Wolfgang Pfeifer (3 December 1922 in Leipzig - 9 July 2020 in Berlin) was a German scholar and linguist.
Life
Wolfgang Pfeifer studied
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
**Ge ...
,
Scandinavian studies
Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining ...
,
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ...
, historical linguistics and history. After completing his doctorate at the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...
in 1950, he worked as a researcher at the
German Academy of Sciences at Berlin
The German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, german: Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (DAW), in 1972 renamed the Academy of Sciences of the GDR (''Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR (AdW)''), was the most eminent research institution ...
, where he worked on the German Dictionary of the Grimm Brothers from 1949 to 1960. In 1961, together with other collaborators, he received the I. Class National Prize of the GDR for the completion of the German Dictionary.
Pfeifer published numerous contributions to linguistics, linguistic and word history and lexicography. Of particular scientific importance is the Etymological Dictionary of German, which was compiled under his direction by a collective of eight to ten authors at the Berlin Academy. The first edition was published in May 1989 and has been updated ever since, most recently online as a component in the Digital Dictionary of the German Language.
Wolfgang Pfeifer, father of two daughters by his first marriage and widowed, was married in the 1980s to Gerlinde Pfeifer, who was also a member of the authors' collective of the Etymological Dictionary. He lived in Berlin.
Hans Magnus Enzensberger considered him the most important German etymologist after the
Grimm Brothers
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among t ...
,
Hermann Paul
Hermann Otto Theodor Paul (August 7, 1846, Salbke – December 29, 1921, Munich) was a German philologist, linguist and lexicographer.
Biography
He studied at Berlin and Leipzig, and in 1874 became professor of German language and literatu ...
and
Friedrich Kluge
Friedrich Kluge (21 June 1856 – 21 May 1926) was a German philologist and educator. He is known for the Kluge etymological dictionary of the German language (''Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache''), which was first published in 1 ...
.
Important publications
Dictionaries
* ''Wörterbuch der deutschen Tiernamen. Insekten.'' Lfg. 1–6. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1963–1968.
* ''Wörterbuch der deutschen Tiernamen.'' Beiheft 1: ''Käfer.'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1963.
* ''Wörterbuch der deutschen Tiernamen:'' Beiheft 2: ''Schabe.'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1965.
* ''Wörterbuch der deutschen Tiernamen.'' Beiheft 4: ''Spanische Fliegen und Maiwürmer:'' Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1966.
* ''Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen'' (publisher)
** 3 volumes: Akademie Verlag, Berlin. 1st edition 1989, 2nd edition 1993.Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen dwds.de
** one volume: dtv, 1665 pages. 1st edition 1995, 2nd edition 1997, 6th edition, München 2003 (= ''dtv.'' Band 32511).
** one volume: Akzente Verlagshaus, 2010, 1665 pages, .
** Digital: Part of
DWDS
DWDS (106.1 FM), on air as 106.1 Animo! FM, is a radio station owned and operated by De La Salle Lipa through its AB Communications Radio Guild.
* with
Heinrich Marzell Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
and
Wilhelm Wissmann
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
: ''Wörterbuch der deutschen Pflanzennamen.'' 1943–1979.
Contributions
* ''Das Deutsche Wörterbuch.'' In: ''Deutsches Jahrbuch für Volkskunde'' 9 (1963), S. 190–213 (= ''Jacob Grimm zur 100. Wiederkehr seines Todestages. Festschrift des Instituts für deutsche Volkskunde'').
* ''Geschichtliches und Kritisches zur Lexikographie an der Akademie.'' In: ''Erbe, Vermächtnis und Verpflichtung. Zur sprachwissenschaftlichen Forschung in der Geschichte der AdW der DDR'' (=Sprache und Gesellschaft 10). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1978, S. 119–131.
* ''Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch und deutsche Etymologie.'' In: '' Philologus'' 123 (1979), S. 170–173.
* '' Adelungs Stellung zur Etymologie in seinem Wörterbuch.'' In:
Werner Bahner Werner may refer to:
People
* Werner (name), origin of the name and people with this name as surname and given name
Fictional characters
* Werner (comics), a German comic book character
* Werner Von Croy, a fictional character in the ''Tomb Rai ...
(Hrsg.): ''Sprache und Kulturentwicklung im Blickfeld der deutschen Spätaufklärung. Der Beitrag Johann Christoph Adelungs''. (= ''Abhandlungen der Sächsischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philologisch-historische Klasse'', Jg. 70, Nr. 4). Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1984, S. 233–238.
* ''Bericht über das Etymologische Wörterbuch des Deutschen.'' In: ''Current Trends in West Germanic Etymological Lexicography'' 1993, S. 77–89.