Upcoming Events

Professor Carlotta VITI: Language Contact on the Ancient Silk Roads (2026/4/24)

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20260424_Prof. Carlotta Viti 20260424_Prof. Carlotta Viti

With the generous support from the Eurasia Foundation (from Asia), the Jao Tsung-I Academy of Sinology will organize a new lecture series “Encounters in the Old World, East and West: From a Transdisciplinary Perspective” from October 2025 to April 2026. The series will feature 15 lectures, focusing on early interaction, connectivity, and relationships across time and space between European and Asian civilizations. The 13th session will be delivered by Professor Carlotta VITI, all are welcome. The event details are as follows:

Language contact on the ancient Silk Roads
Speaker: Professor Carlotta VITI
Full Professor of Linguistics
University of Lorraine

Date: 24 April 2026, Friday
Time: 16:30–18:00
Venue: SWT702, Level 7, Shaw Tower, Shaw Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University
Language: English
Registration: https://forms.office.com/r/twpZ749v0W

Abstract: The Silk Roads have always been not only a major vehicle for the exchange of material and cultural products, but also a means of intensive linguistic contact. Among the languages spoken in ancient times on the Silk Roads, we must consider, in addition to Chinese, also Gandhari, Sogdian, Bactrian, Tocharian, Old Turkic, Tangut, etc. We will describe some characteristics of these languages, belonging to different linguistic families, and their contacts with examples from ancient texts. We will also consider the material characteristics of the objects on which these texts were written (e.g., objects intended to be placed in tombs). All this will provide relevant background information on the traditions of the people who traveled across the Silk Roads, according to a perspective of linguistic contact which is also attentive to the social and cultural factors of the speakers.

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