Studies in the History of the Language Sciences

The pioneering work of Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm in the areas of Germanic comparative and historical linguistics, lexicography, philology, and medieval studies places them squarely among the most important figures in the history of the language sciences. The contributions to this volume present a fascinating and timely reevaluation and reaffirmation of the significance of the Grimm Brothers' work in these areas, all of which the Grimms viewed as necessary components in their search for the essence of the German and Germanic Volksgeist.

These two volume present papers from the Fourth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHoLS IV), held at the University of Trier, Germany, in August 1987. Volume 1 contains the following sections: I. Generalia; II. Antiquity; III. Arabic Linguistics; IV. Middle Ages; V. Renaissance; VI. 17th Century. Volume 2 continues with: VII. 18th Century; VIII. 19th Century; IX. 20th Century; and provides Author and Subject Indexes.

This volume brings together a number of papers written by R. W. Hunt (1908-1979) on the history of grammar in the Middle Ages. The importance of these papers lies almost as much in the spark of scholarly investigation that they have inspired, as in their contribution to original research. The first three studies in this collection deal with the change in grammatical doctrine that took place in the late 11th and 12th centuries and from which all subsequent developments during the creative period of medieval grammatical speculation derive. The fourth paper deals with a problem that concerns all students of the medieval liberal arts: the unity of learning, as opposed to the present-day compartmentalisation of studies. The remaining three studies deal with the textual materials available to the medieval student of grammar.

Most dictionaries have forerunners, and all have imitators; an understanding of the historical foundations of dictionary-making is therefore one of the preconditions of further progress in academic lexicography. The papers in this volume, which were presented at the 1986 Exeter Seminar, survey most of the lexicographical traditions in the world, some tracing them right back to their beginnings. The programme was divided into eight sessions, with the following concentrations of topics: (1) three classical traditions, (2) the early history of European lexicography, (3) the beginnings of English lexicography, (4) further aspects of English lexicography, (5) the background of diverse national developments, (6) specific features of national developments, (7) pioneers of three genres, (8) recent trends in the English dictionary.

The 32 papers of this volume were selected from 78 papers read at ICHoLS VI, were contributed by linguists from 16 countries of Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They are presented in six sections:1. General Concerns 2. Oriental Linguistics and Related Issues 3. From the Early Middle Ages to the End of the 17th Century 4. On 19th-century European Linguistics 5. On the Verge of Modernity: From the 19th to the 20th Century 6. Contemporary IssuesIndividual topics range from dealing with overriding concerns of linguistic historiography to focusing on specific fields of inquiry within a limited frame and involving a large variety of topical areas. Most of the papers are written in English. The exceptions are one French and two German contributions.

The papers in this volume present a colourful picture of the range of research currently being undertaken in the field of the history of linguistics, with contribution both from established scholars and from younger researchers. The volume is organised on a geographical basis, with sections devoted to a number of different traditions in linguistics world-wide.

The opening section is concerned with a number of general and methodological topics — ranging from the notion of ‘revolution’ in linguistic historiography to the history of the study of ape language. The second section is devoted to ‘missionary linguistics’, an umbrella category for the early contacts of Europeans with non-European languages. Subsequent sections address individual traditions in linguistics: III. The Celtic Tradition; IV. The Chinese Tradition; V. The Georgian Tradition; VI. The Hebrew Tradition; VII. The Japanese Tradition; VIII. The Persian Tradition; IX. The Russian Tradition; X. The Tamil Tradition.

This volume brings together a selection of revised papers, originally presented at ICHoLS IX (São Paulo/Campinas). The papers in the first section deal with studies ranging from the Latin model in post-Renaissance grammars to new scientific propositions at the turn of the 19th century; the second part carries articles devoted to a variety of topics in 19th and 20th century linguistics; and in the third section are united papers based on plenary presentations, ranging from ancient Greek reflections upon language to developments in Brazilian linguistics beginning with the implantation of structuralist work by Joaquim Mattoso Câmara (1904–1970) in the 1960s. In the concluding contribution, a survey of advances in the history of the language sciences is offered.

This volume contains a selection of papers presented at the 11th International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (Potsdam 2008) which are especially representative of the concerns of the conference and its thematic range. The reflection about language and the individual languages has characterized cultures since ancient times and has brought forth different traditions of the language sciences. The contributions cover the period from antiquity to contemporary history. In addition to terminological and social history approaches, they also include research results based on corpora or which reconstruct theoretical approaches. More than other scholars, linguists are turning to the history of their science for answers to current questions. This underscores the value of the history of language sciences for understanding the present state of linguistics and its development. Interdisciplinarity necessary for the research of many issues and manifestations of language makes historical reflections on the disciplines indispensable.

This volume brings together a selection of 20 out of altogether 170 papers presented at the 13th International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHoLS XIII), held at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro in Vila Real, Portugal, 25–29 August 2014. It is divided chronologically into four parts, ranging from classical antiquity to the end of the 20th century. Part I deals with general and theoretical topics in the history of linguistics in the United States, in Brazil, and the fields of lexicography and the relation of gesture to thought and language. Part II examines aspects of ancient Greek and Latin grammars, the concept of interjection from antiquity to humanism, and the classification of the parts of speech in the classical Sanskrit grammars. Part III focuses on 16th-century Latin-Portuguese grammaticography, the importance of 17th-century plurilingual textbooks, as well as two papers dedicated to French idéologues and their participation in late 18th-century prize competitions. Part IV is devoted to the works of 19th to late 20th-century European grammarians, philosophers, logicians and linguists, as well as some 19th-century Chilean grammarians and lexicographers of the Spanish language.

This volume brings together the papers published in Historiographia Linguistica 9:3 (1982), which was devoted to the history of linguistics in Italy, with Marazzini’s paper first published in Historiographia Linguistica 10:1/2 (1983), and an original article by Franco Lo Piparo expressly written for this volume. The present volume provides in addition an index of subjects, as well as an index of names, which supplies bio-bibliographical references to authors discussed.