This chapter explores the philosophical foundations of how words gain meaning, referencing thinkers like John Locke and Leibniz. It highlights Leibniz's vision for a systematic study of language and the historical significance of Mithridates' work in comparative linguistics.
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The first series of the History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences Podcast looks at the history of modern linguistics. We begin in this episode by examining the pre-history of comparative-historical grammar.
Gessner, Conrad (2009 [1555]), Mithridate/Mithridates, ed. and trans. Bernard Colombat and Manfred Peters, Geneva: Librairie Droz.
Jones, William (1807 [1786]), The Third Anniversary Discourse, on the Hindus. The Works of Sir William Jones, ed. Lord Teignmouth, vol. III, pp. 24–46. London: Stockdale and Walker. Google Books
Jones, William (1807 [1792]), The Ninth Anniversary Discourse, on the Origin and Families of Nations. The Works of Sir William Jones, ed. Lord Teignmouth, vol. III, pp. 185–204. London: Stockdale and Walker. Google Books
Schlegel, Friedrich (1808), Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier, Heidelberg: Mohr und Zimmer. archive.org (English trans. ‘On the Indian Language, Literature and Philosophy’ [1900], The Æsthetic and Miscellaneous Works of Friedrich von Schlegel, ed. and trans. E. J. Millington, pp. 425–536, London: George Bell and Sons. archive.org)
Secondary Sources
Aarsleff, Hans (1982), From Locke to Saussure: Essays on the study of language and intellectual history, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. See ‘Introduction’, Chaps. 1 and 2.
Benfey, Theodor (1869), Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft und orientalischen Philologie in Deutschland, seit dem Anfange des 19. Jahrhunderts mit einem Rückblick auf die früheren Zeiten, Munich: Cotta’sche Buchhandlung. archive.org
Morpurgo Davies, Anna (1998), History of Linguistics, vol. 4: Nineteenth-century Linguistics, London: Longman. See Chaps. 2 and 3.
Rudwick, Martin J. S. (2005), Bursting the Limits of Time: The reconstruction of geohistory in the age of revolution, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. See Chaps. 6 and 7.
Saïd, Edward (2003 [1978]), Orientalism, London: Penguin Books.
Trautmann, Thomas (1997), Aryans and British India, Berkeley: University of California Press.
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