Project description
How ancient writers composed Greek papyri
The 60 000 Greek papyrus texts, dating from 300 BCE to 800 CE, offer a unique opportunity to study the Greek language as written by non-scholarly writers in antiquity. The ERC-funded AnCor project will analyse scribal corrections in Ancient Greek across various levels of language production, including spelling, morphology, semantics, and phraseology. The goal is to understand how ancient writers composed their texts and what they considered mistakes by examining the corrections made by the writers themselves. The project will create an annotated open-access database of ancient corrections in Greek papyri from Egypt, compare different genres and writers, and provide a new perspective on the Greek language in everyday use.
Objective
This project aims to transform the study of the Ancient Greek language by shifting the focus away from famous literary authors towards the language as it was produced in everyday life. The large corpus of 60.000 Greek texts written on papyrus between 300 BCE and 800 CE provides an important source for our knowledge of the ancient world and offers an excellent opportunity to study the Greek language as written by non-scholarly writers in antiquity. In order to really change our views of what ‘correct’ Ancient Greek should look like, we need to take a different perspective: the perspective of the ancient writer. What did the writers perceive as a mistake? How did they compose their texts? In order to answer these questions this project employs an innovative resource: the corrections made by the ancient writers themselves.
A multidisciplinary team of three researchers and a student-assistant will analyse scribal corrections at different levels of language production (from spelling and morphology to semantics and phraseology) across a range of different genres (contracts, petitions, letters and lists) with the following three key objectives:
(1) to create an annotated open-access relational database of ancient corrections in Greek papyri,
(2) to study the production of Greek spelling from below, as corrected by the ancient writers themselves, comparatively in different genres, written by writers from diverse backgrounds,
(3) to identify the stage of composition of a textual object and make this category an integrated part of the analysis of historical textual artifacts, such as papyrus documents.
This will give us a unique perspective at the Greek language and allow us for the first time to study what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in the Postclassical Greek language in daily practice. The outcomes of this project will change how we perceive non-scholarly writers and thereby contribute to a new and more inclusive perspective on ancient societies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences databases
- humanities history and archaeology history ancient history
- humanities languages and literature literature studies history of literature
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2311 EZ Leiden
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.