Cover not available
Article published In:
Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 36:1 (2009) ► pp.75–95

Francis Whyte Ellis and the Beginning of Comparative Dravidian Linguistics

| Dravidian University
This article assesses Francis Whyte Ellis’s (1777–1819) “Note to the Introduction” to Alexander Duncan Campbell’s (1789–1857) Grammar of the Teloogoo Language (1816) in the context of the history of comparative linguistics in India. The idea of a ‘South Indian family of languages’, later named ‘Dravidian’ by Robert Caldwell in 1856, was first proposed by Ellis in 1816, and so a case could be made to claim for him the beginnings of a comparative methodology in the study of Dravidian languages. Until now, in the history of comparative Dravidian linguistics Caldwell (1814–1891) has been celebrated as the pioneer in this field. The present study attempts to establish Ellis’s rightful place in this history by critically evaluating his contribution. The careful examination of the data presented by Ellis indeed suggests that he should be regarded as the discoverer of the Dravidian family of languages well before Caldwell.
Published online: 6 April 2009
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.36.1.04sre
References (69)
References
Agesthialingom, S. & S. Sakthivel, comps. 1973. A Bibliography of Dravidian Linguistics. Annamalai: Annamalai University.Google Scholar
Agesthialingom, S. & N. Rajasekharan Nair, eds. 1981. Dravidian Syntax. Annamalainagar: Annamalai University.Google Scholar
Andronov, M. S. 1964. “Materials for a Bibliography of Dravidian Linguistics”. Tamil Culture 11:1.3–50.Google Scholar
Ali, Daud, ed. 1999. Invoking the Past: The use of history in South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Asher, R[onald] E. 1968. “Notes on F. W. Ellis and an Unpublished Fragment of His Commentary on Tirukkural”. Proceedings of the First International Conference of Tamil Studies Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, April 1966 ed. by Xavier S. Thani Nayagam et al., vol. II1, 513–521. Kuala Lumpur: International Association of Tamil Research.Google Scholar
Asher, R. E. 1994. “Ellis, Francis Whyte (ca.1778–1819)”. Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics ed. by R. E. Asher et al., vol. III1, 1106–1107. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Bloch, Jules. 1954 [1946]. The Grammatical Structure of Dravidian Languages. Translated from the French by R. G. Harshe. Poona: Daccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute.Google Scholar
Bopp, Franz. 1816. Über das Conjugationssystem der Sanskritsprache in Vergleichung mit jenem der griechischen, persischen und germanischen Sprache. Frankfurt/Main: Andreäische Buchhandlung.Google Scholar
Brown, C[harles] P[hilip]. 1857 [1837]. A Grammar of the Telugu Language. 2nd ed. Madras: Christian Knowledge Society’s Press. (Repr., New Delhi: Asian Educational Service, 1981.)Google Scholar
Brown, Jason W. 1996. Review of Reader in the History of Aphasia: From Franz Gall to Norman Geschwind ed. by Paul Eling (Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1994). The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 184:4.264 (April 1996).Google Scholar
Burrow, T[homas] & M[urray] B[arnson] Emeneau. 1984. A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary. 2nd revised ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Caldwell, Robert. 1913 [1856]. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages. London: Kegan, Paul, Trench, Trubner. (2nd ed., 1875; 3rd ed., revised and edited by J. L. Wyatt & T. Ramakrishna Pillai. Repr., Madras: Madras University, 1976.)Google Scholar
Campbell, Alexander D[uncan]. 1991 [1816]. A Grammar of the Teloogoo Language, commonly termed the Gentoo, peculiar to the Hindoos inhabiting the North Eastern provinces of the Indian Peninsula. Madras: College Press of Fort St. George. (Repr., New Delhi: Asian Educational Service, 1991.)Google Scholar
. 1821. A Dictionary of Teloogoo Language. Madras: College Press of Fort St. George.Google Scholar
Carey, William. 1804. A Grammar of the Sanscrit language, Composed from the Works of the most esteemed Hindoo grammarians. Serampore: Mission Press.Google Scholar
. 1814. A Grammar of the Telingana Language. Serampore: Mission Press.Google Scholar
Colebrooke, Henry Thomas. 1801. “On the Sanscrit and Pracrit Languages”. Asiatick Researches 71.199–231.Google Scholar
Deshpande, Madhav M. 1979. Sociolinguistic Attitudes in India: An historical reconstruction. With a foreword by M. B. Emeneau. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Karoma Publishing.Google Scholar
Deshpande, Madhav M. & Peter Edwin Hook, eds. 1979. Aryan and Non-Aryan in India. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, Francis Whyte. 1816. “Note to the Introduction”. Campbell 1991 [1816].1–31 (separately numbered). (Repr. by Rao (1954/55) in Annals of Oriental Research of the University of Madras 121.1–35 and in Trautmann 2005: 7–13; 2006: 243–276.)Google Scholar
. 1878. “Dissertation on the Malayalam Language”. The Indian Antiquary 71.275–287. (First published by Walter Elliot; repr., with an introductory note, by Ramachandran 2005: 17–46.)Google Scholar
Gopinathan Nair, B. 2005. “A Dravidian Etymological Dictionary and its Impact on Comparative Dravidian Studies”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 34:2.89–106.Google Scholar
Hall, Kenneth R., ed. 2001. Structure and Society in Early South India. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Israel, M. 1966. “Additional Materials for a Bibliography of Dravidian Linguistics”. Tamil Culture (Madras) 12:1.69–74.Google Scholar
Jones, Sir William. 1787 [1786]. “On the Hindus: Third anniversary discourse”. Asiatic Researches 11.415–431.Google Scholar
. 1787. “A Dissertation on the Orthography of Asiatick Words in Roman Letters”. Asiatick Researches 11.1–56.Google Scholar
Joseph, P. M. 1989. “The Word Drāvida ”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 18:2.132–142.Google Scholar
Koerner, E. F. K. 1978. Towards a Historiography of Linguistics: Selected essays. Foreword by R. H. Robins. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1995a. “Historiography of Linguistics”. Koerner & Asher, eds. 1995.7–16.Google Scholar
1995b. “History of Linguistics: The field”. Koerner & Asher, eds. 1995.3–7.Google Scholar
2000. “Comprehensive Alphabetical Index by Names and by Titles”. Historiographia Linguistica, Supplement I1: Index Vol. I–XXV 1973–1998, 69–196. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
2003. “On the Place of Linguistic Historiography within the Language Sciences, again”. History of Linguistics 1999: Selected papers from the Eighth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences, 14–19 September 1999, Fontenay-St.Cloud ed. by Sylvain Auroux, 375–387. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Koerner, E. F. K. & R. E. Asher, eds. 1995. Concise History of the Language Sciences: From the Sumerians to the Cognitivists. Oxford & New York: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Krishnamurti, Bh[adriraju]. 2001. Comparative Dravidian Linguistics: Current perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Krishnamurti, Bh. 2003. The Dravidian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McKerrell, John. 1820. A Grammar of Karnāṭaka Language. Madras: College Press of Fort St. George.Google Scholar
Nagraja, K. S., V. P. Bhatta, Sonal Kulkarni-Joshi & P. M. Pingle, eds. 2007. Research Trends in Lexicography, Sanskrit and Linguistics: Proceedings of the Professor S. M. Katre birth century seminar. Pune: Deccan College Post-Graduate Research Institute.Google Scholar
Rajanayagam, D. H. 1997. “Is there a Tamil ‘Race’?”. Robb, ed. 1997.109–145.Google Scholar
Ramachandran, Puhusseri. 2005. F. W. Ellis on Malayalam Language. Thiruvananthapuram: Kannasavidhyapeetham.Google Scholar
Ramaiah, L. S., ed. 1994. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. I1: General and Comparative Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
, ed. 1995. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. II1: Tamil Language and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
, ed. 1998. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. III1: Telugu Language and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
Ramaiah, L. S. & C. R. Karisiddappa, eds. 2003. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. IV1: Kannada Language and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
Ramaiah, L. S. & N. Rajasekharan Nair, eds. 2001. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. V1: Malayalam Language and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
Ramaiah, L. S. & B. Ramakrishna Reddy, eds. 2005. An International Bibliography of Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Vol. VI1: The Tribal and Minor Dravidian Languages and Linguistics. Chennai: T. R. Publications.Google Scholar
Rao, N. Venkata. 1953. “Dissertation on the Telugu Language by Ellis”. Annals of Oriental Research of the University of Madras 111.1–6.Google Scholar
Reddy, B. Ramakrishna. 2000. “Dravidian Tribal Language Studies since Caldwell”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 301.107–140.Google Scholar
. 2005. “Studies on Tribal and Minor Dravidian Languages: An introduction”. Ramaiah, ed. 2005.xvii–xlvii.Google Scholar
Robb, Peter, ed. 1997. The Concept of Race in South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sāstri, Vedam Paṭābhirama. 1930. Dhātumāla. Kakinada: Āndhra Sāhithya Parishath Mudrana.Google Scholar
Sharada, B. A. 1989. “Research in Dravidian Linguistics: A quantitative analysis (as revealed through International Journal Dravidian Linguistics 1972–85)”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 18:1.111–123.Google Scholar
2006. M. B. Emeneau: A bibliography with citation index. Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages.Google Scholar
Sharada, B. A. & V. Vani. 1987. “Current Research in Dravidian Linguistics (as revealed through the International Journal Dravidian Linguistics 1981–85): A quantitative analysis”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 16:1.134–143.Google Scholar
Schmitthenner, Peter Lee. 2001. Telugu Resurgence: C. P. Brown and cultural consolidation in nineteenth-century South India. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors.Google Scholar
Subrahmanyam, P. S. 1987. “The Non Literary Languages and Their Contribution to Dravidian Comparative Grammar”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 16:1.22–30.Google Scholar
1988. “Comparative Dravidian Studies from 1980”. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 17:1.59–91.Google Scholar
2007. “Dravidian Linguistics since the 1960’s”. Nagraja et al., eds. 2007.201–222.Google Scholar
Thapar, Romila. 1999. “Some Appropriation of the Theory of Aryan Race Relating to the Beginnings of Indian History”. Ali, ed. 1999.15–35.Google Scholar
. 2003 [2000]. Cultural Past: Essays in early Indian history. 2nd ed., New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trautmann, Thomas R. 1997. Aryans and British India. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press. (Indian ed., New Delhi: Vistaar Publications/Sage.)Google Scholar
1999. “Inventing the History of South India”. Ali, ed. 1999.36–54.Google Scholar
2001. “Kinship, Language, and the Construction of South India”. Hall, ed. 2001.181–197.Google Scholar
2004. “Discovering Aryan and Dravidian in British India: A tale of two cities”. Historiographia Linguistica 31:1.33–58.Google Scholar
, ed. 2005. The Aryan Debate: Debates in Indian history and society. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
2006. Languages and Nations: The Dravidian proof in Colonial Madras. California: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Venkaya, Māmidi. 1965 [early 19th cent]. Andhra Dīpaka. Machilipatnam: Sree Vaasavi Prakatithamu.Google Scholar
Zvelebil, Kamil V. 1956. “One Hundred Years of Dravidian and Comparative Philology”. Tamil Culture 41.53–57.Google Scholar
1997. Dravidian Linguistics: An introduction. Pondicherry: Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics & Culture.Google Scholar
Wilkins, Charles. 1808. A Grammar of the Sanskrita Language. London: Printed for the author, by W. Bulmer & Co. Cleveland-Row, St. James’s, and sold by Black, Parry & Kingsbury, Booksellers to the Honorable The East India Company, Leadenhall-Street.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Asher, R. E.
2010.  The Madras School of Orientalism: Producing knowledge in colonial South India. Edited by Thomas R. Trautmann. Historiographia Linguistica 37:1-2 ► pp. 226 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.