Lectures on The Science of Language 1

Lectures on The Science of Language 1

Lectures on The Science of Language by Max Müller

 

CONTENTS

 

 

Dedication

Preface.

Lecture I. The Science Of Language One Of The Physical Sciences.

Lecture II. The Growth Of Language In Contradistinction To The History Of

Language.

Lecture III. The Empirical Stage.

Lecture IV. The Classificatory Stage.

Lecture V. Genealogical Classification Of Languages.

Lecture VI. Comparative Grammar.

Lecture VII. The Constituent Elements Of Language.

Lecture VIII. Morphological Classification.

Lecture IX. The Theoretical Stage, And The Origin Of Language.

Appendix.

Index.

Footnotes

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEDICATION

 

 

Dedicated

 

To

 

The Members Of The University Of Oxford,

 

Both Resident And Non-Resident,

 

To Whom I Am Indebted

 

For Numerous Proofs Of Sympathy And Kindness

 

During The Last Twelve Years,

 

In Grateful Acknowledgment Of Their Generous Support

 

On The

 

7th Of December, 1860.

 

 

 

 

 

PREFACE.

 

 

My Lectures on the Science of Language are here printed as I had prepared

them in manuscript for the Royal Institution. When I came to deliver them,

a considerable portion of what I had written had to be omitted; and, in

now placing them before the public in a more complete form, I have gladly

complied with a wish expressed by many of my hearers. As they are, they

only form a short abstract of several Courses delivered from time to time

in Oxford, and they do not pretend to be more than an introduction to a

science far too comprehensive to be treated successfully in so small a

compass.

 

My object, however, will have been attained, if I should succeed in

attracting the attention, not only of the scholar, but of the philosopher,

the historian, and the theologian, to a science which concerns them all,

and which, though it professes to treat of words only, teaches us that

there is more in words than is dreamt of in our philosophy. I quote from

Bacon: “Men believe that their reason is lord over their words, but it

happens, too, that words exercise a reciprocal and reactionary power over

our intellect. Words, as a Tartar’s bow, shoot back upon the understanding

of the wisest, and mightily entangle and pervert the judgment.”

 

MAX MÜLLER.

 

_Oxford_, June 11, 1861.

 

 

 

 

 

LECTURE I. THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE ONE OF THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES.

 

 

When I was asked some time ago to deliver a course of lectures on

Comparative Philology in this Institution, I at once expressed my

readiness to do so. I had lived long enough in England to know that the

peculiar difficulties arising from my imperfect knowledge of the language

would be more than balanced by the forbearance of an English audience, and

I had such perfect faith in my subject that I thought it might be trusted

even in the hands of a less skilful expositor. I felt convinced that the

researches into the history of languages and into the nature of human

speech which have been carried on for the last fifty years in England,

France, and Germany, deserved a larger share of public sympathy than they

had hitherto received; and it seemed to me, as far as I could judge, that

the discoveries in this newly-opened mine of scientific inquiry were not

inferior, whether in novelty or importance, to the most brilliant

discoveries of our age.

 

It was not till I began to write my lectures that I became aware of the

difficulties of the task I had undertaken. The dimensions of the science

of language are so vast that it is impossible in a course of nine lectures

to give more than a very general survey of it; and as one of the greatest

charms of this science consists in the minuteness of the analysis by which

each language, each dialect, each word, each grammatical form is tested, I

felt that it was almost impossible to do full justice to my subject, or to

place the achievements of those who founded and fostered the science of

language in their true light. Another difficulty arises from the dryness

of many of the problems which I shall have to discuss. Declensions and

conjugations cannot be made amusing, nor can I avail myself of the

advantages possessed by most lecturers, who enliven their discussions by

experiments and diagrams. If, with all these difficulties and drawbacks, I

do not shrink from opening to-day this course of lectures on mere words,

on nouns and verbs and particles,—if I venture to address an audience

accustomed to listen, in this place, to the wonderful tales of the natural

historian, the chemist, and geologist, and wont to see the novel results

of inductive reasoning invested by native eloquence, with all the charms

of poetry and romance,—it is because, though mistrusting myself, I cannot

mistrust my subject. The study of words may be tedious to the school-boy,

as breaking of stones is to the wayside laborer; but to the thoughtful eye

of the geologist these stones are full of interest;—he sees miracles on

the high-road, and reads chronicles in every ditch. Language, too, has

marvels of her own, which she unveils to the inquiring glance of the

patient student. There are chronicles below her surface; there are sermons

in every word. Language has been called sacred ground, because it is the

deposit of thought. We cannot tell as yet what language is. It may be a

production of nature, a work of human art, or a divine gift. But to

whatever sphere it belongs, it would seem to stand unsurpassed—nay,

unequalled in it—by anything else. If it be a production of nature, it is

her last and crowning production which she reserved for man alone. If it

be a work of human art, it would seem to lift the human artist almost to

the level of a divine creator. If it be the gift of God, it is God’s

greatest gift; for through it God spake to man and man speaks to God in

worship, prayer, and meditation.

 

Although the way which is before us may be long and tedious, the point to

which it tends would seem to be full of interest; and I believe I may

promise that the view opened before our eyes from the summit of our

science, will fully repay the patient travellers, and perhaps secure a

free pardon to their venturous guide.

 

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

 

The Science of Language is a science of very modern date. We cannot trace

its lineage much beyond the beginning of our century, and it is scarcely

received as yet on a footing of equality by the elder branches of

learning. Its very name is still unsettled, and the various titles that

have been given to it in England, France, and Germany are so vague and

varying that they have led to the most confused ideas among the public at

large as to the real objects of this new science. We hear it spoken of as

Comparative Philology, Scientific Etymology, Phonology, and Glossology. In

France it has received the convenient, but somewhat barbarous, name of

_Linguistique_. If we must have a Greek title for our science, we might

derive it either from _mythos_, word, or from _logos_, speech. But the

title of _Mythology_ is already occupied, and _Logology_ would jar too

much on classical ears. We need not waste our time in criticising these

names, as none of them has as yet received that universal sanction which

belongs to the titles of other modern sciences, such as Geology or

Comparative Anatomy; nor will there be much difficulty in christening our

young science after we have once ascertained its birth, its parentage, and

its character. I myself prefer the simple designation of the Science of

Language, though in these days of high-sounding titles, this plain name

will hardly meet with general acceptance.

 

From the name we now turn to the meaning of our science. But before we

enter upon a definition of its subject-matter, and determine the method

which ought to be followed in our researches, it will be useful to cast a

glance at the history of the other sciences, among which the science of

language now, for the first time, claims her place; and examine their

origin, their gradual progress, and definite settlement. The history of a

science is, as it were, its biography, and as we buy experience cheapest

in studying the lives of others, we may, perhaps, guard our young science

from some of the follies and extravagances inherent in youth by learning a

lesson for which other branches of human knowledge have had to pay more dearly.