Friedrich Christian Diez (15 March 179429 May 1876) was a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
. 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'' (1853, and later editions). He spent most of his career at
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
.
Biography
Diez was born at
Giessen
Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...
, in
Hessen-Darmstadt
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a Imperial State, State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate ...
. He was educated first at the
gymnasium and then at the
university of his native town and
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
. There he studied classics under
Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker
Friedrich Gottlieb Welcker (4 November 1784 – 17 December 1868) was a German classical philologist and archaeologist.
Biography
Welcker was born at Grünberg, Hesse-Darmstadt. Having studied classical philology at the University of Giessen ...
who had just returned from a two years' residence in Italy to fill the chair of archaeology and Greek literature. It was Welcker who kindled in him a love of Italian poetry, and thus gave the first outlet to his genius. In 1813 he joined the Hesse corps as a volunteer and served in the French campaign. Next year he returned to his books, and this short taste of military service was the only break in a long and uneventful life of literary labours.
At his parents' desire he applied himself for a short time to
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, but a visit to
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
in 1818 gave a new direction to his studies, and determined his future career. Goethe had been reading
Raynouard's ''Selections from the Romance Poets'', and advised the young scholar to explore the rich mine of
Provençal literature which the French savant had opened up. This advice was eagerly followed, and henceforth Diez devoted himself to Romance literature. He thus became the founder of
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 ...
.
After supporting himself for some years by private teaching, he moved in 1822 to University of Bonn, where he held the position of
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
. In 1823 he published his first work, ''An Introduction to Romance Poetry''; in the following year appeared ''The Poetry of the Troubadours'', and in 1829 ''The Lives and Works of the Troubadours''. In 1830 he was called to the chair of modern literature.
The rest of his life was mainly occupied with the composition of the two great works on which his fame rests, the ''Grammar of the Romance Languages'' (1836–1844), and the ''Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages'' (1853, and later editions). In these two works Diez did for the Romance group of languages what
Jacob Grimm
Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...
did for the
Germanic family.
The earliest French philologists, such as Perion and
Henri Estienne
Henri Estienne (; ; 1528 or 15311598), also known as Henricus Stephanus (), was a French printer and classical scholar. He was the eldest son of Robert Estienne. He was instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by his father and would eventually tak ...
, had sought to discover the origin of French in Greek and even in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. For more than a century
Gilles Ménage
Gilles Ménage (; 15 August 1613 – 23 July 1692) was a French scholar.
Biography
He was born at Angers, the son of Guillaume Ménage, king's advocate at Angers. A good memory and enthusiasm for learning carried him quickly through his lite ...
's ''Etymological Dictionary'' (1650, 1670) held the field without a rival. Considering the time at which it was written, Ménage's was a meritorious work, but philology was then in the infant stage, and many of Ménage's derivations (such as that of "rat" from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
"mus," or of "haricot" from "faba") have since become bywords among philologists. A great advance was made by Raynouard, who by his critical editions of the works of the ''Troubadours'', published in the first years of the 19th century, laid the foundations on which Diez afterwards built.
The difference between Diez's method and that of his predecessors is well stated by him in the preface to his dictionary. In sum, it is the difference between science and guess-work. The scientific method is to follow implicitly the discovered principles and rules of phonology, and not to swerve a foot's breadth from them unless plain, actual exceptions shall justify it; to follow the genius of the language, and by cross-questioning to elicit its secrets; to gauge each letter and estimate the value which attaches to it in each position; and lastly to possess the true philosophic spirit which is prepared to welcome any new fact, though it may modify or upset the most cherished theory.
Works
Such is the
historical method
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn o ...
which Diez pursues in his grammar and dictionary. To collect and arrange facts is, as he tells us, the sole secret of his success, and he adds in other words th
apophthegmof
Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
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* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
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* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
, "
hypotheses non fingo
''Hypotheses non fingo'' (Latin for "I frame no hypotheses", or "I contrive no hypotheses") is a phrase used by Isaac Newton in an essay, "General Scholium", which was appended to the second (1713) edition of the '' Principia''.
Original remark
A ...
". The introduction to the
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
consists of two parts: the first discusses the Latin, Greek and Teutonic elements common to the
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
; the second treats of the six dialects separately, their origin and the elements peculiar to each. The grammar itself is divided into four books, on
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
, on
flexion
Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative ...
, on the formation of words by composition and derivation, and on
syntax
In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...
.
His dictionary is divided into two parts. The first contains words common to two at least of the three principal groups of Romance—Italian and Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese, and Provençal and French. The Italian, as nearest the original, is placed at the head of each article. The second part treats of words peculiar to one group. There is no separate glossary of
Wallachian.
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
''An Introduction to the Grammar of the Romance Languages'' by Friedrich Diez, translated to English by C.B. Cayley, year 1863.
''An Etymological Dictionary of the Romance Languages'' by Friedrich Diez, translated to English by T.C. Donkin, year 1864.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diez, Friedrich Christian
1794 births
1876 deaths
19th-century philologists
German philologists
University of Giessen alumni
University of Göttingen alumni
University of Bonn faculty
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)