Otto Jespersen | |
|---|---|
 Jespersen,c. 1915 | |
| Born | (1860-07-16)16 July 1860 Randers, Denmark |
| Died | 30 April 1943(1943-04-30) (aged 82) Roskilde, Denmark |
| Occupation | Linguist |
Jens Otto Harry Jespersen (Danish:[ˈʌtsʰoˈjespɐsn̩]; 16 July 1860 – 30 April 1943) was a Danishlinguist who specialized in thegrammar of theEnglish language.Steven Mithen describes him as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries."[1]
Otto Jespersen was born inRanders inJutland. As a boy, he was inspired by works of the Danish philologistRasmus Rask andNiels Matthias Petersen [da;de;fr;sv] biography of Rask,[2] and with the help of Rask's grammars taught himself some Icelandic, Italian, and Spanish.[3] He entered theUniversity of Copenhagen in 1877 when he was 17, initially studying law but not forgetting his language studies. In 1881 he shifted his focus completely to languages,[4] and in 1887 passed the university examination inFrench, with English andLatin as his secondary languages. He chose to be examined onDiderot, reflecting a lasting enthusiasm for the ideals of theFrench Revolution and theAge of Enlightenment. He studied underKarl Verner,Hermann Möller and particularlyVilhelm Thomsen among linguists; and more broadly, underHarald Høffding: it was thanks to Høffding that Jespersen was exposed to the writings and ideas ofDarwin,Mill andSpencer, and to introspective psychology. Throughout his life Jespersen remained faithful to the ideals and methods of his early teachers. Positivist and evolutionary attitudes, physiological and psychological methods in their classical form, and finally, liberal humanism were essential to his character.[5]
Jespersen's views on language owed less to theoretical considerations than to a practical and thus largely functional conception of language; as a language theorist, Jespersen could remain tethered to reality thanks to the common sense fundamental to his character. Even when making such bold proposals as that of the "progress" of a language, he could avoid extremes.[6]
He supported himself during his studies through part-time work as a schoolteacher and as a shorthand reporter in the Danish parliament.
In 1887–1888, he traveled to England, Germany and France, meeting linguists likeHenry Sweet andPaul Passy and attending lectures at institutions likeOxford University. Following the advice of his mentorVilhelm Thomsen, he returned to Copenhagen in August 1888 and began work on his doctoral dissertation on the Englishcase system.
Jespersen was a professor of English at the University of Copenhagen from 1893 to his retirement in 1925, and was Rector of the university in 1920–21. His early work focused primarily on language teaching reform and on phonetics, but he is better known for his later work on syntax and on language development.
In 1886, Jespersen,August Western [no] andJohan August Lundell cofounded a Scandinavian group for a revitalization of language teaching, naming the group "Quousque Tandem" afterWilhelm Viëtor's pseudonym as author of the 1882 pamphletDer Sprachunterricht muss umkehren! ("Language teaching must start afresh!"). The group opposed the use oftheoretical grammar and translation exercises, advocating in its place the teaching of a language in its spoken and living form by the"direct" method, informed by phonetics. As a campaigner, he was an extremist:Hjelmslev writes that this was an area where Jespersen's normal moderation and common sense were counterbalanced by a revolutionary fervour, and that he was a "Jacobin" among linguists.[7]
In June 1886, Jespersen became a member of theInternational Phonetic Association (IPA), then called the Phonetic Teachers' Association. The idea of creating a phonetic alphabet that could be used by every language was first put forward by Jespersen in a letter he sent toPaul Passy.[8] Jespersen's transcription system for English, used inJohn Brynildsen [no]'sEngelsk–Dansk–Norsk Ordbog =A Dictionary of the English and Dano-Norwegian Languages (1902–1907), is very close to that ofDaniel Jones, which it preceded by some years.[9] He devised a system, namedDania, for the phonetic transcription of Danish (1890), which has remained in use for philological, dialectological and lexicographic work in Danish.[10] Jespersen was sceptical of a single phonetic transcription system for universal application, and did not use the IPA'sInternational Phonetic Alphabet.[11]
Jespersen's major work on phonetics wasFonetik, in Danish and published in 1897–1899). Stripped of content specific to Danish, but updated, it was published in German translation in 1904. The Danish-specific material was republished asModersmålets fonetik. InEli Fischer-Jørgensen's estimate (1979), Jespersen was not a great innovator, but was unusually adept at the pronunciation and description of articulatory phonetics, and also aware of the importance of contrast.[12]
Although not a phonologist himself, Jespersen was the first to propose a conceptual distinction betweenphonetics andphonology that is commonly observed today.[a]
Stød, "a particular kind of laryngealisation (creaky voice) characterizing some Danish syllables" had been studied sinceJens Høysgaard in the mid-18th century, but Jespersen's synchronic study ofstød and of its morphology and also his study of the relationship between the Danishstød and "the Norwegian and Swedishtonal ('musical') accents" were major advances from the work done byRasmus Rask,Karl Verner, andHenry Sweet.[15]
Hans Basbøll evaluates Jespersen as "a true pioneer in his analysis of stress" saying that:
he developed a whole system of types of stress and described it in detail: both syntactic principles of stress reduction (unitary stress, or unit accentuation), of compound stress, of value stress (different types of emphatic stress), and so on.[16]
Basbøll has coined the term "New Jespersen School" (Ny-Jespersenianerne) for "the main editors of [Den Store Danske Udtaleordbog (a major pronunciation dictionary for Danish)[b]], namely,Lars Brink [da],Jørn Lund and Steffen Heger, and their collaborators and pupils"; their major achievement aside fromSDU has been Brink and Lund's two-volume historical phonetics workDansk Rigsmål (1975).[c][17]
Jespersen continued to study in Paris (especially underGaston Paris), England, Berlin (underJulius Zupitza), and Leipzig. Particularly important were his friendships withPaul Passy andHenry Sweet. Sweet's views on phonetics, grammar, and historical linguistics, and his concentration on English, had a great influence on Jespersen. Jespersen's choice of thecase system of English as the subject of his doctoral dissertation was probably also prompted by advice fromVilhelm Thomsen to prepare for a chair in English at theUniversity of Copenhagen that would soon be vacant upon the retirement ofGeorge Stephens. He successfully defended his dissertation in 1891. Once installed as chair, Jespersen devoted most of his energy to the study and teaching of English, but he retained his broader interests. His prolific output was of great importance for the linguistic study of all aspects of English, for linguistics in general, and to a lesser degree for Nordic philology. Jespersen was the first great linguist to hold the chair of English at the Copenhagen, while his friendKristoffer Nyrop [ca;de;fr;it;ro;ru;sv] had much the same role for the university's chair of French.[18]
Jespersen continued as chair of English until he retired in 1925, following his resolve not to continue after reaching 65, in order to help make way for younger scholars.[19]
Jespersen advanced the concepts ofrank in two papers:Sprogets logik (1913) andDe to hovedarter af grammatiske forbindelser (1921); and in the latter,nexus as well.[11] In this theory of ranks Jespersen removes the parts of speech from the syntax, and differentiates between primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries; e.g. inwell honed phrase, the primary isphrase, this being defined by a secondary,honed, which itself is defined by a tertiary,well. The termnexus is applied to sentences, structures similar to sentences and sentences in formation, in which two concepts are expressed in one unit; e.g.,it rained, he ran indoors. This term is qualified by a further concept called ajunction which represents one idea, expressed by means of two or more elements, whereas a nexus combines two ideas.Junction andnexus have had a mixed evaluation: Hjelmslev finds the distinction between them confused, and Jespersen's theory of them in need of revision, in contrast to his refinement in "Tid og tempus" (1914)[d] of Sweet's distinction betweentense (Danishtempus) andtime (Danishtid).[20]
Jespersen's work helped point the way towards our current understanding of a grammaticalhead.[21]
In Hjelmslev's opinion,Negation in English and Other Languages (1917) offers a great number of observations and considerable food for thought, but fails to constitute a general examination of negation, for which purpose it would have to be based on more solid materials, from a greater variety of languages[22] (the overwhelming majority of the examples examined are from theIndo-European languages of west Europe). Jespersen coined the termsparatactic negation[23] andresumptive negation (negation with an element added to the end of the sentence to strengthen the already negative meaning of the sentence);[24] he also advanced understanding ofnegative concord.[25]
InThe Philosophy of Grammar (1924) Jespersen challenges the accepted views of common concepts ingrammar and proposes corrections to the basic definitions ofcase,pronoun,object,voice etc., and further develops his notions ofRank andNexus. In the 21st century this book is still used as one of the basic texts in modernstructural linguistics.[citation needed]
WithThe Philosophy of Grammar particularly in mind,Noam Chomsky said in 1975: "I think it is fair to say that the work of recent years tends generally to support the basic ideas that Jespersen outlined 50 years ago, and extends and advances the program that he outlined."[26]
Jespersen advanced the study of theGreat Vowel Shift, and was the first to present it in diagram form; he also coined its name.[e][27]
From his doctoral dissertation of 1891 onwards, Jespersen maintained that over time language did not merely change but progressed. Inspired bySpencer's ideas on the progress of language, this was also a reaction againstAugust Schleicher's theory that, after increasing in complexity, languages become senescent and decay. In his booksLanguage: Its nature, development and origin (1922) andEfficiency in linguistic change (1941) and elsewhere, Jespersen attempted to show that linguistics was a biological science, and that an evolutionary perspective, in which the fittest expression (that whose efficiency is maximized with minimum effort) survived, explained language change over time.[28]
Hjelmslev criticizes the ambiguity of "efficiency" and "effort"; and adds that even if these are understood only loosely, there have been counter-examples.[f] He concludes that, as propounded by Jespersen, the thesis is far from convincing, but is put forward vividly and has aroused considerable interest.[28]
Richard C. Smith considersLanguage: Its nature, development and origin to be Jespersen's "masterpiece".[4]
As Jespersen believed that linguistics was a biological science and that in evolutionontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, his interest in historical linguistics led him both to examine child language and to propoundinterlinguistics, the encouragement of linguistic progress.[28]
Jespersen's writings on child language appear inNutidssprog hos børn og voxne (1916),Børnesprog (1923),Sproget: barnet, kvinden, slægten (1941); they are summarized withinLanguage: Its nature, development, and origin (1922).[28]
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Jespersen applied both his theories on grammar and his ideas of efficiency of expression into the quest for aninternational auxiliary language. He was an early supporter of theEsperanto offshootIdo, collaborating withLouis Couturat and others onInternational Language and Science (1910), a book advocating its adoption.[g][28]
Jespersen later broke with Ido and created an alternative,Novial. His significant publications here includeAn International language (1928),Novial Lexike (1930), and "A new science: Interlinguistics" (1931).[h][28]
He also worked with theInternational Auxiliary Language Association.[29]
The seven-volume, descriptive reference workA Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (1909–1949) is likely Jespersen's most influential work and concentrates on syntax,
Jespersen's specialism for the longest period was the English language. Within this, the foremost work wasA Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, published in six volumes during his lifetime, from 1909 to 1942, and a seventh, posthumous volume in 1949. The first volume is devoted to historical phonetics, the sixth to morphology (both derivational and inflectional) Five of the seven volumes are devoted to syntax, which Jespersen particularly enjoyed.[i]
A Modern English grammar had a high repute at the time: writing in Jespersen's obituary, Helmslev calls it a "monumental work", one that "will maintain its immense value for an incalculable future thanks to the rich documentation of facts it provides".[j][30]
In his own workThe Syntactic Phenomena of English (1988),James D. McCawley attributes various of his analyses, or the insights pointing towards them, to Jespersen:raising;[31] "worthwhile criticism of traditional systems ofparts of speech"[32] and classification of what are traditionally termed "subordinating conjunctions" (as in "You must look at thisbefore you leave") asprepositions with sententialsubjects;[33] and more specifically, classification ofthat inrelative clauses (as in "The necktiethat he bought was polyester") not as arelative pronoun but as acomplementizer.[34] Asked how the 20th-century Dutch grammarians of EnglishHendrik Poutsma,Etsko Kruisinga andR. W. Zandvoort compared with Jespersen, McCawley replied: "Of course, Jespersen is in a class by himself. He was a fantastically original, broad, and deep thinker."[35]
Growth and Structure of the English Language (1905, and reprinted at numerous times thereafter) is a broad history of the English language. It won Jespersen thePrix Volney.[36]
Essentials of English Grammar (1933), primarily intended for university teaching, is for the most part synchronic.[37]
Terms related to English that were introduced by Jespersen and are still widely used today includecleft sentence,[38][39]content clause,[40]light verb,[41]mass noun,[42] andyes-or-no question.[43] Jespersen's writings have also influenced today's conceptions ofexistential sentence.[44]
Robert I. Binnick calls Jespersen "one of the greatest students of the English language . . . , at once the last of the traditional grammarians and the first modern linguist–grammarian".[45]
Mankind, Nation and Individual: From a linguistic point of view (1925) is one of the pioneering works onsociolinguistics.
Late in his life Jespersen publishedAnalytic Syntax (1937), in which he presents his views on syntactic structure using an idiosyncratic shorthand notation.
During the decades of his activity, Jespersen followed what other, younger linguists were doing but refrained from unreservedly welcoming any advance, let alone from aligning himself with any new approach. He remained individualistic, but "there was a conservative streak in his radicalism"[k] as he seemed to take seriously only the standpoints that had influenced him in his youth and to interpret newer work as mere repetition of this or that older theory.[36]
Jespersen's main interest was not that of seeking patterns and explanations of thelangue behindparole, but rather its opposite, the major concern of the phonetics and semantics of his youth: "the psychophysiological fact ofparole".[l][36]
Jespersen visited the United States twice: he lectured at the Congress of Arts and Sciences in St. Louis in 1904, and in 1909–1910 he visited both theUniversity of California andColumbia University.[46] While in the U.S., he studied its education system. His autobiography (En sprogmands levned) was first published in English translation (A linguist's life) as recently as 1995.
After his retirement in 1925, Jespersen remained active in the international linguistic community. As well as continuing to write, he convened and chaired the first International Meeting on Linguistic Research in Geneva in 1930, and presided over the Fourth International Congress of Linguists in Copenhagen in 1936.[46]
Jespersen received honorary degrees fromColumbia University in New York (1910), theUniversity of St Andrews in Scotland (1925), and theSorbonne in Paris (1927).[3] He was one of the first six international scholars to be elected as honorary members of theLinguistic Society of America.[46] He was elected a foreign member of theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1931.[47]
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