Adolf Tobler (24 May 1835 – 18 March 1910) was a Swiss-German linguist and philologist. Born in

Hirzel Hirzel is a former municipality in the district of Horgen in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Hirzel merged into the municipality of Horgen. History Hirzel is first mentioned in 1269 as ''Hirso ...

in Zürich, Switzerland, he was the brother of linguist Ludwig Tobler (1827–1895). Adolf Tobler died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, Germany. He studied

Romance philology Romance studies or Romance philology ( an, filolochía romanica; ca, filologia romànica; french: romanistique; eo, latinida filologio; it, filologia romanza; pt, filologia românica; ro, romanistică; es, filología románica) is an acade ...

at the universities of

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1857. At Bonn, he was influenced by the teachings of

Friedrich Christian Diez Friedrich Christian Diez (15 March 179429 May 1876) was a German philologist. The two works on which his fame rests are the ''Grammar of the Romance Languages'' (published 1836–1844), and the ''Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages'' ...

and

Nicolaus Delius Nicolaus Delius (19 September 1813 – 18 November 1888) was a German philologist. Delius was born at Bremen; he was distinguished especially as a student of Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English ...

. After graduation, he worked as a schoolteacher at the

Solothurn Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; rm, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the Capital (political), capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the n ...

cantonal school, then at the gymnasium in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. In 1867, he relocated to the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

, where from 1871 up until his death, he held the chair of Romance philology. In 1890/91, he served as

university rector A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...

.Adolf Tobler
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (biography) The "Tobler-Mussafia law", a grammatical rule applicable to Romance languages is named after Tobler and Austrian philologist

Adolf Mussafia Adolf Mussafia (15 February 1835 – 7 June 1905), also known as Adolfo Mussafia or Adolpho Mussaphia, was a polyglot Austrian philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection ...

Published works

Among his better-written efforts was the five-volume ''Vermischte Beiträge zur französischen Grammatik'' ("Miscellaneous contributions to French grammar"; 1886–1912). His creation of an

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

dictionary was unfinished at the time of his death, being posthumously edited and published by Erhard Lommatzsch ("Tobler-Lommatzsch", ''Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch''; 11 volumes). Other noted works by Tobler include: * ''Gedichte von Jehan de Condet nach der casanatensischen Handschrift'', 1860 – Poems by Jean de Condé according to the Casanatensian manuscript. * ''Aus der Chanson de geste von Auberi nach einer vaticanischen Handschrift'', 1870 – From the ''

Chanson de geste The ''chanson de geste'' (, from Latin 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th cen ...

'' of Auberi, according to a Vatican manuscript. * ''Li dis dou vrai aniel. Die Parabel von dem ächten Ringe, Französische Dichtung des dreizehnten Jahrhunderts'', 1871 – ''Li dis dou vrai aniel''. The parable of the true ring, French poetry of the 13th century. * ''Vom französischen Versbau alter und neuer Zeit. Zusammenstellung der Anfangsgründe'', 1880 – On French versification of old and modern times.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobler, Adolf 1835 births 1910 deaths People from Horgen District University of Zurich alumni University of Bonn alumni Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Linguists from Switzerland Swiss philologists German philologists Romance philologists Cervantists