A large number of Greek names, including a small fraction referring to women, are recorded in cuneiform sources. Among them is that of Laodice, identifying either the wife of Antiochus II or the daughter of Antiochus III, for which different spellings are attested. The recent publication of a tablet in the British Museum recording a duplicate copy of the so-called Lehmann text bears witness to the existence of a further spelling of the name of the queen in addition to those already known to us. Examining the mechanisms that lie behind the choice for a particular spelling, and on the basis of the fact that copies of the same document exhibit differtent spellings for one and the same name, in this paper I argue that spelling variation reflect the different degree of expertise in the relevant language (i.e. Greek) on the part of the scribe, offering another example of the difficulties they had to overcome to transcribe foreign names into their language, using a non alphabetic writing system.

A new spelling for the name of Laodice in cuneiform: a matter of literacy?

Paola Corò
2020-01-01

Abstract

A large number of Greek names, including a small fraction referring to women, are recorded in cuneiform sources. Among them is that of Laodice, identifying either the wife of Antiochus II or the daughter of Antiochus III, for which different spellings are attested. The recent publication of a tablet in the British Museum recording a duplicate copy of the so-called Lehmann text bears witness to the existence of a further spelling of the name of the queen in addition to those already known to us. Examining the mechanisms that lie behind the choice for a particular spelling, and on the basis of the fact that copies of the same document exhibit differtent spellings for one and the same name, in this paper I argue that spelling variation reflect the different degree of expertise in the relevant language (i.e. Greek) on the part of the scribe, offering another example of the difficulties they had to overcome to transcribe foreign names into their language, using a non alphabetic writing system.
2020
2020
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
79 Coro.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: estratto articolo
Licenza: Accesso libero (no vincoli)
Dimensione 217.86 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
217.86 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3729113
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact