Gotthelf Bergsträsser
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Gotthelf Bergsträsser (5 April 1886, in Oberlosa,
Plauen Plauen (; Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the S ...
– 16 August 1933, near Berchtesgaden) was a German
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
specializing in
Semitic studies Semitic studies, or Semitology, is the academic field dedicated to the studies of Semitic languages and literatures and the history of the Semitic-speaking peoples. A person may be called a ''Semiticist'' or a ''Semitist'', both terms being equi ...
, generally considered to be one of the greatest of the twentieth century. Bergsträsser was initially a teacher of
classical languages A classical language is any language with an independent literary tradition and a large and ancient body of written literature. Classical languages are typically dead languages, or show a high degree of diglossia, as the spoken varieties of the ...
before deciding to approach Semitic. He was a professor at Istanbul University during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when he was an officer in the German army stationed in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. While there, he studied the spoken dialects of
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...
in Syria and Palestine. One of his most well known works is the 29th (and final) edition of
Wilhelm Gesenius Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius (3 February 178623 October 1842) was a German orientalist, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, Lutheran theologian, Biblical scholar and critic. Biography Gesenius was born at Nordhausen. In 1803 he became ...
' ''Hebrew Grammar'' (1918–1929), which remained incomplete, containing only phonology and morphology of the verb. Also widely admired was his ''Introduction to the Semitic Languages'' (1928, English 1983). These brought him international fame as a scholar. His last position was professor of Semitic languages at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
. Bergsträsser mostly engaged in the study of Arabic, focusing on the history of the text of the
Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
. He worked alongside Arthur Jeffrey, a Methodist minister and professor at the American University in Cairo, filming early Qur'anic manuscripts and studying
qira'at In Islam, ''Qirāah'', (pl. ''Qirāāt''; ar, قراءات , lit= recitations or readings) are different linguistic, lexical, phonetic, morphological and syntactical forms permitted with reciting the holy book of Islam, the Quran. Differ ...
literature in preparation to produce a critical edition of the Qur'an. Bergsträsser left many of his planned works unfinished (including the rest of his Hebrew grammar and his grammar of spoken Aramaic), when he disappeared while mountaineering in Bavaria in 1933. He was also a historian of Islamic law as evinced by his ''Grundzüge des islamischen Rechts'' (Basics of Islamic Law), which was edited and published post-humously by the famous scholar of Islam, Joseph Schacht (
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
). He covers topics such as the indigenous history of Islamic law, contractual law, personal law, family law, criminal law, business law, inheritance law, procedural law, etc. Bergsträsser was an outspoken anti-Nazi, and helped to save German Jewish scholars. Gotthelf Bergsträsser died on the 16th of August in 1933. His companion Friedrich Thiersch recorded an account of his death in a 16 page typed statement to the local authorities recounting that Bergtrasser had fallen off a sharp incline during the excursion and had injured his head. Thiersch had remained with him through the night until Bergtrasser died. His death though was the subject of speculation with some arguing that he was killed by a student for his anti-Nazi views while mountaineering in Bavaria.


Bibliography

*''Die Negationen im Kur'an'' (1911) *''
Hunain ibn Ishaq Hunayn ibn Ishaq al-Ibadi (also Hunain or Hunein) ( ar, أبو زيد حنين بن إسحاق العبادي; (809–873) was an influential Nestorian Christian translator, scholar, physician, and scientist. During the apex of the Islamic A ...
und seine Schule. Sprach- und literaturgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zu den arabischen Hippokrates- und
Galen Aelius Galenus or Claudius Galenus ( el, Κλαύδιος Γαληνός; September 129 – c. AD 216), often Anglicized as Galen () or Galen of Pergamon, was a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher in the Roman Empire. Considered to be one ...
-Übersetzungen'' (1913) *''Verneinungs- und Fragepartikeln und Verwandtes im Kur'an'' (Leipzig, 1914; 1968) *''Sprachatlas von Syrien und Palästina'' (1915) *
Neuaramäische Märchen und andere Texte aus Malula
' (1915). Contains transcription and German translation. *''Neue meteorologische Fragmente des Theophrast. Arabisch und deutsch'' (1918/19) *''Zum arabischen Dialekt von Damaskus. Phonetik und Prosatexte'' (1924) *
Hunain ibn Ishaq. Über die syrischen und arabischen Galen-Übersetzungen
' (1925). Contains Arabic text and German translation. *''Einführung in die semitischen Sprachen. Sprachproben und Grammatische Skizzen'' (1928; 1963 ) *''Plan eines Apparatus Criticus zum Koran'' (München, 1930) *''Die Geschichte des Korantexts'' with O. Pretzl in
Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several ...
, ''Geschichte des Qorans'' (Leipzig 1938; 1961) *''Nichtkanonische Koranlesarten im Muhtasab des ibn Ginni'' (München, 1933) *''Phonogramme im neuaramäischen Dialekt von Malula'' (1933) *''Grundzüge des islamischen Rechts'' (edited and published by Joseph Schacht, 1935)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergstrasser, Gotthelf 1886 births 1933 deaths Linguists from Germany Semiticists German Hebraists 20th-century linguists