Ernst Wilhelm Adalbert Kuhn (7 February 1846, 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 constitu ...

– 21 August 1920, in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

) was a German

Indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') i ...

and

Indo-Europeanist Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...

. He was the son of philologist

Adalbert Kuhn Franz Felix Adalbert Kuhn (19 November 1812 – 5 May 1881) was a German philologist and folklorist. Kuhn was born in Königsberg in Brandenburg's Neumark region. From 1841 he was connected with the Köllnisches Gymnasium at Berlin, of w ...

. He studied at the universities of

and

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in three ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1869 with a dissertation-thesis on Kaccāyana, the grammarian, ''Kaccâyanappakaraṇae specimen''. In 1871 he obtained his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

for

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

and

comparative grammar Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness ...

at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university in ...

, and during the following year relocated to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

as a lecturer. In 1875, he became a full professor at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, and from 1877 to 1917 served as a professor of Aryan philology and comparative

Indo-European linguistics Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pr ...

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 sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

.Kuhn, Ernst
In: Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB). Band 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, , S. 257–109.
Catalogus-professorum-halensis From 1873 he worked on the ''

Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung ''Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal covering Indo-European historical linguistics. It is the second oldest linguistics journal still in publication. The current editors-in-chief are ...

'',Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung
HathiTrust Digital Library a journal founded by his father, and since 1892 was an editor of ''Orientalische Bibliographie'', a publication founded by August Müller in 1887.HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works) In 1883 he became a member of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

Selected works

* ''Ueber die sprache der Etrusker'' (with

Wilhelm Paul Corssen Wilhelm Paul Corssen (20 January 182018 June 1875) was a German philologist noted for his work on Latin and Etruscan topics. Biography Corssen was born in Bremen and, after his merchant father moved to Schwedt in the Kingdom of Prussia, receiv ...

; 2 volumes, 1874–75) – On the language of the Etruscans. * ''Beiträge zur Pali-grammatik'', 1875 – Contributions to

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

grammar / considered to be his best work. * ''Mythologische studien von Adalbert Kuhn'' (1886, as editor) – Mythological studies of Adalbert Kuhn. * ''Barlaam und Joasaph; eine bibliographisch-literargeschichtliche Studie'', 1894 –

Barlaam and Josaphat Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are legendary Christian saints. Their life story was based on the life of the Gautama Buddha, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to the legend, an Indian ...

; a bibliographical-literary-historical study / In this work Kuhn pointed out the Buddhist influence on Christian legends. * ''Grundriss der iranischen philologie'' (as editor; main author

Wilhelm Geiger Wilhelm Ludwig Geiger (; ; 21 July 1856 – 2 September 1943) was a German Orientalist in the fields of Indo-Iranian languages and the history of Iran and Sri Lanka. He was known as a specialist in Pali, Sinhala language and the Dhivehi language ...

) – Outline of Iranian philology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Ernst 1846 births 1920 deaths Writers from Berlin Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Tübingen alumni Heidelberg University faculty Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty Linguists from Germany German Indologists German philologists Iranologists