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From the earliest surviving glossaries and translations to nineteenth-century academic philology and the growth of linguistics during the twentieth century, language has been the subject both of scholarly investigation and of practical handbooks produced for the upwardly mobile, as well as for travellers, traders, soldiers, missionaries and explorers. This collection will reissue a wide range of texts pertaining to language, including the work of Latin grammarians, groundbreaking early publications in Indo-European studies, accounts of indigenous languages, many of them now extinct, and texts by pioneering figures such as Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Ferdinand de Saussure.

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171 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Linguistics

Page 1 of 9

The Ancient Language, and the Dialect of Cornwall, with an Enlarged Glossary of Cornish Provincial Words
  • Also an Appendix, Containing a List of Writers on Cornish Dialect, and Additional Information about Dolly Pentreath, the Last Known Person who Spoke the Ancient Cornish as her Mother Tongue
  • Frederick W. P. Jago
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    02 October 2014
    First published in:
    1882
  • The Cornish dialect stemmed from the influence of English on the declining Cornish language, and contained words from both languages. This glossary was published in 1882 by Frederick W. P. Jago (1817–92) in an effort to describe and preserve the dialect as it too declined. Containing around 3,700 dialect words from both Cornish and English, and annotated with examples, etymological information and literary citations, the work is an invaluable record of a disappearing dialect and way of life. The word list is supplemented by a history of Cornish and the Cornish dialect, showing similarities with the vocabulary of Chaucer, as well as with Welsh and Greek. Also included is an appendix with information about Dolly Pentreath, the last native speaker of Cornish, and a list of writers who had worked on the Cornish language and dialect. Jago's English-Cornish Dictionary (1887) is also reissued in this series.

An English–Cornish Dictionary
  • Compiled from the Best Sources
  • Frederick W. P. Jago
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    02 October 2014
    First published in:
    1887
  • Cornish had all but died out as a spoken language by the middle of the eighteenth century. However, it experienced a slight resurgence in the nineteenth century, spurred by increased scholarly interest. Published in 1887, this dictionary played a role in preserving Cornwall's linguistic heritage. Compiled by Frederick W. P. Jago (1817–92) and intended as a supplement to existing Cornish word lists and glossaries, it was the first resource to provide Cornish translations for English words and phrases. Jago attempts to provide literary citations for the entries wherever possible, but does not manage to do this throughout, observing that 'life is short, art is long'. Appendices include literal translations of biblical texts such as Genesis and the Ten Commandments. Also by Jago, The Ancient Language, and the Dialect of Cornwall, with an Enlarged Glossary of Cornish Provincial Words (1882) is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Etymologisches Wörterbuch der slavischen Sprachen
  • Franz Miklosich
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    30 April 2015
    First published in:
    1886
  • A Slovenian citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Miklosich (1813–91) studied at the University of Graz before moving to Vienna in 1838. Indo-European philology was a growing area of research, and in 1844 Miklosich reviewed Bopp's Comparative Grammar (also reissued in this series) and embarked upon extending the comparative method across the whole Slavonic language family. Miklosich's work marked a watershed in Slavonic studies; in 1849 he became Austria's first professor of Slavonic philology. His publications included editions of historical sources; work on loan words, place names, and Romany dialects; a dictionary of Old Church Slavonic; and a four-volume comparative grammar of the Slavonic languages (1852–74, also available). This etymological dictionary of the Slavonic languages was published in 1886, the year of Miklosich's retirement. It encompasses Old Slavonic forms (where attested), the whole range of modern Slavonic languages, and loan words, and includes an index for 'difficult to find' words.

A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European, Sanskrit, Greek and Latin Languages
  • Volume 1
  • August Schleicher
  • Translated by Herbert Bendall
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
  • August Schleicher (1821–68) is often credited with being the first scholar to apply a 'family tree' model to language groups. He had published extensively on individual European languages before his groundbreaking comparative Indo-European Compendium (also reissued in this series) appeared in German in 1861–2. The book was derived from his lectures, and was intended to save his students note-taking and copying from the blackboard. Each section begins with his reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European phonological or morphological feature, and then shows how this is reflected in a range of daughter languages. This abridged English translation, based on the German third edition, appeared in 1874–7. Produced for students of Greek and Latin philology, it focuses on the phonology and morphology of 'the original Indo-European language', Sanskrit, Greek and Latin, omitting Schleicher's extensive discussion of other languages and the comparative paradigms provided in the German edition. Volume 1 covers phonology.

A Compendium of the Comparative Grammar of the Indo-European, Sanskrit, Greek and Latin Languages
  • Volume 2
  • August Schleicher
  • Translated by Herbert Bendall
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    25 September 2014
  • August Schleicher (1821–68) is often credited with being the first scholar to apply a 'family tree' model to language groups. He had published extensively on individual European languages before his groundbreaking comparative Indo-European Compendium (also reissued in this series) appeared in German in 1861–2. The book was derived from his lectures, and was intended to save his students note-taking and copying from the blackboard. Each section begins with his reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European phonological or morphological feature, and then shows how this is reflected in a range of daughter languages. This abridged English translation, based on the German third edition, appeared in 1874–7. Produced for students of Greek and Latin philology, it focuses on the phonology and morphology of 'the original Indo-European language', Sanskrit, Greek and Latin, omitting Schleicher's extensive discussion of other languages and the comparative paradigms provided in the German edition. Volume 2 covers morphology.

Dictionary of the Hausa Language
  • Volume 1, Hausa-English
  • Charles Henry Robinson
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1925
  • Hausa is an African language originating in Niger and northern Nigeria and spoken widely in West and Central Africa as a lingua franca. Charles Henry Robinson (1861–1925) was the first student of the short-lived Hausa Association, formed in 1891 to promote the study of the Hausa Language and people. The Association sponsored Robinson to stay in northern Nigeria from 1894 to 1895 to gain more experience in the language. On his return Robinson published an anthology of Hausa texts in 1896 and a Hausa grammar in 1897 as well as this two-volume dictionary in 1899. His efforts contributed greatly to Western knowledge of the language despite criticisms of his relatively short experience of Hausa-speaking communities. Volume 1 is a Hausa–English dictionary. The version reissued here is the 1925 fourth edition, for which the Hausa–English dictionary was re-written and expanded.

Ueber die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier
  • Ein Beitrag zur Begründung der Alterthumskunde
  • Friedrich von Schlegel
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    20 March 2014
  • Critic, poet and essayist Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829) was a leading figure of German Romanticism. Believed to be autobiographical, his unfinished novel Lucinde caused a scandal in 1799 because of its portrayal of a sexual liaison. After exploring the development of philosophy, Schlegel increasingly turned his attention to the study of Sanskrit and Hindu religious writings. This work on the connections between Sanskrit and Indo-European languages, first published in German in 1808, is regarded as an important early contribution to comparative grammar – it was Schlegel himself who introduced this term into linguistics. He was inspired by the example of comparative anatomy, and he also promoted the idea of family trees for languages. The Aesthetic and Miscellaneous Works of Frederick von Schlegel (1849), in English translation, is also reissued in this series.

Grammatik, Logik, und Psychologie
  • Ihre Principien und ihr Verhältniss zu einander
  • Heymann Steinthal
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    12 July 2012
    First published in:
    1855
  • The German linguist and mythologist Heymann Steinthal (1823–99) taught at the University of Berlin (today Humboldt-University Berlin) and was especially engaged with Wilhelm von Humboldt and his linguistic works. He was a co-founder of the Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte (Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory). This innovatory volume, published in 1855, draws a connection between the disciplines of linguistics and psychology, and further relates them to the issue of logic. The three parts of the book deal with the nature of grammar, its relation to logic and the connection of grammar and linguistics to cognitive behaviour. Finally Steinthal discusses the idea of linguistics as ethnopsychology. Pursuing this concept, he, with his brother-in-law Moritz Lazarus, co-founded the journal Zeitschrift für Völkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft (Journal for Ethnopsychology and Linguistics) in 1860, thus laying the foundations for a promising new area of research.

Geschichte der böhmischen Sprache und ältern Literatur
  • Ganz umgearbeitete Ausgabe
  • Joseph Dobrowsky
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    05 September 2013
  • The Bohemian scholar Joseph Dobrowsky (1753–1829) played a key role in the Czech national revival of the nineteenth century. Born in Hungary, he went to a German school there and also acquired the Czech language. At Prague, he studied philosophy and theology. In the 1780s, Dobrowsky pursued philological interests and helped to establish the Royal Czech Society of Sciences. His linguistic research encompasses work on literary terms, orthography and historically comparative aspects of the Slavic languages. Reissued here is the revised and expanded 1818 edition of a work first published in 1792. In black-letter German, it deals with the origins and development of the Czech language, locating it within the Slavic language family. Dobrowsky also provides a full list of the most important Bohemian theological and literary writings from the sixth to the sixteenth century.

Hobson-Jobson
  • Being a Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive
  • Henry Yule, Arthur Coke Burnell
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    02 December 2010
    First published in:
    1886
  • This dictionary of Anglo-Indian terms gives the definition and etymology of over two thousand words in common use in colonial India in the late nineteenth century. First published in 1886, it was written by the Scottish orientalist Sir Henry Yule (1820–1889) and Arthur C. Burnell (1840–1882), an English scholar of Sanskrit and author of a Handbook of South Indian Palaeography. Whereas previous glossaries focused on technical terms used by the Indian administration, this work aims at dealing with words that recur in the daily English of India: 'either as expressing ideas really not provided for' by English, or wrongly 'supposed by the speakers to express something not capable of just denotation by any English term'. Tracing the literary sources and Indian origins of words such as cooly or curry, but also - more surprisingly - tank or veranda, this dictionary is a fascinating resource for the modern reader.

A Sanskrit-English Dictionary
  • Based upon the St Petersburg Lexicons
  • Carl Cappeller
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    26 November 2009
    First published in:
    1891
  • This one-volume Sanskrit–English dictionary, first published in 1891, is an English version of the seven-volume Sanskrit-Worterbuch, published at St Petersburg between 1852 and 1875, and contains about 50,000 entries. The aim of the editor, Carl Cappeller, was to provide a glossary for Sanskrit texts which were at the time becoming available in printed editions in Europe, particularly 'such works as are most appreciated and studied by every friend of Sanskrit literature'. He hoped that it would provide 'not only a handbook for the beginner in Sanskrit, who wants to have as many words as possible explained to him, but also to serve the purposes of the linguistic student, whose interest is limited to the old stock of words and their relations to other languages'. The dictionary has stood the test of time and is still consulted by students of Sanskrit.

Beiträge zur Ethnographie und Sprachenkunde Amerika's zumal Brasiliens
  • 1. Zur Ethnographie
  • Volume 2
  • Carl Friedrich Phillip von Martius
  • Published online:
    05 October 2015
    Print publication:
    26 November 2009
    First published in:
    1867
  • Beiträge zur Ethnographie (1867) is Carl von Martius' colourful and personal memoir of his travels to Brazil in the years 1817–1820. Although better known as a botanist, Martius here ventures into the territory of ethnographic and linguistic studies, writing about the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Brazil. Volume 2 is a dictionary of different dialects of the Tupi language as well as various other South American dialects, as encountered by Martius himself, with Portuguese and German equivalents. A dictionary of the Tupi language was first compiled by the Jesuits who wished to establish a common language for various groups of the native population. As a botanist Martius was particularly interested in collecting the names of various animals and plants, and these were included by him together with the names of the locations in which the Tupi Indians settled.

Die Verwantschaftsverhältnisse der indogermanischen Sprachen
  • And Über die Lautgesetze: Gegen die Junggrammatiker
  • Johannes Schmidt, Hugo Schuchardt
  • Published online:
    05 October 2015
    Print publication:
    24 October 2013
  • The German linguists Johannes Schmidt (1843–1901) and Hugo Schuchardt (1842–1927) sought to answer many questions relating to the development of Indo-European languages, which are all believed to be descended from a single common ancestor. Schmidt's Verwantschaftsverhältnisse was originally published in 1872 and Schuchardt's Über die Lautgesetze followed in 1885; here they are reissued together in one volume. Schmidt's work developed the 'wave model' of language change, to which Schuchardt also subscribed. According to this theory, linguistic innovations spread outwards concentrically like waves, which become progressively weaker as time elapses and the distance from their point of origin increases. Since later changes may not cover the same area, there may be no sharp boundaries between neighbouring languages or dialects. This theory stood in opposition to the tree model and the doctrine of sound laws propounded by the Neogrammarian school of linguists, which is roundly critiqued in Schuchardt's contribution.

Vergleichende Grammatik der slavischen Sprachen
  • Volume 1, Lautlehre
  • Franz Miklosich
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1875
  • A Slovenian citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Miklosich (1813–91) studied at the University of Graz before moving to Vienna in 1838. Indo-European philology was a growing area for research, and in 1844 Miklosich reviewed Bopp's Comparative Grammar (also reissued in this series) and embarked upon extending the comparative method across the whole Slavonic language family. Miklosich's work marked a watershed in Slavonic studies; in 1849 he became Austria's first professor of Slavonic philology. His publications included editions of historical sources; work on loan words, place names, and Romany dialects; a dictionary of Old Church Slavonic; and an etymological dictionary of the Slavonic languages (1886, also available). His four-volume comparative grammar of the Slavonic languages (originally published 1852–74, updated reprints 1875–83) was one of his most influential works. Volume 1 (1852, reissued in the 1879 second edition) places Slavonic phonology in its Indo-European context before describing the sounds of each language.

Vergleichende Grammatik der slavischen Sprachen
  • Volume 2, Stammbildungslehre
  • Franz Miklosich
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1875
  • A Slovenian citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Miklosich (1813–91) studied at the University of Graz before moving to Vienna in 1838. Indo-European philology was a growing area for research, and in 1844 Miklosich reviewed Bopp's Comparative Grammar (also reissued in this series) and embarked upon extending the comparative method across the whole Slavonic language family. Miklosich's work marked a watershed in Slavonic studies; in 1849 he became Austria's first professor of Slavonic philology. His publications included editions of historical sources; work on loan words, place names, and Romany dialects; a dictionary of Old Church Slavonic; and an etymological dictionary of the Slavonic languages (1886, also available). His four-volume comparative grammar of the Slavonic languages (originally published 1852–74, updated reprints 1875–83) was one of his most influential works. Volume 2 (reissued in the 1875 edition) explains Miklosich's views on Slavonic word roots and describes stem formation in each language.

Vergleichende Grammatik der slavischen Sprachen
  • Volume 3, Wortbildungslehre
  • Franz Miklosich
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1875
  • A Slovenian citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Miklosich (1813–91) studied at the University of Graz before moving to Vienna in 1838. Indo-European philology was a growing area for research, and in 1844 Miklosich reviewed Bopp's Comparative Grammar (also reissued in this series) and embarked upon extending the comparative method across the whole Slavonic language family. Miklosich's work marked a watershed in Slavonic studies; in 1849 he became Austria's first professor of Slavonic philology. His publications included editions of historical sources; work on loan words, place names, and Romany dialects; a dictionary of Old Church Slavonic; and an etymological dictionary of the Slavonic languages (1886, also available). His four-volume comparative grammar of the Slavonic languages (originally published 1852–74, updated reprints 1875–83) was one of his most influential works. Volume 3 (1856, reissued in the 1876 second edition) describes the declension of nouns and the conjugation of verbs in each language.

Vergleichende Grammatik der slavischen Sprachen
  • Volume 4, Syntax
  • Franz Miklosich
  • Published online:
    05 September 2015
    Print publication:
    02 April 2015
    First published in:
    1874
  • A Slovenian citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Miklosich (1813–91) studied at the University of Graz before moving to Vienna in 1838. Indo-European philology was a growing area for research, and in 1844 Miklosich reviewed Bopp's Comparative Grammar (also reissued in this series) and embarked upon extending the comparative method across the whole Slavonic language family. Miklosich's work marked a watershed in Slavonic studies; in 1849 he became Austria's first professor of Slavonic philology. His publications included editions of historical sources; work on loan words, place names, and Romany dialects; a dictionary of Old Church Slavonic; and an etymological dictionary of the Slavonic languages (1886, also available). His four-volume comparative grammar of the Slavonic languages (originally published 1852–74, updated reprints 1875–83) was one of his most influential works. Volume 4 (reissued in the 1868–74 edition) describes the word classes and syntax of the Slavonic languages.

Gesammelte sprachwissenschaftliche Schriften
  • Rudolf von Raumer
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    11 December 2014
  • Rudolf von Raumer (1815–76) spent his entire career at the University of Erlangen in Bavaria, working independently of the main linguistic controversies of his time. Realising that historical and comparative phonology needed more precise phonetic concepts and terminology, Raumer proposed many refinements and clarifications in that area. He emphasised both the foundational role of Jacob Grimm's work and the need to progress beyond it; the earliest essay in this volume, dating from 1837, offered fresh insights into Grimm's Law. Raumer also did extensive research on German dialectology and orthography. In 1876 his proposals for spelling reform were partly implemented by the Prussian government, and his influence on spelling is acknowledged in Konrad Duden's famous Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (1872). Raumer published this collection of essays in 1863, as a record of the development and first publication date of his theories, which, he says wryly, 'have been frequently used by others'.

Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English
  • Containing Words from the English Writers Previous to the Nineteenth Century Which Are No Longer in Use, or Are Not Used in the Same Sense; and Words Which Are Now Used Only in Provincial Dialects
  • Volume 1, A–F
  • Thomas Wright
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    28 August 2014
  • Thomas Wright (1810–77), a respected folklorist and medievalist, wrote prolifically on a wide range of subjects. His work is, however, considered broad rather than deep, and his extensive output, while impressive, sometimes came at the expense of quality. Wright was involved in many academic societies, and co-founded the British Archaeological Association in 1843. Much of his work promoted the use of vernacular literature for research into the Middle Ages, and this dictionary, first published in 1857, was compiled to help readers of historical literature navigate unfamiliar vocabulary. It lists obsolete words and phrases, with particular emphasis on those of Old English and Anglo-Norman origin, and obscure or dialectal words. Many of the definitions include illustrative examples or quotes as well as etymologies. Examples include belly-timber, meaning 'food', and dweezle, a Northamptonshire word that means 'to dwindle away'. Volume 1 covers the letters A–F.

A New English Grammar
  • Logical and Historical
  • Volume 2, Syntax
  • Henry Sweet
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    21 August 2014
  • The respected phonetician and philologist Henry Sweet (1845–1912) has had a lasting influence on the study and teaching of linguistics, particularly phonetics and Old English. Sweet is also known for being, in part, the inspiration for Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion. This two-volume work, first published in 1892–8, marks the start of a new tradition in the study of English, although it received little attention in Britain upon its publication. Building on developments in European linguistics, this was the first grammar of English to adopt a scientific approach to the description of language, in particular of phonology. The work is a thorough description of English grammar in comparison with that of Old English, and covers the parts of speech, phonology, accidence and syntax. Volume 2 (1898) presents a detailed description of English syntax.

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