Josef Eskhult, Linguistics, Uppsala university

2010-2014

1. Main aim of the project and its modification during the research
1.1 Purpose according to the project description
The insight that language has a history did not arose until the Renaissance and were consolidated during this era (1350-1600). The Renaissance marks the beginning of a meta-linguistic reflection of the historical dimension of languages, their origin, kinship, change and diversification. The project aimed to explore and map out how the historical view of language developed after the Renaissance before the breakthrough of historical-comparative linguistics in the beginning of the 19th century, i.e. the period 1600-1800. The aim of the project was to describe and analyze the theoretical and methodological development of comparative linguistic in the 17th and and 18th century and to publish the results obtained in a comprehensive synthesis of the early modern view of the history of languages.
In my project description, I identified three main themes of the early modern language historical discourse:
A. the primeval language of humankind,
B. languages change and the diversification of languages,
C. the relationships within each language family of languages that are currently classified as Indo-European (C 1) and Semitic (C 2) and across these two language family boundaries (C 3, i.e. the Semitic-European language comparativism).
The languages that were the subject of meta-linguistic reflection was primarily European ones - at first Romance, then the Germanic and Slavic, and finally the Finno-Ugric - and the Semitic languages. In my project description, I distinguished four different discursive areas for discussion around the three themes listed above:
I. The Scythian language kinship hypothesis, the forerunner of the Indo-European, as it was expressed in the Swedish language comparativism in the 17th and 18th century, especially by Georg Stiernhielm (1598-1672) in his preface on the origin of languages: De origine linguarum praefatio, the preface to his edition of the Silver Bible (1671) and by Johan Ihre (1707-1780) in his etymological dictionary Glossarium Suiogothicum (1769).
II. Language relationship theories in Bible philology and the comparative study of Oriental and Semitic languages: viz. a description of the discussion that led to the concept of a Semitic primitive language. In my project description, I identified the Dutch orientalist Albert Schultens (1686-1750) as a key figure in the conceptualization of a Semitic proto-language.
III. The debate on the primeval language in the 17th and 18th century with reception historical reviews on patristic and rabbinic traditions of interpretation of language origin.
IV. Of history and ethnographic history of science during the 1700s later part when the historical discipline became the leading liberal arts science, a role which philology had played so far, and therefore the most important forum for the discussion of the above themes (A, B, C).
The emergence of the meta-linguistic reflection on language origins and language kinship in the 17th and 18th century is documented in treatises mostly written in Latin, and they appear both in print and in manuscript. The project therefore fall mainly in two different disciplines: linguistic historiography and Neo-Latin philology. In my project description, I listed a number of scholarly treatises from the 17th and 18th century in which Germanists, Orientalists, historians and Bible philologists discuss such topics that fall within the themes A, B and C.

1.2 Changes of the purpose during the project period
During the process of research, the initial outline has been revised. Firstly, the project was too large to be fully implemented within the timeframe required. My original plan was to let my studies on areas I-IV be included in a synthesis of early modern views on language history, to be published in a monograph. For various reasons, I have not pursued this plan in its entirety. Instead, I have focused on the areas I, II and III separately and have chosen to publish my research in separate articles. (Area IV I have only begun.) In this implementation of the research, a certain shift in emphasis from linguistic history-writing to Neo-Latin philology has occurred. I have during the project recognized the importance of making important and central Latin source texts available in new critical editions with translation to the benefit of the historiography of linguistic ideas. This qualitative deepening of some research areas has significantly contributed to the modification of the project plan.

2. The project's three main findings and a discussion of these
In accordance with the project description, I have taken the leading language theoreticians - Georg Stiernhielm (1598-1672), Johan Ihre (1707-1780) and Albert Schultens (1686-1750) - as the basis to elucidate topics in the areas I and II. The project has resulted in new knowledge about their and their contemoraries' language historical concepualization and methodology of language relationship. New knowledge has also been gained about the reception of the language theories of the above-mentioned theoreticians in their own time and in posterity. In area III, the project has resulted in new knowledge and deeper insight into the Western discource on the primeval language from antiquity to the 18th century.

- The Scythian hypothesis in Sweden (research area I): the results are to be found in a preliminary edition and English translation of Stiernhielm's De origine lingarum praefatio (1671) with an introduction as well as in an extensive preliminary article on Johan Ihre as a etymologist and historical linguist (written in Swedish) and in another article about Ihre's language classification (written in English). These articles have been submitted for reviewing.
In my study of Stiernhielm as a representative of the Scythian language origin hypothesis, I have made an edition of his important writing De linguarum origine praefatio (1671). The edition is based on the printed text of 1671 and on a draft to his Runa Suethica (1651, see F. d. 6 at the National Library in Stockholm). I have also explored his language historical theory in his other writings, which are mostly only available in manuscript. I have done a historical reception study of Stiernhielm's influence in the Republic of Letters in the 17th and 18th century in his capacity of language historian.
In my study of Johan Ihre as a language historian, I have based my exploration on his introduction to Glossarium Sviogothicum, his academic dissertations on pertinents subjects and on sources only extant in manuscript. I have also made a reception study of Ihre's Glossarium Sviogothicum in Sweden, Denmark and Germany in the 18th and 19th century.

- The Semitic language research (research area II). I have mapped out Albert Schultens theory and method in developing the idea of a Semitic proto-language.The research results are presented in an accepted and peer reviewed article that will be published in the German journal Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, then in a text-critical edition with an English translation of Albert Schultens treatise Theses the lingua primaeva (1748), hitherto not edited and only preserved in manuscript at Leiden University Library.

- The debate on the primeval language (research area III). This research has been implemented and summarized in an article on the reception of Augustine's arguments concering the identity of the primeval language in the exegesis and philology 1500-1750. I have also done extensive research on the reception historical aspects, resulting in an article on the views of the church fathers, in particular St. Augustine, and of the rabbis on the original language and on Hebrew ethnicity in antiquity.

3. New research questions as a result of project
- Augustine's sign theory and cognition theory.
- Stiernhielm sign theory and language ontologi.
- The historical dimension of languages in the Romance philology of the Renaissance 1300-1600.

4. The international presence of the project: participation in international conferences
- Paper at the Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas, August 30 to Sept. 1. 2012, in Aarhus, Denmark, on Johan Ihre's language classification: theory and methods.
- Paper at the XXIV Internationales des Kolloquium Studienkreis Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, 22 to 24 August 2013 in Potsdam, Germany, on Albert Schultens and the primaeval language: The Crisis of a tradition and the Turning Point of a discourse.
- Granted application for Erik Allardt fellowship at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies for the academic year 2014-2015 with the project title: The historical dimension of languages in the linguistic horizon and metalinguistic reflection of the European Renaissance (1350-1675).
- Research contact has been established with Tim Denecker and Pierre Swiggers at the center for linguistic historiography at Katolieke Univeriteit Leuven, Belgium.

5. Research informative efforts outside the scientific community
No.

6. The two key publications of the project
Published article
- "Augustine and the primeval language in early modern exegesis and philology", Language and History, vol. 56, no. 2, November 2013, pp. 97-118.

Soon forthcoming article (digital Vorab-Publication)
- "Albert Schultens (1686-1750) and the primeval language: The Crisis of a tradition and the Turning Point of a discourse", in Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, ed. Gerda Hassler, Potsdam in 2014.

7 .The publishing strategy of the project
The reputable and established journals in linguistic historiography do not easily accept access, as opposed to what is usually the practice in scientific journals. This circumstance has made the ensuring of public availability more difficult. I have managed to publish open access after payment or by means of parallel publication of peer reviewed and accepted author's version.

Publications:

Publicerad artikel
 1. “Augustine and the primeval language in early modern exegesis and philology”, Language and history vol. 56, no. 2, November 2013, pp. 97-118.

Utkommande artikel
2.“Albert Schultens (1686–1750) and primeval language: the crisis of a tradition and the turning point of a discourse”, utkommande i Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft, utg.  Gerda Haßler, Potsdam 2014, ca. 22-23 sidor.

Artiklar som har lämnats in för granskning i tidsskrifter eller dylikt
3. “The primeval language and Hebrew ethnicity in ancient thought with special regard to Augustine”, utkommande i Revue de Études Augustiniennes et Patristiques, ca. 30-40 sidor.

4. “Johan Ihre (1707-1780) som språkhistoriker och etymolog: en fullföljare och banbrytare i 1700-talets jämförande språkforskning”, utkommande i Kungliga Gustav Adolf Akademiens småskriftserie, ca. 50-60 sidor.

5.“Johan Ihre’s language classification: theory and methods”, utkommande i Language and History, ca. 21 sidor.

Preliminära bokmanus
6. Georg Stiernhielm, De linguarum origine praefatio – On the origin and diversification of languages. Edited with introduction, translation, and explanatory notes, kommer att publiceras i Studia Latina Upsaliensia, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ca. 200 sidor.

7. Albert Schultens and his Theses de lingua primaeva: the topic of the primeval language before 1750 and the emergence of the concept of a Semitic proto-language, inlämnad för granskning på Brills förlag i Leiden i serien Texts and sources in intellectual history. ca. 200 sidor.

Preliminär artikel
8. Utgåva med engelsk översättning av Samuel Gagnerus hittils outgivna latinska biografi över Georg Stiernhielm från 1700-talet, utkommande i tidsskriften Samlaren 2015. ca. 25 sidor.