Articles

The article studies the story of Gao Pian’s wooden crane and representations of miraculous birds in Tang China.

The article reconstructs the history of Banū Tamīm from the third to the first half of the sixth century and its relations with the Sasanian state, Lakhmids and Kindites.

The article considers the poetics of Liu Xiang’s Exemplary Women of Early China through the biography “Wife of Yang from Jin Shu Ji”.

The research of Tagalog phraseological units contributes to the study of almost all spheres of private and social life of the Tagalogs, their national and universal human values. One cannot claim complete language proficiency in Tagalog without knowledge of its phraseological units. The article deals with the methods of identification of Tagalog phraseological units and ways of their classification on the basis of different criteria: (1) affiliation of the key word to a certain part of speech, (2) origin, (3) topics, (4) degree of semantic fusion. The first three criteria have already been used in the classification of Tagalog phraseological units whereas the last one is used for the first time. This classification based on the degree of semantic fusion was introduced by V.V. Vinogradov for the analysis of Russian set expressions. This research proves the universal character of this classification and possibility to use it for the description of the Tagalog phraseological units as they possess the features of semantic fusion similar to those of the Russian set expressions. Most of phraseological units are based on metaphors and can be described using methods of cognitive linguistics. It’s possible to group them in target domains and determine their source domains that facilitates understanding of mental and perceptive peculiarities of the Tagalog native speakers. Four target domains (“intelligence”, “stupidity”, “beauty” and “ugliness”) are analysed in the article and their source domains are detected. Thus the research shows that analysing Tagalog set expressions one can use different approaches that reveal various aspects of such complex phenomenon as phraseological units.

The article examines a stage of geopolitical rivalry in Central Eurasia in connection with the centenary of the Moscow treaties of 1921.

The article analyzes the artistic features of Halit Kakınç’s fantastic narrative and its engagement with contemporary social and political issues.

The article reviews studies of Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy published over the last twenty years and groups them according to their research methods.

The Nusantara folklore studies are included into the basic course for IAAS students of Indonesian language groups. The renewed course of folklore paves the way for the future deeper understanding of Indonesian literature and culture. The course titled ‘Indonesian Folklore Guide’ is planned to be published. Its main topics are myths and rituals, folk tales, minor folklore genres, ghost-lore and modern forms of Indonesian folklore. Ten lectures are devoted to the following subjects: 1) Spirits, Shamans and Were-Demons: Spells and Incantations; 2) Gods and Heroes: Mythological texts; 3) Shadows, Puppets, Masks and People: Rituals, Sacred Performances and Story-Telling; 4) Giants, Hermits and the Royals: Wonder Tales; 5) Indonesian Cinderellas and Sleeping Beauties: Folktale Motifs and Archaic Reconstructions; 6) The Cunning Mouse-Deer Kancil and the Lazy Man Si Kabayan: Tales about Tricksters; 7) Minor Folklore Genres: Riddles, Pantuns, Jokes and Proverbs; 8) Ghosts and Ghouls: Indonesian Demonology; 9) Child-lore, Urban-lore & Internet-lore; 10) The Future of the Folklore. The course includes group discussions and creative homework assignments. The bibliography and recommendations for students include Indonesian and Malay original sources, translated texts as well as theoretical works by prominent folklorists, philologists and anthropologists.

The article studies the ulama of Ottoman Syria within the system of interconfessional relations from the seventeenth to the early nineteenth century.

The article studies the first classical theory of Qur’anic interpretation in the introduction to the tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839–923).

The article analyzes Chinese authors’ experiments with the recitation and performance of modern poetry in the 1920s and 1930s and the relation between oral and written forms.

The collection of legal documents of the Lingga Sharia court (Mahkamah Syariah Kerajaan Lingga) from the Daik museum (Lingga island, modern Indonesia) is a collection of court judgments regarding various types of commercial acts, financial obligations and disputes over property. The collection contains about 350 documents written in the Malay Jawi language and dating back to the early 20th century (from 1905 to 1909). Among documents there are: promissory notes, judgments on the imposition of fines, claims for the payment of alimony/maintenance, claims, disputes over property, documents on the purchase and sale of goods and property; waqf documents etc. A preliminary review of the documents helps to identify personalities among the participants in the court proceedings: their race, cultural and religious background, social status, places of origin etc. Texts mention Muslims and also non-Muslims, first of all, Chinese, Indian and a number of European names. Apparently the Lingga Sharia Court was engaged in the implementation of legal proceedings and the consideration of cases not only for Muslims, but also for other groups of the population. Hence textual analysis of documents will help to reconstruct various legal, socio-economic and cultural aspects of life in Johor. The application of an integrated systematic scientific approach to the studies of these new mass historical sources will reveal new material on the regional history and historical realities of the Malay society in the late 19th – early 20th centuries.

The article examines the work of the Tranquebar missionaries and its significance for the study of South Indian languages.

The article uses construction grammar to analyze the meaning and origin of the elements of the Chinese successive construction “一X就Y”.

The article analyzes the position of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839–923) on the language of the Qur’an in the introduction to his commentary.