Mauro Tosco | Università di Torino (original) (raw)
Papers by Mauro Tosco
Journal of Language Relationship/Voprosy Jazykovogo Rodstva, 2023
Problems with the lexical evidence used to posit Hadza as an Afroasiatic language are discussed. ... more Problems with the lexical evidence used to posit Hadza as an Afroasiatic language are discussed. The failure to identify certain loanwords and the misanalysis of certain Hadza morphemes are problems rectified by having greater familiarity with Hadza and its linguistic contact history. Other problems are more general to the specific methodology employed. The overly wide semantic range of meanings often allowed in establishing form-meaning sets increases the likelihood of chance resemblances. The use of certain words that are likely onomatopoeic also reduces the impact of the proposed cognate sets. Ultimately, it is the lack of regular, repeated sound correspondences between Hadza and Afroasiatic that makes the proposal of their familial relationship unconvincing.
Contested Languages: The Hidden Multilingualism of Europe, 2021
This is a contribution from Contested Languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Edited by ... more This is a contribution from Contested Languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Edited by Marco Tamburelli and Mauro Tosco.
Lingue nazionali, lingue imperiali., 2022
The article discusses the concept of “empire” and its derivates, and concentrates on “imperial la... more The article discusses the concept of “empire” and its derivates, and concentrates on “imperial languages” and “language empires”. Traditional empires were not states in the modern sense of the word and were not based upon sovereignty – a rather recent European invention of the late Middle Ages. More importantly for our concerns, the article draws from the history of Aramaic and Arabic and of classical Latin and Greek in order to show how traditional empires did not have an explicit language policy, because language uniformity was not quintessential to their definition and could not be their goal, as most often is the case of the nation-states. Their universalistic ideology ensured often the persistence in time – and quite often the development and diffusion – of un-official, local languages; language shift toward the language of the dominating group typically occurred over long stretches of time. The rapid and catastrophic collapse of local languages and cultures is rather a hallmark of the modern nation-states. The article proposes three conditions for a language being “imperial”, or rather imperialistic” in the modern sense of the word.
The tension between language diversity and state building in Africa, 2014
"Hamar (South Omotic) has a complex and poorly studied verbal system. The articl... more "Hamar (South Omotic) has a complex and poorly studied verbal system. The article deals with positive Imperative, Hortative and declarative verbal forms only, to the exclusion of negative verbal forms, as well as of verbs found in subordinate clauses. Interrogative forms, relative clauses and clefts will nevertheless be mentioned, since they have a role in the discussion. Likewise excluded is verbal derivation, as well as any deep analysis of the functional and semantic contents of the paradigms. The Hamar verb is characterized by the almost total absence of subject-verb agreement (possibly an areal feature of extreme Southwest Ethiopia) and the widespread use of auxiliary and copula elements, which carry much of the TAM value and can even be compounded."
Language Problems and Language Planning, 1994
The Language of Hunter-Gatherers, 2020
L'article propose un aperçu sur les différentes écritures employées pour le Somali avant l'introd... more L'article propose un aperçu sur les différentes écritures employées pour le Somali avant l'introduction en 1972 de l'alphabet latin. Avant une présentation sur le rôle de l'Islam et la littérature somalie en arabe, l'article discute les orthographes basés sur un'élaboration de l'écriture arabe, pour se concentrer ensuite sur les alphabets « autochtones », et en particulier sur l'Osmania. L'article se concentre sur le climat culturel qui en conditionna la naissance et la (relative) diffusion, mais aussi, plus tard, sa décadence et abandon. Le développement de l'alphabet Osmania et ses caractéristiques sont également détaillés. La dernière section présente brièvement deux autres orthographes «autochtones», l'écriture Gadabuursi et l'alphabet Keddaria. Der Artikel berichtet über die verschiedenen Schriften, in denen Somali vor der Einführung der lateinischen Schrift im Jahre 1972 geschrieben wurde.
The panel aimed at bringing together researchers in human sciences who share an attentive eye to ... more The panel aimed at bringing together researchers in human sciences who share an attentive eye to the specific import of local cultures, knowledge and tradition in the activities subsumed under the collective, and often too vague, concept of cooperation to development. Our basic idea was that a good preventive analysis of the field, of the human groups living and interacting (and sometimes coming into conflicts) in it, of their specific cultures and languages (often widely divergent among themselves) – chiefly in the poorest areas of the countries in the South of the World – represents a priority in the planning of cooperation projects that aim at efficiency either in terms of empowerment or of assumption of responsibility and management by the local partners. We believe that achieving these aims could bring a better stability of the partnership and a better time continuity in the sustainable-development projects proposed and initiated by international partners. These ideas derive of...
Contested Languages, 2021
An experiment was conducted to analyze the chemical and nutritive value of the ghee residues and ... more An experiment was conducted to analyze the chemical and nutritive value of the ghee residues and the complete analysis revealed the moisture, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and total ash contents of ghee residue were 12.10, 19.86, 3.49, 47.12, 25.63 and 3.90 per cent, respectively. Fatty acid profile of ghee residue revealed that the palmitic acid registered the highest percentage (38.88) among saturated fatty acids and the oleic acid accounted for the highest percentage (25.15) among unsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and decosahexaenoic acid content of ghee residue were 2.02, 0.79, 0.36 and 0.25 per cent respectively. Amino acid profile of ghee residue revealed that the lysine and methionine, content were 0.99 and 0.61 per cent, respectively. Threonine and arginine levels are found to be at 1.44 and 0.76 per cent, respectively. The glutamic acid recorded the highest percentage (5.26), while cystine registered the lowest percentage (0.35) among amino acids in ghee residue. Thus, it could be concluded that ghee residue is a rich source of fat, protein, unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids. Further, experiments needed to find the inclusion level and digestibility in poultry/other monogastric animals.
Kervan. International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, 2019
Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 1996
L'A. examine l'expression du cas sujet nominal et son developpement historique en dirayta... more L'A. examine l'expression du cas sujet nominal et son developpement historique en dirayta, une langue couchitique orientale. Selon le scenario propose, le dirayta a acquis son marquage de sujet, tres particulier, par une reanalyse periodique des frontieres des morphemes et des suffixes. Notamment, un marqueur defini des noms feminins a d'abord ete generalise aux noms masculins, puis, apres sa reduction au role de marqueur de genre (feminin), il a ete reanalyse comme marqueur de cas sujet pour les noms masculins. L'application periodique d'un processus de reduction de voyelle en position finale des mots a joue un role crucial de declenchement
Journal of Language Relationship/Voprosy Jazykovogo Rodstva, 2023
Problems with the lexical evidence used to posit Hadza as an Afroasiatic language are discussed. ... more Problems with the lexical evidence used to posit Hadza as an Afroasiatic language are discussed. The failure to identify certain loanwords and the misanalysis of certain Hadza morphemes are problems rectified by having greater familiarity with Hadza and its linguistic contact history. Other problems are more general to the specific methodology employed. The overly wide semantic range of meanings often allowed in establishing form-meaning sets increases the likelihood of chance resemblances. The use of certain words that are likely onomatopoeic also reduces the impact of the proposed cognate sets. Ultimately, it is the lack of regular, repeated sound correspondences between Hadza and Afroasiatic that makes the proposal of their familial relationship unconvincing.
Contested Languages: The Hidden Multilingualism of Europe, 2021
This is a contribution from Contested Languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Edited by ... more This is a contribution from Contested Languages. The hidden multilingualism of Europe. Edited by Marco Tamburelli and Mauro Tosco.
Lingue nazionali, lingue imperiali., 2022
The article discusses the concept of “empire” and its derivates, and concentrates on “imperial la... more The article discusses the concept of “empire” and its derivates, and concentrates on “imperial languages” and “language empires”. Traditional empires were not states in the modern sense of the word and were not based upon sovereignty – a rather recent European invention of the late Middle Ages. More importantly for our concerns, the article draws from the history of Aramaic and Arabic and of classical Latin and Greek in order to show how traditional empires did not have an explicit language policy, because language uniformity was not quintessential to their definition and could not be their goal, as most often is the case of the nation-states. Their universalistic ideology ensured often the persistence in time – and quite often the development and diffusion – of un-official, local languages; language shift toward the language of the dominating group typically occurred over long stretches of time. The rapid and catastrophic collapse of local languages and cultures is rather a hallmark of the modern nation-states. The article proposes three conditions for a language being “imperial”, or rather imperialistic” in the modern sense of the word.
The tension between language diversity and state building in Africa, 2014
"Hamar (South Omotic) has a complex and poorly studied verbal system. The articl... more "Hamar (South Omotic) has a complex and poorly studied verbal system. The article deals with positive Imperative, Hortative and declarative verbal forms only, to the exclusion of negative verbal forms, as well as of verbs found in subordinate clauses. Interrogative forms, relative clauses and clefts will nevertheless be mentioned, since they have a role in the discussion. Likewise excluded is verbal derivation, as well as any deep analysis of the functional and semantic contents of the paradigms. The Hamar verb is characterized by the almost total absence of subject-verb agreement (possibly an areal feature of extreme Southwest Ethiopia) and the widespread use of auxiliary and copula elements, which carry much of the TAM value and can even be compounded."
Language Problems and Language Planning, 1994
The Language of Hunter-Gatherers, 2020
L'article propose un aperçu sur les différentes écritures employées pour le Somali avant l'introd... more L'article propose un aperçu sur les différentes écritures employées pour le Somali avant l'introduction en 1972 de l'alphabet latin. Avant une présentation sur le rôle de l'Islam et la littérature somalie en arabe, l'article discute les orthographes basés sur un'élaboration de l'écriture arabe, pour se concentrer ensuite sur les alphabets « autochtones », et en particulier sur l'Osmania. L'article se concentre sur le climat culturel qui en conditionna la naissance et la (relative) diffusion, mais aussi, plus tard, sa décadence et abandon. Le développement de l'alphabet Osmania et ses caractéristiques sont également détaillés. La dernière section présente brièvement deux autres orthographes «autochtones», l'écriture Gadabuursi et l'alphabet Keddaria. Der Artikel berichtet über die verschiedenen Schriften, in denen Somali vor der Einführung der lateinischen Schrift im Jahre 1972 geschrieben wurde.
The panel aimed at bringing together researchers in human sciences who share an attentive eye to ... more The panel aimed at bringing together researchers in human sciences who share an attentive eye to the specific import of local cultures, knowledge and tradition in the activities subsumed under the collective, and often too vague, concept of cooperation to development. Our basic idea was that a good preventive analysis of the field, of the human groups living and interacting (and sometimes coming into conflicts) in it, of their specific cultures and languages (often widely divergent among themselves) – chiefly in the poorest areas of the countries in the South of the World – represents a priority in the planning of cooperation projects that aim at efficiency either in terms of empowerment or of assumption of responsibility and management by the local partners. We believe that achieving these aims could bring a better stability of the partnership and a better time continuity in the sustainable-development projects proposed and initiated by international partners. These ideas derive of...
Contested Languages, 2021
An experiment was conducted to analyze the chemical and nutritive value of the ghee residues and ... more An experiment was conducted to analyze the chemical and nutritive value of the ghee residues and the complete analysis revealed the moisture, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and total ash contents of ghee residue were 12.10, 19.86, 3.49, 47.12, 25.63 and 3.90 per cent, respectively. Fatty acid profile of ghee residue revealed that the palmitic acid registered the highest percentage (38.88) among saturated fatty acids and the oleic acid accounted for the highest percentage (25.15) among unsaturated fatty acids. Linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentaenoic and decosahexaenoic acid content of ghee residue were 2.02, 0.79, 0.36 and 0.25 per cent respectively. Amino acid profile of ghee residue revealed that the lysine and methionine, content were 0.99 and 0.61 per cent, respectively. Threonine and arginine levels are found to be at 1.44 and 0.76 per cent, respectively. The glutamic acid recorded the highest percentage (5.26), while cystine registered the lowest percentage (0.35) among amino acids in ghee residue. Thus, it could be concluded that ghee residue is a rich source of fat, protein, unsaturated fatty acids and amino acids. Further, experiments needed to find the inclusion level and digestibility in poultry/other monogastric animals.
Kervan. International Journal of Afro-Asiatic Studies, 2019
Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 1996
L'A. examine l'expression du cas sujet nominal et son developpement historique en dirayta... more L'A. examine l'expression du cas sujet nominal et son developpement historique en dirayta, une langue couchitique orientale. Selon le scenario propose, le dirayta a acquis son marquage de sujet, tres particulier, par une reanalyse periodique des frontieres des morphemes et des suffixes. Notamment, un marqueur defini des noms feminins a d'abord ete generalise aux noms masculins, puis, apres sa reduction au role de marqueur de genre (feminin), il a ete reanalyse comme marqueur de cas sujet pour les noms masculins. L'application periodique d'un processus de reduction de voyelle en position finale des mots a joue un role crucial de declenchement