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Article In: Historiographia Linguistica: Online-First Articles

Hodgson’s vocabularies of Vayu and Bahing

Exogenous Himalayan lexicography in the mid-19th century

 | Université Paris Cité
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Abstract
This article examines two mid-19th century vocabularies of Kiranti languages Vayu and Bahing (Eastern Nepal) compiled by Brian Hodgson and which accompany grammar sketches of the same languages. The vocabularies, which are both English-Kiranti, have a parts-of-speech macro-structure, but adopt a combination of different ordering systems with respect to their micro-structures. The article describes the two vocabularies with respect to their structural features, and considers what evidence may be found within to suggest the data collection methods that were used in the enterprise. The article contributes, from the point of view of these various features, to the study of 19th century lexicography of Himalayan languages.
Résumé
Cet article porte sur deux glossaires des langues kiranti, le vayu et le bahing (Népal oriental), datant du milieu du XIXe siècle, compilés par Brian Hodgson et accompagnant des esquisses grammaticales de ces mêmes langues. Ces glossaires, tous deux anglais-kiranti, présentent une macrostructure basée sur les catégories grammaticales, mais adoptent une combinaison de différents systèmes d’ordonnancement au niveau de leur microstructure. L’article décrit ces deux glossaires sous l’angle de leurs caractéristiques structurelles et examine les indices qu’ils peuvent apporter quant aux méthodes de collecte de données utilisées par Hodgson. Cet article contribue, du point de vue de ces différentes caractéristiques, à l’étude de la lexicographie des langues himalayennes au XIXe siècle.
Zusammenfassung
Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit zwei Vokabularien der Kiranti-Sprachen Vayu und Bahing (Ostnepal) aus der Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Die als Englisch-Kiranti angelegten Vokabularien wurden von Brian Hodgson zusammengestellt und begleiten grammatische Skizzen der beiden Sprachen. Auf der Ebene der Makrostruktur weisen sie eine Gliederung nach Wortarten auf, aber hinsichtlich ihrer Mikrostruktur kombinieren sie verschiedene Ordnungsprinzipien miteinander. Der Artikel beschreibt die strukturellen Merkmale der Vokabularien und untersucht, welche Hinweise sich daraus gewinnen lassen, die Aufschluss geben können über die angewandten Methoden der Datenerhebung. Aufgrund einer Analyse dieser verschiedenen Charakteristiken leistet der Artikel einen Beitrag zur Erforschung der Lexikographie der Himalaya-Sprachen im 19. Jahrhundert.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Brian H. Hodgson
  • 3.Description of the two Vocabularies
  • 4.Features of the Vocabularies
    • 4.1Macro-structure
    • 4.2Micro-structures
    • 4.3Derived and inflected forms in the Vocabularies
    • 4.4Interjections and ideophones
      • 4.4.1Interjections
      • 4.4.2Ideophones
  • 5.The question of data collection methods
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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