Gabelentz and the science of language
James McElvenny (Editor)
The German sinologist and general linguist Georg von der Gabelentz (1840-1893) occupies an interesting place at the intersection of several streams of linguistic scholarship at the end of the nineteenth century. As professor at the University of Leipzig and then at the University of Berlin in the final decades of the nineteenth century, Gabelentz was present at the main centers of linguistic scholarship at the time. He was, however, generally critical of the narrow, technical focus of mainstream historical-comparative linguistics as practiced by the Neogrammarians and instead emphasized approaches to language inspired by a line of researchers stemming from Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835). Gabelentz' alternative conception of linguistics led him to several pioneering insights into language that informed linguistic research in the wake of the structuralist revolution. This volume brings together four essays that explore Gabelentz' contribution to linguistics from a historical perspective. In addition, it makes one of Gabelentz' key theoretical texts, "Content and Form of Speech", available to an English-speaking audience for the first time
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource
9789048537464, 9048537460
1113866030
Cover; Contents; 1. Introduction; James McElvenny; 2. The Gabelentz family in their own words; Annemete von Vogel and James McElvenny; 3. Georg von der Gabelentz as a pioneer of information structure; Els Elffers; 4. The Basque-Berber connection of Georg von der Gabelentz; Bernhard Hurch and Kathrin Purgay; 5. Phenomenological aspects of Georg von der Gabelentz's Die Sprachwissenschaft; Klaas Willems; 6. Content and Form of Speech; Georg von der Gabelentz; Index
Essays in English, with the one by Gabelentz himself in parallel English and German, translated from the German