Herbert Ernst Brekle (11 June 1935 – 6 May 2018) 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 ...
typographer and
linguist. Brekle's main research interests were
semantics,
word formation theory,
history of linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, involving analysis of language form, language meaning, and language in context.
Language use was first systematically documented in Mesopotamia, with extant lexical lists of the 3rd to the 2nd M ...
, history of Western alphabets and
typography.
Life
Brekle worked from 1951 to 1957 as a
compositor
Compositor may refer to:
* Compositor (typesetting), a person or machine which arranged movable type for printing
** Paige Compositor, a device developed to replace manual compositors, which was a commercial failure
* Compositing software, used i ...
,
proofreader, and
printer.
[Brekle, Herbert E.: ''Die Prüfeninger Weihinschrift von 1119. Eine paläographisch-typographische Untersuchung'', Scriptorium Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Regensburg 2005, , dust jacket] He studied
English philology,
Romance studies and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the
University of Tübingen from 1958 to 1963, and obtained his doctorate in 1963.
In 1969, he achieved his habilitation also at the University of Tübingen, where he had been a research assistant at the department of English philology headed by Hans Marchand; in the years 1967–69, he was supported by a postdoctoral scholarship of the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
In the same year, Brekle was appointed to the chair of general linguistics at the
University of Regensburg, which he held until his retirement in 2001. In 1974/75, he was a visiting professor at
McGill University in
Montreal, Quebec,
Canada, and ten years later at the
Université de Paris VII
Paris Diderot University, also known as Paris 7 (french: Université Paris Diderot), was a French university located in Paris, France. It was one of the inheritors of the historic University of Paris, which was split into 13 universities in 197 ...
(1984/85). From 1984 to 1986, Brekle also held the office of the chairman of the German Linguistic Society (''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachwissenschaft'').
Parallel to his academic work, Brekle has also been active in politics and has held various political offices: In 1960/61, he chaired the
General Students' Committee
The General Students' Committee (German: Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss) or AStA, is the acting executive board and the external representing agency of the (constituted) student body at universities
A university () is an institution of hi ...
and the
Baden-Württemberg branch of the Association of German student bodies (''Verband Deutscher Studentenschaften''). From 1972 to 1978 and again from 1990 to 1996, Brekle was member of the city council of
Regensburg
Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...
, and from 1978 to 1982 member of the district assembly (''Bezirkstag'') of
Upper Palatinate. Between 1978 and 1986, he also served as chairman of the Regensburg county group of the Bavarian branch of the
League for the environment and nature conservation (''Bund Naturschutz in Bayern'').
He died on 6 May 2018 at the age of 82.
Prof. em. Dr. Herbert E. Brekle : Traueranzeige
Works
* ''Generative Satzsemantik im System der englischen Nominalkomposition'', 2nd ed., München 1976,
* ''Semantik. Eine Einführung in die sprachwissenschaftliche Bedeutungslehre'', München 1972,
* ''Einführung in die Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft'', Darmstadt 1985,
* ''Die Antiqualinie von ca. -1500 bis ca. +1500. Untersuchungen zur Morphogenese des westlichen Alphabets auf kognitivistischer Basis'', Münster 1994,
* ''Die Prüfeninger Weiheinschrift von 1119. Eine paläographisch-typographische Untersuchung'', Scriptorium Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, Regensburg 2005,
See also
* Altarpiece of Pellegrino II
The altarpiece of Pellegrino II is a medieval altarpiece in the cathedral of Cividale, Italy. The silver relief was endowed by Pellegrino II, the patriarch of Aquileia, around 1200 and adorns today the main altar of the church ''Santa Maria Assun ...
* Amulet MS 5236
* Prüfening dedicatory inscription
The Prüfening dedicatory inscription (german: Prüfeninger Weiheinschrift) is a high medieval inscription impressed on clay which was created in 1119, over three hundred years before Johannes Gutenberg, by the typographic principle. The inscr ...
* Roman lead pipe inscription
A Roman lead pipe inscription is a Latin inscription on a Roman water pipe made of lead which provides brief information on its manufacturer and owner, often the reigning emperor himself as the supreme authority. The identification marks were c ...
References
External links
Die typographische Herstellungstechnik der Inschriften auf dem silbernen Altaraufsatz im Dom von Cividale
Arbeiten zur Geschichte der Typographie 1964–2001
Arbeiten zur Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaft
Beiträge zur Morphogenese der westlichen Alphabetschrift
Typ(en) und Exemplar(e): Systematisch-historische Darstellung mechanischer Abbildungstechniken von Inschriften
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brekle, Herbert E.
1935 births
2018 deaths
German typographers and type designers
Linguists from Germany
Scientists from Stuttgart
Academic staff of the University of Regensburg
University of Tübingen alumni