Grammar

Giorgio Buccellati – April 2026

Introduction

relationship to integrative

primarily in area books not in unit books

We can look at three moments and some relative examples.

Referentiality

see referentiality

The courage of competence

What we propose, and what we aim to do cocnretely at the site of ancient Urkesh, is to define heritage in terms that are arguably rooted in the record. “Heritage” is not a vague term that implies a simple acknowledgment of a past more or less romanticized – or even not exploited for political reasons. It is rather based on objective data which only the archaeologist can safely bring to the fore.

There is at times, when talking about heritage, a tendency to allow sentiments to prevail over evidence. This requires, as an antidote, that we as archaeologists show the courage of our competence . It is by proposing an objectively restructured and reconfigured record that the ancient perception can properly resonate with us. The record becomes then a diapason that synchronizes our sensitivity with that of the ancients – the proper goal of hermeneutics.

semiotics

hermeneutics

objectivity

The relevance of grammar

A properly construed grammar is the trampoline to archaeological hermeneutics, via semiotics. There are two major steps in the process.

Correlation of patterns. – A grammaticalized universe makes it possible to establish patterns and to see how they correlate. The formal dimension is well estalished and objective.
Inference. – On the basis of such correlations, one may then safely and arguably draw inferences based on the regularity of the patterns.

For an example see the semiotic interpretation of a conical cup under Principles of epistemics. The UGR contains a large number of such semiotic inferences (e.g., the structure in A12 understood as an abi).

Syntax and semiotics

beyond grammar – and yet within grammar: e.g. dating; naming; the voice of a text

Referentiality and semiotics

The example just quoted shows how, in a broad sense, we may say that the process just outlined is that of semiotics. As indicated in the discussion of the conical cup, semiotics attributes meaning by identifying the referential dimension inherent in an object, and this process, rooted in grammar, is the proper springboard to hermeneutics.

From semiotics to hermeneutics

Building on what we have just seen, hermeneutics offers the possibility to establish referentiality not just with an object, but with the wider reaches that the object held for the native carriers of a given cultural tradition, whether emotional, spiritual, or simply a as matter of etiquette – as with the conical cup in our example.

iconography in glyptics, figurines

An example

see above

An assemblage: 23 selected conical cups
TGL^qu2

TGL^qu4

The chart below gives the statistics of a larger selection from eight excavation units, giving the total of vessels and sherds and the totals and percent of conical cups.

unit	total	c.cups	%
A12	47,815	790	1.65
A15	62,117	552	0.88
A16	59,818	350	0.58
J1	44,732	262	0.58
J2	33,582	246	0.73
J3	13,301	13	0.10
J5	18,309	85	0.46
J6	17,182	80	0.46
total	296,856	2,370	0.80

References

Christian Greco

Cipolla 2025

B mKB 2024 Balzan Dirt and People pp.21-23

Wylie 2023