen decennia sterk veranderd. Veel kunstenaars voelen zich maatschappelijk betrokken en zoeken naar aansluiting bij de... Show moreDe positie van kunst en kunstenaars in de westerse samenleving is de afgelopen decennia sterk veranderd. Veel kunstenaars voelen zich maatschappelijk betrokken en zoeken naar aansluiting bij de samenleving. Participatieve kunstpraktijken zijn daarvan een goed voorbeeld. Bij deze kunstvorm werken kunstenaars samen met burgers in hun eigen leefomgeving. De kunstpraktijken zijn gericht op maatschappelijke vraagstukken. Burgers worden met inzet van verbeeldingskracht geactiveerd om te reflecteren op hun eigen situatie en zo tot een andere visie te komen. Het werkterrein van de participatieve kunstenaar wordt daarmee van atelier, theater of concertzaal naar de samenleving verplaatst. Participatieve kunstpraktijken zijn zowel sociaal-maatschappelijk als kunst gericht. Door deze nieuwe manier van werken komt de kunstwereld en de kunstenaar in een ander daglicht te staan. Om deze veranderingen nader te kunnen vaststellen, zijn vijf participatieve kunstpraktijken in de Randstad onderzocht. Uit het onderzoek blijkt dat ook de artistieke identiteit van de kunstenaar van invloed is op de inhoud en vorm van de kunstpraktijk. Sommige kunstenaars zijn gericht op het kunstwerk als eindresultaat. Anderen vinden het sociale proces van de deelnemers belangrijker. Ook de invulling van de deelnemersparticipatie blijkt daarmee samen te hangen. Participatieve kunstenaars vervullen een nieuwe rol in de samenleving,namelijk die van netwerkkunstenaar. Show less
