In a writing system with a large number of signs, in particular in the case of a pictorial script, some similarity of two graphic designs is an insufficient basis for considering them to have the ...same reading value. This paper seeks to apply concepts developed in the graphic analysis of other pictorial writing systems to the still undeciphered script of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The following technical terms are adapted and defined from both theoretical and practical points of view: sign, reading value, graphic design, allograph, graphic variant, seeming graphic variant, iconic formula, and complete, incomplete and false substitution. A modified version of the substitution method (method of inverse sign substitution) is proposed for verifying equivalences and differences between readings values corresponding to the graphic designs analysed in this paper. This method is based on the assumption that two graphic designs that possess the same reading value are in free distribution, so the probability of sign substitution between them should be close to the probability obtained by multiplying the probabilities of their occurrences in texts. Application of these technical concepts to the parallel texts discovered by Boris Kudrjavtzev shows that many graphically similar signs with different reading values have not been previously recognised. This conservative graphic analysis also has permitted the identification of allographs in the strict sense of the word, i.e., signs that look different but possess the same reading value. However, technically speaking, "allograph" in the strict sense of the word is an antonym for "graphic variant". It is suggested that the method of iconic formulae provides a useful foundation for future iconographic analysis of the highly pictorial signs of the Kohau Rongorongo script.
•Cytochrome bd from E. coli displays a notable catalase activity.•Thermal denaturation or complete reduction of cytochrome bd abolishes this activity.•Activity is insensitive to nitric oxide, ...contrary to bona fide catalases.•A catalase activity is detected in catalase-deficient E. coli upon cytochrome bd over-expression.•A protective role of cytochrome bd against oxidative stress is suggested.
Cytochrome bd oxygen reductase from Escherichia coli has three hemes, b558, b595 and d. We found that the enzyme, as-prepared or in turnover with O2, rapidly decomposes H2O2 with formation of approximately half a mole of O2 per mole of H2O2. Such catalase activity vanishes upon cytochrome bd reduction, does not compete with the oxygen-reductase activity, is insensitive to NO, CO, antimycin-A and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM), but is inhibited by cyanide (Ki ∼2.5μM) and azide. The activity, possibly associated with heme-b595, was also observed in catalase-deficient E. coli cells following cytochrome bd over-expression suggesting a protective role against oxidative stress in vivo.
Previous research has demonstrated that Maasai and Europeans tend to align in their ratings of the physical strength and aggressiveness of Maasai male faces, calibrated to hand grip strength (HGS). ...However, perceptions of attractiveness of these faces differed among populations. In this study, three morphs of young Maasai men created by means of geometric morphometrics, and depicting the average sample and two extrema (± 4 SD of HGS), were assessed by men and women from Tanzania, Czech Republic, Russia, Pakistan, China, and Mexico (total sample = 1540). The aim of this study was to test cross-cultural differences in the perception of young Maasai men's composites calibrated to HGS, focusing on four traits: physical strength, attractiveness, aggressiveness, and helpfulness. Individuals from all six cultures were able to distinguish between low, medium, and high HGS portraits. Across all study populations, portrait of Maasai men with lower HGS was perceived as less attractive, more aggressive, and less helpful. This suggests that people from diverse populations share similar perceptions of physical strength based on facial shape, as well as attribute similar social qualities like aggressiveness and helpfulness to these facial images. Participants from all samples rated the composite image of weak Maasai men as the least attractive.
Typological considerations and combinatory properties of the "Crescent" sign suggest that "Crescent" and its multiplied combinations represent numerals in the kohau rongorongo script of Easter ...Island. Probable phonetic complements for the "Crescent" sign identified by means of the substitution method reinforce this interpretation. As a result, some phonetic readings and an alternative content interpretation of the socalled calendric passage on the Mamari Tablet are proposed.
El análisis de los contextos de uso y de sustitución de la escritura maya nos permite identificar el valor de lectura de un signo como la sílaba tz’o. Esta propuesta proporciona la transliteración ...del signo “mano con lanzadardos” como JATZ’OM. Además, nos facilita leer el nombre del séptimo gobernante de Yaxchilán como Jatz’oɂjoɂlk, ‘El-Partecráneos’ y el nombre del gobernante teotihuacano, conocido entre los epigrafistas por su apodo Búho-Lanzadardos, como Jatz’oɂm-Kuuj, ‘El-Búho-Atacará’. Esta última interpretación implica, primero, que los mayas de la época Clásica traducían algunos nombres extranjeros al maya en vez de adaptarlos fonéticamente y, segundo, que incorporaban los signos de la escritura teotihuacana en sus textos como xenogramas. No obstante, se observan ciertos rasgos sintácticos de otra lengua en los nombres teotihuacanos traducidos, mientras que ocho deletreos silábicos registran fonéticamente fragmentos de la lengua de Teotihuacán.
Este trabajo tiene dos objetivos principales. El primero es proponer una descripción funcional de la escritura jeroglífica náhuatl derivada de los trabajos dedicados a la descripción de otros ...sistemas de escritura logosilábicos. El enfoque funcional implementado consiste en describir y explicar el comportamiento de los signos dentro de un sistema y sus reglas de combinación desde el punto de vista de la función que cumplen, es decir, analizando cómo pueden desambiguar diferentes interpretaciones resultantes de los deletreos jeroglíficos. El segundo objetivo es práctico: proporcionar una lista de términos técnicos que podrían facilitar el análisis epigráfico de los deletreos jeroglíficos de la escritura náhuatl. El estudio se basa, en primer lugar, en los documentos jeroglíficos de Tepetlaoztoc de la época colonial temprana, provistos de abundantes glosas en náhuatl con letra latina. Sin embargo, los resultados obtenidos se pueden aplicar también a los documentos jeroglíficos de la época precolombina y procedentes de diferentes lugares.
This paper presents several conditioned sound changes in the Rapanui language: replacement of rhotics with glottal stops in the final syllable, further loss of glottal stops in polymoraic words, ...retention of Proto-Polynesian *h in certain phonetic contexts, metathesis of consonants in adjacent syllables, dissimilation of velar nasals in the vicinity of velar stops, and assimilation of central and back vowels. The sound changes under discussion systematically distinguish between bimoraic and polymoraic lexical roots and some of them also distinguish between lexical and grammatical morphemes. Some of the sound changes are recent and operate on borrowings from Tahitian and European languages. This paper also provides new information on the phonology of Rapanui and, by extension, the Eastern Polynesian subgroup. The findings imply that, in the case of Rapanui, a phonological description would not be satisfactory without an account of productive recent and on-going sound changes.
Nukeria Creation Story Davletshin, Albert
Anthropos,
01/2018, Letnik:
113, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Little is known about the Polynesians of the Nukuria atoll in Papua New Guinea and the language they speak. This article presents a Nukeria creation story, that is to say, a narrative of how the ...world began and how people first came to inhabit it. The text was recorded during an expedition in 2013. It is supplied with linguistic and textual analysis, compared with similar stories attested in the other Polynesian traditions, and situated in the ecological and cultural contexts. The article should be of interest for those who are concerned with languages, mythology, techniques of storytelling, and historical ethnography of Polynesia.
In a writing system with a large number of signs, in particular in the case of a pictorial script, some similarity of two graphic designs is an insufficient basis for considering them to have the ...same reading value. This paper seeks to apply concepts developed in the graphic analysis of other pictorial writing systems to the still undeciphered script of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The following technical terms are adapted and defined from both theoretical and practical points of view: sign, reading value, graphic design, allograph, graphic variant, seeming graphic variant, iconic formula, and complete, incomplete and false substitution. A modified version of the substitution method (method of inverse sign substitution) is proposed for verifying equivalences and differences between readings values corresponding to the graphic designs analysed in this paper. This method is based on the assumption that two graphic designs that possess the same reading value are in free distribution, so the probability of sign substitution between them should be close to the probability obtained by multiplying the probabilities of their occurrences in texts. Application of these technical concepts to the parallel texts discovered by Boris Kudrjavtzev shows that many graphically similar signs with different reading values have not been previously recognised. This conservative graphic analysis also has permitted the identification of allographs in the strict sense of the word, i.e., signs that look different but possess the same reading value. However, technically speaking, "allograph" in the strict sense of the word is an antonym for "graphic variant". It is suggested that the method of iconic formulae provides a useful foundation for future iconographic analysis of the highly pictorial signs of the Kohau Rongorongo script.
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