Temps et aspect en egyptien.
Position | Book review |
Temps et aspect en egyptien: Une approche semantique. BY JEAN WINAND. Probleme der Agyptologie, vol. 25. Leiden: BRILL, 2006. Pp. xi + 485. [euro] 175.
This book studies questions of aspect as a property of verb forms in ancient Egyptian, more specifically in the first three of the five stages traditionally distinguished in the history of the language, namely Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, and Late Egyptian (2500-1000 B.C.E.). I began reading the book in the awareness that someone whose opinion in linguistic matters I greatly value once told me to read as little about aspect as possible when analyzing Egyptian. This warning in fact resonates in the book's first pages. It is acknowledged more than once that the treatment of aspect in linguistic writings resembles a cacophony. The book begins by quoting C. Vet (Temps, aspect et adverbes de temps en francais contemporain [Geneva: Droz, 1980], 46), who writes, "Absent all formal characteristics on which an analysis could be based, aspect and Aktionsart have become the most intangible notions of traditional grammar" (my translation). When so many observers say so much that is contradictory about little or no empirical evidence, questions arise. Surely, at least some opinions must be right and others wrong. Or can such widely disparate views possibly be joined in a higher harmony? Are a few rare views perhaps even plainly invented, mere figments of the imagination?
The book's author is acutely aware of the challenge he is facing. Nevertheless, he feels duty-bound to engage the linguistic debate about aspect head-on, partly lest Egyptology wither away in isolation. And he does so with great diligence. Much hard work went into the writing of this book. Nor is there any reason to doubt the author's skills and competence in matters of Egyptian grammar and Egyptological and general linguistics. Just looking at this carefully formulated, finely crafted, and hefty tome, one wonders what could possibly be wrong with such deep commitment. From looking at the bibliography, it seems difficult to imagine that anything ever written about aspect has been left out. Yet, the author stresses that there is much more (p. 10). Surveying and absorbing everything would have been impossible. The author therefore focuses mainly on those writings that have helped him the most in forming his own notion of "temporality," that is, the properties that verb forms exhibit to refer to the passage of time.
Even so, while much effort is undertaken to incorporate the views of others into the book's argument, the work does to some degree exhibit the encyclopedic approach described in a "frank statement" (offenes Wort) addressed by the great F. X. Kugler, the decipherer of much of Babylonian astronomy, to readers of his monumental Von Moses bis Paulus (Munster: Aschendorff, 1922, xiv). The prominence of this approach in the work at hand can probably be explained by the fact that an earlier manifestation of the book served in 2001 as a "these d'aggregation de l'enseignement superieur" for the University of Liege. The citing of past work offers a tool for objectively measuring and quantifying an effort, even if part of the effort may be irrelevant to the problem that is being treated. Unable to improve on Kugler's portrayal of the approach in question and deeming it worthy of being resurrected, I cite it in full. It is a concern that one does not find voiced often enough.
Nach der herkommlichen Praxis pflegt man vor dem Antritt einer Untersuchung sich uber alles. was auf dem betreffenden Gebiete jemals erspaht und verbucht worden ist, genau zu unterrichten. Das ist ja auch zweifellos der sicherste Weg, nichts von Bedeutung zu ubersehen und sich die Muhe zu ersparen, bereits Bekanntes nochmals zu entdecken. Allein ganz abgesehen davon, daB dieses Verfahren nur dem moglich ist, der uber eine reiche Literatur verfugt, erscheint es doch sehr zweifelhaft, ob es sich wirklich als recht fruchtbringend erweist. Nach meiner Erfahrung sind die Nachteile dieser Methode sehr viel groBer als ihr Nutzen, wenigstens fur den, dessen kombinatorische Veranlagung seine Aufnahmefahigkeit entschieden uberwiegt. Muhsam arbeitet man sich nicht selten durch weitschweifige Exkurse oder durch ein Labyrinth von Vorausset-zungen und MutmaBungen ohne erheblichen Gewinn hindurch. Doch der Verlust an Kraft und Zeit ist noch das geringere Ubel. Weit schadlicher, ja gerade verhangnisvoll ist die EinbuBe and selbstandiger, vorurteilsfreier Wurdigung der vorliegenden Fragen--von einer unabhangigen Fragestellung ganz zu schweigen. UnbewuBt gerat man in den Bannkreis von herrschenden Meinungen, deren innere Schwache uns um so leichter entgeht, je bestimmter und geistreicher sie vorgetragen werden. Wir werden ... reichlich Gelegenheit haben, auf Erscheinungen dieser Art hinzuweisen. The author of the book at hand demonstrates initiative and originality by developing a theory about aspect that is different from all other theories of aspect, just as all theories of aspect ultimately differ from one another. I should like to have seen even more step-by-step reasoning, starting from first principles. Instead I see a line of development penetrated sideways and propelled at many crucial junctures by theoretical insights adopted from others. These insights are as a rule supported by various sorts and degrees of explicit praise, some of it lavish, making it seem at times like a fortunate circumstance that everything supporting the book's argument is that good.
What is aspect in relation to the Egyptian language? I do not claim to know, and from the author's account it almost seems as if no one really does. In fact, I have difficulty finding a clear definition of aspect anywhere in the book, in a...
To continue reading
Request your trialCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.