On the Issue of the Original Language and Translations of John of Nikiu’s Chronicle

The article examines several linguistical and philological features of the text of John of Nikiu’s Chronicle. This Chronicle was written in the late 7th century, then it was translated at least twice: from the original language (Greek or Coptic) into Arabic and from Arabic into Ge’ez. The only survived version is the Ge’ez one, therefore the issue of the original language of this Chronicle has been a debatable question since the beginning of the 20th century. While most modern scholars believe that the original language was Coptic, the authors of the present article questions whether this statement is indisputable. In this article the stages of the translation of the Chronicle are described and the arguments of previous scholars are systematized. Each stage of translation is estimated as a part of translation process that existed in certain historical circumstances and had certain strategies and trends of transmission from one language to another. The research of linguistical features of the text include arguments related to different directions of linguistics: on phonology, on morphology & vocabulary and on syntax. All possible stages of the translation of the Chronicle are considered, i.e. from Greek to Coptic, from Coptic to Arabic, from Greek to Arabic and from Arabic to Ge’ez. In addition to linguistical features, the authors take into account the historical background of the same creation of the Chronicle and philological evidences of the medieval literature. Based on the research, the authors draw conclusions regarding the issue of the language of John of Nikiu’s Сhronicle

Arabic · English language · Philology · Vocabulary · Byzantine Studies and History · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Linguistics and language evolution