14 News & Topics
14 News & Topics February 2 2023 | World and Press Oldest known sentence written in first alphabet discovered – on a head-lice comb HISTORY Timeless fret over hygiene picked out on engraved Bronze Age comb from ancient kingdom of Judah. mit Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. By Ian Sample -Vokabeltrainer 1 IT’S A SIMPLE sentence that captures the hopes and fears of modern-day parents as much as the Bronze Age Canaanite who owned the doubled-edged ivory comb on which the words appear. Believed to be the oldest known sentence written in the earliest alphabet, the inscription on the luxury item reads: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.” 2 Unearthed in Lachish, a Canaanite city-state in the second millennium BCE and the second most important city in the kingdom of Judah, the comb suggests The ivory comb on which the oldest known Canaanite sentence is written. | Photo: Dafna Gazit/AP/Picture Alliance that humans have endured lice for thousands of years and that even the wealthiest were not spared the grim infestations. 3 “The inscription is very human,” said Prof Yosef Garfinkel, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who helped direct the Lachish excavations. “You have a comb, and on the comb you have a wish to destroy lice on the hair and beard. Nowadays, we have all these sprays and modern medicines and poisons. In the past, they didn’t have those.” 4 The comb, which measures 3.5 cm by 2.5 cm, was discovered at the site in south-central Israel in 2017, but the shallow engravings on the surface were only spotted in December last year. Analysis of the markings confirmed the writing to be Canaanite script, the earliest alphabet, which was invented about 3,800 years ago. 5 Efforts to obtain an age for the comb from carbon dating proved futile, but researchers believe it was made around 1700 BCE. The comb is worn and has lost its teeth, but the remaining stumps show that it once bore six widely spaced teeth for removing hair tangles on one side, and 14 narrowly spaced teeth for removing lice and eggs on the other. 6 The letters on the comb spell out seven words that form the first completely deciphered sentence in a Canaanite dialect, written in Canaanite script, said the researchers in the ‘Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology’. … 7 The world’s first writing systems originated in Mesopotamia and Egypt around 3200 BCE, but these were not alphabetic. They relied on hundreds of different signs to represent words or syllables and, as such, required years to master, said Christopher Rollston, professor of Northwest Semitic languages at George Washington University in the US. 8 The earliest alphabet was invented around 1800 BCE by Semitic-speaking people who were familiar with the Egyptian writing system, said Rollston. Known as Canaanite or early alphabetic, the system was used for hundreds of years, particularly in the Levant, and was standardised by the Phoenicians in ancient Lebanon. It went on to become the foundation for ancient Greek, Latin, and most modern languages in Europe today. … © 2022 Guardian News and Media Ltd. Get the vocabulary trainer! www.phase6.de/wp/0423 Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. 0 – 1 HEAD-LICE COMBLäusekamm — fret Sorge — engraved eingraviert — Bronze Age Bronzezeit — Judah Juda — Canaanite Kanaanäer(in) — double-edged zweischneidig — ivory Elfenbein — inscription Inschrift — tusk Stoßzahn 2 – 4 to unearth ausgraben — BCE (= before common era) v. Chr. — to spare s.o. s.th. jdm. etw. ersparen — grim abstoßend — infestation Plage — excavation Ausgrabung — shallow oberflächlich 5 – 8 carbon dating Kohlenstoffdatierung — futile vergeblich — worn abgenutzt — stump Stummel — hair tangles wirres Haar — to decipher entziffern — to originate seinen Ursprung haben — syllable Silbe — Levant Levante Pirates, Vikings, and a dry river regatta – nowhere but Australia EVENT The Henley-on-Todd Regatta, a boisterous desert spectacle, takes place annually in the Outback town of Alice Springs. mit Die Nr.1 unter den Vokabeltrainern. -Vokabeltrainer By Michael E. Miller 1 FOR 60 YEARS, Australians have gathered in the Outback town of Alice Springs to cheer on one of the oddest events on the planet: a dry river race called the Henley-on-Todd Regatta. 2 The name is a not-so-regal knockoff of an annual royal river boat race hosted by the British town of Henley-on-Thames. The Australians’ competition takes place in the waterless Todd River. “They only have sculling,” Peter Mostran, the dry regatta’s “commodore,” said of the more staid British version. “We have everything.” 3 The idea was hatched over a few beers in 1962 to raise money for local Rotary Clubs. Since then, it’s grown into an allday spectacle that draws a few thousand tourists from across the country and the globe. The festivities begin with a parade down the main street, followed by sand-shoveling competitions and equally absurd races. But the highlight is always the final “battle of the boats,” in which three teams – the Pirates, the Vikings, and the Navy – blast each other with water cannons and brightly colored flour mortars. 4 As the regatta has picked up corporate sponsors and attracted Competitors at the Henley-on-Todd Regatta in Alice Springs, Australia. | Photo: Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post more outsiders, it has soured on some locals. But Mayor Matt Paterson said it still aptly showcases his city of 25,000 and its remote Outback setting in the middle of Australia. “It’s a different type of event, and we’re different here,” he said from the grandstand as a male competitor in a hot pink feather boa dress stumbled and crashed his inflatable pink flamingo into the sand, drawing a roar of laughter from the crowd. “This is Alice Springs to a T.” 5 Expectations were high this year after two years with no regatta because of the pandemic. The big battle didn’t disappoint. The Vikings were back, dressed in faux animal skins and horned helmets. The Pirates were ready, their vessel equipped with 1,000 liters of water, 48 “cannons,” a crow’s nest for launching water balloons, and, of course, sails. But both were heavily outgunned by the Navy, which won the last two face-offs in 2018 and 2019. Its crew was competing on a military-sponsored truck with several times as much water. … 6 Despite the odds, the Pirates managed a narrow victory over the Navy. Sam Edelman, 40, and Ryan Smith, 27, sat in the dry river bed and drank in celebration. “Mate, we nailed it!” Edelman shouted. © 2022 The Washington Post 0 – 3 BOISTEROUSausgelassen — not-so-regal wenig majestätisch — knockoff Kopie — to host veranstalten — sculling Rudern — commodore Kommodore — staid seriös; konservativ — to hatch aushecken — to shovel schaufeln — Navy Marine — to blast one another s. gegenseitig beschießen — flour mortar Mehlbombe 4 corporate Firmen- — to sour on s.o. bei jdm. nicht mehr beliebt sein — aptly treffend — to showcase präsentieren — grandstand Tribüne — to stumble stolpern — inflatable aufblasbar — roar of laughter lautes Gelächter — to a T wie es im Buche steht 5 – 6 faux künstlich — horned helmet Hörnerhelm — vessel Schiff — crow’s nest Mastkorb — to launch schleudern — to outgun s.o. besser bewaffnet als jd. sein — faceoff h.: Schlacht — we nailed it! wir haben’s geschafft!
World and Press | February 2 2023 Literature 15 By John Bilstein 1 SALLY ROONEY, 31, was born in the west of Ireland to parents with strong communist leanings and a consequently somewhat critical view of Irish society. This upbringing is clearly reflected in her writing, which is currently taking the world by storm. 2 ‘Normal People’ does more or less the opposite of what it says on the cover by providing an indepth analysis of Generation Z straight from the horse’s mouth. As keen readers will perhaps have gleaned from the title, it soon emerges that Rooney regards normalcy as merely a social construct that allows us to function in the mainstream. 3 Once we retreat into our private lives, however, things often start to look rather messier. This is especially true of young people, who must first of all learn to prevail in society, while at the same book world ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney ‘Normal People’ by Sally Rooney, 304 pages, is published by Faber & Faber, ISBN 978-0571334650. time trying to figure out what defines them as individuals. 4 Such are the spiritual growing pains experienced by Marianne and Connell, both from a small town in the west of Ireland, who get to know each other at secondary school. 5 As the smartest kids on the block, they are in many ways a natural match; but societal norms act as a barrier to their union: Connell’s mother works as a cleaner for Marianne’s rich lawyer mom. However, Connell is privileged in another sense, growing up as he does in a cocoon of single-parent love. Marianne’s life, by contrast, unfolds amid stone-cold wealth – no love forthcoming in that family. 6 For all their mutual attraction, Marianne’s and Connell’s relationship is about as psychologically complex as it gets. On the outside, Connell comes across as the local sporting hero who has the whole world at his feet. Marianne, on the other hand, is perceived as a troubled loner. In fact, both are equally challenged: Marianne is subject to bullying and psychological abuse at home, whereas Connell actually suffers from extreme levels of insecurity. 7 When both eventually end up at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland’s best university, yet another rift opens up: Marianne moves effortlessly among the country’s upper crust to which she belongs, while Connell has issues with his social status and his role in the world – until it emerges that he just happens to be a brilliant writer. 8 Surprisingly enough, this rather bleak novel about destructive elements that linger inside all of us actually concludes with a happy ending, as Marianne and Connell reach maturity and adapt to their environment. Yet the question remains: how normal can we get without losing ourselves along the way? 9 Rooney’s masterpiece has since spawned a critically acclaimed 12-part miniseries, produced by Element Pictures for the BBC and the American streaming service Hulu in conjunction with Screen Ireland. © 2023 World and Press Rolle und Wandel der Monarchie in Großbritannien • Niveau B2 – C1 – C2, gymnasiale Oberstufe • Aktuelle Pressetexte, Videos, Podcasts, Infografiken, Cartoons Extra: The United Kingdom – Monarchy Themenheft in englischer Sprache 48 Seiten, DIN A4 · ¤ 16,90 ISBN 978-3-7961-1164-8 www.sprachzeitungen.de 0 – 2 LEANINGS Tendenzen — upbringing Erziehung — straight from the horse’s mouth (fig) aus erster Hand — keen scharfsinnig — to glean herauslesen — merely lediglich 3 – 5 to retreat s. zurückziehen — to prevail s. behaupten — to define ausmachen — growing pains (fig) Wachstumsschmerzen — societal gesellschaftlich — cocoon Kokon — to unfold stattfinden — amid inmitten — forthcoming h.: zu erwarten 6 for all … trotz aller … — mutual gegenseitig — to perceive wahrnehmen — loner Einzelgänger(in) — equally ähnlich viel — to be challenged (fig) Ballast mit s. herumschleppen — to be subject to … … ausgesetzt sein — abuse Missbrauch 7 – 9 eventually letztlich — rift Kluft — effortlessly mühelos — upper crust Oberschicht — to happen to be zufällig sein — bleak trist; düster — to linger lauern — to conclude schließen — to reach maturity heranreifen — to adapt to s.th. s. an etw. anpassen — to spawn hervorbringen; h.: inspirieren — critically acclaimed von der Kritik hochgelobt — in conjunction with in Kooperation mit Across crossword puzzle | By Katrin Günther All the words are in the articles on pages 14 and 15. Solution on page 16. 3 To scoop (Australia) 4 Only; simply (Book world) 7 To see; to identify (Book world) 8 Dark; depressing (Book world) 10 To decode (Oldest sentence) 14 To finish (Book world) 17 To trip (Australia) 18 To come from or begin in a particular place or situation (Oldest sentence) 19 The act of removing earth that covers old objects buried in the ground (Oldest sentence) Down 1 To withdraw (Book world) 2 A ship (Australia) 3 Part of a word usually containing a single vowel sound (Oldest sentence) 5 Able to be filled with air or gas (Australia) 6 To get control or influence; to succeed (Book world) 9 To present or display (Australia) 11 How a child is raised (Book world) 12 A cheap copy of s.th. (Australia) 13 Unsuccessful; fruitless (Oldest sentence) 15 To dig up (Oldest sentence) 16 To make a plan (Australia) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1
