The Evolution of Linguistic Study in the 19th Century
This chapter investigates the pivotal changes in linguistic study during the 19th century, emphasizing the shift from historical to scientific approaches. It highlights key figures like Sir William Jones and Friedrich Schlegel, who laid foundations for comparative linguistics and its connections to broader historical contexts.
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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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