Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin

by Otto Jespersen

Still, I have not been able to compress into this volume the whole of my philosophy of speech. Considerations of space have obliged me to exclude the chapters I had first intended to write on the practical consequences of the ‘energetic’ view of language which I have throughout maintained; the estimation of linguistic phenomena implied in that view has bearings on such questions as these: What is to be considered ‘correct’ or ‘standard’ in matters of pronunciation, spelling, grammar and idiom? Can (or should) individuals exert themselves to improve their mother-tongue by enriching it with new terms and by making it purer, more precise, more fit to express subtle shades of thought, more easy to handle in speech or in writing, etc.? (A few hints on such questions may be found in my paper “Energetik der Sprache” in Scientia, 1914.) Is it possible to construct an artificial language on scientific principles for international use? (On this question I may here briefly state my conviction that it is extremely important for the whole of mankind to have such a language, and that Ido is scientifically and practically very much superior to all previous attempts, Volapük, Esperanto, Idiom Neutral, Latin sine flexione, etc. But I have written more at length on that question elsewhere.) With regard to the system of grammar, the relation of grammar to logic, and grammatical categories and their definition, I must refer the reader to Sprogets Logik (Copenhagen, 1913), and to the first chapter of the second volume of my Modern English Grammar (Heidelberg, 1914), but I shall hope to deal with these questions more in detail in a future work, to be called, probably, The Logic of Grammar, of which some chapters have been ready in my drawers for some years and others are in active preparation.

I have prefixed to the theoretical chapters of this work a short survey of the history of the science of language in order to show how my problems have been previously treated. In this part (Book I) I have, as a matter of course, used the excellent works on the subject by Benfey, Raumer, Delbrück (Einleitung in das Sprachstudium, 1st ed., 1880; I did not see the 5th ed., 1908, till my own chapters on the history of linguistics were finished), Thomsen, Oertel and Pedersen. But I have in nearly every case gone to the sources themselves, and have, I think, found interesting things in some of the early books on linguistics that have been generally overlooked; I have even pointed out some writers who had passed into undeserved oblivion. My intention has been on the whole to throw into relief the great lines of development rather than to give many details; in judging the first part of my book it should also be borne in mind that its object primarily is to serve as an introduction to the problems dealt with in the rest of the book. Throughout I have tried to look at things with my own eyes, and accordingly my views on a great many points are different from those generally accepted; it is my hope that an impartial observer will find that I have here and there succeeded in distributing light and shade more justly than my predecessors.

Wherever it has been necessary I have transcribed words phonetically according to the system of the Association Phonétique Internationale, though without going into too minute distinction of sounds, the object being, not to teach the exact pronunciation of various languages, but rather to bring out clearly the insufficiency of the ordinary spelling. The latter is given throughout in italics, while phonetic symbols have been inserted in brackets [ ]. I must ask the reader to forgive inconsistency in such matters as Greek accents, Old English marks of vowel-length, etc., which I have often omitted as of no importance for the purpose of this volume.

I must express here my gratitude to the directors of the Carlsbergfond for kind support of my work. I want to thank also Professor G. C. Moore Smith, of the University of Sheffield: not only has he sent me the manuscript of a translation of most of my Nutidssprog, which he had undertaken of his own accord and which served as the basis of Book II, but he has kindly gone through the whole of this volume, improving and correcting my English style in many passages. His friendship and the untiring interest he has always taken in my work have been extremely valuable to me for a great many years.

OTTO JESPERSEN.

University of Copenhagen,
June 1921.

[CONTENTS]

PAGE
Preface		[7]
Abbreviations of Book Titles, Etc.		[13]
Phonetic Symbols		[16]
BOOK I
HISTORY OF LINGUISTIC SCIENCE
CHAPTER
I.	Before 1800	[19]
II.	Beginning of Nineteenth Century	[32]
III.	Middle of Nineteenth Century	[63]
IV.	End of Nineteenth Century	[89]
BOOK II
THE CHILD
V.	Sounds	[103]
VI.	Words	[113]
VII.	Grammar	[128]
VIII.	Some Fundamental Problems	[140]
IX.	The Influence of the Child on Linguistic Development	[161]
X.	The Influence of the Child (continued)	[172]
BOOK III
THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE WORLD
XI.	The Foreigner	[191]
XII.	Pidgin and Congeners	[216]
XIII.	The Woman	[237]
XIV.	Causes of Change	[255]
XV.	Causes of Change (continued)	[276]
BOOK IV
DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE
XVI.	Etymology	[305]
XVII.	Progress or Decay?	[319]
XVIII.	Progress	[337]
XIX.	Origin of Grammatical Elements	[367]
XX.	Sound Symbolism	[396]
XXI.	The Origin of Speech	[412]
	Index	[443]