|
Showing 1 - 25 of
129 matches in All Departments
This wide-ranging comparative analysis of languages was one of the
earliest products of the nineteenth century's burgeoning interest
in philology. Its author was the French diplomat Baron de Merian, a
contemporary of Wihelm von Humboldt and precursor of Franz Bopp and
August Schleicher (also published in this series). Published
shortly after Merian's death in 1828, this meticulous study is the
result of twelve years of painstaking work. Merian concisely maps
out the languages of the world, and attempts to trace all major
dialects back to a common root. He ably demonstrates his competence
as a philologist, illustrating his argument through extensive
charts and tables, and does not shy away from topics such as Basque
and Native American vocabulary which still pose problems for
linguists today. Though many of Merian's theories have since been
disproved, his pioneering work deserves its place in the history of
linguistics.
|
|