Johann Andreas Schmeller (6 August 1785 in

Tirschenreuth Tirschenreuth (Northern Bavarian: ''Dirschnrad'', ''Diascharad'') is the capital city of the district of Tirschenreuth. It is located in the northeast of Bavaria, very close to the Czech-Bavarian border. Geography Tirschenreuth is located in the ...

– 27 September 1852 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

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...

who initially studied the Bavarian dialect. From 1828 until his death he taught in 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 ...

. He is considered the founder of modern

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

research in Germany. His lasting contribution is the four-volume ' (Bavarian Dictionary), which is currently in the process of revision by the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities 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 ...

Biography

In 1821, he published ''Die Mundarten Bayerns'' (Bavarian dialects). This was later supplemented by his ''Bayerisches Wörterbuch'' (Bavarian dictionary), which appeared in four volumes from 1827 to 1837. Perhaps his most notable publication was the first modern edition of the ''

Heliand The ''Heliand'' () is an epic poem in Old Saxon, written in the first half of the 9th century. The title means ''saviour'' in Old Saxon (cf. German and Dutch ''Heiland'' meaning "saviour"), and the poem is a Biblical paraphrase that recounts the ...

'' (1830). He was also the compiler of the ''

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

'' (1847), which he named. Schmeller edited the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...

''Evangelienharmonie'' (1841); the ''Muspilli'' (1832);''Muspilli Bruchstück einer althochdeutschen illiterierenden Dichtung vom Ende der Welt'' (1832) George Jaquet, Munich
(Google eBook) (German) ''Lateinische Gedichte des 10. und 11. Jahrhunderts'' (1836); and '' Hadamar von Laber's Jagd'' (1850). His ''Cimbrisches Wörterbuch'' was edited by Bergmann in 1855. Schmeller invented the schwa (Ə) for use as the reduced vowel at the end of some German words, and first used it in his 1820s works on the Bavarian dialects.

References

External links

* 1785 births 1852 deaths 19th-century German people 19th-century philologists German philologists Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty People from Tirschenreuth (district) {{Germany-linguist-stub