Johann Siegmund Valentin Popowitsch ( sl, Janez Žiga Valentin Popovič;
February 9, 1705 – November 21, 1774) was a
Styrian philologist and natural scientist. His advocacy of a standardized Upper German paved the way for
Austrian German
Austrian German (german: Österreichisches Deutsch), Austrian Standard German (ASG), Standard Austrian German (), or Austrian High German (), is the variety of Standard German written and spoken in Austria. It has the highest sociolinguistic p ...
as a variety of
Standard German.
Popowitsch was born in
Arclin
Arclin () is a settlement in the Municipality of Vojnik in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the main road south of Vojnik, Vojnik, Vojnik towards Celje. The area is part of the traditional region of Lower Styria, Styria. It is now included with the res ...
, a village near
Celje in
Lower Styria
Styria ( sl, Štajerska), also Slovenian Styria (''Slovenska Štajerska'') or Lower Styria (''Spodnja Štajerska''; german: Untersteiermark), is a traditional region in northeastern Slovenia, comprising the southern third of the former Duchy o ...
.
He studied in Graz from 1715 to 1728, graduating from the Jesuit high school and lyceum. He continued his education by studying theology, but was not ordained. Popowitsch was familiar with 15 languages and his research interests included philology, botany, pomology, entomology, geophysics, oceanography, archaeology, history, and numismatics. He also traveled extensively in German and Italian lands. He was a professor of German at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...
from 1753 to 1766.
He died in
Perchtoldsdorf
Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking.
Geography
It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...
. Popowitsch was characterized by
Jernej Kopitar
Jernej Kopitar, also known as Bartholomeus Kopitar (21 August 1780 – 11 August 1844), was a Slovene linguist and philologist working in Vienna. He also worked as the Imperial censor for Slovene literature in Vienna. He is perhaps best known ...
as the "greatest scholar of his time in Austria, a praiseworthy philologist and natural scientist."
Works
* ''Erstes Probestück vermischter Untersuchungen'', Regensburg 1749.
*
Untersuchungen vom Meere, die auf Veranlassung einer Schrift, De Columnis Herculis, welche der hochberühmte Professor in Altdorf, Herr Christ. Gottl. Schwarz herausgegeben, nebst andern zu den selben gehörigen Anmerkungen von einem Liebhaber der Naturlehre und der Philologie vorgetragen werden', Frankfurt and Leipzig 1750 (anonymous).
*
Die nothwendigsten Anfangsgründe der teutschen Sprachkunst, zum Gebrauche der oesterreichischen Schulen ausgefertigt', Vienna 1754.
*
Programma de inveterato corrupti stili Germanici malo', Vienna 1754.
*
Entwurf einer Abhandlung von Teutschen Briefen', Vienna 1760.
*
Versuch einer Vereinigung der Mundarten von Teutschland: als eine Einleitung zu einem vollständigen Wörterbuche mit Bestimmungen der Wörter und beträchtlichen Beiträgen zur Naturgeschichte', Vienna 1780 (posthumous).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popowitsch, Johann Siegmund
18th-century linguists
18th-century Austrian botanists
Academic staff of the University of Vienna
Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Austrian naturalists
Slovenian philologists
Austrian oceanographers
1705 births
1774 deaths