Johann Christoph Adelung
Johann Christoph Adelung | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 10 September 1806 | (aged 74)
Nationality | German |
Main interests | Philology |
Johann Christoph Adelung (8 August 1732 – 10 September 1806) was a German
Biography
He was born at
Work
The writings of Adelung are voluminous. By means of his excellent grammars, dictionary, and various works on German style, he contributed greatly towards rectifying the orthography, refining the idiom, and fixing the standard of his native tongue. His German dictionary Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der hochdeutschen Mundart (1774–1786) bears witness to the patient spirit of investigation which Adelung possessed in so remarkable a degree, and to his intimate knowledge of the different dialects on which modern German is based.[3]
Shortly before his death, he issued Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde (1806). The hint of this work appears to have been taken from a publication with a similar title, published by
He believed strongly that the orthography of the written language should match that of the spoken language. He declared, "Write as you speak and read as it is written".[citation needed]
Notes
- ^ Douglas A. Kibbee (ed.), History of Linguistics 2005: Selected papers from the Tenth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences (ICHOLS X), 15 September 2005, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, John Benjamins Publishing, 2007, p. 290.
- ^ a b Hugh LeCaine Agnew, Origins of the Czech National Renascence, University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994, p. 82.
- ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 190.
References
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Adelung, Johann Christoph". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 190. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
External links
- Adelung, J. C., Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart
- Mithridates, oder allgemeine Sprachenkunde on Google Books: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4