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SCHMITT Rüdiger - BRUGMANN Gerhard (Hg)
Aus Karl Brugmanns Jugenderinnerungen

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Eingeleitet und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Rüdiger Schmitt und Gerhard Brugmann
Publisher: VÖAW
Format: 

2009, 98 S., 24 x 15 cm, broschiert

Serial:  Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Klasse  786
Serial:  Veröffentlichungen zur Iranistik (umbenannt 2003)  49
ISBN13: 978-3-7001-6542-2

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€ 18,40

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In the present volume there are published excerpts from memoirs, which Karl Brugmann (1849 -1919), professor of Indo-European linguistics at Leipzig University and one of the great figures in the history of that discipline, wrote of his youth and early career. Originally being a student of Georg Curtius, Brugmann under the influence of August Leskien became one of the leading minds among the so-called 'Neogrammarians'. In 1876 Brugmann was able to substantiate the principle of the regularity of sound-change advocated by the Neogrammarians, by demonstrating that the system of the Indo-European proto-language included also the syllabic nasals *m̥, *n̥  (not preserved in any of the individual IE languages). By this he got into arguments with Curtius.Brugmann's text describes his life up to his return from Lithuania in 1880 and therefore throws light also on the period around 1876 as a critical phase in the history of linguistics, and on the personal relations amongst the Neogrammarians, most of whom taught at Leipzig University at that time. Brugmann's memoirs allow for a more balanced view of the development of linguistics in that critical phase and for a better understanding of Brugmann as a leading figure. An appendix provides excerpts from the Brugmann family history, which include information on two longer voyages Brugmann undertook abroad, and an inquiry relating to a possible appointment as professor in Baltimore. Footnotes offer ample information about individuals and facts mentioned in those texts, and as an introduction to this volume serves the essay "Der 'Junggrammatiker' Karl Brugmann.

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