A close analysis of the Bavarian periodical Parnassus Boicus (1722–1740) discloses several aspects of interest to the linguistic historian. Besides a polemical and proto-nationalistic view of German as a language for heroes, the editors defended, against the French-oriented critical stance à la… read more
In the Prague School, and particularly in its most illustrious representative, Roman Jakobson, two discrete yet somewhat convergent themes of linguistic speculation appear to have come together. First, the notion that word order is a crucial testing ground for observation of the structures of… read more
J. R. Ross’ rule of Complex (or Heavy) NP Shift acquires a further dimension by tracing its background, first through the stylistic-grammatical tradition harking back to Etienne-Simon de Gamaches (1672–1756) and Nicolas Beauzée (1717–89), and then through the linguistic hypotheses of Henri Weil… read more