The Semantics of Purity in the Ancient Near East: Lexical Meaning as a Projection of Embodied Experience

This article analyzes the primary terms for purity in Biblical Hebrew, Ugaritic, Sumerian, Akkadian and Hittite. Building on insights from cognitive linguistics and embodiment theory, this study develops the premise that semantic structure—even of seemingly abstract concepts—is grounded in real-worl...

Description complète

Enregistré dans:  
Détails bibliographiques
Auteur principal: Feder, Yitzhaq 1977- (Auteur)
Type de support: Électronique Article
Langue:Anglais
Vérifier la disponibilité: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
En cours de chargement...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Publié: Brill 2014
Dans: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Année: 2014, Volume: 14, Numéro: 1, Pages: 87-113
Sujets non-standardisés:B Purity impurity pollution Hittite Akkadian Sumerian Biblical Hebrew semantics cognitive linguistics radiance embodiment social contexts
Accès en ligne: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Résumé:This article analyzes the primary terms for purity in Biblical Hebrew, Ugaritic, Sumerian, Akkadian and Hittite. Building on insights from cognitive linguistics and embodiment theory, this study develops the premise that semantic structure—even of seemingly abstract concepts—is grounded in real-world bodily experience. An examination of purity terms reveals that all of them can be related to a concrete sense pertaining to radiance (brilliance, brightness, shininess). The article then traces the semantic development of purity terms in distinct experiential contexts and shows how semantic analysis can elucidate the inner logic of fundamental religious concepts.
ISSN:1569-2124
Contient:In: Journal of ancient Near Eastern religions
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15692124-12341258