CEEOL - Advanced Search

THE METAPHORS OF GOD IN ORTHODOX PRAYERS

Author(s): Andreea-Nora Pușcaș / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: God; Cognitivism; conceptual metaphor; linguistic imaginary; Orthodox prayers;

The Metaphors of God in Orthodox Prayers. In this paper we look at the conceptual metaphors of God that we encountered in a collection of Orthodox prayers. Prayers are a type of discourse genre belonging to liturgical sublanguage, which is described as conservatory and intangible. We aim at identifying the way in which religious imaginary is configured as part of the linguistic heritage. We do not only intend to analyse the mechanisms of the conceptualization of God in the discourse of devotions, but also to connect it to religious teachings and dogmas, to have a better understanding of the outlined imaginary. The concept of God is deeply rooted in prayers and is lexicalized into coherent and logical structures, interwoven into a pluralist perspective on divinity.

More...

THE REPRESENTATION OF RITUAL (IM)PURITY THROUGH METEOROLOGICAL METAPHORS IN FOLKLORIC LANGUAGE

Author(s): Elena Platon / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: pure; impure; morning dew; mist; cloud; hail; dragon; silver; rain; rainbow.

The Representation of Ritual (Im)Purity through Meteorological Metaphors in Folkloric Language. For the mythical-magical thinking of archaic and traditional communities, ritualistic purity represents a fundamental dimension of the entire universe, most often linguistically expressed through a reference to its antinomian pair, with the help of the clean-unclean opposition. According to the degree of contamination with various impure things, such as the multitude of good and evil spirits that populated the world, both space and time were qualitatively differentiated in good places and bad places, good hours and evil hours. People themselves had, in turn, to fulfil this condition of ritual purity, before beginning an important activity. If they were not pure from this point of view, they would be unsuccessful whether it was about working in the fields, going to church, or travelling somewhere. However, these metaphors from folkloric language, long discussed in Romanian ethnological literature, will be invoked only as points of reference in our study, since we intend to closely analyse here some of the least investigated meteorological metaphors, such as morning dew, mist, clouds and rainbow. We consider that they too deserve close attention, considering that a person, as a passing being, is represented in many folkloric creations as a forever wanderer, who begins their path With morning dew on your feet/With mist on your back. Starting from the image of the bathed person and, thus, purified by the morning dew, but burdened by the thick, impure mist that they symbolically carry on their back, we will attempt to remake the imaginary scheme that connects the pure and the impure in the archaic mentality, a scheme organised not after the principle of antithesis, but of the ambivalence specific to symbolic logic.

More...

SPACE AND TIME EXPRESSIONS IN THE ROMANIAN LINGUISTIC IMAGINARY

Author(s): Maria-Zoica Eugenia Balaban / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: space expressions; time expressions; linguistic imaginary; concept metaphor; language; cultural space;

Space and Time Expressions in the Romanian Linguistic Imaginary. This work aims to inventory, with the help of space and time conceptual metaphors, the expressions that contribute to shaping a linguistic imaginary. The expressions represent a sine qua non condition of linguistic creativity and once identified, they pave the way to other cultural spaces. The language is our home, and the way we live in it, through expressions, proverbs, sayings, represent an unstable balance between inside and outside, between up and down, between then and now, creating a protective space - time and, at the same time, exposed to the outside world’s actions. To highlight the role of space and time expressions in shaping a linguistic imaginary, we used the conceptual metaphors theories as they were defined and illustrated by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. We will try to demonstrate that in the Romanian linguistic imaginary there is a vertical spatiality (in terms of an up-down metaphor), which belongs to the pastoral world, in which the archaic man raises his eyes to the sky in a perfect communion with the Divinity (the expressions with sky, earth, sun, moon, stars, etc.). As far as it concerns time, we will inventory those expressions and sayings that reflect, in the collective mind, the time perception between ephemerality and eternity. In the Romanian linguistic imaginary, there is an eternal temporality (the expressions with vreme, that reflect the past-present-future triad) and a stationary one, representing the measure of a time slot (the expressions with ceas that reflect simultaneity, sequence, and duration). We will demonstrate, with the help of ontological metaphors, that temporal perception, through expressions, varies depending on the different possible consciousness states (pain, joy, love, dream, etc.). The research-based result will be to highlight the space and time linguistic images and their role in shaping the Romanian linguistic imaginary.

More...

LINGUISTIC CONCEPTUALIZATION OF SPATIAL PREPOSITIONS: ROMANIAN ʺÎNʺ AND POLISH ʺWʺ ‒ A COMPARATIVE APPROACH

Author(s): Anna Oczko / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: prepositions; Romanian as a Foreign Language; linguistic conceptualization; prepositional structures; polish language;

Linguistic Conceptualization of Spatial Prepositions: Romanian “în” and Polish “w” – Comparative Approach. The Romanian preposition "în" corresponds to the Polish preposition "w". Both express the spatial relationship that consists of placing an object in a limited space; they indicate the interior of the space where something is located. In addition to this general definition in both languages, the preposition acquires other semantic functions that may be convergent, rendered directly by the pair Rom. în = Pol. w. Furthermore, representation of some linguistic relations can be different: for a Romanian speaker, the space relation could be reflected by preposition representing a closed space – în, but for a Polish speaker, it reflects an open space or a surface coralated to the Polish preposition – na. The main objective of this article is to analyze the differences that, first, result from the distinctive conceptualization of space reflected in the language using prepositions and, secondly, result from heterogenous grammatical system (Roman vs. Slavic). The analysis is based, among other things, on the frequent mistakes in the use of prepositional structures that Polish speakers make when learning Romanian. The wrong structures appear especially at the level of abstract language, in phrases or verbs, when the regime imposes prepositions or cases that do not correspond functionally to the native ones; however, the linguistic image of the space is also different and difficult to identify in the metaphorical or abstract structures. The cognitive approach allows the delineation of some image schemes that represent the core meaning of the preposition. The comparative study of the preposition in the Romanian and Polish languages shows that the prepositional system in the Romanian language is more developed and richer than the Polish one, and the latter presents a much stronger and more direct attachment to the feature of "interiority" expressed by the preposition "w / în" than in the Romanian language.

More...

SET PHRASES WITH THE LEXEME ‟THURSDAY”. CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL IMAGE OF THE DAYS OF THE WEEK IN THE POLISH AND ROMANIAN FOLK CALENDAR

Author(s): Joanna Porawska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: ethnolinguistics; Polish and Romanian comparative study; folk calendar; Thursday;

Set Phrases with the Lexeme ”Thursday”. Considerations Regarding the Linguistic and Cultural Image of the Days of the Week in the Polish and Romanian Folk Calendar. Ever since the 1970s and 1980s, the relationship between language and culture has been a topic of broad interest for linguists, which undoubtedly contributed to bringing linguistics closer to humanities. The prefix ethno- contained in the term ethnolinguistics used over the course of this article should be interpreted as an abbreviation for ethnology, a term synonymous with the American anthropology. Describing so-called language stereotypes is one of the main topics of interests for what we generally call “Polish cognitivism”, conducted for years by Polish linguists. The term stereotype itself is used in its original Lippmann's meaning as a schematic and one-sided “picture or image in a person’s mind” of a phenomenon, human being, or thing and at the same time an opinion assimilated from the environment even before discovering the object itself. In Polish language and culture, days of the week were not personified. Therefore, to a philologist-linguist who is comparing the two languages, the data derived from folklore will be a “weaker” starting point than “hard” linguistic confirmations (fixed structures). My goal is to offer a Polish and Romanian comparative analysis which is supported by ethnological or historical data.

More...

WULFSTAN, OLD ENGLISH LEGAL WRITINGS, ED. AND TRANS. ANDREW RABIN. (DUMBARTON OAKS MEDIEVAL LIBRARY 66.) CAMBRIDGE, MA: HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2020. PP. XXXIX, 439.

Author(s): Andrei Crișan / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Wulfstan; Old English; review; translation;

Review of: Wulfstan, Old English Legal Writings, ed. and trans. Andrew Rabin. (Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 66.) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2020. Pp. xxxix, 439

More...

EDUCATION AND THE CHALLENGES OF NEW DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES

Author(s): Petruţa Blaga / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: education; pandemic period; digital educational technologies; challenges;

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed human society, even if only temporarily, reducing interactions to a strictly necessary level. Humanity has also been forced to mobilize to cope not only with unprecedented change, but also to manage its day-to-day activities differently. The vast majority of people live in houses, avoid each other, and have transferred their social life and activities online. The virtual life seems to become the new reality in many of the segments of everyday life. A new world looms on the horizon. One side of this possible world that must be a priority is education. In this reality based on social distancing, education has been transferred to online platforms. During the emergency period, the new challenges must be addressed by all those who educate and train, as they strive to ensure continued access to education. Teachers, pupils and students of all ages, but also parents, try a new type of socialization and interaction, to bring education to another level. “During the quarantine period, the educational system had to adapt to a new reality emphasizing the need to invest in technology, resources, training, so that every child has access to education”. (Bult, 2020)

More...

DIGITAL ECONOMY AND SOCIETY INDEX - FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUNGARY

Author(s): Gergely Cseh-Zelina / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: digital economy and society index (DESI); digital public services; DESI dimensions Hungary’s perfomance;

Digitization in the European Union is a key, important policy aiming to build the digital economy and society in the European Union, which requires a complex legal relationship between the EU and the Member States. This is one of the reasons why membership of the European Union entails many rights and obligations for our country. One such obligation is that the Union develops a set of indicators from data provided by Member States. With these indicators the Union can compare the Member States’ performance in different (economic) areas. One of these is Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) which is a complex indicator that summerizes relevant indicators of the Union’s digital performance and monitor the development of EU Member States’ digital competitiveness. In the present study we examine the performance of Hungary in the European Union in recent years through the DESI indicators.

More...

The role of wage subsidies in the Macedonian labour market

Author(s): Dimitar Nikoloski / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: wage subsidy; labour market; unemployment; COVID-19;

The main rationale for wage subsidies is giving job opportunities to workers who would otherwise remain unemployed or take jobs that do not exploit their potential productivity. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the wage subsidy programme in North Macedonia for the period 2018-2019 in order to provide a sound basis for its redesign in the times of Covid-19 crisis. The Propensity score matching is used as a principal estimation method. Moreover, we further explore the impact of the wage subsidies on the outcome variables for particular disadvantaged segments by disaggregation of the average treatment effect on treated individuals. The evaluation reveals improvement of the wage subsidy program in 2019 relative to 2018. However, having in mind the impact of the Covid-19 pandemics, there is a room for redesign of this measure by improving its targeting and conditions for retaining the subsidised jobs in the long run.

More...

A bibliometric analysis of the entrepreneurial profile

Author(s): Geanina Brînză / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: bibliometric analysis; entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial profile; personality traits;

Entrepreneurship represents an innovative and optimistic perspective for economic and social development. By creating new businesses and jobs, entrepreneurship contributes to the reduction of unemployment and it helps increase the standard of living. Entrepreneurship can also be a source of inspiration for young people and the opportunity to reach their potential and pursue their passion. In this regard, the government and the decision-makers should encourage and support entrepreneurial activities through appropriate programs and initiatives. The present study is based on a bibliometric analysis of the entrepreneurial profile. The bibliometric analysis was made on the basis of 1277 scientific articles extracted from the Web of Science database, on the topic of entrepreneurial profile. Data processing was carried out with the help of the VOSviewer software. The results of the analysis highlight the evolution of the subject over the 1991-2022 period, providing a significant picture of the entrepreneurial profile for the researchers in the field.

More...

A comparative analysis of the evolution of the business internationalization process: the Western Balkans and the EU member states in CEE

Author(s): Dumitru-Silviu Mistreanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: internationalization; foreign trade; evolution; business; CEE; EU; Western Balkans;

The term internationalization has been mainly used to show the expansion of economic activities of firms outside of their home country where they aim at capturing a bigger market. The Central and Eastern Europe region has gone through a process of market transition over the past few decades, yet the business internationalization process has played an important role in the states’ economies. The aim of this paper is to analyze the firm internationalization process in the new member states and the Western Balkans countries and gain a better understanding of the process and its course over time. Due to different geopolitical circumstances, the Western Balkan countries did not attract as many investors as much as the EU member states in CEE did that have had a constant flow of investments once they were members of the EU.

More...

A comparative study of Romanian students’ perceptions on cryptocurrencies before and after the 2022 cryptocurrency market cap collapse

Author(s): Mara Mațcu,Vlăduț-Beniamin Faraonel,Alexandra Raluca Jelea / Language(s): English / Issue: 4/2022

Keywords: cryptocurrencies; cryptocurrency market; perceptions on cryptocurrencies; cryptocurrencies associations; willingness to invest;

Since the year of 2022 was marked by many significant and rapid changes on the cryptocurrencies market, this comparative study explores perceptions of Romanian students about cryptocurrencies before and after the market collapse. A qualitative approach has been used to understand attitudes towards cryptocurrencies in March 2022 (when prices of most cryptocurrencies were higher) and then the same study was conducted during August-November 2022 (when the prices of most cryptocurrencies were lower after a dropout in prices that lasted all throughout the summer). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to compare the results. Our findings show that cryptocurrencies were associated with more negative words in the second wave of the study, but surprisingly, the willingness to invest in such assets did not change that much. However, the willingness to invest seemed to be influenced by how secure/trustworthy respondents perceived cryptocurrencies. Implications and future research suggestions are finally discussed.

More...

The involution of education for national miniorities in Ukraine as reflected in the monitoring by the Council of Europe

Author(s): George Damian Mocanu / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: Ukraine; national minorities; education; rights;

Council of Europe monitoring mechanism for the protection of national minorities rights reveals the involution of the education in national minorities languages in Ukraine. Between 1999 and 2020 Ukraine underwent four cycles of monitoring, composed of a state report, an opinion of a panel of experts and a resolution adopted by the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The present article proposes a review of these monitoring cycles with a focus on the situation of education in national minorities languages. The Ukrainian Government`s policy of compelling all schools to exclusive use of Ukrainian language was noted by the mentioned monitoring mechanism, but there was no noticeable improvement of the situation during 1999–2020.

More...

Some aspects concerning the catholic propaganda in the Balkans. The Aromanian case

Author(s): Emanuil Ineoan / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: Aromanians; Catholic Church; Macedonia; Balkans; nationalism;

At the end of the 19th century, there have been some attempts at confessional proselytism in the Balkan targeting the Aromanian communities, partly encouraged by the inspector Apostol Mărgărit, who was in close relations with the abbot Faveyrial, the leader of the Order of Lazarusians from Monastir (Bitola). Minister D. A. Sturdza himself supported such an idea by relying “on the entry of Romanians into the Catholic orbit”. However, the transition to Catholicism did not increase, but provided the basis for an accusation often used by the patriarchal party which considered that the use of a liturgical language of Latin origin was the favourite channel for the transition to the Roman confession.

More...

Transylvania as a dependent province of the empire. Sociological aspects of the Mitteleuropean paradigm (I)

Author(s): Alin Bulumac / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: Mitteleurope; Trianon; Transylvania; Geopolitics of the Carpathian Basin; Modern world system; propaganda;

Mitteleuropa is one of those ideas that, from a historical point of view, produced more harm than good in Transylvania. Even if in the dualistic period the region represented a very important stake for Hungary in particular, but also for Austria, this did not offer any compensation to the majority of inhabitants. Although representing the statistical majority, the Romanians became a tolerated population that found itself in situations in which the very idea of human dignity was being mocked. Here, a paradox lies: even though this was the historical reality, an unnatural tendency to promote false advantages of Transylvania as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can be easily identified. The article’s objective is to explain and demonstrate that the Mitteleuropa paradigm influence and temptation expanded and managed to conquer the Transylvanian elites, with economic, political and demographic consequences. This situation can be understood with the help of the modern world system theory (I. Wallerstein), as an exploitation of the periphery by the semi-periphery (AustroHungarian Empire). However, the Hungarians had a constant initiative to take advantage of this relationship of subordination and tried to change the ethnic rapport in the region due to the fact that the Hungarians were a minority in Transylvania, all “in the name of the Emperor”. This context allowed Hungary to manifest itself geopolitically in the Carpathian area through exploitation.

More...

A short analysis regarding social security of Romanians from the Harghita-Covasna area

Author(s): Samira Cîrlig / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: security; societal security; identity; abandon; assimilation;

This paper aims to address the subject of social security of the Romanians that live in the Harghita-Covasna area. The purpose is to identify if the security of Romanian people is threatened, to what extent and by whom. First, the paper addresses the concept of social security, with references to other related topics, followed by a discussion on the statistics’ dynamics for both Romanian and Hungarian communities. The article also tries to detect the causes of the identified oscillations; consequently, we will reveal the causes that led to the decline of the local Romanian community and its connection with the active involvement of “Hungarians and Hungary”. For this inquiry we will use mass-media articles, statistical data, and/or researches undertaken by institutions or specialized personnel in the field.

More...

The notion of diaspora: conceptual clarification and missionary paradigm

Author(s): Alexandru Lazăr / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: concept; community; communion; diaspora; Christianity; mission;

As the diaspora concept has overgrown, so has its meaning spread to host different intellectual, cultural and political agendas. This concept has led to a so-called diaspora’s spillage – a spillage of term’s meanings in the semantic, conceptual and disciplinary space. An attempt was made to summarize the extensively used theoretical approaches with regard to the term’s content. On the basis of these theoretical landmarks, we want to further illustrate an enhanced type of community which is being build based on typical diaspora elements. The scope of the paper is not to approach in a comprehensive way a Romanian orthodox community of diaspora as it is virtually impossible in a single paper, but to illustrate a diaspora structure. The research method is theoretical (fundamental), “the pure research” for theoretical, conceptual development and shall be based on making abstract ideas. We have concluded that: from a categorial point of view, the Italy’s orthodox community embodies defining characteristics for an economical oriented diaspora. This community is going through pressure felt by every diaspora community: adapting to the new conditions, temptation of assimilation and at times the problematic relations with the host society. On the other hand, from an ecclesial perspective, Romanian Orthodox Bishopric from Italia co-exists in the same area along with other parallel Orthodox jurisdictions conducted on ethnic records used to find common ways of societal expression.

More...

Youth between discipline and ritual

Author(s): Samira Cîrlig,Alin Bulumac / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: piety; ego; discipline; ritual;

This essay highlights the importance of discipline for young people today. Discipline plays a crucial role in the formation of young people as it reduces their inflated egos. When we talk about an egocentric generation, we are automatically talking about a generation whose discipline is lacking or has been seriously damaged. Lack of discipline has serious effects, from the mental (slowing down of cognitive skills) to the physical (childhood obesity is the ideal example). The undisciplined generation has been significantly affected by the presence of the 'online' in their lives, which occupies almost all their time. Mircea Eliade argues that the solution to this problem is for young people to rediscover the sacred. It is therefore the sacred that both clarifies and disciplines young people and protects them from the dangers of an overdeveloped ego.

More...

Young generations and their purpose

Author(s): Samira Cîrlig,Alin Bulumac,Narcis Rupe / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: generation; elite; value;

This paperwork aims to briefly analyze the actual situation of the young generations through a pluri-paradigmatic perspective. Why is this topic chosen? Because the generation represents the means by which a nation can rise or, on the contrary, in the undesirable case, dissipate in the face of the challenges of the times. In this sense, the role of the elites is an essential one, not only for the good organization of the nation, but especially for the preparation and strengthening of generations to foresee and reduce the effects of future crises.

More...

“Ion Ungureanu, The paradigms of society knowledge“

Author(s): Narcis Rupe / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2021

Keywords: core of sociology; paradigms; sociological studies fields; Romanian sociology; sociologist model;

The present paper aims to review a fundamental book for any sociology student. Social scientist Ion Ungureanu, author of the book “The paradigms of Society knowledge”, has organized in an original way the “theoretic core of sociology”: its main paradigms. He argues that sociology is a multi-paradigmatic science. Sociology does not have a universal paradigm, but several paradigms are competing for hegemony. The Romanian sociologist establishes the main fields of study: the constitution, organization, change and evolution of society. Although synthetic, the book is a vast one, and the review will be limited to the presentation of the links between sociological paradigms. Each paradigm has a scientific potential, and from this point of view, Ion Ungureanu's work can reopen old fields of research in Romanian sociology.

More...