Metaphors, Taxonomies, and the Power of Language

On 26–27 March 2026, Newcastle upon Tyne hosted the workshop “Etymology and Scientific Thought in the Greek, Indic, Persian, and Buddhist Traditions.”

The participants were Jens Braavig (Professor Emeritus, University of Oslo / Norwegian Institute of Philology, Oslo; philology), Volkhard Krech (CERES, Ruhr University Bochum; study of religion), Tiziana Pontillo (University of Cagliari, Cagliari; Sanskrit language and literature), Kianoosh Rezania (CERES, Ruhr University Bochum; West Asian religious history), Velizar Sadovski (Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna; Indo-European studies), and Athanassios Vergados (Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne; classics), who hosted the event.

The workshop focused on etymology both as an object of linguistic inquiry and as a metalinguistic method, while addressing broader questions concerning the relationship between word, object, and concept in Greek, Indic, Persian, and Buddhist traditions. Particular attention was given to the role of taxonomy, metaphor, and metonymy in the formation, organization, and interpretation of religious knowledge, as well as to the connections between etymology, exegesis, translation as well as syntax semantics and pragmatics.

In this respect, the workshop also resonated strongly with the Bochum Collaborative Research Centre “Metaphors of Religion”, highlighting that religious language does not merely describe reality but also helps to structure and generate it through metaphorical, metonymic, and taxonomic operations.