Field and river

20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES20)
Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Regional and Global Ethiopia - Interconnections and Identities"
1-5 October, 2018

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ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS TO WOLF LESLAU’S COMPARATIVE DICTIONARY OF GE‘EZ (1987–2017) [Abstract ID: 0806-05]

Leonid KOGAN, Higher School of Economics

In 2017, the scholarly world has celebrated the 30th anniversary of Comparative Dictionary of Ge‘ez (CDG) by Wolf Leslau. A major achievement for its time, CDG remains by far the most quoted tool of Semitic lexical comparison and, indeed, the only dictionary of a “classical” Semitic language which explicitly defines itself as “comparative” – which, in this context, is practically tantamount to etymological. Due to the impressive development of several branches of Semitic lexicography in the past decades, upgrading Leslau’s magnum opus inevitably suggests itself. The following additions and corrections to CDG derive from many years of its intensive use in my own scholarly work as well as in classroom. Most of the additional material pertains to the following areas of Semitic linguistics and philology.
● Assyriology.
● Ugaritic studies.
● Modern South Arabian linguistics. A great deal of additions and corrections pertaining to Soqotri go back to the author’s fieldwork research on this language, particularly on its exceedingly rich lexical treasures, from 2010 up to the present day. In 2017, the scholarly world has celebrated the 30th anniversary of Comparative Dictionary of Ge‘ez (CDG) by Wolf Leslau. A major achievement for its time, CDG remains by far the most quoted tool of Semitic lexical comparison and, indeed, the only dictionary of a “classical” Semitic language which explicitly defines itself as “comparative” – which, in this context, is practically tantamount to etymological. Due to the impressive development of several branches of Semitic lexicography in the past decades, upgrading Leslau’s magnum opus inevitably suggests itself. The following additions and corrections to CDG derive from many years of its intensive use in my own scholarly work as well as in classroom. Most of the additional material pertains to the following areas of Semitic linguistics and philology.
● Assyriology.
● Ugaritic studies.
● Modern South Arabian linguistics. A great deal of additions and corrections pertaining to Soqotri go back to the author’s fieldwork research on this language, particularly on its exceedingly rich lexical treasures, from 2010 up to the present day.