Japhetic theory
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In
Term
Marr adopted the term "Japhetic" from
Theory
Under the
To draw support for his speculative doctrine, Marr elaborated a
Obtaining recognition of his theory from Soviet officials, Marr was permitted to manage the National Library of Russia from 1926 until 1930 and the Japhetic Institute of the Academy of Sciences from 1921 until his death in 1934. He was elected vice-president of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in 1930.
In 1950, sixteen years after Marr's death, an article titled "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics", written by Joseph Stalin, was published in major Soviet periodicals.[4] It was inspired by the writings of Marr's most energetic opponent, Arnold Chikobava,[5][6] In the article, Stalin rebuts the Japhetic theory, stating that "N. Ya. Marr introduced into linguistics another and also incorrect and non-Marxist formula, regarding the ‘class character’ of language, and got himself into a muddle and put linguistics into a muddle. Soviet linguistics cannot be advanced on the basis of an incorrect formula which is contrary to the whole course of the history of peoples and languages." Since then, the Japhetic theory has been seen as deeply flawed, both inside and outside the former Soviet Union, but some of Marr's surviving students continued to defend and develop it into the late 1960s.[7]
See also
- Georgy Danilov
- Dené-Caucasian languages
- Khazar theory
- Lemurian Tamil
- Lysenkoism
- Proto-language
- Sun Language Theory
References
- ^ Thomas, L. L. (1957). The linguistic theories of N. Ja. Marr. University of California Press.
- ^ Sériot, P., ed. (2005). Un paradigme perdu : la linguistique marriste (PDF). Cahiers de l’ILSL. Vol. 20. Université de Lausanne.
- .
- ^ Stalin, Joseph. "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics". marxists.org. Archived from the original on 2000-09-02. Retrieved 2020-07-07. First published in the June 20, July 4, and August 2, 1950 issues of Pravda; reprinted by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow.
- ISBN 0-521-59968-7.
- ISBN 1-85043-980-X.
- S2CID 147952048.
External links
- The Soviet Linguistic Theory (chapter 4 of Roman Smal-Stocki, The Nationality Problem of the Soviet Union): a hostile but thorough exposition of Japhetic theory.