Linguistic description and language philosophy in Wilhelm von Humboldt’s North American grammars
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Micaela Verlato
Abstract
The focus of this paper is on three grammars of native North American languages (Massachusett, Mahican, Onondaga) that Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote in 1822–1823. The first part of the paper describes these grammars and situates them in the context of early comparative Americanist linguistics that was emerging in Germany and North America. The second part presents an example of Humboldt’s descriptive work drawn from his analysis of the Massachusett verb and shows how his attempt at understanding the Algonquian system of expressing grammatical relations is linked to the evolution of his language philosophy.
Abstract
The focus of this paper is on three grammars of native North American languages (Massachusett, Mahican, Onondaga) that Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote in 1822–1823. The first part of the paper describes these grammars and situates them in the context of early comparative Americanist linguistics that was emerging in Germany and North America. The second part presents an example of Humboldt’s descriptive work drawn from his analysis of the Massachusett verb and shows how his attempt at understanding the Algonquian system of expressing grammatical relations is linked to the evolution of his language philosophy.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Foreword and acknowledgements ix
- Editors’ introduction xiii
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Part I. Notions
- Un essai d’histoire comparée de la grammatisation des langues romanes 3
- Linguistic description and language philosophy in Wilhelm von Humboldt’s North American grammars 21
- La phrase grammaticale moderne 35
- Wegener’s Wortsatz and the notion of sentence 49
- Why is it so hard to establish gestalt ideas within linguistics? 65
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Part II. Representations of language and reception of theories
- Klaproth, Balbi and the language atlas 81
- Nation and race in the twentieth century scientific discourse on Viking Age runestones 101
- L’homme dans la langue 113
- Saussure/Mallarmé 129
- Introducing and translating Otto Jespersen in China in the past 100 years 143
- On the reception and revivification of Cartesian linguistics 157
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Part III. Pedagogy, linguistic policy and codification
- Greek grammatical learning papyri 173
- The history of language learning and teaching (HoLLT) in the history of linguistics 189
- Sprache der Nähe vs. Sprache der Distanz and the nineteenth century codification of Modern Czech 205
- Linguists and lawyers 221
- Name index 237
- Subject index 241
- Name index 237
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Foreword and acknowledgements ix
- Editors’ introduction xiii
-
Part I. Notions
- Un essai d’histoire comparée de la grammatisation des langues romanes 3
- Linguistic description and language philosophy in Wilhelm von Humboldt’s North American grammars 21
- La phrase grammaticale moderne 35
- Wegener’s Wortsatz and the notion of sentence 49
- Why is it so hard to establish gestalt ideas within linguistics? 65
-
Part II. Representations of language and reception of theories
- Klaproth, Balbi and the language atlas 81
- Nation and race in the twentieth century scientific discourse on Viking Age runestones 101
- L’homme dans la langue 113
- Saussure/Mallarmé 129
- Introducing and translating Otto Jespersen in China in the past 100 years 143
- On the reception and revivification of Cartesian linguistics 157
-
Part III. Pedagogy, linguistic policy and codification
- Greek grammatical learning papyri 173
- The history of language learning and teaching (HoLLT) in the history of linguistics 189
- Sprache der Nähe vs. Sprache der Distanz and the nineteenth century codification of Modern Czech 205
- Linguists and lawyers 221
- Name index 237
- Subject index 241
- Name index 237
