PHI
The Norwegian Institute of Philology (PHI) is an independent research institution based in Oslo, Norway. Our research focuses on historical philology, i.e. the study of ancient and classical languages and their historical, literary and cultural environment. One of the objectives of PHI is to emphasize the need for comparative historical philology in an increasingly globalized world.
Language, Legacy and Landey
On February 8th 2018 the Embassy of Afghanistan in Oslo kindly hosted the launch of our project Language, Legacy and Landey. We had several public events , in Oslo and in London, during the Spring term of 2018, and we have more events and activities coming up. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and check out our project website to stay posted!
At the celebration of the 99th anniversary of Afghanistan's Independence Day in Oslo on August 21st, H.E. Ambassador Shukria Barakzai presented a certificate of appreciation to the Norwegian Institute of Philology (PHI) for its work on the project "Language, Legacy and Landey".
Linguistic Atlas of Afghanistan
The Linguistic Atlas of Afghanistan (ALA) was a massive and ambitious project undertaken in Afghanistan in the 1960s and 1970s. The revival of the Linguistic Atlas of Afghanistan (2018–) is a collaborative undertaking of academic institutions in Switzerland, Afghanistan, Norway, the UK and the US. The coordinating institution is the Norwegian Institute of Philology (PHI).
NEWS AND EVENTS
Fra januar 2019 går MF og PHI sammen for å sikre høyere utdanning, forskning og formidling av historisk filologi og klassiske kulturspråk fra hele verden. Utviklingen av tilbudet er støttet av et tilskudd til virksomheten over statsbudsjettet, ved hjelp av regjeringspartiene og Arbeider-partiet.
Research seminars Fall 2019
Every week the Norwegian Institute of Philology (PHI) holds research seminars where we read texts in a number of ancient and classical languages. Several of these seminars are awarded ECTS credits for advanced students.
In the Fall of 2019 the weekly seminars include texts in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, Syriac, Persian, Georgian, Armenian, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Ancient North Arabian and Sumerian.
BIBLIOTHECA POLYGLOTTA
See the recent development of our corpus of ancient and classical multilingual texts.
The Norwegian Institute of Philology is an independent academic institution which relies on grants and donations to operate and develop. If you appreciate our work, you can support PHI with a one-time, monthly or annual contribution.
KURS – Klassiske kulturspråk
PHI tilbyr innføringskurs i sumerisk, akkadisk, sanskrit, pali, tibetansk, hebraisk, klassisk kinesisk, klassisk arabisk og middelalderlatin. Tilbudet gis av PHI i samarbeid med MF vitenskapelig høyskole for teologi, religion og samfunn.
Påmelding innen 15. august 2019!
RESEARCH
PHI is involved in a number of research projects on various levels. Some of our main ongoing projects are:
- Aristotle's Rhetoric from East to West
- Language, Legacy and Landey
- Qoran.xyz: A Multilingual Historical Koran
- Birch Bark Manuscripts
- Linguistic Atlas of Afghanistan (ALA)
- The Avataṃsaka and Buddhism in Asia
Multilingual Koran seminar
In cooperation with the MF Centre for the Advanced Study of Religion (MF CASR), PHI organises a weekly Koran reading seminar, where we not only look at the original text but also investigate early translations into Greek (870 AD), Persian (976 AD and 10th century), Turkic (11th century) and Latin (1143 and 1210).
You can participate or take a look at our project website Qoran.xyz: A Multilingual Edition of The Koran.
ABOUT PHI
PHI's activities lie primarily within the following broad philological fields or research areas:
MANDATE
The institute was established in 2003, with the specific aim of promoting comparative historical philology in Norway. As of 2019, the institute has a threefold aim: (1) Initiate and lead research projects within historical philology and related areas; (2) promote philological research and knowledge about global linguistic and literary cultural heritage, in Norway and internationally; (3) Cooperate with Norwegian institutions and policy makers on matters concerning linguistic and cultural heritage.
LINGUISTIC HERITAGE
In addition to our main focus on ancient and classical languages, we are also involved in projects which relate the classical heritage to the present:
We study how state institutions and other actors manage questions of linguistic and literary heritage. And we investigate the relationship between ancient and classical written languages and their modern spoken relatives, in many cases marginal and endangered languages.
Our main current linguistic heritage project is:
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Language, Legacy and Landey
The Landey project is an initiative to raise awareness about Afghan women's poetry, in Afghanistan and in Norway. We will also publish landey poems collected by the Norwegian linguist Georg Morgenstierne (1892–1978).
I DØDE SPRÅKS SELSKAP
I døde språks selskap er en arrangements-serie om fortidens store språk og kulturer – et samarbeid mellom Norsk filologisk institutt og Universitetsbiblioteket. Les mer.
A MULTILINGUAL KORAN
PHI has recently launched an initiative to publish a multilingual and historical edition of the Koran – a project which will investigate several aspects of this central document of Islam and of the Arabic language.
DIGITAL HUMANITIES
One of PHI's defining characteristics is a strong interest in the use of computer technology and programming in the service of philology. See our Digital Humanities pages.
LANGUAGES
PHI's research covers a wide array of historical languages, and involves most of the major cultural languages of world history. We are also constantly expanding our repertoire... See more on PHI's language pages.
