An Annotated Chronological Bibliography of Western Histories of Linguistic Thought, 1822–1972

Vol. I, xvi + 376 pp.; vol. II, 371 pp., containing Index for both vols. (355-71). As did previous works by the author, e.g., his Geschichte des Studiums der classischen Litteratur seit dem Wiederaufleben der Wissenschaften, 2 vols. (Göttingen: J.G. Rosenbusch, 1797-1801), the present study treats essentially literary matters. However, similar to Erhard 1827-32, the presentation of aspects of scholarship and learning of the period in question is of importance for the historian of linguistic thought concerned with establishing the general intellectual atmosphere of the time under investigation.

Vol. I (1827), xxxiv + 469 pp.; vol. II (1830), vii + 616 pp.; vol. III (1832), xvi + 525 pp. [+ 1 page of errata]. Apart from the general background information - and Erhard 1827-32 is a considerable improvement over Heeren 1822 - the reader may glean from these volumes (note the detailed account of Johann Reuchlin [1453-1522] in vol. II, 147-211, for instance), there are a chap, on linguistics, “Die Sprachwissenschaften” (vol. III, 264-78), as well as accounts of those who distinguished themselves in this field (279-371).

A study on Greek grammarians, including Plato, Aristotle, Sextus Empiricus, Diogenes Laertius, Dionysius Thrax, and others. Bibliographical footnotes, no index. Vita of author (i-vi).

The book consists of an Introduction (1-17), discussing problems such as the relationship between speaking and thinking (1-3), noun and verb (3-6), etc., and a central part offering an overview of linguistic studies, beginning with Laurentius Valla (alias Lorenzo della Valle, 1407-57) and leading up to the 1830’s, viz. the work of Madvig, Frederik Lange (1798-1862), Bopp, Humboldt, and others. There is no bibliography or index.

Vol. I: Geschichte des Streites über Analogie und Anomalie der Sprache (1838), [ v +] 204 pp.; vol. II: Geschichtliche Entwicklung der Sprachkategorien (1840), [vi +] 295 pp., and vol. III: Geschichte der Etymologie (1841), xii + 202 pp. [Note that the subtitles are somewhat different as the appear on the title pages but follow the indications of the contents given in vol. Ill, vii-xii.] All vols, have indices (I, 202-04; II, 291-95; III, 201-02), but no bibliographies.

Author not be confused with his father, Ernst August Wilhelm G. (1794-1836). Vols, not seen by the compiler.

The study deals mainly with the contribution of classical authors, especially Roman, and the reception of their work in the Middle Ages up to the 15th century. It includes the discussion of both general areas of linguistics, e.g., lexicography, and individual grammatical categories and concepts, e.g., derivation.

After an Introduction (1-47) treating various topics concerning general principles of languages, the study analyses in 19 chaps. questions pertaining to the classification of sounds (chaps. III and IV), case endings (chap. V), prosody (chap. VII), the parts of speech (chap. IX), etc., contrasting views held by the Greeks and Romans on these issues with 19th-century interpretations of these. Bibliographical footnotes, no index.

For details, sec Hirzel 1873 (i.e., 2nd rev. ed. of Hirzel 1862).

The study consists of 11 chaps., each of which presenting and analyzing particular parts of speech as put forward in the classic texts, e.g., the question of the priority of the verb over the noun (28-34), supinum and gerund (50-67), the pronouns (94-127). The vol. concludes with a word and subject index (241-44).

For details, see 2nd rev. cd. (1890-91).

This 105-page essay, while constituting in part a review of Steinthal 1863, is a very informative background study of the grammaire générale trends of the 18th and early 19th centuries and their criticism by the members of the new philology initiated by Bopp, Grimm, and others. See also Pott’s article, “Zur Geschichte der Logik und Grammatik”, ibid. 46.148-56 (1865), both of which are scheduled to be re-edited in the Studies in the History of Linguistics series (Amsterdam: J. Benjamins).

This (second) part of the first vol. of Dwight’s work treats mainly 19th-century achievements, giving brief descriptions of the principal scholars and their works. It is more extensive than comparable accounts in the linguistic books by Max Müller, Whitney, Sayce, and others not included in the present bibliographical survey.

The author argues that the debates among grammarians, philosophers of language, and philologists, on analogy vs. anomaly, nature vs. convention, etc., from the times of the Greeks down to the 19th century, has advanced linguistics considerably.

Still today, Thurot’s book is indispensable for everyone working in medieval Latin grammar. After a brief foreword (1-3), there is an informative “Notice sur les manuscrits examinés” (3-58) which includes biographical information on the authors of the texts analyzed, followed by extensive excerpts from MSS covering the period from the 9th to the 15th century (59-506). The vol. concludes with copious indices of MSS (543-45), first line of MSS (547-53), authors and titles (555-63), and finally subjects and terms (565-92).

Despite the nationalistic bias of the study, it remains an important sourcebook for historians of western linguistic thought. The book includes not only a survey of 19th-century developments (313-805) but also a brief overview of the earliest beginnings in antiquity (17ff.) as well as a chap, on the Arab and Hebrew Grammarians (182-204). Index of names of languages and authors (808-36).

The most important portion of this poorly arranged vol. is the one entitled “Die philologischen Schulen der Niederländer [1350-1850]” (1-129). Includes informative appendices (216-49), but no bibliographies or indices.

The vol. consists of 4 major parts: 1) The beginnings of Germanic philology until 1665 (1-105); 2) 1665 [the year of the discovery of the Codex argentius]-1797 (106-291); 3) The upsurge of the Romanticist movement (in 1797) until 819 (292-494), and 4) 1819 (the appearance of the first vol. of Grimm’s Germanic Grammar) to 1869 (495-736). Index (*737-*743 [unpaged]).

First ed., 1862 [see above]. Survey of classical philology from the Greeks to the mid-19th century. No index or bibliography.

Survey of French grammarians from Geoffrey Tory’s “Champ-FIeury” (1529) to Pierre Veron’s “Carnaval du Dictionnaire” (1874), in a strictly chronological fashion (1-444). Indices of authors (453-58) and subject matters treated (459-62). A valuable sourcebook for historians of French linguistics.

Presentation and discussion of French syntax, covering the period between 1530, the appearance of John Palsgrave’s study of French (cf. Thurot 1881:xxivf., for details), and 1647, the publication of Vaugelas’ Remarques de la langue françoise (cf. loc.cit., liv-lviii). Neither index, nor bibliography.

The book had several translations, It., E., and Russ.: 1) Introduzione allo studio della scernza del linguaggio: Contributo alla storia ed alla metodica delia glottologia comparativa, transl, by Pietro Merlo [1850-88] (Naples: E. Loescher, 1881), xii + 158 pp.; 2) Introduction to the Study of Language: A critical survey of the history and methods of comparative philology, transl. by Eva Channing (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1882), xiv + 142 pp. (New ed. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1973.). 3) For the Russ. transl., see Bulic 1904:1-148. Delbrück’s book consists of two main parts, a historical one, surveying the history of I. E. linguistics from 1786 to 1879 (1-60), and a theoretical part, discussing three major issues, i.e., the so-called agglutination theory, the sound law hypothesis, and the question of the origin of the I. E. proto-language (61-136). Select bibliography (138); Index of authors and subjects (139-41).

Vol. I (1881), civ + 568 pp; vol. II (1883), 775 + xviii [Preface by Gaston Paris (1839-1903)] + 75 [Index] pp. Next to Thurot 1868, this is an important sourcebook. It surveys grammatical statements beginning with Pierre Fabri’s Second livre de vraye rethorique (Rouen, 1521), and ending with the 7th ed. of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française (Paris, 1878). The Introduction (vol. I, ix-civ, at pp.xxii-lxxxvii) contains valuable bio-bibliographical information.

The vol. consists of two parts; first, an edition of selected texts covering the period 11th-mid-16th century, second, an analysis actually of grammatical rather than merely German-speaking teaching of the period in question, though more from a historical and pedagogical point of view than a strictly grammatical and linguistic one (189ff.)

The vol. consists of 4 major portions: 1) From the beginning to the 14th century (8-90); 2) Humanism and Reformation (91-259); 3) 17th century until 1777 (the year that F.A. Wolf created the discipline of Philologie, 260-516), and 4) 1777-1882, subtitled “Die klassische Philologie als Altertumswissenschaft” (517-1215). Subject and name index (*1249–*1271). An indispensable sourcebook.

The essay delineates the development of the study of Swedish grammar, from its inception in the work of Johannes Buraeus (d.1652) at the end of the 16th century until the 1880’s, viz. the work of Johan August Lundell (1851-1940), and others.

Beginning with a survey of the history of the study of grammar from Plato to Remigius (1-27), the author presents various aspects of grammatical work in the medieval period, e.g., “De modis significandi” (74-94), “Das Doctrinale des Alexander de Villa Dei” (116-34), etc. The book lacks an index as well as a bibliography.

2nd rev. and enl. ed., 2 vols., ibid., 1896-97; vol.1, xxiv + 608 pp; vol.II, vi ¡ 726 pp., with a bibliography (II, 704-11), and an index of names (712-26), 3 rd ed., prepared by Rudolf Lehmann [b. 1855], vol.1 (ibid., 1919), xxvii + 636 pp.; vol.II (Berlin & Leipzig: W. de Gruyter & Co., 1921), xii + 834 pp. The latter contains a bibliography of sources and secondary literature (II, 798-805) as well as indices of personal names of places of colleges, universities, etc., and of topics (806-20, 821-26, and 826-34, respectively). The period covered in these two volumes is 1450-1914; the period 1892-1914 is treated by the editor (II, 695-796). Similar to the works by Heeren 1822, Erhard 1827-32, and Michelsen 1837, Paulsen’s study provides useful background material rather than an account of the history of classical philology; little, if anything, will be found on linguistics proper: Bopp, Schleicher, Curtius, and others are not even mentioned.

An ed. of his study, together with Pott’s “Einleitung in die Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft”, Internationale Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft 1.1-68, 329-54 (1884); 2.54-115, 209-51 (1885); 3.110-26, 249-75 (1887); 4.67-96 (1889), and 5.3-18 (1890), with a preface, a bio-bibliographical statement, and an index of authors, is to appear (Amsterdam: J. Benjamins, 1973). Pott’s work constitutes an invaluable source of information on western studies of languages, from the earliest beginnings to the 1880’s. Besides, it documents the controversy between the neo-grammarians and their opponents in the chap. “Curtius und die Junggrammatiker” (95-111). Index of authors (185-93).

Cf. first ed. (1863). Vol.I (1890), xvi + 374 pp.; vol.II (1891), xii + 368 pp. Pagination of first ed. was added to vol.II, i.e., 364-712 of 1863 ed. parallel 1-374 of 1891 ed. Still today one of the most comprehensive treatments of the subject matter. Unfortunately, there is neither a bibliography nor an index.

F. set out to improve on previous accounts, esp. those of Schmidt 1859 and Steinthal 1863, but in fact analyzes only particular aspects of Roman grammatical debate, e.g., ‘de arte’ (17-23), ‘de grammatica’ (23-32), ‘de lectione’ (32-34), ‘de accentibus’ (34-54), etc. It has neither a bibliography nor an index.

Rev. ed., under the title of Outlines of the History of Classical Philology (ibid., 1894), vi + 77 pp.; 3rd rev. ed., 1897, vi + 81 pp. See Gudeman 1907, for details.

The analysis, based on Heinrich Keil’s (1822-94) Grammatica latini (Ibid., 1855-80), consists of two main parts: 1) “Einleitung” (1-101) which presents the authors, e.g., Charisius, Donatus, Marius Victorinus, and others, within their historical and intellectual context, and 2) “Die Redetheile” (102-294) in which the various parts of speech are discussed. Index rerum (295-314); addenda & corrigenda (315-16).

Forerunner of Brunot 1905ff.; Brunot prepared the linguistic section of each of the 8 vols., from the medieval period to the end of the 19th century. Each section has a bibliography at the end of the account.

An essay on the history leading to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, and subsequent lexicographical work.

First ed. (1891) not seen by the compiler. A new ed., together with Siebs 1902, is preparation (Amsterdam: J. Benjamins). Until the appearance of Carlo Tagliavini’s Storia della fililogia germanica (Bologna: R. Pàtron, 1968) Paul’s account had no serious competition in the field. Indeed, it still contains valuable information not to be found in Tagliavini.

This 75-page account, though mainly covering the period 1876-1901, presents earlier developments as well, esp. in the chap. “Vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft und Germanistik bis Scherer [1868]” (iv-xi). Except for the last two chaps. (1-lviii) devoted to literary matters, poetics and metrics, the article treats important theoretical issues such as the sound-law hypothesis (xi-xiii), the question of I.E. Ursprache and the family tree (xiii-xvii), etc.

This succinct history of linguistics from the Greeks tot the end of the 19th century was transl. into G. (1927), Russ. (1938), and Span. (1945). The Dan. original has bibliogr. footnotes but no index, yet the 1919-ed. has (105-06). For details, see Thomson 1927 in the second part of the present survey. (E. transl. in prep.)

This is the first comprehensive history of the universal language activities from the 16th century to the turn of this century. Couturat and Leau also published a 79-page extract (Paris: Brodard, 1907). Index of authors (571-74); bibliographical footnotes.

Vol.1 (1903; 2nd ed., 1906; 3rd ed., 1920), xxiv + 703 pp., subtitled “From the sixth century B.C. to the end of the middle ages”; vol. II (1908), xxx + 498 pp., subtitled “From the revival of learning to the end of the eighteenth century (in Italy, France, England, and the Netherlands)”; vol.III (1908), xiv + 523 pp., subtitled “The eighteenth century in Germany, and the nineteenth century in Europe and the United States of America”. An important, although not always very reliable, sourcebook, copious in its information and indices. It contains little on linguistics proper; note the brief chap., “Comparative Philologists” (vol. III, 205-11).

Unfortunately, Bulič never wrote a sequel to this vol.: indeed, it ends where the history of linguistics becomes more significant. Pp. 1-148 constitute a transl. of Delbrück’s Einleitung (1893[1880]); the index is on pp. 1229-31. At least B. inserted a few references to the work of Baudouin de Courtenay and Kruszewski published during the years 1881-95 (cf. p.1 17, note).

Actually the 4th ed. of Delbrück 1880, however, according to Delbrück’s own words, a new book (cf. “Vorrede”, p.v). In fact, two entirely new chaps, were added, the first entitled “Das Altertum” (from Dionysius Thrax to Apollonius Dyscolus, 1-21), the second headed “Von den Römern bis zur klassischen Periode” (meaning the post-1816 developments in linguistics, 22-35). Moreover, D. devotes considerable space to the linguistic work of Humboldt (41-55) who was referred to merely in passing in the three previous editions of the book. There are indices of grammatical terms as well as authors (xi-xiii, and xiv-xv, respectively). The 5th ed. (1908), xvi + 173 pp., has only minor revisions. Again, the 6th ed. (1919) requires a separate entry, since substantial changes and additions were made.

First ed. (1888) not seen by the compiler. Gröber subdivided his study into 5 major sections: 1) Medieval period, i.e., 13th–15th century (2-9); 2) 16th and 17th century (9-34); 3) 18th century until 1814 (35-66); 4) the period of “Herausbildung der romanischen Philologie zum selbständigen Forschungsgebiet” - note my introductory statement about linguistics after Waterloo - (66-118), and 5) the period of consolidation, i.e., international agreement that Romance philology ought to combine all individual philologies, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. (66-118). Index of the whole vol. (1059-93)

Cf. also Brunot 1896-99. This voluminous enterprise covers the study of Fr.grammar and language from the medieval Latin period to the 20th century. It constitutes an invaluable sourcebook of French linguistic thought, with emphasis more on the stylistic and literary rather than strictly linguistic ramifications of the matter.

Study on 18th debates on the creation of stringent guides for the proper (literary) use of French. Bibliography (xi-xv); actual text (1-235), appendices (237 [239]-76). No index.

Surveys the concepts of main sentence vs. subordinate clause (272-95), and the concept of grammatical gender (295-316) from the Greeks down to the 19th century. Cf. also Jellinek 1913-14.

Much enlarged G. version of Gudeman 1892 (3rd ed., 1897; 3rd printing, 1902). After an Introduction (1-10), G. presents the history of classical philology from antiquity to the end of the 19th century (10-253). The book contains useful bio-bibliographical information, supplemented, to a certain extent, by the same author’s 40-page Imagines philologorum: 160 Bildnisse aus der Zeit von der Renaissance bis zur Gegenwart (Ibid., 1911). index of names (254-59); index of subjects (259-60).

Span, transl., Historia de la filología clásica, by Pascual Galindo Romeo and Manuel Palomar Lapasa (Barcelona: Labor, n.d.[1928]). The study consists of 3 major parts: 1) Antiquity (5-66); 2) the Middle Ages (66-75), and 3) Renaissance to the end of the 19th century (75-147). Bibliography (147-49). Only few pages (127-30) are devoted to linguistics.

Based on Keil’s Grammatici latini, Lambert analysis in particular the grammatical theories of Charsius, Diomedes, Donatus, and Priscian with regard to accentuation, punctuation, the parts of speech, syntax (especially with respect to case and modality), and other traditional subjects, such as styles, figures of speech, etc. No index or bibliography.

A detailed historical overview of the study of It. grammar from Dante to Croce. Introduction (1-9); main text (10-527); appendix (529[53l]-48). Index of authors (549[551]-61).

Not seen by the compiler. Obviously a much larger account than this essay of 1900, “Je̗zykoznawstwo czyli lingwistyka w wieku XIX”, repr. in Baudouin’s Zskice je̗zykoznawcze (Warsaw: P. Laskauer, 1904), 1-23; E. transl., in A Baudouin de Courtenay Anthology ed. by Edward Stankiewicz (Bloomington & London: Indiana Univ. Press, 1972), 237-54 (slightly shortened).

More a systematic than a historical study, based on the literature recorded in Edmund Stengel [1845-1935], Chronologische Verzeichnis französischer Grammatiken vom Ende des 14. bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts (Oppeln: Franck, 1890). Index of authors and sources (201-03); subject index (204-06).

The study consists of three main sections: 1) “La speculazione del linguaggio nella filosofia greca” (3-64) - not indicated in the title of the book but motivated by the subject matter; 2) “La filosofia del linguaggio nella Patristica” (67-118), and 3) “La filosofia del linguaggio nella scolastica” (121-244). Neither bibliography (except for bibliographical footnotes), nor index.

Contents: I. “Kants Einfluss im allgemeinen” (382-408); II. “Kant und Wilhelm von Humboldt”: 1) “Kants Seelenbegriff und Humboldts Sprachbegriff (408-15); 2) “Kant und die Ideen der Sprachentwicklung bei Humboldt” (415-22).

A brief survey of the development of linguistics from the Greeks to the turn of this century, a typical example of the ‘histories’ found in many subsequent linguistics books, e.g., Bloomfield (1933), Gray (1939), Hughes (1962), etc. Two statements deserve special mention: 1) P. refers to the work of the Moscow, Kazan, and Petersburg schools; 2) he praises Saussure’s Mémoire as one of the most talented linguistic works of all times (p. 38).

Eirst ed. not seen by the compiler. Contains only a brief chap, entitled “Storia della filologia” (212-22), but information can be gleaned in other parts of the book, e.g., “Filologia” (1-27), “Discipline filologiche fondamentali (grammatica - stilistica -... - storia delia lingua)” (92-128), etc. No index.

A popular history of classical philology beginning with the “Genesis of Philological Studies” (5-27), and ending with the “Cosmopolitan Period” at the end of the 19th and the turn of this century (456-58). “Selected bibliographical index” (461-76); “General index” (477-91).

Includes brief discussion of earlier periods, e.g., the 14th and 15th centuries (10-14), and the 16th century (15-21). Bibliographical note (*81), and vita (*83, not paginated). Cf. also the same author’s study, “Fachwörter zur deutschen Grammatik von Schottel bis Gottsched, 1641-1749”, Zeitschrift für deutsche Wortforschung 15.1-98 (1914).

“Notes bibliographiques” (474-93). Note that the “Aperçu” of the 1912 ed. is almost completely identical with the one in the 7th ed. (Ibid., 1937; repr. University, Ala.: Univ. of Alabama Press, 1964), prepared by Emile Benveniste [b. 1902], pp. 453-83, except for the insertion of a reference to the Cours (p. 479), and an enlarged paragraph at p. 482.

Cf. Jellinek 1906. Vol.I (1913), viii + 392 pp. (Bibliogr., 1-19; Index, 386-92), is essentially historical, giving a survey of the study of German from the first known account (1451) to the death of Johann Christoph Adelung (1806); the 2nd vol. (1914), xii + 504 (Index, 489-503), is a systematic presentation and discussion of phonology, orthography, the parts of speech, morphology, and syntax.

Original ed. not seen by the compiler. The work constitutes a study of classical scholarship rather than a history of classical philology. The new index of names (331-39) and the index of MSS (340-44) have added to the value of the work as a critical sourcebook.

A study based on Sandys 1903-08 (see above). Contains a detailed index (435-55).

Cf. also Streitberg 1909 (above). S wrote a number of essays treating aspects of the history of linguistics. This one consists of 4 chaps.: 1) “Persisch und Deutsch”; 2) “Der Wandsbecker Bote als Sanskritist”; 3) “Agglutination”, and 4) “Lachmanns Gesetz”. See also Streitberg 1916ff. in the forthcoming sequel to this bibliography.